My year got off to a great start with a few weeks in Egypt resting, reading and swimming with the fishies, and since then I’ve been beavering away in the studio and looking through the archives for hidden treasure.
This Friday saw the release of ’91’, the third single from ‘The 9th of Nine Hearts’. I began the track a while ago, using a sample of ‘The Final Frontier’ from my ‘Medium’ cassette album as a starting point, but it never really gelled. However, after our joint tour finished last March, Sophie Barker dropped in to the studio for a recording session, and her writing input and vocals helped bring it home.
As it’s a celebration of the magical era of rave culture, it’s only fitting that the first remix is by the legendary Mr.C, he of The Shamen fame. He’s turned in an appropriately retrospective deep house wiggler that should delight any dancefloor. Following him are relative newcomers Bennun & Healey who’ve mashed up and turbocharged the original into a genre-busting dub.
’91’ is available from Bandcamp as well as iTunes, Beatport, Spotify and the rest.
Elsewhere there have been some developments in Disco Gecko land. The good dr trippy has unleashed a fresh batch of his Punjabi Swamp medicine, with the ‘Vindaloopy’ EP being available from Bandcamp plus the rest.
Sophie Barker, meanwhile, has decided to celebrate ‘Break the Habit’ becoming available on Spotify by giving away ‘Don’t Give it Away’! The free download is for a limited time period only, so please head over to her Bandcamp if you fancy checking it out. She also starts a whirlwind tour of Asia this week, with gigs in Hong Kong, Singapore, Bangkok and Bali – more info here.
I’ve got a few shows coming up too: Bearded Theory Festival on May 26, Close to the Noise Floor on May 27, Waha Festival on July 23, Kukemuru Festival on August 5 and Trunchonbury Festival on August 25. I’m sure a few more will come in soon, so please check in on Facebook for updates.