Heads up Jahtari fans. Following on from a recent post, we received a supernice email a short while back from Jahtari artist Nicolas Volfoniq, telling us of the excellent Jam'in Sauce EP recently out on his netlabel Les Cristaux Liquident. The three-track release is the result of a jam session between Disrupt, Bo Marley and Nicolas's band, Volfoniq, last summer in an old house in southern France. 100% improvised dub vibes for your hard drive!

 

* Edit. Londoners can catch Disrupt do his thing on 11 April, when he'll be cranking up the pressure at The Dogstar in Brixton alongside the most excellent Ardisson, occasional Spannered contributor Clause Four and a host of others. Flyer just here.

Want to give the one you love something truly special this Valentines Day?

 

Well, Spannered's mentor in all things to do with spanners, the delightful Sheila Dibnah, is Ebaying off a very special spanner given to her by her late husband, the great Fred Dibnah, as a Valentines gift in 1998 (the year of their marriage). Along with raising money for the worthy cause that is Bolton Hospice, the auction is also an awareness-raiser for the plight of Fred's memorial in his home town of Bolton. Get your bids in quick — why say it with flowers when you can say it with spanners?

As Randomoidz, father of Spannered's latest Oddcast recently said: 'What can you say about ska other than skabbado-bada-chika-sh-chika-sh-chika-sh?' Quite.

Well, if you enjoyed that scuttle though his favourite ska tunes, you should orientate yourself towards the latest Jahtari Net EP — Atari-Ska L'Atakk. Coming out of the world's best laptop dub netlabel courtesy of Atari tracker legend Dubmood, the release comprises six tracks of the finest chiptune ska — and can be snaffled for the grand cost of absolutely nada.

And if that's not enough to get you pogo-ing around like you've a firework in your ass, we've dug you out a rip of This Is Ska by Longsy D — perhaps the finest example of the short-lived ska/acid/house movement that bounced out of the late 80s.

Portland-based David Chandler put together a short skacid DJ mix a couple of years back under his DJ Brokenwindow guise — fans of the ilk will be pleased to know it's still online here, together with a tracklisting here. Remember, ska rules man!

 

For my inaugural post I’ve decided to cover three tracks from my current place of residence, Japan. The tracks cover different elements of Japan’s music scene and history, a bit of old and some new too.

First up is the new; a track featuring two Japanese producers who have made a name for themselves in recent years, namely DJ Baku and Goth Trad. Those of you following the dubstep scene will have by now no doubt heard about Goth Trad (and if not there’s an interview with the man here that you should check to bring you up to speed). Having released on the excellent Deep Medi Musik label, and successfully toured Europe in September, the man needs little introduction. Baku may be a bit more obscure, though his megamix of The Bug’s latest single Poison Dart on Ninja Tune is likely to raise his profile outside of Japan. The short of it is that Baku is one of the most prolific and regarded DJs, producers and turntablists on the Tokyo underground, and for the last five or so years he’s been making a lot of noise in a lot of places. So much so that people are rightly referring to him as a direct heir of DJ Krush’s legacy.

The track I’ve chosen is taken from a remix project, a Japanese only release which is incredibly hard to find (though not impossible). Released in 2000, this EP was basically Baku remixing three Japanese electronic producers: Goth Trad, Saidrum and Bleeder. What’s most interesting about this release, aside from the fact that it’s the first official release for both Baku and Goth Trad, is that Baku remixed all the tracks (six in total) using only his turntables. This is a couple of years after the first all-scratched albums came out in the US (courtesy of Bomb Hip Hop) and a couple of years before the ‘boom’ in scratch music that would follow the releases of D-Styles’ debut album and Scetchbook from Ricci Rucker and Mike Boo. It’s also a nice example of how the hip hop and alternative electronic scenes have been intertwined in Japan for a long time now, allowing interesting projects like these to take place. For more on a similar tip check for people like DJ Klock, Tatsuki and O.N.O to name a few.

The track is named Kaikoo Track, an original Goth Trad production remixed by Baku, taken from the ‘DJ Baku vs Goth-Trad, Saidrum, Bleeder’ EP released on Bonikyo Nihon in 2000.

• Goth Trad — Kaikoo Track (Baku Remix)

The next two tracks are older and I’ve chosen them because of my obsession with Japanese anime and video games. Now while this might well make me sound like a total geek, the best thing about being in Tokyo is that I’ve also been able to combine these two ‘obsessions’ with my love of vinyl. Japan is a treasure trove of second hand shops, and amidst all the stuff is an impressive amount of anime and video game vinyl — enough to send any producer or collector loopy.

Video game vinyl is the one thing I’m really after in Japan, and while there is a fair amount of it — and some pretty crazy ones too (Afterburner vinyl anyone?) — it’s actually the most difficult to find as it normally never gets its own section in stores, as there’s not enough of it. So it gets lumped with other bits making it more difficult to track down. Still, I’ve had some luck and the track I’ve actually chosen was taken from a vinyl a friend of mine unearthed: ‘Namco: Game Music Vol.1’ — basically a compilation of tracks from Namco games circa 1987. Unfortunately I can’t give you the name of the track I’ve chosen, as my Kanji isn’t that good yet. But let’s just say that if you love old-school 8-bit melodies you’ll likely enjoy it. It’s short but sweet and funky. Just picture some classic platform or driving action and you’re there.

• Namco — Side B

Anime vinyl is a lot more common, but there’s also a lot more crap to fraff through due to its popularity. However, I’ve recently found a lot of wicked synth covers of anime soundtracks, and this is one of the ones I’ve chosen. It’s taken from a fairly famous anime named Captain Harlock (also known as Albator in Europe), and the actual vinyl is from the second season of the show titled My Youth in Arcadia (Wikipedia it if you want more info on the anime itself, which I heavily recommend). The anime is basically a space opera, and this vinyl is titled Digital Trip: My Youth in Arcadia Synthesizer Fantasy, which is basically a lot of original tracks, intermissions and more used in the show, all done on, well… synths, back in 1982. The track I’ve chosen is titled The Lost Earth. For me it’s one of the nicer tracks on the LP; it’s quite short (more like an intermission used in the show) with a nice little breakdown towards the end.

• My Youth In Arcadia — The Lost Earth

That’s it for me this time round. Thanks a lot to the Spannered guys for having me — it’s a pleasure. Look out for more from Japan next time round.

Peace

Laurent

Spannered is one year old. And what better way to celebrate than by relaunching with a total facelift.  For the past month or so we've had our gimps slicing away strips of pixels and fiddling around under the bonnet, and voilà: Spannered's second incarnation.

All the previously featured content is here, but hopefully it's much easier to find everything now. There are plenty of additions, too: you may already have stumbled upon Maga Bo's huge Sambacana Brazilian Music Archive. Additionally, we've introduced a site feed to the homepage to help steer you towards the latest news and content, as well as some older items that may have passed you by.

We'd love to hear your thoughts on the rejig (especially if it looks like a mangled heap of html and misaligned boxes from where you're sitting). We'd also like to put out another call for prospective contributors. If you're interested in getting involved, drop us a line. Sadly we can't pay you anything, but we'll add you to our Christmas card list and perhaps pour you a shot of sherry if you're passing.