border community blog

On Cloud 9

2010-03-05T15:51:00.004Z

As tonight's Corsica Studios shakedown dawns, I undoubtedly have better things to be doing than updating my blog (now I see why they invented Twitter!). But I thought some of you may appreciate some set-times in advance, so I feel duty-bound:

Room 1:
10 - 10.45 Avus
10.45 - 11.30 Falling From Cloud 9 (live)
11.30 - 1.30 Fuck Buttons
1.30 - 3.30 Avus
3.30 - 6 James Holden

Room Two:
11 - 1 Kate Wax
1 - 2 Ed Chamberlain (live)
2 - 4 Petter

I also have a sad announcement to make: the Tombola has been cancelled this time, on account of a lack of effort on my part. But if anyone finds themselves too traumatised by this devastating news, I will be offering my counselling services on the evening. Hey, maybe next time?

Hopefully the Kraut-tinged live set from Falling From Cloud 9 will offer enough incentive to get yourself down there early (check his Myspace and the Avus guest mix for a sneak preview); fans of a certain other Border Community artist on tonights bill should pay particular attention to the Falling From Cloud 9 set for a special guitar-based re-interpretation of something very familiar!

And beyond that there lies the magical mystery tour of a Kate Wax DJ set, Fuck Buttons' Andrew Hung's taming of the dancefloor, Avus' mainroom big guns, Ed Chamberlain's extremely BC twinkles, the long-awaited revelation of wherever it is that Petter' head is at nowadays, and of course, our old faithful golden Holden. I can't wait!

The Twits

2010-03-02T20:17:00.004Z

We did it: after last week's blog dedicated to the enthusiastic fans behind our Facebook presence, the user-generated group effortlessly topped 5000 members over the weekend. Big thanks go to Jason Ruff for first setting the chain reaction in motion.

And in another unconnected outburst of fan devotion, the Twitter.com/bordercommunity lot was also recently reserved by a well-meaning disciple in the face of our own tardiness, and has since slumbered dormant and followerless - until today! For now the log-in has kindly been passed up the chain to BC HQ, allowing us to finally provide the obligatory feed for those who prefer to receive their news in 140-character-short tweet form. (Long form fans are presumably already reading this here blog and our news feed).

I only have one follower so far, so at the moment it does feel a little like pissing in the wind; but I trust that the Twitter converts out there will join up with me in due course, with their mouths wide open ready for a bite-size digest of what is currently going on around these more verbose parts...

Pushing the Buttons

2010-03-01T18:41:00.004Z

Our return to Corsica Studios this Friday night (5th March) is fast approaching, as I am sure you are aware. But as if you needed any more inducement to attend, those crafty devils over at We Fear Silence have come up with the goods, in the form of this Fuck Buttons DJ set that they have just uploaded to their Soundcloud page, and having previously directed all of my internet expertise towards trying to track one of these down, I do believe that this is an internet exclusive, so well done them!:

Fuck Buttons - We Fear Silence Border Community Mix - Feb 2010 by wefearsilence

Everyone knows that the best producers have the best taste, as this half of the Fuck Buttons' guest mix neatly demonstrates (and Transitions seems particularly topical!). And there will be plenty more where that came from this Friday night, when the electronically-minded Andrew Hung (representing the Fuck Buttons) joins our own James Holden, Avus (listen to his own guest mix over on Mixcloud!) and Petter, and special guests Ed Chamberlain, Kate Wax and Falling From Cloud 9, for another Corsica love-in. Get your advance tickets here, and invite all of your mates here. It is going to be great!

Then if you are still standing on Saturday evening, I propose that we reconvene in the slightly more fraught surroundings of a Free Saturday at Cargo, hosted this week by the dedicated Upset The Rhythm. Kria Brekkan, former member of Iceland's Mum and current wife of Animal Collective's Avey Tare, headlines in support of her charmingly titled Uterus Water EP, whilst Walls, the exciting new Kompakt-endorsed project from Sam Allez-Allez and Alessio Banjo Or Freakout, provides the intriguing and able support. Say you'll be there?

Community Support Officers

2010-02-17T17:33:00.003Z

Our fans are nothing if they aren't dedicated, and at times I am truly amazed at the level of devotion to this cult of Border Community that we have unintentionally created.

Take Facebook for example: back in 2006, an eager fan stepped in to fill the void left by the lack of our own Facebook group and set up this fan-run Border Community group, which to date has amassed over 4700 members, entirely of its own accord. So I thought that it really was about time that we publicly acknowledged its existence and made the affiliation a bit more official: on the off-chance that you haven't joined already, you are invited to do so here. Lets top the 5000 mark together!

The group may now have our endorsement and the accompanying overlooking admins from BC HQ, but I would like to assure any concerned members that we want this to remain a fan-run group, created by the fans, for the fans. We might use the wall to pass on the odd newsworthy item (releases, parties, videos, mixes - the kind of goodness that everyone likes), but other than be sure that it remains your group, to carry on, as you were. Only now there may be yet more members in tow...

The Prince of Walls

2010-02-17T14:37:00.004Z

We're heading out of town this weekend to meet the macaques, but if you are sticking around, it would probably be worth trying to build a visit to Cargo into your Saturday night festivities. Entry to the Eat Your Own Ears promoted event on the 20th is free before 11, and onstage at 9pm will be the debut live appearance from Walls, the new collaboration between our mate Sam from Allez-Allez and his mate Alessio from Banjo or Freakout. The industrious duo will be releasing an album on Kompakt later this year, and from what we have heard so far it should be a goody, so I'd fix that live show into your agenda even if you do have to rush off elsewhere later on...

But if you can handle a whole night in Cargo, later in the evening the Pantha du Prince album promotion train will be pulling into its London stop off. New album Black Noise sees the Prince's prestigious new home Rough Trade dabbling in the electronic arts with some Dial-esque chuggy twinkles and a much-hyped Panda Bear guest appearance. I think it comes across a bit like a less warm and snuggly version of our own old romantic Fairmont, whereas Rough Trade had this to say about it:

"On his new album, Pantha du Prince claims: music slumbers in all matter; any sound, even silence, is already music. The mission, then, must be to render audible what is unheard and unheard of: 'Black Noise', a frequency that is inaudible to man. 'Black noise' often presages natural disasters, earthquakes or floods; only some animals perceive this calm before the storm. 'black noise' is something archaic and earthy. His music balances precariously on the slippery threshold between art and nature, between techno and folklore, which lends it a certain spectral and intangible aspect."

Listen online and make up your own mind.

Primal Scream

2010-02-16T17:05:00.007Z

The submerged Fisher Price screaming buried in the wall of noise of Fuck Buttons' Colours Move has the power to divide audiences, or at least the sort of people who leave comments on Youtube:

I love it, of course, but then, as those who know me can testify, I am not averse to the odd bout of shrieking myself: as well as the elephant noises that came with Andre Kraml's original parts, the breakdown of James Holden's remix of Safari (out on Crosstown Rebels back in 2004, so it might take some tracking down) also features additional monkey noises provided by my good self, animal impersonator extraordinaire. In the end I didn't get my credit on the vinyl (I will have to take that up with my agent, I suppose), but Mr Luke Abbott has hinted that he may have cause to call on my services in the near future, so it looks like my career in animal impersonation isn't over just yet...

Dropping a Fuck Buttons track in a club DJ set can be a similarly divisive act, so no surprises that our man Holden has made something of a habit of doing just that ('The Lisbon Maru', Surf Solar, 'Rough Steez', or Bright Tomorrow, perhaps, but thus far no 'Colours Move' - now that really would melt some heads!). But does there really have to be this great chasm between "dance" and "not dance"? And if such a fault line even exists, then collectively I think we ought to do all that we can to narrow it.

Edging towards us from the other side of the canyon is Fuck Button's own Andrew Hung, whose acquaintance we finally made at Four Tet's funnest-ever club-concert mash-up at the Tufnell Park Village Hall (I mean the Dome). And just how snugly the tectonic plates are rubbing up against one other will be revealed at our next Border Community night on 5th March, when the Buttons' electronic troubador will steer the Corsica Studios main room through his own danceable territory, which I have a feeling we may find looks rather similar to the landscape of Holden country (a bit like Scotland and New Zealand, if you will).

Captain James Holden, Avus, Petter, Kate Wax, Ed Chamberlain and Falling From Cloud 9 will also be joining us for the trip, so book your tickets here, and don't forget your advance check in here. Your holiday reading list will follow forthwith.

The Adventurous Four Tet

2010-02-12T15:14:00.011Z

The more organised amongst you will have locked down your tickets for tonights Four Tet show at The Dome in Tufnell Park well in advance, and like me and James will now be getting increasingly excited as the remaining hours of this Friday afternoon tick by.

But if you were a little slower on the uptake and are now kicking yourself, you could try consoling yourself by downloading the Essential Mix that Kieran recorded a couple of weeks ago and has now shoved up on his burgeoning Soundcloud profile, confirming his status (along with new album There Is Love In You) as a bona fide dancefloor man. And if you are lucky enough to be going tonight, what better way to put you in the mood!

Essential mix (January 2010) by Four Tet

Fans of Soundcloud's trademark timed comments should pay particular attention at the 1.23 mark, when the lush layered vocals of our own deep house guru Avus' rework of One Little Plane's Lotus Flower (out now on Kieran's own Text Records label) come drifting in. And Hebden homie Avus' own recent promo mix has also just been added to the We Fear Silence Soundcloud profile to propagate yet further across the internet...

Other Four Tet favourite Nathan Fake meanwhile is currently readying himself to leave for the US, where the Four Tet / Nathan Fake roadtrip tour begins in style at New York's sold out Le Poisson Rouge next Wednesday 17th February (further dates on the Four Tet website). Now fully equipped with a North-American-winter-proof new coat, if we're lucky Nathan might even bring us back some photos documenting his two-week-long crash course in US touring, which I will be sure to share with you here...

The Four Tet tour then continues back on home turf in March, where availability is also looking increasingly tight. Tickets for the second London show at Village Underground on 10th April are now also out of the question, so it looks like you might have to nip down to Brighton's Concorde on March 17th instead, where they are also throwing in Mr Fake and the hypnotic Rocketnumbernine as extremely able supporting extras (get your tickets here or forever hold your peace). And Manchester, Leeds, Edinburgh, Sheffield, Birmingham and Bristol might also still be worth a try...

BREAKING NEWS: Just seconds after I hit publish, James wandered into my office with the news that poor old Joy Orbison has been struck down with food poisoning, so won't be playing tonight after all. A couple of phone calls from Kieran later, and the ready, willing and able Nathan Fake has been drafted in as a hasty last minute substitution, and as we speak is now building himself up to deliver the next collection in his new line in DJing later on this evening. Stop the press! Hold the front page! etc...

Balance and Control

2010-02-10T14:14:00.005Z

March 15th is a date to mark in your diary, for that is the release date of the new mix CD from our favourite French cult cutie Agoria, who has delivered the latest installment in the Balance series. I haven't heard it yet, but needless to say this release is eagerly anticipated around these parts. Although I do wonder if that is even really Agoria under all that packaging detritus? (But I am sure it is actually him "in the mix"!).

You hopefully remember our boy James Holden's own early contribution to the Balance series (the fifth compilation in the series, and the first from a non-Aussie). It was also James who then kicked off the At The Controls mix CD series, which Agoria also chipped in on with the fourth and final volume. With Agoria now climbing aboard the Balance train I could be tempted to make some kind of joke about him mirroring James' career, only in reverse, but that really wouldn't be fair: the Balance series has gone from strength to strength following James' participation, and with Agoria's addition is about to notch up its sixteenth release. The At The Controls series meanwhile sadly no longer exists, following the Resist label's unfortunate bankruptcy, although the back catalogue can still be snapped up at bargain prices from Amazon.

All this talk of Agoria is all very well, but if you are wondering where James himself is headed next on his own mix CD odyssey, do watch this space for an exciting announcement coming very soon!

A Load of Cobblers

2010-02-09T14:12:00.005Z

The countdown to our next Corsica Studios shindig on 5th March has begun (line up: James Holden, Fuck Buttons (DJ set), Avus, Falling From Cloud 9 (live), Ed Chamberlain, Kate Wax and Petter - phew!), which means that it is also time for us to coax another guest mix from one of our crew. Kindly soul Avus has obliged: his dependable warm-up sets were a permanent fixture of the End mainroom during our old residency, so it is about time we invited him and his future Moog anthems from his upcoming Border Community EP to grace the hallowed Corsica decks. And what better way to celebrate than by uploading a new mix to Mixcloud, in which Avus wheels out his mainroom big guns in preparation:

Avus - We Fear Silence Mix February 2010 by Border Community on Mixcloud

Avus - We Fear Silence Mix February 2010
1) Avus – Little Adventures
2) Jared Wilson – Last Two
3) Nathan Fake – Fentiger
4) Paul Bennett – Backbreaker
5) Falling From Cloud Nine – 80
6) Luke Abbott – Whitebox Stereo
7) Agoria – Magnolia
8) Craig Loftis – Yes it’s right
9) Avus – Poppy
10) Entro Seenestre – Glazed
11) Ratsnake – When It’s Late
12) Regis – Ital
13) Surgeon – Screw The Roses
14) Four Tet - Love Cry

As well as a sneak peak at some of the gems contained within Avus' precious forthcoming 'Poppy EP', you may also have spotted a taster of what to expect from the early doors live set from the mysterious Falling From Cloud 9, aka Northampton's Luke Print, friend and musical cohort of our own Northampton man Avus. We can vouch that Luke's one-man live show is of a decidedly kraut-tinged, danceable bent having previously caught him in his hometown, and naturally we'd advise you to get down to Corsica early to see for yourself, not least because a special Border Community-related surprise that ought not to be missed is apparently also in the works...

And as well as the Northampton massive, and our own James Holden, we have yet more guests to offer the humble Corsica visitor on 5th March: topping the bill comes Andrew Hung of the mighty Fuck Buttons with a rare club DJ set showcasing his exemplary musical taste. Whilst one Button (Mr Benjamin John Power) grew up on a diet of Mogwai, the other (our on-call DJ Andrew) apparently travelled a more electronic path through Aphex-ville (this scenario sounds familiar...). Last week we managed to catch him in his more typical between-bands setting at Eat Your Own Ears' Esben & The Witch show, and I can confirm that his taste is indeed extremely "on message", right down to Holdy-Holden's 'Idiot' played at the right (slow) speed!

Meanwhile, over in the other room, we have nailed down our elusive techno wanderer Petter for a family reunion, dragging him off the Swedish party train to play room host for the evening: and it is about time that we all caught up on whatever it is he has been up to lately! We're also extremely excited to welcome Switzerland's Kate Wax into the fold (for the evening, and beyond!) with another rare DJ set outing, as she swaps the studio for the club, taking some time out from the preparations for her vocally-exhilirating new album. And last but by no means least, my beloved British electronica underground is also represented by Avus-fave Ed Chamberlain, he of the twinkle-encrusted electro-breaks as heard at the yearly BLOC workouts.

And no Corsica shakedown would be complete without a visit from the inimitable An'Unexpectacle, who I believe is currently plotting around a glove customisation theme, whilst my not-at-all-confusing Community Cast-Off Tombola will also be returning for a refined second run featuring yet more thrilling prizes on a Border Community (and guests!) tip for those early birds. Those advance tickets are available now from Ticketweb for just £10, or more on the door: so get thee there!

High Fidelity

2010-02-04T15:55:00.006Z

I have just packed our boy James Holden off to the airport for his weekend ride on the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Wuppertal express: first stop is Pixel at Amsterdam's Trouw club tonight (4th February), which occupies the former newspaper printing warehouse of the Dutch national newspaper Trouw until the end of 2010 as one of those multi-functional restaurant / club / art spaces that the Dutch do so well. The last 300 tickets are still available to buy on the door, so I would get yourself down there early to avoid disappointment:

And in a coincidence that I can only describe as blogworthy, an installation by LA-based artist Richard Wearn (titled simply Trouw) that recently opened at Crisp London has a little more to illuminate about this special party location to the unwitting foreigner (me!). Focusing on the building's sign as the sun sets and the sign is turned on, his 30 minute long dual screen rear projection video (video art - how very Dutch!) is concerned with the traces of utopian mythologies that exist within our urban environment: the word "trouw" means "fidelity", and the newspaper was initially extablished during WWII to counter the Nazi occupation and extermination of Holland's Jewish population.

And just as Wearn is occupied with seeking and highlighting the clues and submerged meanings that exist within the buildings around us, the techno scene too traditionally loves a venue with a bit of history whenever it can get its hands on one, even if the signifigance of that location ends up being lost on a large proportion of their footfall. But thanks to the Wearn installation, James at least has been made aware of the Trouw story in advance of his appearance, lending that little extra spark to proceedings later on tonight...

Fentigers

2010-02-04T11:38:00.006Z

Homecoming king Nathan Fake went back to his roots this weekend, with his first proper hometown gig in Norwich's distinctive Arts Centre last Friday. James and I had a prior engagement in Paris so couldn't be there to witness this momentous occasion, but fortunately my glamorous assistant Rosana did make it along, with camera in tow, to bring us a taste of what we all missed (below).

Extremely able support on the night came from fellow Norfucker and Border Community brother Luke Abbott, whilst adopted son Dan Tombs pitched in on visual duties. Luke even spotted someone in the crowd who had plumped for a pair of wellies for their gig-going attire: only in Norfolk, one might think, but I'm guessing it probably had something to do with the recent return of the snows...

Norwich Arts Centre: from the outside it may look like a church, but if you chose to venture inside last Friday night you would have been greeted with this:

Luke making lot of amazing noise while Dan plays with his colours. I wonder if all Friday nights are like this in Norwich?

Nathan on stage, back to his roots and loving it!

This Spectro night that hosted our boys is a new regular bi-monthly Arts Centre occurence: the next session on March 26th invites DC Recordings' Kelpe, with support from the afore-mentioned Grasscut and mates-of-Luke Mat Riviere and his beloved The Owl Box. Lucky old Norwich.

And finally, no trip to Norfolk would be complete without a beautiful sunset shot to round things off:

Lucky Charm

2010-02-03T16:34:00.005Z

The tireless Upset The Rhythm certainly know how to bring a smile to my face: just spotted amongst their latest listings is the return of the inimitable Lucky Dragons to London on March 13th. I've been lucky enough to catch them on each of their recent UTR visits, but just incase anyone was worried that more of the same might start to seem less exciting, this time the Dragons will be bringing their funtastic Sumi Ink Club drawing club concept with them, for a special afternoon session starting at 3pm in the Auto-Italia art space in Peckham. From what I can gather, the frankly unmissable Sumi Ink Club session involves placing a large sheet of paper in the middle of the group for participants to fill in with a collage melange of intricate doodles that come out looking something like this:

Or, as they put it themselves:

"Sumi Ink Club is a Los Angeles-based drawing collective founded in 2005 by Sarah Anderson and Luke Fischbeck. The group holds regular open meetings to execute topsy-turvy, detailed, collaborative drawings using ink on paper. In each of its permutations, Sumi Ink Club uses group drawings as a means to open and fortify social interactions that bleed into everyday life. Sumi Ink Club is non-hierarchical: all ages, all humans, all styles."

So you see, you simply must join us by getting your £5 tickets here.

In other Upset The Rhythm news, the sighting of Holden favourites Xeno & Oaklander's names amongst their listings yesterday sent quite a flurry of excitement through the ranks of our local Wierd-os. Our tickets for their appearance alongside labelmates Led Er Est at Barden's Boudoir on 13th April are now secured, and I expect that you will be wanting to do the same here. Excited is not the word. And the Wierd through and through might also be interested to know that sometime Wierdite Carlos Giffoni's excellently-named No Fun Acid project is also set to make an Upset The Rhythm appearance on 18th March at The Grosvenor (which means yet more tickets for you, here).

Muppetry

2010-02-03T14:23:00.003Z

Everyone loves a bit of free music, especially when it is a free remix by Mr Nathan Fake. New Ninja Tune signing Grasscut's new single Muppet is officially out on March 1st, but the good news is that Nathan's accompanying rework is already available for free download from the Ninja Tunes site. Grasscut's take on computer rock lends itself well to a Fake remake, as faint echoes of Drowning In A Sea Of Love's swoony guitars shimmer through the latest post-Hard Islands incarnation of Nathan's unstoppable updated loud and warm dancefloor beatdown.

Brighton's Grasscut have a full album coming on Ninja Tunes later in the year, but in the meantime you can watch the video for their more fiddly, skittery, dressed-up original version of 'Muppet' here:

Podcasting a wide net

2010-01-20T12:06:00.008Z

This is something I have been meaning to do for a while: a list of some of our favourite podcasts to fill a rainy day downloading, as I do my bit to spread the word by way of thanks for all the fantastic music they have deposited on our server. I just hope your bandwidth can take it!

Allez-Allez
No surprises here: but our friends Allez-Allez' podcast series is hard to beat. As well as a fair chunk of the Border Community crew (Avus, Nathan Fake - twice, Wesley Matsell, Ricardo Tobar, Luke Abbott), they have managed to lock down a startling array of past guests including Four Tet (twice), Animal Collective, Lindstrom, Lone, Kelpe, Joakim, Zombie Zombie, The Black Dog, Hot Chip, Tobias Thomas, 20 Jazz Funk Greats, George Demure (got to love the singing!), Principles of Geometry, Ada, One Little Plane, Rone, Luke Vibert and Mum, as well as finding the time to do their own solo mixes. And don't we just love them for it.

Marvin Suicide
Marvin Suicide's half hour weekly show for London's wonderful Resonance FM is also available as a collectible take-home podcast; but what is most amazing about each top-notch tune-packed dispatch is that all of the music featured has been found for free and legal download on the internet (from netlabels and the like), without ever having to compromise on quality. Marvin has a funny farmer-voice too, although I suspect that he might be putting that on for the radio...

Phrench Phries
The amusingly-named Phrench Phries is a podcast series organised by tastemaking French PR company Phunk, and although it is only 14 episodes old, they have already managed to notch up an altogether decent selection of guests including Miss Kittin, The Hacker, Zombie Nation, Sinner DC and A Mountain Of One. That will do me!

Vessel Music
I am not sure that I quite understand what the point of the rest of the Vessel Music site is, but there, camouflaged amongst the pictures of their favourite records, lurks some real gold in Guest Mix podcast form. Some of the usual Border Community suspects (Fairmont, Ricardo Tobar) lurk alongside a selection of guests that is right up our street, like Margot, Operator, 7oi, Arp, Led Er Est, Vincent Oliver, Harald Bjork, Rone, Lucy, Sleeparchive and Ex-Pylon. Not a bad run for a site that is barely six months old.

You Are Hear
Another former Resonance FM gem (now broadcasting on Totally Radio) that is also available as a portable podcast, You Are Hear specialises in new music of all alternative persuasions and does a nice sideline in recording sessions and live performances. Delve deep into the archives and you will uncover sessions from Silver Apples, Tony Conrad, Junior Boys and DJ Scotch Egg as well as an interview with Bob Moog: so I suggest that you set that subscription up now, and await further instructions once Magz and Jim return from their extended maternity leave break.

Enjoy, and do feel free to add your own podcast tip-offs in the comments!

Bleep of Faith

2010-01-19T16:56:00.002Z

Bleep's weekly mailout informs me that we only have seven more days to take advantage of their handy 100-tracks-for-£30 Best of 2009 promotion, an offer which anyone passionate about new music would be foolish to pass up. That works out at just 30p a track, maths fans, which just about matches Amazon's 29p mp3 bargain bin, and even if you already have a few of the tracks (Mr Fake's 'Basic Mountain', for example) it still works out at pretty good value.

Thankfully thin on the minimal front, may I therefore present this hand-selected Bleep guide to the year gone by as supporting evidence to my thesis that (contrary to popular belief) music is just getting exciting again. And as witnesses, I would like to call upon the following upstanding members of the musical community: Agoria, Animal Collective, Bernard Fevre, Bibio, Born Ruffians, Broadcast, Bullion, Clark, Debruit, Dirty Projectors, Falty DL, Floating Points, Flying Lotus, Fuck Buttons, Gang Gang Dance, Glass Candy, Grizzly Bear, Gui Boratto, Harmonic 313, Hudson Mowhawke, John Tejada, Jon Hopkins, Klaxons, Lone, Luke Vibert, Lusine, Matias Aguayo, Moderat, Mordant Music, Mum, Nathan Fake, Nosaj Thing, Plaid, Robert Hood, Rustie, The Black Dog, Tim Hecker, Wildbirds & Peacedrums, Krazy Baldhead, Four Tet, TV on the Radio and Autechre. Any objections?

Cloudy & podcast

2010-01-18T18:02:00.009Z

Nothing like a bit of self-congratulation to kick off the week: Nathan Fake's We Fear Silence podcast that he delivered up in celebration of our last Corsica Studios do has romped home at number 3 on the lovely Mixcloud's Top 50 of 2009 (compiled using Mixcloud stats and the results of their Best of 2009 poll). Not bad for a boy who once proclaimed he "is not a DJ, and probably never will be!".

Our Border Community channel also featured in the Top 50 Cloudcasters chart, but since we have only uploaded two mixes so far it wouldn't be particularly becoming get too excited about that accolade. But I am currently working on getting some new contributions from a couple of our crew, so hopefully that will change soon (subscribe to our Border Community profile for the heads-up).

To keep you going until that fateful day, you might be interested to know that obliging mystic Wesley Matsell has created his own Mixcloud account, where over the Christmas break he uploaded a brace of DJ mixes dressed up in a suitably psychedelic fashion as "a small, but sincere token of appreciation for everyone who is vaguely interested in my music". And if you would include yourself in that description, please find the Fiber-optic Pteranodon and Ancient and Flailing flavoured goodness repeated below:

Fibre-Optic Pteranodon by Wesley Matsell on Mixcloud

Ancient And Flailing Mix by Wesley Matsell on Mixcloud

The still-in-beta Mixcloud hub itself only launched last year, so it is still relatively early days for the site, but to my eye it is shaping up rather nicely as a convenient repository for any and all future DJ mixes that come my way. The take-up on a certain other music hosting site seems to have been more pronounced, but with its nifty compulsory tracklist function and sleek, clean design Mixcloud is definitely my mix hoster of choice. Fellow converts whose podcasting activities might convince you to commit to the Mixcloud meritocracy include our homies Allez-Allez, BPitch Control, Skull Juice (and solo-juicer Alex Egan), One-Handed Music (don't let that Bullion mix pass you by!), Tigersushi, Phil Kieran, Dazed and Confused, Diesel U Music Radio, Chris Coco, Micromattic, Justin Robertson, Caged Baby and Erol Alkan, who it seems is possibly even more enthusiastic about Mixcloud than me!

A further incentive to sign up this week would be to add your own half hour DJ set entry to the BLOC / Man Make Music competition to win an hour long set (and of course, your ticket!) at the legendary BLOC festival on the weekend of March 12th - 14th: upload your contribution by 22nd January to enter, although since community comments and votes also count towards the voting I know that doesn't give you much time to mobilise your campaign of self-promotion! And if you can get together a band of 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7 electronically-minded buddies, get your Butlins Minehad apartment for the weekend locked down now well in advance via the website, and as well as our own Nathan Fake you will be rewarded with performances from the likes of Ellen Allien, Lindstrom, Autechre, Alden Tyrell, Joker, Joy Orbison, Kelpe, DMX Krew, Lukid, Luke Slater, Luke Vibert, Surgeon, Kode9 & Martyn, Skream & Benga, Flying Lotus, Billy Nasty, Radioactive Man, Derrick May, Rob Hall, Adam Beyer and Appleblim & Peverelist. So who is in?

SH-101 Dalmations

2010-01-12T14:47:00.005Z

The beaches of Barcelona seem a very long way away right now, but it was there (at the Factor City organised beach party by the airport) that Miss Kittin first proposed inviting James to play at her new Republique party at Paris' Bataclan: "There’s nothing like dancing feet in the sand on a James Holden sunny DJ set!". And now, over six months later, it is finally happening, in the dead of the European winter, for on January 29th we will be nipping over to Paris for that highly-anticipated Republique session:

James and Kittin first played together a few years back in the unlikely setting of Ibiza's Amnesia for Cocoon, and he has been keen to play with her again ever since, for the pair share a common love of weaving as much cold wave electro and Warp-ed electronica into their DJ sets as is humanly possible. At a Republic of Kittin event DJ duties are shared equally with her specially selected guest to create something truly one-off, and a spot of back-to-back interplay isn't out of the question: the impressively-moustached Andrew Weatherall did the honours back in October.

I am certainly looking forward to it, but personally, I think I am probably just as excited about meeting her new dalmatian (pictured below in a snap nicked from her blog), having also learnt on that Barcelona beach that she is a dog person too!

Lovely

2010-01-08T18:02:00.003Z

Another ticket alert as part of my self-imposed public service remit: Four Tet's show at the Dome in Tuffnell Park (where flavour of the New Year Joy Orbison is lending his support) on 12th February has completely sold out now, so if you snoozed, you losed. Almost, anyway: for he has now added another date at Shoreditch's Village Underground on 10th April for the dawdlers; support has yet to be confirmed, but I'd get your tickets now anyway to be sure!

It is all-action for Kieran at the moment, as he gears up for the 25th January release date of new album There Is Love In You (pre-order now from the good people at Domino), which is good news for fans of digital media: album opener Angel Echoes as recorded for a Huw Stephens Radio 1 session is now streamable over on Kieran's Soundcloud page, and he has also decided to make that highly-prized mix CD he first produced for the Plastic People faithful available for the rest of the world's downloading pleasure (why should the blog pirates take all the credit?):

Much Love To The Plastic People (DJ mix December 2009) by Four Tet

All sounds well worth celebrating, and the Hebden-Holden-Panda-Points bumper bill at Fabric on January 22nd ought to provide the perfect occasion!

Panda Bear Alert!

2010-01-08T13:09:00.002Z

I will keep this brief and to the point, because time is clearly of the essence here: the godlike Panda Bear is playing a long-awaited London show for ATP at Heaven on 11th March. And tickets are selling fast, so don't hesitate: a couple of sites are already sold out, but I did just manage to secure tickets for us from Ticketweb so it looks like they might be your best bet!

Cerealism

2010-01-06T18:11:00.007Z

Just added to our Youtube channel is this strange beast provided by Michael Page, Bristol bad boy, Christmas jumper collector and Whitebox Stereo video-directing mate of Luke Abbott:

Best understood as a companion piece to the original video for Whitebox Stereo, Mikey is up to his old quirky tricks with his Off-Whitebox contribution, coming up with a unique audio-visual reinterpretation where a largely new cinematic creation is synced with what began life as a remix of Luke's Whitebox Stereo club banger. Those mischevious animal head people that rushed the stage during Luke's set at our last Corsica Studios night make another starring appearance, stealing the show once more with their headonistic antics, and leaving us more than a little confused in the process!

Clearly it is no longer enough to simply have a remix, or a music video; an audio-visual reinterpretation that succinctly ticks both of the boxes in one go is the truly post-modern response! And this isn't the first time that the multi-talented Mr Michael Page has pulled off this impressive media-splicing feat: you may also remember his neat little micro-edit cut-up that complemented his original video for Luke Abbott's 'Melody120' so perfectly. Consider that creative gauntlet thrown defiantly down...

Nathan's coming home

2010-01-05T12:05:00.004Z

Nathan Fake may have missed Christmas this year in favour of a quick tour of Japan, but his parents will be pleased to know that he will be visiting home soon for a catch-up, thanks to a timely gig in Norwich on January 29th. Norfolk's electronic prince makes a welcome return to the Shire to kick off the Norwich Art Centre's new regular electronica night Spectro in a fittingly homegrown fashion: support comes from Border Community's other Norfolk rare breed Luke Abbott, whilst adopted son Dan Tombs pops up on visual duties in a showcase that the locals can be truly proud of. Tickets are available now for £8 via the Norwich Arts Centre website.

Spectro's contribution to Norfolk's buzzy arts scene continues apace on March 26th, when DC Recordings' own ambassador for the burgeoning British electronic underground Kelpe is in town, and bi-monthly thereafter with artists yet to be revealed. All sounds right up our street so far!

Guten Rutsch ins neue Jahr!

2010-01-04T17:58:00.006Z

High up on my list of first-day-back-in-the-office duties has to be extending a big thankyou to the Die Registratur crew for organising last Thursday's Happy New Border Community shindig in Munich: we really couldn't have hoped for a better location in which to see in the New Year. An optimistic gem from the fifties recently restored in an equally forward-looking, sensitive fashion, the Alte Kongresshalle is truly an awesome building, and the prospect of doing more parties in such an amazing location does I suppose just about make up for the unfortunate loss of the near-perfect former Die Registratur cosy club nest.

Come the midnight hour, we took ourselves outside to the open area infront of the building for the obligatory fireworks free-for-all, where much to our surprise it emerged that us Brits are considerably more uptight around these miniature charges of gunpowder than our German cousins. A far cry from our eminently sensible roped-off public Bonfire night displays, the whole thing seemed rather haphazard to our eyes, as rockets were shoved into an upturned beer crate at a jaunty angle and set off just metres from the free-roaming crowd (as the photo below is intended to show). The British contingent slowly realised that we were collectively edging backwards away from the explosions, a lifetime worth of government public service fireworks advice echoing in our ears. As VJ Dan put it, "Where is the metal box to hold the unlit fireworks?!".

But our hosts certainly weren't alone in their laidback approach to fireworks, as this was a scene we could see and hear being repeated all over Munich, not least on the Oktoberfest site across the road - and indeed all over Germany. By the morning the streets are quite literally littered with the incriminating debris. And here was me thinking that if anything the Germans might be even more Health and Safety conscious than our good selves!!

James' impending DJ set provided a welcome excuse to retreat back to the safety of indoors, where he delivered up his first selection of the evening. And then, with a quick blast of My Girls, all too soon it was over, as James handed over the baton to the jovial Phil Kieran and his quirky TV screen glasses, and we had to say our goodbyes and head out onto the cold dark road to Berlin. Avus and Luke Abbott were yet to deliver their musical resolutions, and it really was a shame to have to leave; a couple of photos borrowed from Kat provide my only clue as to what they all got up to once we had left:

(The giant 'K' emblazoned on the wall might initially appear to be tantamount to writing the letter 'E' everywhere during the early 90s, so I do feel at this juncture it is important to point out that it is not intended as a drugs reference: K stands for Kongresshalle, replacing the R of the old Registratur logo in a subtle rebrand to go with the relocation. Honest!)

The cold snap that has engulfed Europe this year might have been well-timed for White Christmas fans, but it hasn't worked at all in our favour, as we faced fog, blizzards, snow, slush and ice, and added an hour to our already tight journey time. Thank goodness for sturdy German auto-engineering and Oliver's confident handling, piloting James to his second appointment as swiftly as was humanly possible whilst the precious DJ cargo slept like a baby in the back seat. He woke up just in time to spot the Avus Motel on the outskirts of Berlin, before readying himself to relieve Akufen from trawling the depths of his record bag as he gamely tried to hold onto the thinning Weekend crowd.

That beloved tower-block-top location might be great for gazing out over the ever-changing Berlin cityscape, but it must be said that it is slightly less so in the cold light of the after-hours break of day, and only the most far-gone of rave zombies could ignore the winter sun's massive glaring hint to head home. But as long as people are still dancing, James is more than happy to play his favourite records at them, and so he obliged with an indulgent alternative gentle selection that he just doesn't get to play out often enough, until the curfew was finally enforced just in time for the first luncheon of 2010.

Trans German Express

2009-12-30T19:41:00.008Z

Christmas might be for kids, but the holiday break has at least allowed us to turn nicely nocturnal in preparation for tomorrow's New Years Eve German marathon: first stop is Munich, to usher in a new decade by proclaiming Happy New Border Community to the assembled crowd at the Alte Kongresshalle:

James Holden will be starting the New Year as we mean to go on, namely with some of that excellent music of his from the relatively early hour of 12.30am (straight after the firework extravaganza, and what better way could there be to kick off your 2010?). And then we will have to love and leave the crowd in the extremely capable hands of special guest and Border Booking buddy Phil Kieran, as well as comrades Luke Abbott and Avus proudly flying the BC flag with a taster of things to come and the rest of the old crew from the sorely-missed Die Registratur club, to party on together well into the first day of the new decade without us.

For James must then set off on a mad dash along the wintery autobahn to arrive in Berlin just in time for his 8am appearance at the Weekend club, where the party will of course still be in full swing from the night before:

And as you can see from the flyer above, the line-up for Weekend's whole !!! 4 Days Off !!! blowout does look pretty tasty, beginning this very evening with Digitalism, with Paul Kalkbrenner, Carl Craig, Akufen, Richie Hawtin, Steve Bug and John Aquaviva all popping by to lend a hand over the following days. So if a spot of Berlin club-hopping is on your agenda to kick off your 2010, do be sure to look in and say hello!

Nathan and Kieran do America

2009-12-14T18:32:00.005Z

He is a busy little bunny at the moment, our Nathan Fake. As I write this he is hopefully catching some much-needed sleep after a jetlagged introduction to his Australian tour, and with a bit of luck he will have fully adjusted to Oz-time by the time this weekend's gigs in Perth, Sydney and Brisbane come around. After that, it is off to Japan, where he will spend an unusual Christmas Day giving Tokyo's Womb club a rather un-festive thrashing, before repeating the process on Boxing Day in Osaka's Triangle.

And the jetsetting continues into the New Year, when Nathan will be heading off on his first ever proper US tour in February under the wing of Mr Four Tet Kieran Hebden, who has signed Nathan up as the US support act on the tour to promote his forthcoming There Is Love In You album (out January 25th on Domino). Nathan couldn't be in better company for his two week Stateside jaunt: a full list of dates follows, whilst Domino's US website ought to be able to point you in the right direction for your all-essential ticket purchases.

Four Tet / Nathan Fake North American tour dates
17th February : LPR, New York, USA
18th February : Sala Rossa, Montreal, Canada
19th February : Empty Bottle, Chicago, USA
20th February : Mohawk, Austin, USA
23rd February : Chop Suey, Seattle, USA
24th February : Biltmore, Vancouver, Canada
25th February : Doug Fir, Portland, USA
26th February : Independent, San Francisco, USA
27th February : Echoplex, LA, USA

The observant among you may notice that those are by and large band venues rather than the clubs where Nathan is normally booked to play, so it will be extremely interesting to see what a gig-crowd makes of this. A little hamster informs me that Kieran's new Four Tet album is also of a decidedly danceable bent, so I do hope that the audience is obliging in that respect!

UK readers based in Brighton, Sheffield, Birmingham and Bristol will be pleased to learn that Nathan Fake is also the added extra when the Four Tet tour swings round their way in March, and since tickets are already on sale, here is a full list of those dates:

Four Tet UK tour dates (with support from Nathan Fake)
17th March : Concorde 2, Brighton
18th March : Plug, Sheffield
19th March : Custard Factory, Birmingham
20th March : Fiddlers, Bristol

The Four Tet UK tour also takes in London, Manchester, Leeds and Edinburgh, and although Nathan won't be with him, you might be treated to support shows from Rocketnumbernine, Joy Orbison or Pantha Du Prince instead, depending on how well you can decode the slightly confusing graphic below. So I'm guessing you will probably want to buy a ticket anyway:

Plasticity

2009-12-09T14:11:00.003Z

We all need to put our heads together and get looking for some fresh new London party options for next year, as the sad truth that you may have already heard is that Kieran Hebden's pitch-perfect Plastic People shakedown is coming to an end this Friday 11th December. What is even sadder is the fact that I can't make this end of an era, although since I'm heading off to Rome's Goa Club with James Holden and Luke Abbott I probably shouldn't complain too much! But you, on the other hand, simply must go in my place, and be sure to pick up your own copy of the exclusive free mix CD that Kieran is giving out to all last night at the Plastic-proms attendees while you're there:

A Kieran Hebden one-night exclusive that is not available in the shops, the mix is made up of his own brand of idiosyncratic Plastic People hits from the parties of the past year, and is about as "essential" as the music-for-dancing-to scene gets. And if I'm really nice to Kieran, hopefully he will save us one under the counter...

Otherwise I'll have to wait until January 22nd to catch up with Kieran's sounds in person, when he'll be heading up the Eat Your Own Ears takeover of Fabric's Room 2; and there isn't much chance of me missing this session, as our own James Holden is playing too! Gold Panda and Floating Points complete the line-up, whilst a foray into the other rooms may not prove altogether disappointing with the likes of Erol Alkan, Riton, Mystery Jets and Filthy Dukes stepping out for the evening. This will be James' first appearance at Fabric since before The End days, a fact which has caused a few inquiring eyebrows to be raised across the web: but let me assure any concerned parties that amongst this Hebden-hand-selected busting-out-of-the-box Friday night eclection James feels quite at home.