What a week! Hot on the heels of Samhain, and just before Magusto, the weather gods here on the Iberian Peninsula are really putting on a show. The rain is torrential, there are all manner of storm warnings, and — after 17 years in the godforsaken northern territories of Ewrop — I’m finally getting to enjoy real weather again. Watching the mountains in the distance as they disappear and reappear by the hour has made me shed a tear on multiple occasions.

Music for the Periphery.The first in an irregular series of compositions exploring the outer edges of electronic and experimental sound by North East multidisciplinary artist David Kenney. Tracklist Robert Lax, Nicolas Humbert, Carina Khorkhordina, Miki Yui - Where do I begin part 4 Dj Gilb'r & Dj Sotofett - Concrete Guajiro Roomful of Teeth - Courante Katatonic Silentio - Murmurs Beneath.

It’s been a slow week on the blog front — sorry, but I’m not paid for this. The prodigal son’s turned up from Berlin, and we’re going to wander around the mountains while he waxes lyrical about Deutschrap and rating his favourite kebab shops. I still love you though, dear reader — so here’s my tippity-top five for this week. x…

Friends, Romans, Country Fans, It’s been a stressful old week here, and I’ve not had a massive amount of time to enjoy new — or even old — music. Like any true fan, I’ve also been dedicating an awful lot of my time to basking in the light that is D’Angelo (RIP). Nonetheless, there are some other lovely bits of music I want to share with you — and, of course, a killer D’Angelo concert, which you will watch in its entirety!

Music comes and goes. There’s good music, there’s mediocre, and there’s bad. But if you live long enough, every so often something comes along that’s truly life-changing — music that shakes the foundations of who you thought you were; that drags you, kicking and screaming, downriver like an underwater current to somewhere you never imagined you’d end up. Now, I write a lot about rave culture, acid house and other related bits on this blog, but in 1995, when D’Angelo released…

Another week passes by. It’s 28ºC here, and I’m still in shorts. I’m not complaining, but it’s a little odd. I suppose, as long as Taylor Swift can fly for 14 minutes on her private jet, it’s worth it if we never see the rain again. I mean, who needs fruit? Not me — I sustain myself entirely on cake.

Going Back To The Unknown by SDK Going Back to the Unknown, released on All City, is the result of a collaboration between post-punk and experimental music pioneer Stano (The Threat), whose anthology Content to Write in I Dine Weathercraft was released on All City’s archival label Allchival in 2018, and singer-songwriter David Kitt (also known as New Jackson).

Aye aye chicken pie! Pinch punch, first Friday of the month? I dunno, here's a little rundown of my favourite bits this last week... Rafeal Toral – Measurement of Noise My absolute favourite track from Rafael Toral’s 2020 album Violence of Discovery and Calm of Acceptance: soft, undulating drones that grow strange and sinister. Violence of Discovery and Calm of Acceptance by Rafael Toral…

Read Time: 5min Originally released in 1994, the Sabres’ follow-up to the previous year’s debut, Sabresonic, reached No. 57 in the UK album charts — significantly lower than its predecessor. However, I would argue it’s the best album they ever released. Formed as a three-piece (Andrew Weatherall, Jagz Kooner, Gary Burns) in 1992, The Sabres of Paradise emerged from the Sabresonic warehouse parties.

Hello again — it’s been a long time (I shouldn’t have left you, without a dope beat to step to). So here are my five tippedy-top tunes for this week: Cerys Hafana – Carol Mynydddog Physically, I’m sitting in a town in northern Portugal, on the veranda, staring out at the Marão mountain range in the distance, tears streaming down my face.

Dydd Gwener!!!!! The weekend has landed, this chubby middle-aged man has eaten his body weight in roast fish, and the sun is blastin’. As good a reason as any to revisit some early Apocalypse Now-sampling Jungle brilliance from the mighty Tom and Jerry!

It’s Thursday afternoon, 28 °C here, and I’m baking some Laugenstangen while listening to modernist dub deeper than the Mariana Trench, courtesy of Ghost Dubs. Released last year on The Bug’s Pressure label, it’s minimal, spectral, and about as deconstructed as you can get. A phantom in my headphones.

Dydd Mercher, and it’s a stunner here: 25 °C, one cloud in the sky — “Nimbo cumulo” vibes for all you Fast Show fans (showing my age here) — and I can see all the way out to Serra do Marão. So, in that spirit, let’s enjoy a gorgeous bit of ethereal soul-jazz noodling from Bobby Lyle’s 1978 album, New Warrior.

Dydd Mawrth. It’s a beautiful day in the valley, and I’m enjoying this trancedance tape‑house belter from the inimitable Timothy J. Fairplay. Saturated drums, beautiful melodies, and darkly weirdness—what more could you ask for?

Hard to believe this one’s nearly a decade old! I remember the first time I heard it was on the dancefloor at Griessmühle (RIP). After eight years of living in Berlin at the time, words cannot express how bored I was with Berlin techno. Hearing this was like being 17 again, dropping acid-laced Mitsis at locals-only dub nights at the Commi Centre on Cowley Road, surrounded by old dudes supping Guinness and local rudeboys. A track that marries metallic industrial power with the Looney-Tunes dancehall of Mister Vegas or Vybz Kartel — and a massive breath of fresh air.

Great footage of the early computer work of Lillian F. Schwartz. There's some great incidental music in there too.

Dydd Iau. It’s 32°C in my small provincial town, nestled among the magic mountains of northern Portugal. The sky has that misty hue normally reserved for 1970s US road movies. So it seems fitting to be listening to this hazy, wide-angled meisterwerk from the band’s eponymous 2019 album.

I went for a walk down by the river, to a place where ancient rock formations meet the cold concrete of the motorway that cuts through the landscape. It’s not for everyone, but I love it. Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about the tension between the ancient and the modern, and this track—Harvestman: Triptych Part Three by Steve Von Till, brilliantly dubbed by The Bug—feels like the perfect soundtrack.

16 and a bit minutes of mind-melting psychedelic joy from the ever-excellent Lovers and Lollypops. Gorgeous harps, spectral moans, roaring bass filters, and top-drawer drumming from João Pais Filipe. What more could you want on a Tuesday morning?

Back to school, feeling weird. Let’s have some Liquid Liquid-esque dubbed-out funk from Amsterdam's divine Devon Rexi.