Blog
Music For Quarantine (Pt2): Dream Attack
Confinement obliged I’ve spent some time exploring new corners of the house lately, and that included going through some long neglected CD shelves and boxes. Found a few gems and many a memory along the way (Mazzy Star! Silver Jews!) and made this laid back lil’ mix out of it.
Sounds of Our Times – Music For Quarantine
Just over a couple weeks ago, I was asked by Christina Hazboum of Marsm Arts (the company with whom we toured Palestine in July 2019 in a cultural exchange between the UK and Palestine) and the lovely chaps at Rhythm Passport to put a mix together. Christina’s hometown in Palestine, Bethlehem, had already been in lockdown for a couple weeks, and soon the whole world would be in a similar situation.
100 X 100m Swim Set
On Saturday 07th of December I was “invited” to participate in a 100 x 100m charity swim event. In an outdoor 50m lido on the southern side of the river (!) on a freezing December morning in London. This begs the immediate questions: what kind of invitation is this??
What kind of friends do I surround myself with??
2018 – My Year In Music
Starting with the party scene, Beauty & the Beat has been the source and inspiration for 2 brand new, Klipschorn based parties, one in Paris called Sweet Apric∞ts, and the 2nd one in Sheffield called Apricot Ballroom Sound System.
Guest Mix for Ransom Note
Towards the end of 2019 I was invited by the music blog Ransom Note to deliver a mix to add to their series “The Wednesday Alternative”. As always it’s an eclectic affair, which goes from ambient to kraut rock cosmic funk to island disco to upfront gwoka, deep cadence and some more.
You can read the accompanying interview and download the mix here.
XTERRA WORLD CHAMPS MAUI 2018
In 2009 I was a youthful and wide-eyed triathlete, landing in Maui for my first experience of the island (and my 2nd xterra ever). I’d flown in with my steel framed Kona Caldera mountain bike and aluminium wheels (must have weighted about 12 kg at least), and within a couple of days was sent out to climb the mighty Haleakala volcano alongside Julie Dibens, Paul Davis, Llewelyn Holmes and a couple of others. Of course the rear wheel exploded halfway up the climb, and -the rear brake being nonoperational- I crashed heavily on the treacherous lava rocks on the way down, rendering swimming in the Pacific for the following couple of weeks with open wounds into an absolute nightmare. Schooling days!
XTERRA ROMANIA 2018
Yes yes, as you can see, this is a race report, despite the fact that I officially retired from racing last September, that I have barely trained in the meantime, that…well there were countless good reasons to stop (tired body, better things to do etc), but surely there has to be a ‘come-back’ before calling it quits for real?
2017 – A Year In Music
On a personal level, 2017 will remain as the year I stopped being an elite triathlon racer (my last ever race was completed in September in Barcelona). As a result I found myself with 15 to 20 hours of ‘spare’ time every week, which I can now dedicate to M.U.S.I.C. Expect to see me DJing a lot more in clubs/venues outside of the trusted BEAUTY & THE BEAT and BRILLIANT CORNERS events. Expect more from the label too, which has seen 2 releases this year but will surely take up more of my time in the coming months. Expect also a return of me fiddling around with music softwares, who knows.
New Record Out – Beauty Bits Vol. 1
While we’re awaiting the 3rd release on BATB Records, we have started Beauty Bits, a sub label dedicated to re-edits/reworks. This will be strictly limited to those special edits that go further than just looping a few bars in the intro/outro, edits that not only reinvent the originals, but also which have been tried and tested on the dance-floor.
To kick off we have released a pair of edits of mine which have been sitting in my hard drive for almost a decade! Big up to Rune Lindbaek and Belle Bete for the early support on Harer Nama, and to Frankie Valentine to whom I gave a wav of What Have We Done? in 2007 or so, and who has since been giving me multiple nudges to put this on wax. Well, here it is, in all its glory, and full mastered by Matt Colton @ Alchemy Mastering!