You're Off Your Bleedin' Rocker

I occasionally take requests, and Mike was itching for a Fujiya & Miyagi selection, so here I am with the proverbial scratch, 45 minutes of Brighton beach motorik.

Not that I'm in any way, shape or form an expert on their music, as today's selection will demonstrate, but what I know, I like very much. 

Formed at the start of the 21st Century, Fujiya & Miyagi released nine albums between 2002 and 2022. According to their agent bio the band is "currently working on their new record which will be released in 2025."

The fact that it's not yet out at least gives me some breathing space to catch up. I missed out on debut Electro Karaoke In The Negative Style and it's companion album Remixes (and have struggled to locate a copy since), coming on board via my friend Stuart's recommendation of Transparent Things in 2006.

I got the following two albums - Lightbulbs (2008) and Ventriloquizzing (2011) - which I think are great, though that's where the trail runs cold for me. 

Therefore, this 11-song selection draws three from each of these albums, a remix by Andrew Weatherall and Keith Tenniswood as Two Lone Swordsmen, plus a brave cover of New Order recorded for a Mojo magazine cover mounted CD around the time of Ventriloquizzing.

As a measure of the consistency and quality of their music, Photocopier, a personal favourite and the lyrical inspiration for the post and selection title, didn't even make the final eleven!

Creating this mixtape has reminded what I enjoy so much about Fujiya & Miyagi and whet my appetite for more. If you're in a similar position of not keeping up with their music, then I hope today's selection has the same effect.

Most of Fujiya & Miyagi's album back catalogue, together with sessions, remixes and one-off tracks, can be found on their Bandcamp page.

1) Hundreds & Thousands (2008)

2) Pterodactyls (2008)

3) Electro Karaoke (Two Lone Swordsmen Remix) (2003)

4) Cylinders (2006)

5) Lightbulbs (2008)

6) Tinsel & Glitter (2011)

7) Ankle Injuries (2006)

8) Your Silent Face (Cover of New Order) (2011)

9) Cat Got Your Tongue (2011)

10) Collarbone (2006)

11) Sixteen Shades Of Black & Blue (2011)

2003: Remixes Sampler EP: 3

2006: Transparent Things: 4, 7, 10

2008: Lightbulbs: 1, 2, 5

2011: Power Corruption & Lies Covered (Mojo magazine promo CD): 8

2011: Ventriloquizzing: 6, 9, 12

You're Off Your Bleedin' Rocker (45:19) (GD) (M)

Disco? Get The Funk Out Of Here!

Side 2 of a C90 cassette that I recorded for Mrs. K on 21st March 2002.

I posted Side 1 in April 2023 and had thought that I'd get around to the follow up a little sooner!

Starting off in fine style with the mighty Barry White, there is no let up as Boney M. then Kool & The Gang get your boogie shoes working.

You wait ages for a bus (stop) then two come along at once! After the recent appearance of the album version of (Are You Ready) Do The Bus Stop by The Fatback Band, here's the single, shorter but no less sweet.

Both Sly & The Family Stone and Curtis Mayfield appeared on Side 1, but it was impossible to limit them to one song each, so they pop up again on this side with a couple of stone cold classics.

As before, I swapped out the single edit of Curtis' contribution for the full length album version; the same with Barry White, for your extended pleasure. I've also replaced the single version  of Van McCoy's The Hustle for the 12" disco mix, to balance out the running times of both sides.

The compilation ends and it starts, with Garnett Mimms & Truckin' Company and What It Is. The vocal single version opened Side 1 and the closer here is the 12" flip side, mostly instrumental with a smattering of backing vocals and a huge dollop of disco glitter.

After two days of upbeat grooves, something a little calmer for Monday....?

1) Never, Never Gonna Give Ya Up (Album Version): Barry White (1973)

2) Sunny (Single Edit) (Cover of Bobby Hebb): Boney M. (1976)

3) Celebration (Album Version): Kool & The Gang (1980)

4) (Are You Ready) Do The Bus Stop (Single Version): The Fatback Band (1975)

5) Fight The Power (Part 1 & 2) (Album Version): The Isley Brothers (1975)

6) Family Affair (Album Version): Sly & The Family Stone (1971)

7) Kung Fu (Album Version): Curtis Mayfield (1974)

8) Get Down Tonight (Single Version): KC & The Sunshine Band (1975)

9) The Hustle (Disco Mix): Van McCoy ft. The Soul City Symphony (1979)

10) Take Me To The River (Album Version): Al Green (1974)

11) Don't Let Love Get You Down (Album Version): Archie Bell & The Drells (1976)

12) What It Is (Part Il) (12" Version): Garnet Mimms & Truckin' Company (1977)

1971: There's A Riot Goin' On: 6

1973: Stone Gon': 1

1974: Explores Your Mind: 10

1974: Sweet Exorcist: 7

1975: (Are You Ready) Do The Bus Stop EP: 4

1975: Get Down Tonight EP: 8

1975: The Heat Is On: 5

1976: Sunny EP: 2

1976: Where Will You Go When The Party's Over: 11

1977: What It Is EP: 12

1979: THe Hustle EP: 9

1980: Celebrate!: 3

Side Two (55:54) (GD) (M)

Side One here

It's Happened Before

If like me you've had a week to forget, then a bevy of beauteous, bouncy beats is just what the doctor ordered....

....as long as the doctor is Dr. Syntax, that is, former Fluke fellows Mike Tournier and Jan Burton, whose remix of AIR-adjacent Gallic gents Mellow gets today's selection off to a rollicking start.

Staying in France briefly, Fred Falke invites German chums Axel Bartsch and Asem Shama aka VanGuard back to stay at his, the results a stuttering, juddering night in the studio.

Purple Penguin was a record shop, a label, a recording artist and a way of life in my beloved birthplace Bristol. Whilst they were never as massive as, er, Massive Attack, Tricky or Portishead, they were purveyors of mighty fine trip hop music, as debut single Passion attests.

The music of Cantoma aka Phil Mison was a relatively recent discovery for me, though the song selected here - a remix of North Shore by London boys Conrad McDonnell and Dan Tyler aka Idjut Boys - was released as a 12" single way back in 2010. Like a Balearic breeze blowing through your mind.

Pet Shop Boys really need no introduction, neither should DJ and producer Danny Tenaglia, but their coming together for a remix of 1996 single Before was really rather inspired. One of my favourite PSB tracks from that period and inspiration for the title of today's selection.

Hot Chip have been circling around in my consciousness since my post on Alexis Taylor's current single on Wednesday. In 2011, Dan Snaith took time out from his Caribou day job to put out music as Daphni. Dan was invited to remix Hot Chip's single Night And Day, a Record Store Day 12" single in 2012 which hits hard and doesn't give up.

The Other Two is a tongue-in-cheek, raspberry-blowing reference to the fact that whilst New Order stalwarts Bernard Sumner and Peter Hook were getting attention for their projects, Gillian Gilbert and Stephen Morris quietly got on with making music of their own. Ashley Beedle is on typically fine form on this dub remix of 1993 single Selfish.

Closing this collection are The Woodentops and, in keeping with today's title/theme, it's happened before. The remix of A Pact by Skyscraper HiFi aka Jon Dasilva and Jonas Nilsson originally featured last March on the Dubhed selection It's A Glamorous World, but that feels long enough ago to justify another appearance here. A chuggy, huggy masterpiece.

I hope that's got the blood flowing and the head cleared. If not, you may require urgent medical assistance!

1) Paris Sous La Neige (Vox Remix By Dr. Syntax) (Edit): Mellow (2000)

2) Back To Stay (VanGuard Remix): Fred Falke (2009)

3) Passion (Vocal) (Single Version): Purple Penguin (1995)

4) North Shore (Idjut Boys Version) (Instrumental): Cantoma (2010)

5) Before (Danny Tenaglia's Underground Mix): Pet Shop Boys (1996)

6) Night And Day (Daphni Mix): Hot Chip (2012)

7) Selfish (The East Village Dub): The Other Two (1993)

8) A Pact (Skyscraper HiFi Remix B): The Woodentops (2025)

It's Happened Before (45:58) (GD) (M)

Sixteen At Thirteen On The Sixteenth

On 16th January 1996, the sixth highest new entry (at #13) in the UK Top 40 was Release The Pressure by Leftfield featuring Earl Sixteen and Papa Dee.

Between the four of them, Neil Barnes, Paul Daley, Earl Daley (no relation) and Daniel Wahlgren created something really rather special and which, thirty years on, sounds as fresh and relevant as ever.

I've got to stand and fight

In this creation

Vanity I know

Can't guide I alone

I'm searching to find

A love that lasts all time

I've just got to find

Peace and unity

As a Friday bonus, here's the original 12" vocal edit from 1992...

...and a more recent tune from Earl Sixteen with Poorman Dub Sound released last August, marking the 50th anniversary of Yabby You’s 1975 classic Run Come Rally.

Blank Birthday

A very happy birthday to Boris Blank, born 15th January 1952. 

His birth certificate says Hans-Rudolf Strickler, his passport says Switzerland, his CV includes artist, composer and, writ large, co-founder of Yello.

As with my birthday tribute to fellow Yello Deiter Meier in 2024, I've tried to steer clear of the Swiss duo's most prominent work for today's selection, focusing instead on Boris' solo endeavours and extracurricular activity.

I realise that in over half a decade of Dubhed, I've yet to post a bespoke Yello selection and that will addressed in due course. In the meantime, here's one of many Yello favourites (song and video) as an aperitif, followed by a half dozen Boris show pieces below. 

Have a bloomin' brilliant day, Boris!

Who's Gone?: Yello (1991)

Baby: Billy MacKenzie (co-written & produced by Boris Blank) (1992)

Musky: Carl Cox (co-produced & mixed by Boris Blank) (1996)

I Feel It Like You: Malia & Boris Blank (2014)

Electrified: Boris Blank (2014)

Escape Route: Boris Blank (2014)

Vertigo Heroes Part I: Boris Blank (2024)

 

 

 

 

 

A Dive Into The Mystery

I confess that it took a while for me to get into Hot Chip on account of Alexis Taylor's vocals. 

Described elsewhere as "clear voiced", for me it was definitely one for the "acquired taste" category. Hot Chip's music was so irresistible though that I'm happy to say that I acquired said taste and, more importantly, grew to appreciate what a great songwriter Alexis is in his own right.

He's about to prove it all over again with his sixth solo album, Paris In This Spring, appropriately enough landing in March.

First out of the door is Out Of Phase, a collaboration with Lola Kirke, whose few songs I've heard to date have been quite definitely contemporary country, with the requisite vocal stylings, so this song seems quite a departure in terms of genre and singing style.

In short, it's a banger. 

In typical Alexis/Hot Chip fashion, rather than an in-your-face dancefloor directive, the passive but short of insidious beats get into your system and your feet may start moving in synch with the music without instruction from your brain. Alexis and Lola's voice complement one another nicely and I've found myself sticking this on repeat.

Great video too, directed by Will Kindrick, and likely to be appealing to John Medd.

Paris In The Spring sees further collaborations with artists ranging from The Avalanches to Air’s Nicolas Godin, Ewan Pearson to Étienne De Crécy, Pierre Rousseau (Paradis) to Pale Bllue's Elizabeth White. 

The one that's got me really excited though is a rare sighting in the wild by Alexis' long-time friend Green Gartside.

There's currently no preview of On A Whim - side 2, track 2 on the vinyl edition - but if their previous collaboration from nearly a decade ago is anything to go by, it'll be pretty wonderful.

 

Steady With The SAULT

It should perhaps come as no surprise that SAULT dropped another surprise new album on Friday (9th).

Titled Chapter 1 - also a characteristic tease of multiple releases in 2026? - it's a brisk, 36-minute, 10-track collection that's every bit as slick and polished as we have come to expect from the...well, no longer so mysterious collective.

And the whiff of familiarity is perhaps both a blessing and a curse on SAULT's 15 (!) album since 2019. For the devoted, Chapter 1 continues to deliver on the promise of previous albums and whilst not with an eye on dominating the airwaves or singles charts, there is something pleasingly reassuring in the overall warm hug of the album.

For the most part, it's business as usual: joining producer Inflo are seasoned SAULT professionals Cleo Sol, Jack Peñate and Melissa Young (formerly known as Kid Sister). Also present and correct is the consummate use of strings, bass and percussion to create a groovy yet heart-tugging soundscape.

On first listen, the lyrics follow a well-ploughed furrow of affirmation and/or devotion, with characteristic repetition of a few - sometimes just a single - line throughout the song. SAULT are canny enough to know how much is enough, so for me at least this never outstays it's welcome and gets boring.

There are no credits on the Bandcamp page accompanying the album, so the only other surprise is reading that US writing and production legends Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis have been involved in the creation of Chapter 1. I've no idea to what extent and, if I hadn't read about it online, I'd never have guessed their presence from a casual listen. 

Chapter 1 is very much follows the SAULT template and any members of the collective fall in line with the ethos rather than stretch or pull it into different shapes.

With the increasing demystification of SAULT, including some less than favourable reviews of their live performance (only their second ever) at the All Points East festival last year, it's reasonable that even the surprise drop of a new album lacks the impact and shock value of their earlier releases.

Which would be a shame and, for all of that, Chapter 1 is a really good album and, compared to previous releases like Earth, AIR and AIIR, is designed for repeat listening. 

Is Chapter 1 likely to be my favourite SAULT album? No. 

It Chapter 1 what we need right here, right now in 2026? Absolutely.

 

Breakin' Down The Walls Of Heartache

I happened upon Smerz via a recommendation by Hifi Sean on Bluesky and I've been hooked ever since.

Catharina Stoltenberg and Henriette Motzfeldt are childhood friends, growing up in Norway, moving together to Denmark to study and then forming a duo to make music. 

The duo have said that the name Smerz is derived from the German word herzschmerz, or heartache in English. As of itself, schmerz translates as pain. In the best tradition of Scandi pop, Smerz songs are infectiously catchy whilst simultaneously unsettling. The videos only enhance the mood.

Third album Big City Life has been joined by an album of edits called, appropriately enough, Big City Life Edits, with Erika De Casier delivering a slowed down, after hours take on floorfiller Feisty.

You Got Time And I Got Money is the song that grabbed Hifi Sean and it takes things down even slower. And the video is just brilliant.

Of the two edits of You Got Time... on the album, the closing VVTZJ Edit featuring Boston, Massachusetts artist Clairo aka Claire Cottrill is the pick for me.

In a stroke of luck, whilst getting the You Tube links to post these videos, I discovered that Smerz are playing three UK dates in April, including one at the Lantern Hall in Bristol. Ticket duly purchased!

You can find this and previous Smerz releases on Bandcamp. I'd also recommend that whilst you're there, you try and buy music by Clairo and Erika De Casier too.

 

Shriekin' And Dancing 'Til 4am

As a post-script to the David Bowie selections, 46 minutes of Tin Machine, featuring David, Reeves Gabrels and brothers Tony Fox Sales and Hunt Sales.

In his comment on Friday's Bowie post, The Swede (of Unthought Of, Though, Somehow) described Tin Machine as "oft derided". Personally, I'd go so far as to say that I was largely indifferent and had pretty much dismissed them before I'd heard a single note.

I was out of love with David at this point - well, the new music he was making, at least - so the prospect of Bowie as just another guy in a rock band did absolutely nothing for me, at a time when I getting deeper and deeper into dance music.

As it happens, one thing David and I did agree on in 1989 was a love of Pixies. I was obsessed with Come On Pilgrim and Surfer Rosa and it appears that their music was hugely influential on Tin Machine's initial sound and album.

Tin Machine pretty much passed me by for the best part of three decades, until I discovered a bootleg of outtakes and unreleased recordings, which encouraged me to go back and actually listen to their music for the first time. I mean, properly listen.

Neither Tin Machine nor Tin Machine II will be up there with the best of Bowie, but they're also not nearly as bad as I'd somewhat sniffily assumed back in the day. I agree with The Swede's reflection that Tin Machine "gave Bowie a much needed kick up the artistic backside, clearing a path for the burst of solo creativity that followed." 

That, and the Sound + Vision tour and album reissues, both of which served as a palette cleanser, an objective reappraisal of what make Bowie tick as a songwriter and performer, and a chance to fall back in love with the creative process of making music. 

Like The Swede, I also prefer Tin Machine II to it's predecessor, it's more melodic leanings apparently being the trigger for the Sales brothers not wanting to continue with Tin Machine, though for Reeves Gabrels, it was the beginning of a long and productive partnership with Bowie.

Today's selection draws from both studio albums, slightly favouring the latter and bolstered with single versions and a BBC Radio 1 session. I've included a trio of outtakes, including Hunt Sales' vocals on the aptly-titled You Better Stop, a 10-second snippet called It's A Hit, and David taking the lead on It's Tough But It's OK. 

Hindsight is a great thing, and the Tin Machine concept arguably remains a soft target for lazy criticism. However, experienced from a distance, it was a vital and necessary step on David Bowie's voyage of (re)discovery and rejuvenation which prevented him becoming just another has-been on the nostalgia circuit. The music that he created in the 1990s and 2000s, culminating in the incredible Blackstar, is testament to that.

1) Bus Stop (Album Version) (1989)

2) You Better Stop (Outtake) (1991)

3) Amlapura (Album Version) (1991)

4) You Belong In Rock 'n Roll (Edit) (1991)

5) Sacrifice Yourself (Album Version) (1989)

6) Baby Universal (Mark Goodier Session) (1991)

7) If There Is Something (Album Version) (Cover of Roxy Music) (1991)

8) Run (Album Version) (1989)

9) Hammerhead (Single Version) (1991)

10) It's A Hit (Outtake) (1991)

11) Working Class Hero (Album Version) (Cover of John Lennon & Plastic Ono Band) (1989)

12) It's Tough But It's OK (Outtake Version 2) (1991)

13) I Can't Read (Album Version) (1989)

14) You Can't Talk (Album Version) (1991)

1989: Tin Machine: 1, 5, 8, 11, 13

1991: Baby Universal EP: 6

1991: Tin Machine II: 3, 7. 14

1991: You Belong In Rock 'n Roll EP: 4, 9

2018: Tin Machine III (bootleg MP3): 2, 10, 12

Shriekin' And Dancing 'Til 4am (46:19) (GD) (M)

Lost In Streams Of Sound

Celebrating David Robert Jones aka David Bowie, 8th January 1947 to 10th January 2016.

Ten years.

Hard to believe, isn't it?

On a personal level, it's hard to believe as I don't think that there's been a week since where a Bowie song or album hasn't popped up on my playlist. Although there has been no new music as such, there have been multiple releases, anthologies, live collections and previously unreleased outtakes that have expanded the legend, without demystifying the man.

There's still so much to discover, rediscover or experience in a whole new way. As Mike put it in his comment on Thursday, Bowie is the gift that keeps on giving.

But I miss him so much. There's been no-one else like him, before or after. 

The third and final of my selections enters the 21st century, beginning with the end. No Plan is one of four new songs that David recorded for the musical Lazarus, the original cast recording receiving a posthumous release nine months after his passing.

There are examples from each of the four albums that Bowie made in this century: Heathen (2002), Reality (2003), The Next Day (2013) and Blackstar, the latter released in 2016 on David's 69th birthday and two days before his passing. Steering his own course, right to the end.

I've also included a couple of songs from Toy, the album that David recorded in 2000 and intended to release in 2001. Record label shenanigans contributed to his departure from Virgin Records and the album remained unreleased until 2022.

A bootleg was leaked online in 2011 and this is the version I have in my collection. My first pick is Afraid, which was revisited and redone for the subsequent follow-up album, Heathen.

My other choice, and bringing this collection full circle, is Conversation Piece. The original 1969 B-side opened the first of my Bowie selections, and it felt right that it should also close the third and final compilation. 

Conversation Piece was one of many from David's 1960s Sixties songbook that he re-recorded for inclusion on Toy, and which did see the light of day on the bonus EP accompanying the limited edition CD of Heathen in 2002.

The bootleg version is an earlier, less polished mix, the drums a little lower, the voice just as wonderful. It's a beautiful remake and a fitting end to my 35 song cycle. 

Bless you, Bowie. Danke, David. 

1) No Plan (2016)

2) Try Some, Buy Some (Cover of Ronnie Spector) (2003)

3) I'd Rather Be High (Venetian Mix) (2013)

4) Safe (2002)

5) Afraid ('Toy' Version) (2000)

6) Sue (Or In A Season Of Crime) (Album Version) (2016)

7) Sunday (Tony Visconti Mix) (2002)

8) The Stars (Are Out Tonight) (2013)

9) I Would Be Your Slave (2002)

10) Never Get Old (Album Version) (2003)

11) Conversation Piece (Re-Recorded Version / Early Mix) (2000)

2002: Everyone Says 'Hi' EP: 4, 7

2002: Heathen: 9

2003: Reality: 2, 10

2011: Toy (bootleg MP3): 5, 11

2013: The Next Day: 8

2013: The Next Day Extra: 3

2016: Blackstar: 6

2016: Lazarus (Original Cast Recording): 1 

Lost In Streams Of Sound (46:54) (GD) (M)

In celebration of the genius of Mr. Jones, I've resurrected links to my previous David Bowie mixtapes so that you can make a weekend playlist, if you wish...

16th May 1999: Femme Fatale Side One / Side Two

9th January 2021: Live Live Live 1974-2000 *

9th January 2024: Love You Till Tuesday

13th April 2025: Worlds Without Words 

* This originally featured as my 11th post on the Dubhed blog, less than a month since it's launch and with no concept that I might still be doing this thing five years later.

At the time, I tended not to keep my Dubhed selection files in any format, but this is one of the few mixtapes that I simultaneously posted to Mixcloud, albeit as a non-download post. 

With a little bit of villainy - and I'm sure Bowie would have appreciated this - I have bootlegged my own mixtape in order to present this Dubhed selection to you again, for the first time sinvce 2021. Enjoy!