Monday, January 30, 2006

a history of cut'n'paste revisited ...

... and another mangled albatross squawking its last? maybe ...

anyway, i've just added pdf versions of my extended history of the cut'n'paste genre, which was published by (the now sadly defunct) big daddy and grand slam magazines between 2002-3 (see below to get the downloads). the articles got an incredible response, were translated into japanese (for collider magazine) and variously (maybe appropriately) 'bootlegged' across the interweb. however, the full piece was never seen again, and due to the emails i *still* get about one part or another, i thought it was time to make it properly available once more.

thinking back to the number and range of artists i interviewed for the history - steinski, albert cabrera of the latin rascals, danny krivit, omar santana, coldcut, dj shadow, dj format, kan takagi of major force, amongst others - i remember what a true labour of love it was, and at the same time, how little i wanted to deal with it after it was finished. a certain artist wanted a 'part 4' to dispute some of the information his partner had given me in interview; more positively, others encouraged me to expand it into book format. but to me the final edit had been glued firmly into place, and the reel was back in its tin where it belonged.

the pdfs lack the pictures which appeared in the magazines, but i'll endeavour to get some of them up here before too long. in any case, the folk at the mags managed to get most of the captions wrong if i remember correctly! but god, do i miss those publications. remember the sub-line for big daddy? 'in depth hiphop, funk, soul, graffiti and b-boying culture'. not to mention the weed review pages! i stopped buying magazines after it got f***ed. and no bloody wonder.


  • cut up or shut up - a history of cut'n'paste part 1

  • a history of cut'n'paste pt 2

  • a history of cut'n'paste pt 3

  • the cutography - a cut'n'paste discography
  • a trailer, a movie, a gig, and a dj set from me



    so, this is the trailer for a film about glasgow band quinn, who discovered they were highly popular in the war-torn land of serbia, went there, played a few gigs, and found life could never be quite the same again. this friday 3rd february the film of the trip is showing at the east kilbride arts centre, after which there will be a set from quinn themselves, then a dj set from yours truly. hey, the 'rebirth' continues apace!

    actually, it was through an earlier incarnation of the band that i first started djing, after plaguing bal (the drummer/producer) for months. he had a pair of shady belt drive turntables and a mixer, and i had the records and the arrogance to think i could beat-match on them. several years and further collabos in such salubrious spots as galashiels, dundee and perth later, and we're still working together ... beautiful.

    after feeling like i got a bit too thugged out at the last quinn film showing, it may be time to indulge in a bit more of a freestyle set, perhaps sequencing some kind of tribute to the great rock pioneers of east kilbride - the jesus and mary chain, early primal scream, eh ... well, surely that's enough for any small town. but given i'm doing the last slot, there may be pressure to try and keep people in the building. dammit...

    more info on the gig here.

    Saturday, January 28, 2006

    i don't like it unless it's brand new ...

    ... which this certainly isn't. putting this mix together as a christmas present for friends in december '04, i didn't realise it would signal my last sustained outburst of creativity for over a year. i am but now slowly slinking out of its shadow. the first time i stitched together turntable routines with a few of my own edits and remixes on the pc, all my previous mixes being onto cassette, it all just seemed to have the perfect dynamic. as a dj my cutting and juggling skills will always be more coarse than sophisticated, but maybes i make up for the inadequacies in the forgotten arts of selection, sequencing and timing.

    well anyhoo, i put it here wondering if the late '04 reference points will date it or whether there's enough gold in there to keep it shinin. up it goes. a chance then to move on, and shine up some new records, and new old records, and old old 'n all, and get on the mix again.

    left click on the podcast logo to stream in a new window, or right click to download.

    Friday, January 27, 2006

    the here and now

    ... not fanfaring the loss of my blogging cherry with anything other than saying benji b's 'deviation' is just about the dopest radio show out there. proper freestyle underground with soul. don't sleep - i'm not right now and i'm blaming benji.

    should be taking advantage of this during the wakeful hours, but it just sound so much better on the dab.