Bring out your strobe

So we've been vibing off lots of new sounds so far - and this is one of the best of them. Joe Hart is resident at notorious London underground rave World Unknown and not the Man City keeper. It would obviously be enthralling to discover what bangers the latter would bring out but in the meantime, dig into this ace four hours. It covers balearic, new beat and electronic body music. Get. On. It.
 

Kill everyone now! Condone first degree murder! Advocate cannibalism! Eat shit! Filth is my politics! Filth is my life!

January has been and almost gone in the blink of an eye. That wasn't so bad now was it? What's been happening? There's been bare vibes, big breakfasts, some pints and a lot of music. Here are some highlights...

Oh hello you

Din dins

Tapas

Balling

Chicken town

Pie

Horsey!

Down at the Saatchi Gallery injecting culture into our eyeballs

New business venture - if you don't like chips, then you're not coming in

Hey Ru

Circle Sky in the rave at Sebright Arms

The best bit about Catford

Hunger makes me a modern (wo)man

As a teenager growing up in Rochdale, bands, guitars and music acted as (without sounding like an absolute cheeseball) a bit of a lifeline, a cultural ladder to shimmy up and escape from the shittiness of the town and its vibes. I could hide in my room and immerse me brains in records and it was basically fucking wicked. Classic teenage weirdo. But while many of those groups I loved and devoured were from the UK's north west, there was one which me sen and my crew of fellow geeks totally held dear. Yep somehow three of us got suckered in by the weavy guitars of Sleater Kinney, a punk rock trio from Olympia who dealt in harmonies and slightly uncomfortable musical abrasions. We loved them. Started a fanzine because of them. Saw them play live. Met them. Got their autographs in a cringy kind of way. And eventually fell out over them. Sleater Kinney split, guitarist Carrie Brownstein went on to co-write ace  Portlandia, then they got back together for their (great) No Cities To Love new record in 2015. Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl is Brownstein's autobiography and is an ace take on what it means to be a music fan, before Urban Outfitters started stocking vinyl and the internet made music cheap and easy to come by. Then you had to really care about your bands, follow them, seek them out and give a massive shit. Now there are no secrets anymore.

Here, in the 21st century spirit of sharing and generosity, are some of my fave Sleater Kinney moments...

M magazine @Independent Venue Week w/Circle Sky and Tomaga

So it's that time of year again when our work are doing a gig - and this one should be a stonker with Richard Norris and his new live analogue electronic outfit, Circle Sky.

Here's the blurb and tap us up for tickets...its next Thursday 28 January...

We are excited to announce that Tomaga (Hands in the Dark Records) and Circle Sky (Richard Norris and Dubka) will co-headline our M magazine night at The Sebright Arms, London, on Thursday 28 January 2016, in celebration of Independent Venue Week.

They will be joined by the inimitable record hound DJ Doug Shipton (Finders Keepers/B Music), who will be spinning delectable tunes throughout the night.

Tomaga are Tom Relleen and Valentina Magaletti - a pair of sonic voyagers whose unfettered musical explorations have led them to exciting new territories that loosely incorporate jazz, electronic and psych.

They also make up the rhythm section of psych-rock trio The Oscillation, and between them have played in countless other bands including Neon Neon, Raime, Shit and Shine and Voice of the Seven Thunders – all of which helps inform their unique sound.

We’re really chuffed to have them play at The Sebright Arms to debut their brand new live set. The show follows a brilliant year of mind-blowing sold-out gigs and their critically acclaimed sophomore album Familiar Obstacles.

Circle Sky is the exciting new electronic project from Richard Norris and Martin Dubka. Both have impeccable bleep-heavy CVs; Richard is best known for his work as The Grid and with likeminded music obsessive Erol Alkan as Beyond the Wizard’s Sleeve.

Fellow synth addict Martin Dubka was a member of Kitsune-signed band Cazals but is now more notorious as a knob twister par excellence, tearing up many an East End dancefloor with his acid-drenched machine funk.

The duo are now making beautiful electronic music together as Circle Sky. With 30 tracks already recorded and a huge 2016 on the cards, their gig at The Sebright Arms will be their debut. Expect a live modular meltdown and synth heavy audiovisual assault on the senses.

We’re excited. You should be too.

Tickets are £3 in advance, available from http://bit.ly/1JtRN0R

PRS for Music members can get free entry – apply for your promo code at http://www.m-magazine.co.uk/tickets

Places are strictly limited and are issued on a first-come, first-served basis.

Event details
Date: Thursday 28 January 2016
Venue: The Sebright Arms, 31-35 Coate Street, London E2 9AG

Doors at 7.30pm. Over 18s only.

Check out a Circle Sky preview here...

Strung out on lasers

Well, well 2016 has been a weird year so far, characterised pretty much by death with the likes of Motorhead's Lemmy, actor Alan Rickman and of course David Bowie being taken.

There's been the usual weird out pourings on social media, in the papers and basically fucking everywhere. It adds up to an almost deafening noise, so loud you almost miss the music. So. Enough talk. Dig into this wicked Bowie mix from Optimo...
  

Strung out on lasers and slash back blazers Bowie mix by JD Twitch by Jd_Twitch on Mixcloud

Drop beats, don't drop bombs you nob

January is all 'I'm not doing this' and 'I'm not doing that' and 'I'm gonna do that instead'. So vibes to those who've exchanged lager for quinoa and but vibes to those who've refused to give in. Here's a selection of some of the tastiest squelches to keep us going through the dark months...

I always wanted to be a juvenile delinquent but my parents wouldn't let me

Happy new year people. As is custom at this time of year, the past month of liquids has been one both hard and heavy, particularly as we have gone through Christmas like a hot knife through a delicious loads of cans. Last month it seemed fit to have a drink at literally every moment. Are you eating crisps? Have a pint. Is that a sink you're scrubbing? Here's a gin. Ah so you're sweeping the floor? Enjoy this bottle of Merlot. Here's what we've seen and can't remember. Now it's all about the resolutions, the new dreams and aspirations. We are going to clean the window sill. We might even get the boiler to work. And stop flicking snot around the room. Maybe...

Soz. Fam

The best bit of the supermarket

Way back in

Way back out

Game changing

Work Christmas dinner is served 

Post Xmas Gregg's breakfast - the 2015 bake in all its glory... 

#crapmas

The posh, unaffordable flat in Spaced. At night

So solid brew bruv

Essential xmas reading

Essential xmas drinking. Watch out for the widget crew

Fam going 3d

Silsden after the floods

Ilkey's waterfall. Bit boring

Lost in Ilkey

Trying to find Sue James' box. Even with the map, and the size, we failed to locate the precious box. 

Contemplating a career change

Brap

On the set of Death Becomes Her

Hangover breakfast with a pair of ghosts and a sweetcorn fritter. Spare the fritter

Westwood going in

#newyearnewyou

The monsters were the best friends we had

I love eggs and I love faces. Well I don't really like the latter that much but blending eggs with faces seems to be a real vibe. Now that the work canteen no longer offers scrambled eggs on toast as an option, I've started working from home one day a week so I can get my fix of being a culinary Dr Frankenstein. In doing so, it seems only right that these meals should have personalities, addictions and idiosyncracies. Otherwise, it'd be boring... here's a line up of who we've been eating in 2015...