Somewhere in either my loft or in Joel’s house (or possibly in that mysterious netherworld where lost things go) there is a minidisc. It is dark red/purple and has something scrawled on it- possibly ‘Irwin Maxx’ or ‘beats for Jonny’ or something like that. There may be a green one as well. Anyway, it/they feature/s a whole load of Ian Murphy’s finest beats and I fear they are lost forever. He doesn’t have them anymore. He spilt a cup of tea on the original disc. Ian has been a mate since we were young’uns and is primarily remarkable for growing a beard before anyone else I knew (by about 4 years). I first became acquainted with his musical skills on New Year’s Eve 1999, when I spent the evening freestyling to the seemingly unending selection of bangers emanating from his MPC. A couple of Michaelis tracks resulted (one is, like the minidiscs, lost forever), but his two tracks on ‘Life on the Ground’- ‘Photophobia’ and ‘Blue lights’ are two of my favourite all time beats.
Ian is now releasing music as Hobo Sonn. I have very few reference points at all to help me describe his sound. The best I can do is: Hobo Sonn sounds like the soundtrack to an early David Lynch movie. Its intriguing and oddly compelling. I like listening to it but I'm not sure I totally get it. Then again, since I met him, he’s always been about three steps ahead of me, so I’m sure one day I’ll catch up.

Favourite collaboration: ‘Blue Lights’
(listen on the music player on the Barrowclough page- http://www.zangproductions.co.uk/roster/barrowclough/ )

Other listening: Wary the mind/swarm EP (you can listen to tracks on http://www.rottenslushy.co.uk/available.html )

"I just wasn't prepared to join the system".

Even Rupert Murdoch sees himself as a kind of rebel. More proof that our system relies on the individual's image of himself as a rebellious outsider, even if he's one of the richest men in the world.  Adam Curtis's "A Short Film About Rupert Murdoch".

www.youtube.com/watch

2001. DJ Log’s bedroom. Michaelis Constant band practice. Joel tells us something about some bloke from West Heath who just won a competition remixing a track for Ty or something. He sticks on a cassette. The first track is really just a dirty, distorted double bassline. Maybe some drums are in there somewhere. Funny thing is that it literally compels you to rap. ‘Who’s this dude?’ someone asks. Eliot Best.

Eliot has gone by a number of nom de plumes over the years but Nightstalker 5000 seems to have stuck. Some people simply loop some instruments and cobble them together like that’s a major feat. Eliot crafts beats. His love for 80s electro pop and horror movie soundtracks seem to be appropriate reference points, but really its just hiphop how it should be done.

He is ½ of the Custodians and provided about half of the beats on ‘Life on the Ground.’ He’s a generous fellow as well, so if you’re dope and want a beat, you may be in luck. The perfect match, for me, though would be if a certain Daniel Dumile would give him a call. A DoomStalker 5000 album would be ridiculous.

Favourite collaboration: ‘Centre of the Universe’
(listen on the music player on the Barrowclough page- http://www.zangproductions.co.uk/roster/barrowclough/ )

Other listening: Eliot’s soundcloud page (start with ‘banger 101’)
http://soundcloud.com/eliotbest

At last! Someone's decided to take the time to list their nine favourite unsuccessful albums. Well here it is folks...

1. Captain Beefheart - Shiny beast (Bat Chain Puller)

Supposedly part of his less interesting period, Shiny beast actually represents Beefheart at his peak. All of his albums live in the shadow of the impenetrable Trout Mask Replica, which Beefheart himself admitted went too far. This penultimate album shows him at his most accesible, and arguably displays the perfect balance of pop and avant garde weirdness.

2. Bob Dylan - Shot of Love

The 80s meet Bob Dylan’s critically reviled Christian era. Chronologically, Shot of Love suffers from coming after some real stinkers (ie Saved) and has been subjected to the same vitriol. But in fact Shot is a fine album, signalling a return to form for His Bobness, including as it does such gems as Every Grain of Sand, In the Summertime and the anthemic Property of Jesus.

3. Cat Stevens - Teaser and the Firecat

Proof that good songwriting can transcend twee production. Cat Stevens will never be regarded in such high regard as earnest songwriters such as Leonard Cohen or Kurt Cobain but his songs are simple, sweet and consistently good.

4. Adam Green - Friends of Mine

Disappointed a lot of Green’s fans as it was a bit of a tangent from the Anti-folk sound he’d helped to pioneer. Gone were the hissing Lo-fi recordings and in with lush, though simple, strings and crystal clear guitars and vocals swathed in reverb. Some argued that he’d sold out, I just feel that he’d identified a different problem with modern music, that of the gushingly ernest sickly indie anthems by the likes of Coldplay, Snow Patrol and The Killers, and decided to make a very restrained, almost twee, sounding album.

5. Blackalicious - Blazing Arrow

A personal favourite, this is Blackalicious’ finest hour. They pulled out all the stops to create an album that gives hiphop’s boundaries a final push, just before the genre began its decent into irrelevance. On the wrong side of 2000, it did not acheive the fame it deserves. Featuring Gil Scott Heron and Ben Harper and introducing Lyrics Born to a wider audience. Just when you think it can’t get any better, Saul Williams pops up!
Its a very musical record for a hip hop LP and all the interludes are well integrated so they don’t get annoying.

6. Bran Van 300 - Glee

Everyone knows their song Drinkin in LA. It became quite a big hit after it was used on an advert for Rolling Rock beer in the late 90s. Its a crying shame that most people’s knowledge of this band does not extend beyond that point. The album it came from, Glee, is wildly experimental, varied and colourful. This album has probably influenced the sounds of Waler more than anything else.

7. The Beatles - Magical Mystery tour.

Not as well-regarded as say Sgt Peppers or Abbey Road but this one’s got all the best songs: I Am The Walrus, Blue Jay Way, Hello Goodbye... I could go on. I also toyed with listing Yellow Submarine. Far from just a novelty album, it contains some moments of genuine progressive psychedlia that, as usual, were decades ahead of their time. Just listen to It’s All Too Much.

8. Public Enemy - Apocalypse ’91

Perhaps they were repeating themselves by this point. It is a very similar sounding album to its predecessor - Fear Of A Black Planet - but tunes like Nighttrain and the alternative version of Bring The Noize with metal band Anthrax are just completely explosive.

9. Material - Temporary Music

This debut album by ZE Records (Kid Creole & The Coconuts, Was (Not Was) and John Cale) group, Material, sounds a bit weird when you first hear it but its one of the best creepy no wave disco albums I can think of (and there were quite a few!). I think perhaps their lack of popularity, even today, could be attributed to their roving palette of sounds. To me this is a bonus, but it does make them harder to define. Bands like ESG and Was (Not Was) fair much better because, although they’re just as avant-garde, their aesthetic is fairly consistent.

In 1999, while I was DJing at some dirty basement venue at Birmingham University, Joel told me that DJ Pelt had agreed to work with us to make the first Michaelis album. He might have well have said that Michael Jackson would be doing it. I can honestly remember few moments of such intense delight.

Just to explain: in my mind at that time there were only two types of music in existence- American hiphop and British hiphop. American hiphop generally sounded better, but had the distinct disadvantage of being more popular. Its British cousin was my favoured variety. Perpetually overlooked as a result of a total lack of airplay and the awkwardness of the majority of British regional accents, British hiphop was the plucky underdog, the upcoming challenger, the Bolton Wanderers of world music. And Pelt WAS British hiphop. Sitting proudly next to my Cash Crew, Gunshot and NSO Force 12”s was 499’s ‘Still Waiting’ EP featuring the classic ‘499 is here’. The MC was nice, but it was the rasping drum breaks and urgent horns that made it. And the producer was one DJ Pelt. And I got to make the best part of 2 albums with him.

A quiet, thoughtful chap, with an encyclopedic knowledge of hip hop history, Pelt is an artist who deserves much more recognition for his skill. He has continued to work with 499’s MC, Logic, particularly with Section 13, and my best bet would be that at this very moment he is poring over dusty jazz records looking for that perfect break. I hope he finds it.

Favourite collaboration: Michaelis Constant- Parasites in Paradise
(listen on the music player on the Barrowclough page- http://www.zangproductions.co.uk/roster/barrowclough/ )

Other listening: 499- ‘499 is here’
http://youtu.be/meFQjsarrIQ