16th March 2016
This week's Staff Pick comes from the man, the myth, THE LEGEND... The one and only Kenny White aka 'Ken You Feel It'. If you've visited the shop in the past two years, you've probably had the pleasure of meeting this friendly Glaswegian. He started off as an intern and quickly rose though the ranks to become one of the most essential members of the Phonica crew and now that he's moving on to greener pastures we can't put into words how much we're all going to miss him... but before we all start crying our eyes out and drowning our sorrows in his secret stash of buckfast (yep... we found it) we wanted to give him the opportunity to shake up the Staff Pick Of The Week with a selection of his favourite records he played across the shop soundsystem during his time behind the counter.
"Phonica Records can be a strange place to work. When the rush and bustle on the streets of central London spills into, what is typically, the relaxed, slower pace of a record shop it makes for a completely unique union of atmospheres. Combined with the lay out of the shop; the wide service area of the counter / listening stations and the vast, customer facing wall of new records that creates a constant "kid in sweetshop" vibe for feverish shoppers fighting over the last copies of whatever, at peak times things can a bit...manic.
These records, for the most part, are ones that have sat in filing for a good percentage of my time here and i have played over the system consistently. Predominantly, energizing and uplifting, they are records that I could rely on in the manic times and ones that I will forever associate with working at the shop. Most of my colleagues will be sick to death of hearing these by now but perhaps in my absence they will find themselves reaching for them now and then." - Kenny White
The opening track on a timeless house LP. I would often refuse sale of this album when playing it over the system, requesting the customer to let it play out (sorry Simon).
This one just cheers everyone up. Take the journey!
I have actually sickened myself with this album. I'll come back to it in a year or two.
Probably the record I have listened to most in the shop, although my love for it permeates the work place. It seems to have the ability to calm, as well as energize. All time.
Most of my choices on this list are either part of an amazing album or just pretty long individual tracks. This is because it gives you time to get shit done in between flipping the record. This is an exception on the basis that it is just a complete stoater.
One from the early days. One day the boss of Irdial Records came in the shop and asked me to play him ONE new record that I thought was truly great, that would make him involuntarily take the money out of his pocket. I played this whole EP over the system and he just stood there with a smile on his face. When it finished, he thanked me, took the record, gave me a tenner and the name of the website where he had uploaded all of the Irdial back catalogue. That was on like my third week here or something.
On many an occasion I've made a right twat of myself dancing, and singing, to this one. However, in most cases, I have not been the only one.
16th March 2016
Another month, another classy mix from the Phonica crew to showcase the best records around at the moment! Highlights this month include the opening track off of the outstanding Andy Bey reissue by Be With Records, Some excellent Ethio-Jazz courtesy of Mr Bongo, Red Axes remixing the legendary Lena Platonos, Hieroglyphic Being reinterpreting the Norwegian Disco Don that is Prins Thomas, A beastly jam from Four Legs on Trilogy Tapes and finally some dusty House grooves from WC0016 & Abono on ALLISANDNOT. Make sure to follow us on soundcloud to stay up to date with the podcast, the mix series and the newly launched Phonica Premieres! Full tracklist after the jump, just click the track titles to be redirected to each release page.
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TRACKTRACK:
1. Are & Be - The sound of the Memory [BBE Music]
2. Andy Bey - Celestial Blues [Be with Music]
3. Teshome Meteku - Hasebe [Mr Bongo]
4. Chi - Kuhl [Astral Industries]
5. Prins Thomas - Hieroglyphic Being Remix [smalltown Supersound]
6. Lena Platonos - Witches (Red Axes Remix) [Dark Entries]
7. Mr G - Platonic Solids No.5 [Phoenix G]
8. Four Legs - Aguirre [The Trilogy Tapes]
9. Wc0016 & Abono - Untitled [AllisandNot]
10. Q3a - B2 [Delsin]
11. Doneck - Assaz [Ocluso]
12. Fluxion - Oblique [Subwax]
14th March 2016
Extemerely proud to hear Al Zanders aka Lodger's 'I Don't Want You To Judge' off of KARAKUL003 sneak it's way into Leon Vynehall's Essential mix! Click the image down below to hear the mix and follow Karakul on Facebook to keep up to date with the label.
11th March 2016
We're launching a brand new feature at Phonica where we will be premiering forthcoming releases that we really love. These releases will be promoted through all of our social media channels and it will be the first time these tracks have ever been heard in full. Finally you will also be able to pre-order these records ahead of their official release date!
Up first is the fourth release from Phonica's very own Souhail (Soho) and Ben (BLM) aka The White Man & The Arab. Sword Dance hears the duo drop the bpm to a chugging 110 and mix in swirling middle eastern strings & vocal samples to conjure up visions of a mystical desert landscape. It's a heady, slow burner but definitely packs the punch! It's a great track to warm things up at the beginning of the night or wind things down at the very end. There's also a meditative vibe to the track that makes it perfect to listen to on your own at home as well. Click -->here<-- to listen to the rest of the EP and reserve your copy now. You can also keep up date to all things The White Man & The Arab by following them on Facebook & Soundcloud.
9th March 2016
This week’s #CoverOfTheWeek could feature no other than the bewitchingly beautiful 1983 'Utakata No Hibi' by Yasuaki Shimizu's experimental band Mariah. A true holy grail of '80s Japanese synth music, this captivating sleeve by Ira Okudaira has been desired by the choicest western collectors for years.
Good news is that the guys behind the New York imprint Palto Flats have managed to reissue this amazing collection of synthy soundscapes that range effortlessly from new wave to avant-garde to pop. The double 12″ has been remastered and the inner sleeves have been redesigned to include English translations of the LP's lyrics, sung in alternating Armenian and Japanese. A very special record that 'only' took 33 years to reach our shores. The wait has certainly been worth it!
#CoverOfTheWeek06 #PhonicaCOTW
3rd March 2016
This month we’re joined by a producer & DJ that we’ve been a huge supporter of here at Phonica over the years. If you’re one of our regulars, you’ve definitely seen his records up on our wall whether he’s throwing down for Phil South’s Golf Channel Recordings, Eric Duncan’s Keep It Cheap, the always on point ESP Institute or his very own My Rules imprint which has supplied some of our favourite edits and remixes in recent times including the outstanding remixes of Todd Terje’s Inspector Norse & Strandbar and most recently The Creams' ‘Let’s’. Before embarking on his solo career Justin Van Der Volgen was also part of the ‘post-punk-funk’ outfits ‘!!!’ (pronounced ‘chk chk chk’) and ‘Out Hud’. While he was with the bands Justin produced each album which definitely helped him hone his ‘rough and ready’ production methods that we just can’t get enough of! Today the Brooklyn based producer throws down a seamless blend of uplifting House and Disco to welcome in the spring season! Enjoy!
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Hey Justin! How are you doing and what have you been up to lately?
Hi, thanks for inviting me to do a mix. I've been up to the usual lately, going to the studio during the week working on remixes and productions and then djing on weekends.
Tell us a little bit about the mix you’ve prepared for us today?
The mix was recorded last week at my studio in Bed Stuy using a UREI 1620 mixer, some old CDj 200's and one Technics 1200. No crazy concept behind it, its mainly new music with a couple older things that i thought fit.
What's been inspiring you these days?
Inspiration comes from everywhere, new music, old music, good food, kung fu movies, comedy, skate videos, coffee, hanging out with friends, talking with my girlfriend. I was recently roped into joining a Wednesday night bowling league by my friends and DJ's The Almond Brothers and find the bowling alley a pretty interesting mix of society.
You're an acclaimed remixer and even Gerd Janson said he might need to "cut my own hands off" to stop from reaching for one your edits. Do you have any favourite remixes from other artists at the moment?
Thats nice of Gerd to say, gonna have to thank him for that. I like this new remix that Will did.
You've been living in NYC for a while and your name is synonymous with the city's music scene. What would you recommend checking out if you were visiting the city?
I've been in NY for 15 years now, and there is so much to do here. As far as nightlife, you can find everything from small intimate jams to the more big room style clubs. Last weekend I went to a house party in the East Village where my friends Moontan were DJing, It was a top level apartment, a total DIY setup, the door charge was 5 bucks and they had a homemade bar. It was completely packed and going off. It went late and there were no problems with the cops. Whatever your interested in is here, you just need to look for it.
You've collaborated with many different artists over the years, are there new projects we can look forward to?
Slowly working to finish up some Happy Family stuff with Eric Duncan and would be great to do some more things with Doug Lee as TBD but I think all of us are pretty busy on our own so I'll just have to see how things go.
...and your solo output? We're huge fans of the My Rules Imprint!
Yes, really looking forward to releasing more My Rules records this year, just had The Creams record come out in January, the next one is scheduled for early June.
We know you're a real digger and always mixing up dusty finds with new jams, care to share a recent discovery?
E. Live - Flotational Device. This is a record from the last 6 months but sounds old. It's a 7" on the Star Creature label that I think is from Chicago. It has really good keys and could be described as "funky and jazzy" in the best way.
TRACKLIST:
