It’s John Peel Day and in memory of the great man I was going to upload a snippet from a classic Festive Fifty, but rather appropriately the technology’s not working. Hope to include it on a future Mixless mix, but till then here’s the transcript:

“Cocteau Twins at number 21 in the Festive Fifty, and that’s Love’s Easy Tears. Well, I’m off home obviously to er, play the role of Father Christmas, and I’ll be back on Monday with sessions from Laibach, James, Twang, Stars of Heaven, The Primitives, Miaow and Fourteen Iced Bears, and the Festive Fifty numbers 20 to 11.

I hope you have a good day tomorrow, really I hope that everyday’s good for you. I shall be listening to my compact disc player, which I’ve finally got working after two years – only got three compact discs: New Order, Joy Division and rather surprisingly the soundtrack from Amadeus, but there you are… Have a good Christmas, thanks very much for listening, coming up shortly the midnight news summary. Good night.”

#keepingitpeel

Real Scenes: Bristol from Resident Advisor on Vimeo.

What this mix does is throw together some of the best remixes of xx tracks (there have been many others best avoided), a couple of xx cover versions (ditto), some of The xx’s reworks of other artists, and a few productions and remixes by the band’s own Jamie xx.

Stand by for a new mix soon, and check out some of the other Mixless mixes as there’s been a few since the last blog post.

• Mordant Music – Hummdrumm
• Mujava – Township Funk
• Thriller – BBQ
• The xx – VCR (Four Tet Remix)
• Sub Version – Free To Funk
• Cocteau Twins – Wax and Wane
• Neville Dickie – The Robin’s Return
• Aphex Twin – Bucephalus Bouncing Ball
• Peverelist & Hyetal – Rrrr
• Salem – Sick
• Bauhaus – Bela Lugosi’s Dead
• Kele – Tenderoni (XXXChange Dub)
• LCD Soundsystem – I Can Change (Stereogamous Remix)
• Grandmaster Flash & Melle Mel – White Lines (Don’t Do It)
• Jungle Brothers – In Dayz 2 Come
• The xx – VCR (Four Tet Remix)
• Sub Version – Free To Funk
• Ramadanman – Core
• Burial + Four Tet – Moth
• Bonde Do Role – Marina Gasolina (Fake Blood Remix)
• LCD Soundsystem – Yeah
• Beatmasters – Burn It Up (Acid Mix)
• A Guy Called Gerald – Voodoo Ray (Remix)

There’s been a raft of xx remixes recently and you can count on the ears of one head the number that have been halfway decent. Four Tet shows us how it should done with this hypnotic take on VCR.

Started putting this one together shortly after the August one when I came across John Talabot’s masterful remix of Shelter by The xx – turns out to be very timely what with their well-deserved Mercury prize last night. Talabot also features in his own right, and if I’d known about his mix of Blue Daisy & Anneka’s Raindrops a little sooner, he’d probably have had an unprecedented three tracks in the mix – you’ll have to wait till next time for that one.

We also have: a couple of classic dub tracks, incl. the recently re-released Upsetters’ early drum machine-based Chim Cherie; the much hyped but very worthy of inclusion Teengirl Fantasy; the epic Caribou mix of Silver Columns; and a rework of Roots Manuva. Local Bristol fella Hyetal is definitely one to watch – also check out his newer track Phoenix. El Guincho has a new LP out on Young Turks, but this XXXChange mix is from an earlier EP.

So, mostly recent-ish stuff this time, though you do finally get Mixless set-closer Voodoo Ray… and The Fall at last!

Well the return to blogging didn’t last long…

Let’s try again with a write-up of a recent appearance behind the beloved borrowed decks after three virtual turns on the Mixcloud wheels of steel. At least those Mixless cloudcasts look like they’re appearing on a regular basis with mixes for May, June and July now up for your delectation and August’s offering well on its way…

So, back to real life which a couple of weeks ago saw a handful of Mixless spotters lucky enough to spot Mixless out and about in the Oxfordshire countryside lugging unwieldy plastic crates into an unsuspecting village hall.

Fuelled with fine ales and local gastronomic delights, fired up by the warmth you get when you catch up with long non-seen mates and the feelings you have for absent mates you wish were there, and inspired by a punchy performance from nameless cover band of the moment, the signs were all there for a great night ahead.

And what a night it was.

Right, enough of all that here’s the Mixless – you can find Spotify playlists for Part 1 and Part 2, but Spotify ain’t got it all so for completists here’s the list in full :

• Dandy Livingstone – Rudy, A Message To You
• The Specials – Gangsters
• Dexy’s Midnight Runners – Geno
• Blondie – Heart Of Glass
• The Breeders – Cannonball
• The Mighty Lemon Drops – Like An Angel
• Primitives – Crash
• The House Of Love – Destroy The Heart
• The Jesus And Mary Chain – April Skies
• Dinosaur Jr – Freak Scene
• The Charlatans – The Only One I Know
• De La Soul – Tread Water
• Eric B And Rakim – I Know You Got Soul
• The JBs – Givin’ Up Food For Funk – Part 1
• Maceo And The Macks – Cross The Tracks (We Better Go Back)

A break for some karaoke (no, not me) and some fresh air with mates, then:

• Deee Lite – Groove Is In The Heart (Meeting Of The Minds Mix With Bootsy & Q-Tip)
• Chic – Le Freak
• Beyonce – Crazy In Love (Poj Masta Mix)
• Bassomatic – Fascinating Rhythm (Lisa Loud Mix)
• Prodigy – Out Of Space
• SL2 – Way In My Brain
• House Of Pain – Jump Around
• Blur – There’s No Other Way
• Sugababes – Freak Like Me (Girls On Top We Don’t Give A Damn Mix)
• MARRS – Pump Up The Volume
• Jackson 5 – ABC
• Grandmaster Flash And Melle Mel – White Lines (Don’t Do It)
• Diana Ross – Upside Down
• Madonna – Express Yourself (Shep’s ‘Spressin’ Himself Re-ReMix)
• Neneh Cherry – Buffalo Stance
• Happy Mondays – Step On (Stuff It In Mix)
• Kele – Tenderoni (XXXChange Dub)
• React 2 Rhythm – Intoxication
• Michael Jackson – Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough
• Curtis Mayfield – Move On Up
• James Brown – My Thang
• Beatmasters – Burn It Up (Acid Mix)
• Atlantic Ocean – Waterfall (Original Netherlands Mix)
• Paris Angels – All On You (Perfume)
• 808 State – Pacific State
• Fatboy Slim – Everybody Needs A 303
• LCD Soundsystem – Yeah (Crass Version)
• Florence + The Machine – You Got The Love (Jamie xx Rework feat. The xx)
• Nora Dean – Angie La La
• Baba Brooks – Shock Resistance
• Roland Alphonso – Warlock
• Tommy McCook & The Supersonics Band – Moody Ska
• Roland Alphonso – Tough Talk (Take 3)
• Dawn Penn – Love The One You’re With (Chris Coco Remix)
• Napalm Death – You Suffer
• The Jamaicans – Things You Say You Love
• Tommy McCook & The Supersonic – Bawling People
• Ken Boothe – Everything I Own
• Baba Brooks – Duck Soup
• The Fun Boy Three – The Lunatics (Have Taken Over The Asylum)
• A Guy Called Gerald – Voodoo Ray (Remix)
• The Specials – You’re Wondering Now

Unlikely to be anything like that again soon, but in the meantime head over to Mixless on Mixcloud and hang out there till the August mix is up…

Ha ha, long time no see… over a year between blog posts must be something of a record.

Prompted back into blog action by the recently launched and very fine We Love All That, it seems about the right time for a lick of virtual paint and a dust down of the self-promotional guff all one of you have missed over the last 13.4 months.

We Love All That has beaten me to it with a rather lovely piece pointing readers to Mixless‘ first mix on Mixcloud.

Sadly WordPress doesn’t seem to understand the Mixcloud embed code so you’ll have to head over there to hear it.

No news on Slack Dads I’m afraid, but there’s a second Mixless mix for June on its way…

…and a turn on the decks next month for what looks set to be the party of the year (you can probably tell from the use of the term ‘party of the year’ just how many party invites are clogging up the Mixless letterbox).

Now go and read a more entertaining blog.

Mr Wolf: “So long, thanks for everything, new blood, mumble, mumble…”
Slack Dads: “Whaaa? Was it something we said?”

Ah well, their loss, etc…

OK no, not just their loss: hundreds of happy punters over the last few years have found themselves in the right place at the right time. It’s fair to say not many may have intentionally come to hear us – thank you all who did – but a decent number who stayed on after their mates’ bands had played their very late encores, or who wandered in after other venues had shut up shop, or who knew they could bank on the bar’s rightly deserved reputation, found themselves in the presence of some mighty fine tunes played by an exuberant and friendly bunch.

And it’s our loss too: we didn’t play often, but we had our regular slot four or five times a year, so we always had something to look forward to. We didn’t have slots elsewhere, and as the name suggests, we don’t get to go out as often as we might have a few years back, so our nights at Mr Wolf’s were always a bit of treat for us. Dusting off the old vinyl, seeking out new gems, burning dodgy mash-ups, designing posters, fading in, fading out, seamless mixing (not you Mixless), Desparado-sinking, 45-oops-33-ing, laughing, dancing.

Not once did we have any complaints – neither from the bar nor from the crowds. In fact, along with the regular plea for ‘one more tune’ after Ghost Town signaled the end of the night, we only ever had compliments, congrats, what-was-that-tune and nuff respeks. We might not always have had the records you asked for, but if we did they’d always go on.

This is starting to sound like a rant, which it’s not meant to – let’s lay all those fifth Thursdays, fifth Fridays, new year’s eve’s eves and other random Tuesdays to rest and look forward to the future. We don’t know what or where it will be just yet, but rest assured you can’t keep a Slack Dad down for long…

Now, back to January: Mixless wrote down his tracks as usual, then lost the bit of paper before typing it up… and has now just found it again, phew.

• Spiritualized – Soul On Fire
• Pixies – Caribou
• Burial – Forgive
• Ricardo Villalobos – Fizheuer Zieheuer Pt.1
• Scientist – Dematerialize
• Unknown – BBQ (Thriller)
• Grace Jones -Williams’ Blood (Aeroplane Mix)
• Bonde do Rolê – Marina Gasolina (Fake Blood Remix)
• MGMT – Time To Pretend
• Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip – Thou Shalt Always Kill

***

• Irn Mnky – How Soon Is MVP? (The Smiths / Big L)
• M.I.A – Paper Planes (DFA Remix)
• SL2 – On A Ragga Tip
• Tim G – Voodoo Problems (Jay Z / Jimi Hendrix)
• The Specials – Rat Race
• Baba Brooks – Shock Resistance
• Tommy McCook – Starry Night

***

• The JBs – Givin’ Up Food For Funk Part 1

…flip the 7, flip the 7…!

• The JBs – Givin’ Up Food For Funk Part 2
• Smokey Robinson And The Miracles -  If You Can Want
• Lee Dorsey – Four Corners Part 1
• Tenor Saw – Ring The Alarm
• SL2 – Way In My Brain
• Bassheads – Is There Anybody Out There?
• Liberation 2 – Liberation 2
• A Guy Called Gerald – Voodoo Ray (Original Mix)

See you soon for some more decade-hopping, genre-popping, crowd-stopping, track-lopping SuperSlack sounds…