...And shake it all about.

One of the most dependable aspects of life in Scotland is that in the week preceding any Old Firm clash that there will be a story in the newspaper that insults the intelligence of the entire country more significantly than the thousands of braying 90 minute cretins that will no doubt pack the pubs all over Scotland and Ireland on the 27th.

It is also inevitable that these chancers will turn up at some point offering juicy cliche-riddled anecdotes of a time when men were men and an Old Firm would result in nine men on the pitch and everyone questioned by the polis after.

The stinking farts of publicity going both ways.
Plague. Houses. Etc.

Christmas Gifts

Edinburgh's wonderful shazzblat shaman, Wounded Knee, is offering his peerless seasonal sleigh song "Cold Enough to Snow" for free download from here until January 5th.

The 'Knee has a couple of belters on his myspace just now including an extract from his new release "Orpheus" on Distance Recordings which is a spine tingling live recording of extended vocal improvisations in the tunnels under the Victory Column in Berlin. Oooh, get him. The featured extract "Canary" is my favourite Wounded Knee song and I have frequently given renditions late at night on on drunken nights home. Thankfully there are no surviving recordings of these as he is notoriously litigious.

There's also the wonderful skaters-referencing "My Wooden Cupboard" that featured on the Wire Tapper a few months ago.

Live 'Knee action tomorrow the 19th of December at Canongate Kirk along with other artists from the Edinburgh Composers Collective.

So much, so little

Apologies for lack of action in recent weeks. My work life has taken a turn for the hectic. In all a good thing, but exhausting.

Hoping to get some time over the weekend to write up a few things.

In the meantime here's a haul of some recent, thoroughly irresponsible purchases.

STL- 51 North (Something): Gold. Absolute gold. Insistent, hypnotic, mysterious house music. This completely transports you without seeming to actually go anywhere. Was looking to get some STL having heard the name discussed in end-of-year discussions. Was buying the doublepack and my local record dealer told me to take this too. Gorgeous. To such an extent I sent an incoherent gushing and obviously drunken email to all the staff at the record shop about how much I loved it. So now.

Zomby- Rumours and Revelations (Brainmath): The usual high quality from someone who's going to be huge next year. I'm very, very annoyed that I couldn't find a copy of "Liquid Dancehall" earlier on this year. Eagerly awaiting spending more of my dwindling funds on Hyperdub 16.

$tinkworks- Coelacaenth (strange life records): *Blub*. This record makes me feel funny.

Mikkel Metal- Peaks and Troughs ep (part3) (Echocord): Bought the last one for the Pole remix. And this for Mike Huckaby. Beautiful stuff,

DJ Stingray- Aqua Team 2 (WeMe records): Don't really know what to say about this yet. The usual Drexcian malarkey but I think records like this give up their secrets slowly. Or something. *Update* This is superb. The second record has a stateliness and poise that's all too rare these days. Like being in a deserted church at midnight. For fans of Tri-Repetae period Autechre.

Reggie Dokes- Rain Redemptive Love EP (Philpot): Class. Bought as a few people on InfiniteStateMachine were boosting it as one of the tracks of this or any year. They're not wrong. All three tracks are superb.

Moodymann- KDJ23: I've passed over this record loads of times thinking "Nah, I'll just get it some other time". Having missed out on a couple of beauties this year I decided not to leave it to chance. The bells on A1 remind me of being surrounded by pealing bells while walking through a park.

Peverelist- Clunk, Click, Every Trip (Punch Drunk): Sweet. Yet more goodness from Punch Drunk high heid yin, Peverelist. Serious Underground Resistance business going on here. A sister piece to his Shackleton remix earlier from this year. And he released Gemmy's fantastic "Bk 2 the future". Is there nothing the man can't do?

I'm off to the Giant Tank/Missing Twin Christmas Party tonight for some Usurper/Muscletusk insanity and the drinking of strong beer.