Physical Distancing Discs

- Cassette tapes
- Radio broadcasts

During the first UK lockdown in 2020, I started to make mixtapes by recording vinyl records to cassette tapes and sending them in the post to my friends. In 2021, Jon Cornbill asked me if I would like to have a show on a radio station he was about to launch. Physical Distancing Discs is a selection of edited versions of these tapes, that have been broadcast on Slack’s Radio. The project started and continues to be an attempt of being social and communicating by sharing music with friends.

The title of the programme came out of the frustration that the term “social distancing” became so prevalent, along with its negative connotations. This period was quite social for me as I started to communicate with friends and family who I had not spoken to for a long time, all be it from a physical distance.

While isolated at home and getting fatigued by only engaging with the world digitally, I returned to my neglected vinyl collection as a refuge from the screen. By doing this I rediscovered old favourites and unearthed some new ones that either slipped through the net first time around, or that my ears were not mature enough to appreciate at the time.

See below for the mixtapes that aired between June 2021 and 2023. You can see the full track list of each show by clicking on the title which will take you to the Soundcloud page.

In September 2024 I started to record series two of the show, click here to find out more and listen to the shows.

Slack’s uses Instagram to promote the station’s schedule and I try to keep up on my own account, which you can find here.

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#1 – Obsolete Audio Emojis

The first selection of records committed to tape was for my friend Rachel Maloney. The title came from a conversation we had over WhatsApp and the realisation that there weren’t any emoji’s for vinyl and cassettes.

Tracklist

Side A:

  1. Kid Koala – Music For Morning People
  2. David Holmes – Compared To What
  3. Capitol K – Superheroes
  4. Bodenständig 2000 – Longjohn
  5. Divorce – Early Christianity
  6. The Jesus Lizard – Low Rider
  7. Relaxed Muscle – Branded!
  8. Fat Truckers – Favver’s Plimsolls

 

Side B:

  1. Ravioli Me Away – Wow
  2. The Fall – US. 80’s – 90’s
  3. Lolina – Miss Understood
  4. Shobaleader One – Megazine
  5. That Fucking Tank – Acid Jam (Live)
  6. Venetian Snare – This Bitter Earth
  7. Aphex Twin – Girl Boy (£18 Snarerush Mix)
  8. DJ Scotch Egg – Scotch Chicken
  9. Fuschimuschi – Super Sexy Lady (Time Machine Mix)
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#2 – The Knicker Deal

The second tape was made for Laura Kirby who is a musician based in London. She was one of the first people I met when moving to the North East. Our musicial tastes differ quite a lot, but there is a very healthy overlap in the venn diagram where they meet.

Track list

Side A

1. Elastica – How He Wrote Elastica Man
2. Leila – Won’t You Be My Baby, Baby
3. Andy Votel with Jane Weaver – Girl On A Go-Ped (Sirconical Remix)
4. Luke Haines – Marc Bolan Blues
5. Kevin Blechdom – I Am Nastay
6. UM – Holy Fire
7. The Infesticons – Monkey Theme
8. Antonio Carlos Jobim – Insensatez
9. Wild Billy Childish & The Buff Medways – Troubled Mind

Side B

1. S-Express – Theme From S-Express
2. 7 Hurtz With Peaches + Bitch Lap Lap – Sexy Dancer
3. Hype Williams – The Throning
4. David Holmes – Don’t Die Just Yet (The Holiday Girl – Arab Strap Remix)
5. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Y Control
6. Schneider TM + KPT.Michi.Gan – The Light 3000
7. Fuschimuschi – Super Sexy Lady (12″ Mix)
8. Electric Six – Naked Pictures (Of Your Mother)
9. Kid Koala – Thank You, Good Night, Drive Safely

·

 #3 – Junk Mail

Made for Bruce and Debs who run BasementArtsProject in Leeds. From 2015 – 17, I lived around the corner from them and would regularly visit to listen to music, talk about art and other things that seemed important at the time. Those were good days. This tape was an attempt to relive those times while we were all confined to our homes during the first lock down.

Track list

Side A

1. Kid606 – Straight Outta Compton (MC DSP Mix)
2. Venetian Snares – Defluxion
3. Razor X Productions – Boom Boom Claat (feat Cutty Ranks)
4. DJ /rupture – In Front Of You
5. Prince Po – Hold Dat (Richard X Mix 1)
6. Lolina – Wheel Up My Tune!
7. Subjex – Funkynightmare
8. Ebola – Death From A Thousand Paper Cuts

Side B

1. Power Pill – Pac-Man (Power-Pill Mix)
2. Bodenständig 2000 – Pogos Abenteuer
3. Shitmat – Theme From The 1988 Morris Dancer Massacre
4. DJ Scud – No Love
5. Soundmurderer & SK-1 – Deport Them Rewind Remix
6. The Jones Machine – (I’m The) Disco Dancing – Cylob’s Mix
7. Jones – Wrecked ‘Em
8. The Fall – Quit iPhone
9. Hype Williams – Untitled

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#4 – Warwick Street Eyesore

Made for Andrew Wilson who I have collaborated with for many years under the name Lloyd & Wilson. The title of the tape, and image on the cover, came from the local Liberal Democrats newsletter. When Andrew and I lived together, we always enjoyed the strong pointing game the councilor had in the newsletter.

Track list

Side A

1. That Fucking Tank – NWONWOBHM
2. Goat – Stonegoat
3. Champion lover- Black Conga Eel
4. Pete Um – The Guru Let Me Down
5. Whitey On The Moon UK – Noam Chomsky Spring Break 2002
6. Kid Koala – Tricks ‘N’ Treats
7. Still House Plants – Crreeaase
8. Anti-Pop Consortium – Ping Pong
9. Latyrx – Lady Don’t Tek No
10. Erik M.O. & Infesticon #0 – Tiger Theme

Side B

1. DJ Shadow – Right Thing / GDMFSOB (Clean Instrumental Version)
2. !!! – Intensify
3. Primal Scream – The Revenge Of The Hammond Connection
4. Squarepusher – A Journey To Reedham (7.am Mix)
5. Bodenständig 2000 – Wurmlochhymne
6. The Fall – Mexico Wax Solvent

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#5 – Not Kind Of Blue

Made for fellow Fall enthusiast, Andy Hilton and his wife Lyndy. They are two of my all time favourite people.

Andy and I would go to see the Fall regularly when we both lived in Cambridge. Once I moved away, we started to call the other during gigs and play the Fall down the phone to the person who wasn’t there.

Lyndy likes the Fall, but not as much and Andy and me. She hates the Manic Street Preachers, but loves Lightning Bolt.

Track list

Side A

1. Apparat Organ Quartet – Stereo Rock-N-Roll
2. Kings Have Long Arms – Assomatic
3. Gonzales – Erotobot
4. The Kills – Jewel Thief
5. Primal Scream – Jailbird (The Dust Brothers Mix)
6. Ghostdigital – Not Clean (featuring Mark E. Smith)
7. Jones – Gala Extravaganza (Cake Mix)
8. Relaxed Muscle – Beastmaster

Side B

1. The Fall – (Birtwistle’s) Girl In Shop
2. Scout Niblett – Cherry Cheek Bomb
3. Divorce – Amuse Bouche
4. Shellac – The Guy Who Invented Fire
5. Sluts of Trust – Meanwhile In Rocksville
6. The White Stripes – Good to me
7. Girls Against Boys – Super-fire
8. Dÿse – Medizinmann
9. Pete Um – The Director
10. Arthur Alexander – Soldiers Of Love

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#6 – Bunch of Sevens

This is a slightly edited version of first mixtape I made during lock down. It exclusively features 7 inch singles. It was never recorded onto a physical cassette, but I shared with a whole bunch of people as a MP3.

Track list

  Side A

1. Weezer – Hash Pipe
2. Martin – Male Caucasian
3. Wildbunch – Neurocameraman
4. Kings Have Long Arms – Hot Buttered Booty
5. Mu Chan Clan – Smash It With A Brick (English)
6. Skylab – Nickers Of A Girl
7. Indian Ropeman – Sunshine Of Your Love
8. Freelance Hellraiser – A Stroke Of Genius
9. Knifehandchop – Hooked On Ebonics
10. Tribute to Nothing – Do Something

Side B

1. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Machine
2. Fat Truckers – Teenage Daughter
3. Relaxed Muscle – Sexualized
4. Snares Man! – Breakbeat Malaria
5. Utah Saints – Something Good
6. Cex – Enter Carter
7. The Buff Medways – Fire
8. The Fall – Hot Cake Part2
9. The Black Keys – Have Love Will Travel
10. Zola Jesus – Poor Animal

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#7 – Rave Adjacent

This tape was made for my UBI Lab Network comrade, Sam Gregory, who introduced me to the term Rave Adjacent.

Track list

Side A

1. Drexciya – Intro
2. Jeremy Deller – Everybody in the Place (excerpt)
3. John T. Gast – Jah Guidance
4. Speaker Music – Super Predator
5. Nick Klein – Pena Abode
6. Scotch Rolex – Nfulula Biswa (Featuring – Swordman Kitala)
7. Brain Rays & Quiet – Draco Mills
8. Kid 606 – The Illness (12″ Mix)

Side B

1. Venetian Snares – The Identification Circles Levitate
2. Lee Gamble – Pandemonium Institute
3. Mark Fisher – Why Modern Life Causes Depression
4. Von Südenfed – Flooded
5. Tokyo Windbag – Subway Lung
6. Kid Spatula – XXX
7. Ebola – Nintendo Dubstep
8. Memo Boy – I’m Having a Rave in My Room All By Myself
9. House Of Brakes – Scratch Dat Booty

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Amp & Deck

This special live edition of Physical Distancing Discs which was recorded in The NewBridge Project gallery as part of Slack’s residency in the Blazing New Worlds exhibition. The show was a back-to-back DJ set with Andrew Wilson (Lloyd & Wilson). Each record was dedicated to someone who had supported us over the years, either professionally or through friendship and acts of kindness.

Track list

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#8 A Dodgy Metal Past

This mixtape was made for my old school friend Martin Keen. It’s made from my CD collection from the 90s. Most of them were retrieved from the attic to make this tape, but a few are still in the house and get played more than I would like to admit.

Track list

Side A

1. Henry Rollins – Verbal Diary (April 22)
2. Fudge Tunnel – Kitchen Belt
3. Therapy? – Innocent X (Live)
4. Prong – Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck
5. Blaggers I.T.A. – Stresss
6. Senser – Age of Panic (Git-O-Rama Mix)
7. Acid Bath – Tranquilized
8. Pitchshifter – Whiteout
9. Orange 9mm – Tragic

Side B

1. 1,000 Homo DJ’s – Supernaut
2. Nailbomb – Cockroaches
3. Lard – Forkboy
4. Atari Teenage Riot – Into The Death
5. Nine Inch Nails – Wish
6. Down – Hail the Leaf
7. Deftones – Minus Blindfold

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#9 News Shorts

This mixtape was made for the mighty Joe “Posset” Murray, king of Dictaphones and Newcastle No Audience Underground scene.

Apart from the spoken word intro, it’s made up of vinyl records committed to tape during the festive session.

Track list

Side A

1. Chris Morris & Peter Cook – Eels, Love And Guns (excerpt)
2. Global Goon – Afterlife
3. DJ Hekla – Eruption 1970
4. Prefuse73 – Point to B
5. UM – Character is Destiny
6. Kid Koala – Nerdball
7. The Fall – Say Mama / Race With The Devil
8. Billy Childish & Sexton Ming – They Call Me Mr Tibbs
9. cLOUDDEAD – Mulholland Instrumental
10. King of Woolworths – Stalker Song
11. Super Dense Child – Project Arthur

Side B

1. Andy Votel – Fly-Fly-Fly
2. Cherrystones – Bed Bug
3. Bomb 20 – No Applause, Just Clapping
4. Christoph De Babalon – Appetite4destruction
5. Shitmat – Shopliftin’ Gabba
6. Ovuca – Green Ball
7. Tricky – Anti Histamine
8. DJ Food РCookin’
9. Venetian Snares – Dollmaker

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#10 – We Got Both Kinds

This mixtape was made for fellow Slack’s resident, Fiona Anderson, predominately from MP3s, but it includes a couple of vinyl records too.

The track selection was inspired by conversations we had on the dance floor of a work colleague’s wedding last summer, the first big gathering I’d been to as Covid restrictions lifted in the summer of 2021. Yelling in someone’s ear over loud music became normal again – for a couple of hours at least.

The show’s title is a reference from the Blues Brothers film and a nod to Fiona’s excellent Slack’s show Wildflowers.

Track list

Side A

1. Bombino – Akhar Zaman
2. 4 Mars – Abaal
3. Hype Williams – William, Shotgun Sprayer
4. Moor Mother & Yatta – WE
5. Cruel Diagonals – Oblique Ritual
6. JPEGMAFIA – Free The Frail (featuring Helena Deland)
7. Dent May – Face Down In The Gutter Of Your Love
8. The Fall – F-‘oldin’ Money

Side B

1. The Surfrajettes – Toxic
2. Dean Blunt – Felony
3. Richard Dawson – The Brisk Lad
4. Rangda – Idol’s Eye
5. Goat – Goatlord
6. 75 Dollar Bill – Tetuzi Akiyama
7. Chris Corsano & Bill Orcutt – Man Carrying Thing
8. Ella Fitzgerald – Sunshine of Your Love
9. Special Interest – Street Pulse Beat

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#11 – Hello… Again

This mixtape was made for my pal David Foggo and fellow studio holder at The NewBridge Project. The concept for this tape is loosely based on a film he made a couple of artworks about in the past.

Track list

Side A

1. Aidan Moffat- I Got You Babe
2. The Groundhogs – Strange Town
3. Big Blood – Providence
4. Angel Bat Dawid – Black Family
5. Rubber Oh – Little Demon (Richard Dawson’s Haunted Wine-Cellar Version Feat. Jussia
Lehtisalo
6. Shit & Shine – Hot Shovel
7. Bridget Hayden – Fires of Sorrow
8. Rock4 – Hotel California

Side B

1. The Flying Pickets – I Got You Babe
2. The Fall – Strangetown
3. Mae Powell – Scratch n Sniff
4. Krupoviesa – Montevideo
5. Noel Meek and The Slowest Lift – The Good Old Days
6. Psychic Graveyard – Word Machine
7. Rob Bidder – Domestic Dust
8. Miss Trinitron – Hotel California

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#12 – Make Utopian Demands

This mixtape was made for fellow Slack’s resident, Sarah Bird.

The show’s title and track selection were inspired by conversations we had while volunteering behind the bar for a Tusk Festival gig event at the Star and Shadow Cinema earlier this year.

Track list

Side A

1. Ursula Le Guin & Todd Barton – Yes—Singing
2. Eueng Nary & Pen Ran – Noe Euy Srey Noe (Lady Named Noe)
3. Laurie Tompkins – Sweat
4. Bogdan Raczynski – Untitled
5. Villaelvin – Ghott Zillah
6. WaqWaq Kingdom – Doggy Bag
7. Object Collection – In the Work Collective
8. Von Südenfed – Slow Down Ronnie
9. Robert Ridley Shackleton – 4ever In My Gut

Side B

1. V-Vm – Valerian Albanov
2. John T. Gast – SNAKIN
3. Bridget Hayden – Buried
4. Bruno Pronsato Presents Archangel The Bedroom Slant Versions – LA Teen (Oliver Coates ‘X’ Version)
5. Berlin Anatomy – Scorpions… Fun for kids!
6. Inga Copeland – Damage
7. Capitol K – Song for Belgium
8. Loose Fit – Delete
9. Bodenständig 2000 – RNAY

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#13 – Best Party Ever

This edition of Physical Distancing Discs was made for Slack’s head honcho, Jon Cornbill, to say Happy Birthday to Slack’s and a thank him for inviting me to be part of the project. It’s been an amazing year and it’s been great to see the station’s momentum and roster of DJs build over the year.

The mixtape was intended to be a selection of alternative party bangers. It didn’t turn out this way, but I hope you enjoy it all the same.

Track list

Side A

1. BRTHDY Intro
2. Bodenständig 2000 – Party Ganze Nacht
3. krupoviesa – ¡Che, estudiante!
4. The Jesus Lizard – Gladiator
5. Kill Yourself – The Artist
6. Zola Jesus – Seekir
7. Mike Flowers Meets Cylob – 1999 (Cylob Vocal Mix)
8. Shitmat – Ace of Base Babylon
9. Dean Blunt & Inga Copeland – Poison
10. Hudson Mohawke – Overnight
11. Sun City Girls – Gently Jonny

Side B

1. Party Intro
2. Ebola – Necrophiliac Dance Party
3. Shitmat – Venga Babylon
4. Holger Czukay – Fragrance
5. Gang Gang Dance – House Jam
6. Electric Six – Synthesizer
7. Gonzales – Real Motherfuckin Music
8. The Fall – British People in Hot Weather
9. Toecutter – Best Party Ever (Bang Gang 12″)

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#14 – More Clutter

This mixtape was made for my old school friend Damien who I used to run a club night in Cambridge with called Charlie Don’t Surf. It was intended to be a selection of ambient tracks, but it ended up getting quite noisy in places. It also includes recordings of people talking about how we could re-organise society in a way that focuses on collaboration and care, rather than competition and profit.

Track list

Side A

1. Brian Eno on Basic Income (excerpt)
2. Aaron Moore – If We Didn’t Have Eyes
3. Graham Stewart & Brendan McGeever – 99 miles from Belgrade
4. Mark Fisher – Designer Communism (excerpt)
5. W.I.A – Sierra Liora
6. claire rousay – discrete (the market)
7. GEE RAMS ENSEMLE – Sentiments
8. Aaron Dilloway & Lucrecia Dalt – Trueno
9. Ectoplasm Girls – Continuous Manifestations
10. Days Like Television – Torn Clothes / Fiction

Side B

1. Dean Blunt & Inga Copland – This is the remix
2. Ursula K. Le Guin – National Book Awards acceptance speech (excerpt)
3. Marlo Eggplant – Distillation
4. Dane Law – Play-ground(less) Part 1
5. Left Hand Cuts Off The Right – Keppra
6. David Graeber – From Managerial Feudalism to the Revolt of the Caring Classes (excerpt)
7. Hans Grusel’s Krankenkabinet – Blue Door Openings
8. Nick Klein – Over Before You Noticed

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#15 – Juncture

This mixtape was made for Ewan Mackenzie (AKA Dextro, drummer in Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs and fellow member of UBI Lab North East).

The music on the tape drifts back and forth between ambient, drone and metal, then ends with a live track by Tricky.

Track list

Side A

1. Claire Potter & Bridget Hayden – Bedsheet
2. ADRA – Untitled (Mbira/Work)
3. Courtis Posset – Space Mission Cancelled (For Religious Reasons)
4. Horseback – Tyrant Symmetry
5. Techno Animal – DC-10
6. Hype Williams – High Beams

Side B

1. Mark E. Smith – The Horror In Clay (excerpt)
2. Barn Owl – Devotion II
3. Legowelt – These Phenomena Are Not Well Understood
4. Guttersnipe – My Mother The Vent
5. Iceboy Violet – Eyes Drippin 2 Hard (Lil Baby, Gunna & Young Thug)
6. Tricky – Tear Out My Eyes (live)

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#16 – Forward!

This edition of Physical Distancing Discs was made for my friend Timothea who ran the Great North Run the weekend it was broadcast.

The tape was intended to act as a good running soundtrack – not sure if that’s how it turned out.

Track list

Side A

1. The Fall – The Man Whose Head Expanded
2. Luke Haines – Caravan Man
3. The Pheromoans – Dried Out Dreams
4. Loose Fit – Stupid Drama
5. Charismatic Megafauna – Hole
6. Robert Ridley-Shackleton – The Opera 20
7. Still House Plants – “Bars” variation
8. Coriky – Inauguration Day
9. Die Monitr Batss – Night Hare
10. Sleaford Mods – Dad’s Corner

Side B

1. Kim Gordon – Sketch Artist
2. Le Tigre – Deceptacon
3. Tortoise & Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy – Love is Love
4. Bridget Hayden – When I Was In My Prime (Live at Café Oto)
5. Badly Drawn Boy – Walkman Demo 1
6. Nope – Television Fortune
7. Copeland – Smitten
8. Bulbils – Flight of the Canada Goose

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#17 – In The Hall

This mixtape was made for my old school friend Mitch who recently came up to Newcastle to visit me. The tape is a selection of songs that remind me of him and that weekend.

Track list

Side A

1. Robert Ridley-Shackleton – Nunchuck Piss About 1
2. Big Blood – Sweet Talker
3. Future Islands – Seasons (Waiting on you)
4. Cowtown – Emojicore
5. Dog Chocolate – Plastic Canoe
6. Alvarius B – Face To Face With A Couple Axes
7. Wet Leg – I Don’t Wanna Go Out
8. Mdou Moctar – Tarhatazed

Side B

1. Shadowy Men On A Shadowy Planet – Having An Average Weekend
2. Ezra Furman & the Harpoons – Take Off Your Sunglasses
3. LUMP – We Cannot Resist
4. Hen Ogledd – Problem Child
5. The Fall – Room To Live
6. Frank Black – Los Angeles
7. Berlin Anatomy – Strawberry Man (Interlude)
8. Self-Immolation Music – Remain Eternally Hateful
9. Food People – Ricochet

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#18 – No Metal Jacket

This mixtape was made for my neighbour Rich. We’ve known each other in passing for a long time, but got closer over the lockdown when I started to make these tapes. The Venn Diagram of our musical tastes as a healthy cross over but he draws a hard border when the guitars start to get “heavy”. I hope this selection of song falls within the overlap of our two respective circles.

The cassette that these songs are recorded on to was originally used to document my first visit to Heaton in November 2007 for a meeting at Gallery Glue which was on Heaton Road, around the corner from where Rich and I currently live. On that first trip I met my first friends in Newcastle who took me under their wing and are a key reason why I stayed in the North East.

The tape’s cover art is of Test Department’s installation DS30 at the Staiths on the River Tyne. The image was taken from Mark Fisher’s review of project in the Wire magazine. On the reverse of that page was a review of Monomania, a one-day festival in Cambridge (my home town) that my friend Jo Brooks of Bad Timing Nights curated.

Track list

Side A

1. Julia Holter – Horns Surrounding Me
2. The Intelligence – Thank you god for fixing the tape machine
3. The Fall – Ladybird (Green Grass)
4. The Breeders – Happiness Is A Warm Gun
5. Jane Weaver & Wendy Flower – Silver Chord
6. Dean Blunt – The Narcissist (feat. Inga Copeland)
7. Memo Boy – Facebook.com
8. Manic Street Preachers – Been A Son

Side B

1. Peter Broderick – Below It
2. Cian Nugent – I Will Take The Top Of A Tall Cedar And Break Off A Tender Sprout
3. The Surfing Magazines – Peeping Dom
4. Holy Sons – Family Man
5. Andrew DR Abbott – Homeward Unbound
6. Brigid Mae Power – As I Roved Out
7. The Straw Bear Band – A Lyke Wake Dirge
8. Atlas Sound – Bite Marks

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#19 If Destroyed, Still True

This mixtape was made for my friend Alan who I met in Cambridge when we both DJed at an electronic music night called Clear, which was non-smoking event, before the government brought in the ban.

We haven’t seen each other in a long time, so I hope the choice of tracks still hits his musical tastes. Overall, it leans towards the heavier end of things (including a song by MASS who we went to see play in Newcastle one time he visited), but there are plenty of poppier songs in there too.

The title of the tape is taken from an early song by old band Saturday Night Gym Club, which was a favourite of mine and the first time I’d heard the phrase.

Track list

Side A

1. Steev – Isolation
2. The Bomber Jackets – City of Switches
3. Viennese Vacuum Cleaner – Bosnia K67
4. Folded Voices – Fiery Crash at the Raceway (She Will Come To You In The Night)
5. Shitmat – Gary’s Gruesome Garage (Original ’03 Mix)
6. Venetian Snares – Milk (Knifehandchop Remix)
7. Pete Um – The Social Astronaut
8. Aaron Dilloway – Blue Studies (For Tom Smith)
9. Babyfather – Platinum Cookies
10. Hype Williams – Galice

Side B

1. Big Man Ace Meets Snake’s Leg – Distro (* Mix)
2. Melting – Sigh
3. JPEGMAFIA – BALD!
4. Stuntrock – Geoffrey Rejected My Two Track Submissions, So I Gave Him This Old Sample
Collage From 5 Years Ago, Then He Had The Nerve To Ask Me To Make It Stereo
5. Scotch Rolex – Afro Samurai (ft. Don Zilla)
6. Aphex Twin – MT1 t29r2
7. Guttersnipe – Like My Voice Was Holothurin
8. Toad Blood – Clandestine Tongues
9. MASS – The Bins

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#20 – Abolish Uniforms

Physical Distancing Discs #20 – Abolish Uniforms, was made for my friend Rob Bidder. He is an artist and musician. Some of his songs have appeared on previous mixtapes (solo / band: Dog Chocolate). We met in Cardiff when we were both part of an exhibition called On Record.

A few years later he made a video piece for exhibition about Work that I curated with my fictional band (who also feature in this tape). It would be great to do something else together in the future…

The title of the tape was inspired by one of Rob’s excellent cartoons I saw on Instagram when I was making the tape. The cassette and case on top of the photograph Boy Destroying Piano by Philip Jones Griffiths.

Track list

Side A

1. RRS And The Card Kidz – Nothing Can Stop The Card Kidz
2. Moni Jitchell – TIDY RAGE
3. Fashion Tips – Lunched Out
4. The Fall – The Quartet of Doc Shanley
5. Björk – Storm
6. Death Shanties – Saturn Devouring His Young
7. Pete Um – Just Like Kurt
8. Gregory Issacs – Slum in Dub
9. The Blue Birds – Sun We Bilou Akh Waliya

Side B

1. Posset – I Promise That I Will Do My Best
2. Bridget Hayden – Shipwrecked
3. JP BUCKLE – NOW YOU HAD A TASTE
4. copeland & gast – UKMerge
5. KUUNATIC – Lava Naksh
6. Mirrored Lips – ecoutez la chanson bien douce
7. Stabbing Les – Sunshine of Your Love / Children of the Night

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#21 – Onion Ring Buffet

This mixtape was made for my friend Paul Raymond. We met in Durham when he helped me install an exhibition at Empty Shop gallery. During the install, Hot Potatoes: The Best of Devo, was on heavy rotation (as it was one of only three CDs in the building). From here we became firm friends, and a few years later we formed a fictional band together with one of the gallery directors.

The title of the tape is an homage to Paul’s 30th birthday party where the only food provided was a large packet of onion ring crisps

Track list

Side A

1. V/VM – Madonna Is A Filthy Slut
2. FushiMushi – Super Sexy Lady (12″ Mix)
3. Butler Kiev – Rewind Selecta
4. Cylob – What Shall We Do With A Drunken Sailor?
5. DJ Bogdan Raczynski – D&D Diabolical
6. DJ Scotch Egg – Pin Pon
7. John Paul – Sissy and Ada (Red Version)
8. Billy Childish + Sexton Ming – Monkeys In Space
9. The Fall – Wise Ol’ Man (Edit)
10. Beck – Richard’s Hairpiece (Remix By Aphex Twin)

Side B

1. P.P. Roy – Radio Too
2. David Holmes – My Mate Paul (Heck Mix)
3. Radio 4 – Dance to the Underground
4. Whitey – Why You Have To Be Me
5. Disastronaut – Coming To Get You
6. Inga Copeland – I am your ambient wife
7. Kid Koala & Money Mark – Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
8. Slipper – Fascinating
9. $hit and $hine – Jream Baby Jream
10. Thanks – Dread

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#22 – Sleeve Chain

This mixtape was made for my brother-in-law, David. We’ve known each other for a while, but it was relatively recently that I discovered an overlap in our musical tastes, when he disclosed that the last gig he’d been to was Slipknot. I never got into that band, but they became starting point for the track list. Heavy riffs are the main theme that runs through the tape, but it does go into quieter and melodic territory too. I hope that the tape can spark further conversations which reveal more of our personalities to each other in the future.

Track list

Side A

1. Pigs, Pigs, Pigs, Pigs, Pigs, Pigs, Pigs – GNT
2. The Fall – Wolf Kidult Man
3. Bikini Kill – Rebel Girl
4. Volt – Graf Stoff
5. Slint – Nosferatu Man
6. Hype Williams – Blue Dream
7. Sonic Youth – Starfield Road
8. Pete Um – A Last Blast
9. Voice of Seven Woods – The Journey

Side B

1. Andrew DR Abbott – Chellow Dean Top
2. Richard Dawson – Weaver (Or ‘My Very Ancient Friend’)
3. Goat – Fill My Mouth
4. Melvins – The Water Glass
5. Lightning Bolt – Mythmaster
6. Acid Bath – The Blue

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#23 – Fred Karno’s Army

This mixtape was made for two special people, Rona and Charlie – former teachers and, later work colleagues of mine. They are responsible for introducing me to the Fall. We went to see the band play many times over the years and they managed to get me backstage after a gig in London – where I was too scared to look in the direction of MES, let alone start a conversation.

Much of the track selection was formed whilst walking on the West Coast of Scotland, near to where we all when on a school trip when I was a teenager. The title of the tape is taken from Paul Hanley’s autobiography – which Charlie has told me to “not to trust a word of.”

Track list

Side A

1. Eleni Poulou – The Sound of Somewhere Special to Eleni Poulou (Side B)
2. Olimpia Splendid – Nicotinella
3. Thank – Think Less
4. Charismatic Megafauna – Take the Stairs
5. Shake Chain – Arthur
6. The Phermoans – The Hen
7. Great Area – Everytime
8. Nape Neck – Demonstrations
9. NOSAJ (of New Kingdom) – Niggasisart

Side B

1. Sun Ra Arkestra – Astro Black
2. Moor Mother – Passing Of Time (feat. Juçara Marçal)
3. The Infesticons – Monkey Theme (feat. Saul Williams)
4. Horse Lords – Life Without Dead Time
5. Luke Haines – Cats That Look Like MES
6. Mdou Moctar – Afrique Victime

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#24 – I am the weaver

This mixtape was made for another Slack’s resident – Kitty McKay. The tape’s tracklist started to form after a conversation at the Ghosts of My Life day of discussion and performances that she worked on at The Lubber Fiend. Side A is mainly made up of recent bandcamp tracks and some old favourites, while Side B is a selection of vinyl records that I used play when DJing back in the mid-2000s

Track list

Side A

1. Super London Pulp – The Real Occult’s In The Pubs Of The East End, In The Sinking Ships Of The Thames
2. Benedict Drew – On Printed Matter
3. William Basinski – O, My Daughter, O, My Sorrow
4. Marsha Fisher – Prayer
5. The Fall – 4 1/2 Inch
6. Special Interest – Young, Gifted, Black, In Leather
7. JPEGMAFIA x Danny Brown – Garbage Pale Kids
8. Eight Frozen Modules – Echo Youth
9. Super_Collider ‎– Messagesacomin (MDK mix)
10. Puzzle Punks – pzZpun ßΩπuS §hΩµ†
11. Folded Voices – 2 TV Talking

Side B

1. Bloodclaat Gangsta Youth – Kill Or Be Killed
2. DJ Scud – Put up your lighters
3. Amen Andrews – Babylon
4. Soundmurderer & SK-1 – Badman
5. The Bug Vs The Rootsman Featuring He-Man – Killer (Soundmurderer & SK-1 ‘Badman Rewind’ Remix)
6. DJ Pierre – Box Energy (Remix By AFX)
7. Hellfish & Producer – The Way of The Homeboy Pt. 2 (The Winter Of Discontent)

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#25 – Flipper Dipper

This mixtape was made for my wife Hannah. Many of the songs on the tape are linked to memories of moments we’ve shared with each other.

It will probably be the last tape I make for a little while as we’re about to start a new chapter of our lives together. I’m looking forward to creating more memories and listening out for songs what will remind us of them.

Track list

Side A

1. Julia Holter – Feel You (live at RAK)
2. Emilíana Torrini – Big Jumps
3. Martha Ffion – Nights To Forget
4. Big Blood – 1000 Times
5. Copeland – Smitten
6. Julie Ruin – Stay Monkey
7. Shye Ben Tzur, Jonny Greenwood & The Rajasthan Express – Junun
8. Four Tet – I’m on fire

Side B

1. Dean McPhee – Rule of Threes
2. Adem – To Cure A Weakling Child / Boy Girl Song
3. The Fall – Victoria
4. Richard Dawson & Circle – Silphium
5. Daniel Johnston – True love will find you in the end
6. London String Chorale – Galloping Home

You can listen to series two of Physical Distancing Discs here.