#Coldcut

[cannedbluesblog]

Coldcut & Lisa Stansfield

[omegaremix]

Port Jefferson Music Den; 1997.

I was getting deeper and deeper into everything electronic and industrial, all during my one-year break in-between the Brentwood era and community college. The UK electronics invasion, MTV's Amp, and Wipeout XL were the major influences that led me to that point. I was starting to have an endless appetite for music, and one thing I learned about myself that I could be interested in anything and everything. I already had an affinity to golden-era hip-hop / rap and alternative. The seeds of hardcore started to grow, so there would be no stopping me at this point. There were so many genres, artists, and sounds I was getting into, and I wanted to keep up. I had a position at a department store at the shopping mall, and I could afford to buy titles for whatever cash I had in hand.

I didn't have a desktop with internet to find independent stores. I had yellow pages instead: thick phone-books listing hundreds upon hundreds of pages of local businesses, their addresses, and their phone numbers. That's how I discovered them back then. It was a year after visiting my first-ever independent record store, Commack's Mr. Cheapo's. Then came West Babylon's Looney Tunes before the holidays. Still enthusiastic in discovering the vast unknown, I wanted to find more. Port Jefferson's Music Den would be the next destination.

I already felt like an outsider when I arrived on campus. It was a different type of demographic I was used to. I looked around and I'd still see cliques, circles, and other "exclusive" groups of students that I felt I wouldn't be included in. I'd meet newfound friends who'd introduce me to their friends, but it felt forced, and they didn't seem to care. I was crazy for Atari Teenage Riot because they showed me exactly what techno always should've been: deafening loud, criminally high-speed, and maniacally all over the place. I tried looking for people who were into them, and observed what types of music the majority were into. Simplistic, manufactured, predictable dance hits. Boring weekend club bashers. Formulaic radio chart-toppers. I wasn't impressed. The people who were into that were shallow, superficial, judgmental, needlessly competitive, and at times just unnecessarily mean. Drama artists and attitude jockeys all over the place. That's why they called community college "13th Grade". Now you'd see the disgusting distaste of the late-Nineties music scene I had. But, I did have a couple of good cards given to me. I joined the campus newspaper which I'd write music reviews for. An attractive brunette, Sandra, randomly stopped me to strike up a conversation, and wanted to get to know me better. She was also a Jesus freak. I also made another friend I met on campus who decided to set me up with an Irish blonde acquaintance of his, and we hit it off right away. Even then, I'd deal with constant games, rudeness, and random acts of ego during my time there.

The newspaper meeting ended one late October Thursday night. I finally had the opportunity to drive out eight miles from campus to the Port Jefferson Music Den for some shopping. I walked right in, and started digging. I'm not even there for two minutes and I already find gold: the import version of Alec Empire’s The Destroyer for only $9.00 used ($22.00 brand new otherwise). That was a huge deal for me because (once again) I was an Atari Teenage Riot / DHR fanatic. Right after that? Another label release, this time from EC8OR. I'd finally discover all those artists I heard about on the internet; thirty-minute download times of grainy 480P-resolution video and all. I was really starting to like this place. I start scouring the used CD bins, and I’d stumble upon KMFDM’s banned version of Naive for $8.00 - back when used copies on eBay were selling for…$80.00 each! Then came Pigface’s Washingmachinemouth and Ministry’s The Land Of Rape And Honey for a few dollars used. I copped Fluke’s Risotto because of Wipeout XL, and I’d snatch Skinny Puppy’s Back & Forth Volume 2 and Cleopatra’s Industrial Revolution: Third Edition, all for regular price. Finally, Coldcut’s "Atomic Moog 2000" / "Reboot The System": the first-ever multimedia CD I'd ever own.

Minute-by-minute, I'd slowly discover all sorts of wild and unusual sounds and artists they had on the racks. The Port Jeff- Music Den carried all the rare, unusual, and obscure stuff no other store on the island did. Sure, there were plenty of used CDs and vinyl bins in pop, metal, alternative, shoegaze, indie, hip-hop, and jazz. It was their industrial, noise, electronic, and experimental selections, however, that would be the all-important tie-breaker. They had all what I was looking for. I remembered seeing titles like Gescom’s Minidisc on the racks, Coil’s “Autumn Equinox: Amethyst Deceivers” 7", tons of Clock DVA, Controlled Bleeding, plus some Oval and Microstoria albums. It was wild. I felt stimulated because I found plenty of abnormalities that I never knew existed, instead of the expected, calculated fare that did absolutely nothing for me.

90 minutes later, I took my short stack of CDs, placed them on the counter to be rung up, cashed out, and wrapped up what would be my first visit to The -Den. $82.00 later, I leave fucking satisfied.

With each visit after, I’d continue to score big victories where I’d find them. They were Portishead's phenominal second album, Phil Western’s debut album The Escapist, Dead Voices On Air's Piss Frond, Muslimgauze’s Hamas Arc, Mike & Rich’s Expert Knob Twiddlers, Aphex Twin’s Analogue Bubblebath 3, Merzbow’s Pulse Demon, and Sam & Valley. I’d nab more DHR albums from 16-17, Shizuo on vinyl, Fuck Step '98, Give Up on 12", and Alec Empire’s Squeeze The Trigger. The best? Autechre / Gescom’s “Keynell” 12" that I found under the vinyl bins and hidden inside the cabinet underneath. It was stickered for $17.00 - another record where second-hand copies sold on eBay for $125.00. I also managed to pick up a few of their 12" EPs, mainly Chiclisuite and Envane.

All these finds made The -Music Den the most unforgettable store I had the privilege to visit. They were like nothing else on the island. Sadly, they closed down after the turn of the millennium, and no store that came after was half-as-good enough to fill the hole they left behind. Believe me, if any of you reading this would’ve shopped there, you’d feel amazed and blown away like I was. I’d still have a tough time dealing with all the constant, petty drama on campus over the next couple of years. At the Port Jefferson Music Den, however, I knew that was a place where I felt like I’d belong.

*********

The final day of classes came; my favorite time of the Autumn semester. Not only because I had a one month reprieve from the nastiness, but all the students were giving back their books for cash. It was the last day of my first semester there. Bridget, the Irish redhead in English class whom I was interested in, smiled when I gave her my phone number. My friend Brandon was in the mood to drive us to Huntington's Tower Records right when I came home. There, I blew all that refund money I had on magazines and CDs. I was at the racks when I noticed someone cute standing at my left looking for reads; another Irish girl. She was taller with longer gingered hair, tighter jeans, and even paler skin than Bridget. We glanced and smiled at each other. That made my entire night and held on to that moment for as long as I could...

...long enough to run into her on campus a few semesters later. I was surprised. She happened to be close friends with Sandra the Jesus freak, who by then already established that we'd only be friends. Now she's pregnant. But, my interest in Cheryl had been renewed, hoping that my one-and-only roll would lie Sevens.

Alec Empire: The Destroyer

EC8OR: All Of Us Can Be Rich

KMFDM Naive

Pigface: Washingmachinemouth

Ministry: The Land

Fluke: Risotto

Skinny Puppy: Back & Forth Volume 2

Cleopatra label: Industrial Revolution: Third Edition

Coldcut: "Atomic Moog 2000" / "Reboot The System"

[thewaysoundtravels]

(Eric B. & Rakim - Paid In Full)

Ignore the classics and miss out on incredibly inspiring material, that has much to offer in the present creatively.

More info: Paid in Full (Eric B. & Rakim song) - Wikipedia

The M/A/R/R/S track below uses the same beat but it's a different type of creature...

[disease]

COLDCUT // TIMBER [LET US PLAY!, 1997]

[herederosdelkaos]

🎼Explorando la música más allá de los límites: Un viaje por los eclecticismos sonoros

Poco a poco, mi búsqueda de nuevas experiencias musicales me llevó a explorar corrientes aún más diversas. Desde la electrónica experimental hasta la fusión de culturas y estilos, cada nuevo encuentro musical ampliaba mis horizontes y enriquecía mi comprensión del arte sonoro.

Y así, de los estruendos del metal a las melodías sutiles del jazz, mi viaje musical me condujo a estos grupos que desafían las etiquetas y las fronteras. En su música, encuentro un reflejo de mi propio viaje, una amalgama de influencias y experiencias que se entrelazan para crear algo verdaderamente único y personal.

Empezaré por enumerar algunas de estás bandas: Arve Henriksen, The Herbaliser, Air, Funki Porcini, Coldcut, The Dining Rooms, DJ Krush, Peace Orchestra, DJ Vadim, Lars Danielsson, Skalpel, Quantic, Tejo Isungset, 9 Lazy 9, Clutchy Hopkins, Glen Porter, Onra, The Sound Defects, Roger Molls, Smoke city, Amon Tobin, Gasoline, Karmisky experience. Abrir post»

[deligrossery]

Columbia Deli. 945 Amsterdam Ave, New York, NY. (Photo Date: 2/10/23)

[simonwest369]

Adrian Sherwood, highlights of live set in 2003 at Cargo. Featuring Ghetto Priest, Charlie Eskimo Fox and Pete Lockett. Broadcast on Xfm.

[maquina-semiotica]

“ Everything Is Under Control”, Coldcut

[omanxl1]

HOUSE elements | You Heard | Oct 20, 24

Digital Crate Digging Continues as we proceed and continue with this Music Monday edition. We’re cutting the corner coming through putting it down like this; breakbeat scientific is how these scientists are living. The essence of this discipline? this good word and the sound, no need to pay people off like Elon Musk.. ..is trying to pay  people to vote; all we have is a beat and a quote! not…

[thursdayisbetterthanfriday]

TIMBER

Artist: Coldcut & Hexstatic Year: 1998 Album: Let Us Play

[spilladabalia]

Coldcut and Jello Biafra - Every home a prison

[dig-it-like-a-spigot]

Coldcut - 'Mr Nichols' feat. Saul Williams

[thewaysoundtravels]

(via The Quietus | Features | Anniversary | New Colour: Coldcut’s Journeys By DJ - 70 Minutes of Madness)

“Joe Clay speaks to the members of Coldcut to discuss their landmark DJ mix album 70 Minutes Of Madness”.

[trevlad-sounds]

Throw back to 2021. A mix that everyone missed. Ambient, drifting melodies.