In Strict Tempo, vol. 25: In Strict Tempo Goes Large!
A bumper edition this week as I reminisce about the time I've spent in Ibiza, round-up some books I've read and share a tonne of new music.
Apologies for the radio silence last week, I was taking a much needed holiday in Ibiza.
I’d actually been in Ibiza for the week before at the International Music Summit aka IMS Ibiza, a three-day industry conference located in a hotel on the island.
These things can always be difficult - there’s so many people there who want a bit of your time, or people you want to see with their own full calendars, let alone a number of talks and panels with industry peers, much like ADE but in a warmer climate and without anywhere near as much walking.
I’ve been to a few of these now so have managed to get a bit of a routine down and manage to avoid most of the stuff that isn’t that important for me, these kind of conferences can be intense but they’re always a good opportunity to catch up with friends and people in a similar role to yours who can share some advice or discuss different ways of doing things. There’s always some decent parties in the evenings too, with some good DJs playing.
Whist events like IMS are broadly positive for the industry they can also present a barrier to young people or up-and-coming industry employees and artists without financial backing. A ticket for IMS was almost £600 this year, and that’s without any flights, food or accommodation, although I believe cheaper options were available for students and people who committed to buying a ticket earlier. Most attendees at IMS will have been able to expense their tickets and food (eating options at the conference were either a full sit-down menu or a ‘kebab & crisps’ for €15) but that money still has to come out of the industry somewhere. I was also disappointed to find in the IMS delegate ‘goody bag’ a label had pressed up a load of 12” EPs of some awful electropop act. For all the talk of sustainability in the music industry I’m not sure who’s bright idea it was to litter the island with hundreds (if not thousands) of vinyl records. I doubt the majority of those records even made it off Ibiza - I only bought mine home with me out of some moral duty, it’s better it clogs up a charity shop in Cambridgeshire than the limited landfill space in the Balearics.
That said, these conferences always throw up some interesting topics, and I was expecting the worst from this year with non-stop panels and discussions about AI, but thankfully we haven’t seemed to reach saturation point on that subject yet (though I suspect it will be *the* hot topic in 2025). Surprisingly this years overriding theme seemed to be one of well-being - this is a stressful industry and it doesn’t always lend itself to living a healthy lifestyle, especially DJ’s/managers/tour managers travelling from country to country on a diet of limitless alcohol and drugs. We’ve seen how this can have tragic consequences in the form of Avicii (whatever you think of his music the documentary about him is a really good watch, and dreadfully sad how someone can be exploited in that way whilst appearing to have it all on the surface). The amount of people I met this year who weren’t drinking or were trying to be healthier both physically and mentally was much higher than previous years. Dance music is still a relatively young industry, but some of those early pioneers will be in their sixties or seventies now, and even people who’ve entered the industry since the millennium will be in their forties and more conscious of their health than they were in their twenties.
Anyway, I guess I wanted to write a little about Ibiza this week. I first went back in 2000 or 2001 as a teenager. Typical lads holiday, stayed in San Antonio, tonnes of lager, did all the big clubs. If Kevin & Perry Go Large was a documentary, it would have been these holidays.Walking out of the airport doors and feeling like David Morales in the Needin’ U video. I fell for the typical scam of trying to buy a CDR recording of one of the clubs I’d been to the night before that ended up being a mix CD of shite euro-trance instead (kids these days will never know that feeling!). I went back year after year until my mid-20’s, staying in all the worst places the island has to offer. Some musical memories include an immense Jeff Mills set at Space the night I landed directly from Sonar in Barcelona, my first trip to Manumission and being too fucked to remember anything other than just how overwhelmingly busy it was, various Sven Vath nights, Darren Emerson’s Underwater night at Pacha (forever an Underworld fanboy) and weirdly a DJ set from Leroy Thornhill of the Prodigy in the back room of Eden, playing loads of Hip-Hop & Breaks, and much more fun than the Hard Trance on offer in the main room.
For all the ‘lads lads lads’ mayhem of San Antonio’s West End, the rest of the island is really beautiful and over the past few years I’ve tried to get back as often as I can to experience the other sides of Ibiza, the beaches and restaurants and bars. Although I’m way past wanting to go to a nightclub again, the sunset at Cafe Mambo & Cafe Del Mar is always an experience and this year they’ve sync’d the sunset to playing an edit of Nessun Dorma so the big crescendo hits just as the sun dips below the horizon. Cheesy? Yeah, but I kind of liked it.
I’ve added a load of my favourite Ibiza classics to a playlist this week, but separate from the main playlist. Not all of this stuff is what anyone might deem cool, (a lot is actually deeply uncool) but they’re tunes that resonated with me during that exciting period of your life when you find yourself on a foreign holiday for the first time with just your mates and your ears open to hear dance music as it should be heard - LOUD.
Steve Albini RIP
Sad news that engineer/producer Steve Albini died. I’ll admit I’m not super knowledgable about Big Black or Shellac (although I’m making amends and am currently 1/3 of the way through of Our Band Could Be Your Life on the recommendation of Sam from the excellent Herb Sundays). Truth be told I’m not the biggest Nirvana fan either but was (am) a big Pixies fan and you can’t deny his production chops for both those bands.
His ethos seemed to be always one of fairness, he famously never wanted royalty points on the albums he produced, and generally came across as a sound dude. On the radio yesterday morning Charlie Bones described him as “Rick Rubin but without the pretentiousness” which seems like a decent tribute to me. Albini had said & done some questionable things in the past, in the name of being an edgelord, but seemed to repent on this behaviour in later life, although some will find these things unforgivable, we have to be prepared to accept that people can change.
“However you define ‘woke,’ anti-woke means being a cunt who wants to indulge bigots,”
I recently read an interview with him in the Guardian which was a really enlightening read from someone who’s prepared to admit their mistakes but stand by their beliefs. RIP.
In Strict Tempo Book Club
I read a few books on holiday - as mentioned already I’m working my way through Our Band Could Be Your Life, but I also read Wesley Doyle’s brilliant oral history of the Some Bizzare label Conform to Deform. Given the name of this newsletter I probably should have read this sooner, but it was enjoyable and has got me listening to Soft Cell and Coil again. My main takeaway from the book (although it’s not mentioned, it is on Wikipedia) was that Stevo Pearce lived for a while in my childhood home town, which is pretty much as much of a cultural dead spot as it’s possible to be. Other than a handful of footballers including Adrian Clarke (9 appearances for Arsenal in the mid-90’s) and Cambridge’s Michael Morrison the town isn’t really notable for anything and hasn’t really contributed much to the arts other than a roundabout with a laser in the middle of it (a world first, apparently).
I also read Richard Russell of XL Recordings book. Despite being a little Partridge-esque in tone (“that man’s name? Shawn Carter, better known to millions as Jay-Z”) it was a really good read from someone I really respect, an absolutely fearless, original label owner who managed to make the transition from 12” dance label to probably the biggest independent on the planet. It’s crazy how they’ve gone from putting out stuff like SL2 and the Prodigy to the likes of Adele and have remained credible ever since.
Finally, I managed to read Chris Petit’s Robinson, something I’d been meaning to for a long time. My friend Luke reminded me of this, so I put it to the top of my holiday reading pile. Not a music book by any means, but it took me back to my time working in Soho and the streets and pubs of that part of town. If I’m honest my time there in the mid/late-00’s was well after it’s heyday depicted in the book, but it was still an enjoyable read. I was reminded heavily of Patrick Kelliher’s London (which features a character called Robinson, perhaps coincidentally?) and also of The Rings of Saturn in it’s meandering style.
This Is The Day
Anyway it’s new music you’re hear to read about so here’s this weeks picks.
Paul St Hilaire & Rene Lowe - Faith [Kynant]
The amount of messages I’ve had about this. Can’t say much about it tbh, reissued for the first time since 2003, it’s dub techno at it’s absolute finest. Essential… TIP!… Highest Possible Recommendation… whatever record shop superlatives you want to throw at it, it’s deserving of them all.
Rezzett - Puddings [RZ]
New Rezzett material is always worth getting excited about, I’ve picked a couple off their latest EP here, Plum Duff is a breathless bleep techno number, whilst Treacle is just straight up scuzz.
James Alexander Bright - Your Love / East Coast Love Affair - Love of Mind [Athens of the North]
Athens of the North are perhaps best known for their reissues of little-known rare funk, soul & disco tracks but they also put out some pretty decent contemporary tunes too. This latest one from James Alexander Bright comes with a funky nu-disco vibe in advance of a new album from him later this summer. It’s also worth checking out their East Coast Love Affair project too - the latest drop from them is Love of Mind, a classic house track with an early garage feel.
Reducer - Sleng Teng Masters / Mystik [Downwards]
One of my favourite labels, Regis’ Downwards come correct with a tape from 80’s post-punk act Reducer. Apparently this was meant for On-U-Sound back in 1985 but never got released although a few of their tracks surfaced digitally a few years ago. Anyway, Downwards have put the tape out, the highlight has to be their scuzzy take on the Sleng Teng riddim. Essential
L.B Dub Corp - Only The Good Times (Burial Remix)[Dekmantel]
A Burial remix is a rare treat, and he’s already blessed us with one EP of solid material this year so it’s a pleasure to hear him turn his remixing skills to Luke Slater’s L.B Dub Corp material. What does this sound like? It sounds like Burial, but with chunky kicks. Good enough for me.
Lanark Artefax - Metallur / Tris [AD93]
Glasgow’s Lanark Artefax returns to AD93 with an album of IDM-or-whatever-you-want-to-call-it… First listen, I’m not too sure about this. Some tracks are straying a bit to close into PC Music territory. Tris sounds great though.
Broadcast - Spell Blanket Collected Demos 2006-2009 [Warp]
Ah man, where to even start with this. Never did I think we’d get to hear Trish Keenan’s voice on “new” music ever again. Okay, these are quite obviously demos, and there’s a lot of them, but I’ve listened to this about four times through already and there really isn’t any filler amongst it’s 36 tracks. There’s an earlier volume of demos coming soon too, and I’m sure that will be just as incredible.
Low End Activist - Airdrop [Peak Oil]
Gnarly this. Harks back to the glory years of Squarepusher/AFX but sounds completely up to date. Needs a big system to appreciate it. Fill your car with subs and go for a drive.
Actress - Dolphin Sound / Static [Smalltown Supersound]
You can tell I’m a couple of weeks behind as we’ve already done the Actress discourse. Anyway this sounds wicked. A bit more dancey than his classic Hazyville/Splasz/RIP trio, but good all the same. There’s a strong dub influence to what I’ve heard already and I’m looking forward to the rest of the album.
Bullion - Once, In a Borrowed Car [Ghostly International]
Bullion goes pop! One of the most original producers of the last few years it’s been interesting to hear how they’ve changed their sound over the past decade or so. I’ve felt for a while now that Bullion is always on the cusp of blowing up and crossing over into mainstream success, and this might be the one to do it. Does he deserve it? Absolutely.
The Cat’s Miaow - Skipping Stones: The Cassette Years ’92-’93 [World Of Echo]
It’s finally here - the album is out on digital and compiles lots of early versions of beloved favourites and songs from the original cassettes. If you didn’t pre-order this ages ago when I first mentioned it you’ll be kicking yourself as you’ve missed an excellent bonus cassette of covers of Saint Etienne, The Beatles, Ronettes and others.
Anyway, that’s it for this week - congrats if you’ve made it this far, there’s a lot to get through. Comments, feedback etc always welcome and as always thanks for reading!