Monday 25 November 2013

Vladimir Ivkovic. The best DJ you've probably never heard of.

 photo 933943_10151500587857371_33211878_n1.jpg

Vladimir Ivkovic – family man, huge collector, music lover, 'Desolat Music' label manager and resident of the seminal Salon des Amateurs in Düsseldorf IS the best DJ you've probably never heard of!!
Well, that might be over egging his elusiveness a tad but in our defence his is not a name that exactly swarms round in conversations when people are chatting about great DJ's, but great DJ he is! Vladimir began playing a pivotal role in Belgrade’s first “house” parties in the earliest 90s and soundtracking their surreal gatherings at the sea. His sound is very much the unifying section in middle of an ALFOS/World Unknown Venn diagram. Amazingly eclectic, sometimes frustratingly obscure but never less than entertaining. His musical footprint is almost as difficult to track down as some of the records on his mixes with only a handful of his recordings huddled in the deepest recesses of the internet (each one of them the sort of mix that just makes you want to give up, then and there and chuck your own records away.)
This set, recorded live in Belgrade last December has been sat on the hard drive here at TOLAS headquaters for a few months now so it's well overdue an airing. So sit back, pour yourself a cold one and if you've not heard Vladimir before, prepare to have your lid blown. Big love. X


Tuesday 19 November 2013

Richard Fearless * Cold Wave set, live from Leather Boy, London.

 photo 1461502_588877114482387_18473307_n-950x633.jpg

Applying Arthur C. Clark’s observation that “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic” to music, art and ideas is not necessarily a bad thing. We all need a little magic in our lives – whether you subscribe to Dawkin’s ‘Magic of reality’ or de Botton’s ‘Religion for Atheists’ they can both be seen as very similar desire in humanity. Accepting the need within us to love a little social something of the world and humanity that is listened to, seen or thought and talked about as an inspiringly magical moment is a rather special thing.
This mix is about this magic – the stuff we could all replicate with instruction and time, but somewhere within our nature prefer to treat as a special talent or gift or magic – the moments when we experience or take part in something, as creator or observer, that we don’t necessarily have a logical reason for doing, but embrace and love.

And if you believe any of that, I've got a bag of magic beans I'm getting rid of for a decent price,,,,

Tuesday 12 November 2013

"I can't believe it's not buffered?!" * Cheap Nob Gags vol #5.

 photo BX744mqIMAAX7kB1.jpg

Seeing as our egos are constantly forcing us to try to find new ways to annoy the public by inflicting our poorly thought out views on everything from music and culture to cheese and swearing on here, it was kind of inevitable that were eventually bound to search out even more mediums and possible avenues to do this. Hence our move into the murky hinterland that is radio broadcasting, and since March this year the good people over at the wonderful 'Purple Radio' have been kind/stupid enough to afford us the opportunity to do just this!
On a genuine aside it's a brilliant station (voted the UK's best internet radio broadcasters 2009 & 10) with some great shows and presenters and DJ's that REALLY know their onions, (which only serves to throw into stark relief their misjudgment in letting us loose on their airwaves.) We've been transmitting 2 live shows per month, which somehow, given the personnel involved, have without any serious hitches and uncharacteristically, we've actually made a real effort in digging out tunes, new and old, well known and not so, to put together something approaching a cohesive listening experience. We've also managed to secure some great guest mixes to play so we hope you can pop by and have a listen, support the station and get an earful of top quality(ish) music.

There's a bunch of our old show on our Mixcloud account here and you can listen to a recording of our latest monthly Saturday night live show from a couple of weeks back on the link below.

Big love. X


Tuesday 5 November 2013

Music Sans Frontiers Compilation. "We do a lot of work for chariddee,,,,,"

 photo 8d169c79f17c24ac45ecaef0c9be617f-1.jpg

Back in 2011 electronic pairing Posthuman pulled in favours from a variety of well known names for their Acid Relief compilation, supporting the DEC’s East Africa Crisis appeal. Continuing with their altruistic pursuits, they have once again called upon friends and inspirations to donate to Médecins Sans Frontières. This time casting the net further afield than acid house, the Music Sans Frontiers project features a glittering cast; Plaid, Nightwave, B12, Hrdvsion, Milanese, Shadow Dancer, Jokes of the Scene, Global Goon, Radioactive Man, Affie Yusuf and even Posthuman themselves contribute exclusive material for the project. Médecins Sans Frontières provide medical and humanitarian aid around the globe, and are currently focussing their efforts on the recent crisis in Syria. Available from Bandcamp, the album is operating on a pay what you want basis to raise money for the charity, but you can source it from their JustGiving page. Naturally the boys would hope you donate a healthy amount as they are attempting to break the £2,000 barrier, so break out your wallet or else we’ll find a way of slipping a Miley Cyrus remix into your record collection instead.

Have a listen and download the compilation here. X

Sunday 3 November 2013

Scott Fraser * Sound Of Wax Podcast

 photo 2001-a-space-odyssey-kubrick1.jpg

Great new podcast from 'Thoughts On Love and Smoking' favourite Scott Fraser from the good people at 'Sound Of Wax'. We've posted a few of Scott's mixes as well as a handful of the 'Crimes Of the Future' mixes by Scott and Tim Fairplay, named after their regularly irregular night up at Glasgows fine Berkely Suit. Get amongst it!!