Let me make one thing clear: Best Promos is an emotionally safe space free of bias, conflict, criticism, or potentially threatening actions, ideas, or conversations where you can be yourself and admit to your friends, family and social media channels that it's ok to think Kendrick Lamar was boring at Glastonbury last night and that deep down, at the end of the day, to be fair, Diana Ross, Years and Years, Pet Shop Boys and Jack White were much more fun and better.
I watched the first half an hour of Kendrick Lamar and was pretending to think it was good: I even drafted up a Tweet in response to Terry Farley to say how amazing it was before I got real, deleted it and turned over to the Pet Shop Boys.
Now, this next bit is going to be a bit controversial because I'm calling people out by name, like that song by Guns 2 Roses, Get In My Ring. Read it in your head, or out loud, in an over-the-top Axl Rose voice:
This post goes out to all you punks in the press and on Twitter who don't want to cause controversy by saying Kendrick Lamar wasn't as good as everyone is saying he is, but of course that's just my personal opinion, which we're all entitled to. Maybe you really did think it was brilliant, I'm really sorry about this. I don't mind what people like really, I'm just filling space on this blog. It wasn't my cup of tea, but artists can't be all things to all people, can they? Live and let live, that's what I say in real life, I don't know why I'm being so different and weird online. Sorry. That means you Terry Farley on Twitter, Alexis Petridis, Andy Dawson at Athletico Mince, Andy Daniell at FFFFRRRRRR, Andy Secher at Hit Parader, Circus Magazine. Mick Wall at Kerrang, Bob Guccione Jr. at Spin, what, are you annoyed because I don't read Spin and your dad has snogged more women than you? Stuff you. Get lost. Stop antagonising me. Effing dipstick!
I think they should have had MC Hammer as the headliner instead. Maybe next year.
Kendrick Lamar at Glastonbury 2022 - 10/10 for all those who loved it. Best Promos is all about inclusion.
That's Kendrick Lamar and Guns 2 Roses dealt with. Let's get on with some dance music.
Ambient Babestation Meltdown has got everyone here at Best Promos r-r-r-r-r-r-really hot under the collar because of the word "Babestation" in her name. Phwoar. Babestation - remember that, fellas? Eh? Babestation. What's that, Pottsy, Babestation is still going? I'll have to check it out later on and text in for a personalised wave, if you know what I mean...
...Ambient Babestation Meltdown (GREAT artist living in GREAT Britain) has worked together as a team with JBS (Disco Biscuit head honcho from Europe) to release a new 4-track EP on the Optimo Music label. It's called Who Goes There and it's out THIS FRIDAY.
Is it good? Yes.
Why?
Well, the first track, Litany, whilst not having any proper beats is something you can certainly start your set with. Litany has got Ambient Babestation Meltdown whispering about fear over the sound of the wind and the noise it makes when you unplug the jack from your electric guitar and stand it up near a speaker. This is the Ambient side of Ambient Babestation Meltdown on show, and it really sets you up nicely for the rest of the EP.
"Somewhere, there is a crime happening." Yes there is, Ambient Babestation Meltdown, and it's the crime of people NOT buying this EP! LOL. I genuinely (not really, only joking) think that buying Who Goes There by Ambient Babestation Meltdown and JSB should be written into law for all Britons over the age of sixteen, with the punishment for breaking that law and not buying it: three years in prison, no parole. I don't think a judge in the land who likes beefy, dirty bass and sultry female vocals over a casual drum and snare pattern would let anyone walk free for not buying this. And I'll throw away the key! Or pull the lever. Dead or Alive is the excellent second track.
After the dance track in the club-style chaos of Dead or Alive, Ambient Babestation Meltdown and SJB slow things down a bit with The Other Place and let us all catch our breath. Plinky plonky keys and more spoken-word rapping by Ambient Babestation Meltdown that, in my opinion, is better than Kendrick Lamar, makes this the best third track on an EP I've EVER heard.
"Eyes, like sun spots. Red crystals swallows whores, save yourself. On. On. On. Brad crystals in a crimson mist." I don't know what Ambient Babestation Meltdown is going on about, to be honest, but I'm swaggering about the box room listening to it on full blast, bumping into my desk and chair with a really peculiar look on my face, and I really don't care. Listening to The Other Place makes you feel arrogant, in a good way.
Ambient Babestation Meltdown and BJS finish Who Goes There with the title track, Who Goes There. If I was in charge of this release, I would have insisted that the title track goes first on the EP. That is my only quibble with this release, but I shan't let it cloud my enjoyment of it. This track is a bit like Litany, but with occasional beats and the vocal volume turned down a bit. It's also got a sawing sound which makes it sound like your ears are being shaved off by an angry Mexican drug cartel goon in every 15+ series on Netflix. What's not to love?!
If you buy the trendy cassette version of this EP, you get a banging mix by Ambient Babestation Meltdown on the other side that, thankfully, only has an ambient bit some tech house at the very beginning, where it should be.
Hmm. After much consideration, and the surprising realisation that I once went to a live show of Athletico Mince with JBS in Leicester Square, I'm going to give this a nepotistic and "jobs for the boys" Ransom Note alumni score of 10/10
Furthermore, I hope Ambient Babestation Meltdown doesn't bottle it further on in her career when she gets more famous and change her name to something more sensible, like Rachel Steve Davis or Radio 4 Williams or something. Keep the faith.
I was going end today's post with a bit about how there seems to be a higher proportion of nutters on the streets and buses of Birmingham than there are in London, but I don't have any facts or figures to back that claim up with, so I'm going to leave it.
I also started to write something about there being no colour pictures of Regis and that I'd never seen him play live, so I thought that he was an urban myth or an NFT prank, but then I saw these pictures (below) and my bit fell apart. I also remembered that I met him at a party years ago and he was a very nice man, and nowhere near as moody or monochrome as he is in his black and white photographs.
If you ever get the chance to meet Regis, you should. He's alright *thumbs up emoji*
I also have a hilarious lookalike that I'm going to save for next week. It's the singer out of Supergrass looking a bit like the leader out of the Bee Gees. LOL
It's not often we do hilarious humour on Best Promos. It's always just dance, dance, dance...and more dance! And repeat and sleep or something, so I thought that with all the cost of living crisis, credit crunch, rave needle bastards, rail strikes, Covid-19, Monkeypox and the south western bad bouncers epidemic that's been sweeping clubland recently, I'd open up today's post with a light-hearted look at John Virgo passing off some light-hearted impressions of his contemporaries in 1984 to cheer us all up. It's on YouTube. Have a look and ease yourself into this post like you're gently sliding into a big, funny bubble bath of word lather and sentence suds.
I've just had a really funny idea, actually. For every dance review I do today, I'm going to use MS Paint to stick a giant pair of comedy glasses on the artist's face! LOL. If it works for John Virgo's Dennis Taylor take-off, it can't fail for Best Promos. Let's get reviewing...
Madonna's face after a bit more plastic surgery! LOL
Whoever is in charge of DJ Daniel Avery's public relations department must be a right MISERABLE GET because they're always making him pose for photos with a right moody face on (have a look on Google Images). He either looks cheesed off, knackered or like he's thinking about something serious. Honestly, I think he needs to smile more because his music is really good. I'm not going to quote the Alan Partridge / Nirvana thing, but that's kind of where my mind is at the moment.
He (Daniel Avery) has got a new song out at the moment called Chaos Energy. It's on Phantasy, it's only three pounds and you get a B-side called Bliss, which is the first ever shoegaze rave record ever. What's not to love?
In Sonic the Hedgehog terms, chaos energy is an extremely powerful and dangerous form of energy. It exists in minute quantities within just about everything on Mobius, but the most concentrated source of this power is the Chaos Emeralds. I don't know what any of that really means, but I do know that the song Daniel Avery has just released doesn't sound anything like any of the music on any of the Sonic games, so I don't know why he's called it Chaos Energy. Daniel, get in touch, lets touch base and you can let our readers know what was going on in that brain of yours when you came up with that name.
After listening to Chaos Energy a few times, I think he should have called it Ethereal Beat Manipulation (Dark Side of My Soul). It's a very dark and moody song that has some ethereal sounds and loads of beats on it. It made me feel quite contemplative. I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror around the 3:30 mark when he cuts the ethereal stuff and drops the bass. I looked exactly like Daniel does in this picture, but with a short, back and sides and a retro West Bromwich Albion top on:
And that was my favourite bit on the song! Maybe that's what his music does to people; it seriousesses them up, and it's why he always looks so stony-faced himself.
Hey, readers, I know what will give Daniel Avery a belly laugh...
DJ Daniel Avery sporting a gigantic pair of "Harry Potter" glasses! LOL
It says on Bandcamp that Manni Dee added some production to this record. I once had a lovely time at House of God with Manni Dee in the olden days, so if he's involved with Chaos Energy, it's alright by me. I was going to score it highly anyway, but because of Manni Dee, and of how seriously I can see that Daniel Avery has taken it, I'm going to give it a very serious 10/10
I can't stop laughing at that picture with the Harry Potter specs! LOL. I don't know how I'm going to get through the rest of this post, to be honehahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!
Nice artwork, hilarious glasses! LOL
Up next is some music from the poshest person in PR, Genevieve Taylor-Fotheringay-Phipps. These tracks were hand delivered to me by her 6' 7" tall butler last week. I think it had the name, 'Cavendish', embroidered onto his bowler hat in a fancy Italics font. He stepped out of a burgundy Rolls-Royce Wraith with blacked out windows, a personalised licence plate (P05H 1) and pepperpot alloys.
He stepped out in a very deliberate manner, like a crane fly avoiding a patch of mosquito poo on the pavement, and issued the MP3 files to me on a little velvet cushion with tiny tassels on it. After handing them over, the words, "m'lud", stumbled slowly out of his mouth hole and he slowly made his way back to the car and out of my life.
Jordan Nocturne is BACK with a pair of LOVELY songs for the GREAT Permanent Vacation label. The Day 2 EP is brilliant and I have very much enjoyed listening to the two songs on it: Day 2 feat. Le Boom and Balearia are welcome additions to the dance music library of songs that can get played in clubs, pubs, bars, warehouses or in homes, like mine in Eastcote. They are both guaranteed to make you dance in different ways to all the other house music songs out there and you won't regret sticking your hands in your pockets and paying for them. It is important we support artists and independent record labels. #RSD22 #VinylLife #BandcampTuesday (Genevieve - please can you send me the link for the free downloads for these, so that I can play them in my back extension when I'm doing my imaginary Ruislip club night, No Requests?).
Day 2 is the type of track you'd have heard Ewan Pearson or Tiga play at The End in 2006 - which is no bad thing at all. I love the off-beat bass and weird choppy vocals about people being on top of him or something, it's fab. Baleariais a bit slower, so you're more likely to hear it played on the Poolside Infinity Mixtapes on NTS or at one of Mark's parties at Pikes in Ibiza. Mark - get in touch, lets touch base and I can come and play it at one of your parties at Pikes one day.
Thinking about it, this EP is so good that I'm going to give it a 10/10 !!!
Day 2 by Jordan Nocturne feat. Le Boom is out now on Permanent Vacation.
Fatboy Slim in a pair of funny "Dame Edna" glasses!! LOL
The other track that Genevieve Taylor-Fotheringay-Phipps sent to me with her butler was a new remix of an old Fatboy Slim song: Ya Mama (Dance System's Back 2 Boutique Mix). It's funny because I was watching a programme on BBC the other night about Glastonbury and Fatboy Slim was one of the talking heads on it! It's funny when things like that happen, isn't it, readers?
Yo Mama, I mean, Ya Mama was a great dance song in the early 00s, and this new remix is a great dance song in the 20s. It's as simple as that. Dance System's remix still features a man saying "push the tempo" over and over again, but with a house beat instead of a big beat. The best bit is on 1:43 when the low bell-type bass thing comes through to the top of the mix properly (sorry, readers: a bit of producer nerd talk there).
Ya Mama (Dance System's Back 2 Boutique Mix), when Genevieve sends me the download link, will definitely be played to death on my little Pioneer DJ controller in the back extension as our black and white cat eats his crunchy food and tortures a sparrow. Let me ask him what he'd give this track out of ten. "Meow m m meowwww". That means ten out of ten (10/10) in cat language.
Ya Mama (Dance System's Back 2 Boutique Mix) is out now on Skint.
And finally, I'll be signing copies of Best Promos at The Robin in Bilston on Thursday night. I'm going with my sister to see Guns 2 Roses, the best Guns n Roses tribute act in England. Tickets are only £13, so why not join me for some rock n roll mayhem with the Guns n Roses tribute act, Guns 2 Roses, at The Robin in Bilston on Thursday night for only thirteen English pounds in Bilston in the West Midlands. Join me.
I'll be reviewing the gig on next week's Best Promos, so that's something to keep you all coming back, isn't it?
I think I'm done now. Some really good music for you all to be listening to. Don't forget to recommend Best Promos to all of your friends and family and share us on your social media channels. Despite a very high level of content, music, memes, jokes, grammar and spellings, the numbers and stats on this site are very poor, so we really do need your help to push Best Promos into the mainstream. I'm sick of it being underground. I'm not saying I want to be as well known as Resident Advisor or as trendy as Faith/Pogo, etc., but I don't want to be another Thump, Ransom Note or Meoko. Do you know what I mean? Anyway, keep me in mind when you're sharing things online and know that it would make me a very happy boy if you made this website famous. I'm only twelve years old and this blog is my hobby. I'm an only child who's family all left me abandoned in a disused railway station when I was ten, and the only thing I could listen to was the strains of a nearby plague rave. This harrowing experience was oddly inspiring and it made me want to write about the scene and listen to (and review) as much dance music as I can before it's all too late. I'm sorry, I've shared too much. I must get back to caring for my four-legged cat in the 3-bed semi-detached house I now rattle around in. In Eastcote. Ruislip. We're low on full fat milk.
I don't know about you, but after spending the last few weeks being cynical, miserable and downright condescending towards the people I'm close to in real life who absolutely adore Her Majesty the Queen Elizabeth II and snottily turning my snotty nose up at the prospect of her Jubilee, I am now writing these words with marmalade all around my mouth (which is upturned into a very British smile; prawn cocktail breath and wonky teeth), and - as I suspect - millions of other UK dance blog journalists around the UK will be covered in crumbs and marmalade themselves as they write their little articles and posts about music and a scene that isn't that important in the grand scheme of things, but we keep on earnestly telling ourselves that it is, don't we, people?! Especially the middle-aged ones. Tee hee!
I loved the Jubilee, and I don't care if her empty gold carriage could feed a family for a year. I had a lovely few days and she deserves our whole-hearted support and celebration for being such a brilliant beacon of hope and stability for us all. Yes, she probably had Princess Diana killed. Yes, she dipped into our sterling (I think) and paid top dollar to that CONTENT REMOVED BY BEST PROMOS LAWYERS American blonde woman to save her pervert kid. Yes, she's a lizard lady. Yes, she's had the same boring hairstyle all of her life and all she can do nowadays is wave...oh, hang on...but is any of this good reason to now whip the palaces and crowns from under her feet? I say not. But, if the response to this opinion is negative, then I'm ready to swing the other way and join in when we all ransack Buckingham Palace. Bagsy her knicker drawer!!
I wonder what Ben Klock thinks. Ben, if you're reading this: get in touch. Are you pro-monarchy or anti-establishment?
Email me on: BestPromos4Eva@gmail.com
By the way, readers, if the quality of today's post is poor, it's because I spent too much time trying to do a Cold War Steve-style header picture. I've put Frank Skinner's face on Prince Charles's face (because the monarchy is a joke), Bernard Manning on the Queen's (because the monarchy is a joke AND they're all supposed to be racist) and there are punchy cultural and satirical comments on loads of other important issues for you to decipher, AND there is the obligatory Grant Mitchell and Lulu inserts, AND for the eagle-eyed; see if you can spot Jimmy Hill! It's all just a bit of fun at the end of the day. I don't think I'll be interviewed in The Guardian any time soon! It's a very sharp political piece of art, though, which says more in pictures than words ever could.
So, we're all agreed here at Best Promos (even arch-anarchist, Pottsy) that HRH Queen Elizabeth II has now pole-vaulted her way into our hearts. I do wonder what she'd think of the new Roman Flügel EP on Rekids. Shall I pretend to ask her? LOL
"Ma'am, thank you ever so much for agreeing to be interviewed on Best Promos. I know the last week would have taken a lot out of you. You're definitely knocking on a bit now. In fact, if you don't mind me saying, you looked a bit reanimated in that skit with Paddington. You looked more computer-generated than he did!
Not a problem, mate. What do you want to know?
Well, your majesty, I was wondering if you'd be kind enough to listen to the new EP by Roman Flügel and judge it for this blog. It's called Yes People. Creep creep.
Sure. What label is it on, mate?
It's on Rekids. Slither slither.
Nice one. Stick it on. Let's have a listen to it.
What do you think, ma'am? Slobber slobber.
Sound. One really likes it, but it sounds like the record is skipping at the beginning. Is it supposed to be like that?
Yes, ma'am, I thought exactly the same thing when I first heard it, but it happens throughout the track, from beginning to end. It simply has to be intentional.
Ok, One likes it. One thinks that beat skipping thing adds to the overall flava, if you know what one means.
It's got lots of other sound effects in it, your majesty, that, if you don't mind me saying, would sound not too inconsiderable on the Windsor Castle PA. I can just imagine you dancing to it around your famous handbag in the courtyard, ma'am, after one too many gin and tonics. Crawl crawl.
Yeah, I could definitely vibe to it. To be honest, the rest of the EP is ace, too. Play Simple, Jam and Mysterious Delight all carry on in that same 3am vein. None of them have any massive drops or top line melodies. It's an EP for the heads down crowd and the popper squad at the back. Proper solid marchers.
If you don't mind me saying, your majesty, maybe this is an EP for your guards with the big fuzzy hats! For when they're marching around! Hehehehehehehehehehehe grovel grovel.
I don't think so.
Sorry, ma'am. Forgive me for asking, but would you be kind enough to award Yes People by Roman Flügel a score out of ten?
One can take comfort in the fact that, long after I have gone, Roman Flügel will still be making trippy, dancefloor-focused slabs of peculiar and energetic heat. He is my strength and my stay, and this EP is in no way an exception to his ferocious body of work. It is with great pleasure, joy and determination that I declare this EP open, and with a Royal seal of approval from all of us here at Buckingham Palace. Yes People by Roman Flügel is a 10/10 release, and no mistake."
Blimey. Cheers Liz! Yes People by Roman Flügel presents Tracks on Delivery is OUT NOW on Rekids.
I was in The Hop and Vine on Ruislip High Street recently, testing out their real ales. I drank a pint of Buffle Duffle real ale. A pint of Hitler's Nose. A pint of Combined Words and a yard of Jennifer. After that, I sank a Corrupted Cat and a Flock of Toddlers before knocking back a bottle or two (or three!) of their best Blossom Hill wine. To say I was drunk would be putting it mildly: I was quite drunk! And what better state to be in whilst walking around Ruislip and Eastcote listening to the latest Phantasy release on my blue Sony headphones.
Highdive by Gramrcy and John Loveless is out now and it soundtracked my walk home from the pub on Sunday night. There is something about this track that makes you feel really cocky and arrogant as you're walking around with eight or nine pints inside you. There is a repetitive dur d d dur dur d d dur rhythm and melody to the main bits and some really weird, scary sounds that come out of nowhere every now and again. Those bits make you jump the first time you hear them, but once you get used to it, you'll be screwing your face up and nodding along as you swagger down the street, casually playing air drums as you pass the norms and the oldies coming out of Tesco with their loaves of bread and boring stuff like that. With Highdive in your ears, you're a step above everyone you walk past - even if they're richer and more sober and successful than you.
There is a Beats Mix which is just the original without the weird bits. Still good, though. The last track on the release is the Schacke Remix, which is a lot faster than the original - would be good to get one of my team to count the beats per minute on that and report back. This remix sounds nothing like the original. It's the kind of track Partiboi69 will start playing when he eventually tries to court the "serious" dance music punters...in a good way.
I am a big fan of the Phantasy label. Erol Alkan seems like a very nice man, and I think Highdive is a smashing tune. After a long think here at my desk, and a smiling stare at the calming bird artwork, I'm giving it a 10/10
Highdive by Gramrcy and John Loveless is OUT NOW on Phantasy.
Hologram Teen is a genuinely brilliant name, isn't it? Like Sonic Youth and Altered Images. Hologram Teen is ace. I've just Googled it; unfortunately, it's not this artist's real name :-( Hologram Teen is the pen name of Morgane Lhote who fights out of Los Angeles, America.
A couple of years ago she BURST onto the scene with that Pizza Conspiracy album on Ransom Note Records and now she's BACK on the scene with her new album, Day-Glo Chaos; an ode to day-glo clobber and the chaos of the colour clash when you wear a lot of day-glo! We've all been there if you were a kid in the 1980s.
The first single is out today according to the R$N website, but I can't see it on Bandcamp yet. Have a listen to it on YouTube, though. It's called Valley Nights (Burnin') and, as you can see, it's already got favourable feedback in the notoriously crude and hateful YouTube comments section:
Valley Nights (Burnin') could easily have slotted into Chromeo's DJ Kicks CD, which I think is the highest accolade anyone could give this kind of track because that DJ Kicks mix is one of the best for driving around in the summer to. Lost my thread a bit here, sorry. Reset. The new single by Hologram Teen is fab, and it's enough for me to pre-order her album when it finally gets put on Bandcamp.
I particularly enjoy the sound of the car starting up at the beginning because it makes me think I'm listening to a 2ManyDJs rework of a Madness song.
Have a listen:
Now, after listening to that, listen to this:
And for that, there is only one score out of ten we can grant Valley Nights (Burnin') by Hologram Teen: 10/10
Valley Nights (Burnin') by Hologram Teen is OUT NOW on Ransom Note Records. Her new album, Day-Glo Chaos, is out on Tuesday 19 July 2022
Pre-order/buy it here (just keep refreshing the page until it appears): Hologram Teen
I think we're done for today. Congratulations to the Prime Minister for winning that vote of no confidence last night. Hopefully, we can all get on witBLEUGHHHHHHHHHHHH.