We’ve Got A New Site Over The Road…

So if you are still coming here then redirect your browser in the direction of TestPressing.org. It’s much nicer over there. And don’t forget our Facebook page. Say hello there if you’re in the mood. Cheers!

Test Pressing Update / Facebook

We’ve been working on a new version of the website (well updating it all) which has meant uploading a ton of posts and sorting bits and bobs out hence it all going a bit slow round here. We have set up a Facebook page which you can find here – which myself and Dr Rob will be overseeing so feel free to go and post anything of a balearic nature and ask about tracks or whatever if you ever need to find stuff out.

V2 of Test Pressing should enable us to do podcasts on iTunes and make stuff easy to find instead of this old school format we are running with right now so that’ll be nice. We are also working on other bits and bobs and hopefully we’ll get some more new stuff together soon (vague). Anyway, glad to see everyone is getting more mellow across the UK and we’ll be back soon with mixes from Main Stem, more pieces from Dr Rob and a clean site. Enjoy now.

[Apiento]

Mix: Finger Magazine / Come To Marina Del Rey

This is a nice one. New mix from Adrian, head honcho of Finger Magazine, which features some brand new bits you might not have heard. Some new edits and 3 exclusive tracks – the Psychemagik remix of “that” track everyone is crazy about right now, a Lexx remix of Incarnations and a Riccio Remix of Prommer & Barck’s ‘Pictures Of The Sea’. Mix number 150. Wallop.

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Finger Magazine are here. Check them out.

[Apiento]

Happy Fathers Day…

Big hello to all the dads and here’s a killer video for you.

[Apiento]

Too Hot To Blog

Back in a bit…

[Apiento]

Film: Visionare / East End Film Festival

The Laser Magnetic crew have organised a program with the Visionare pop-up cinema this year for the East End Film Festival that some of you may be interested in as there’s a few documentaries on show that look right up our street. The Norman Jay one about Good Times is a classic and the Yellowman documentary is supposedly an incredible look at dancehall and it’s crazy mixed up world. If you want to go to the East End Film Festival website you can get more information on the whole program. Here’s the info.

Visionare Website

[Apiento]

Dr Rob’s On The Radio!!!

If I had to stumble across someone on the airwaves late at night talking quietly and playing amazing music then Dr Rob would be him. And he’s actually doing it. Our good doctor is on the radio and I thought a few of you might be interested. He’s been working with the local radio station, FM.Karuizawa 77.5MHz, with the first show going out this Saturday (the 9th) and every Saturday thereafter at 20:00-21:00 (Japanese time).

As you know he’s got fantastic taste in music (especially of a soul, balearic, electronic and disco nature) and will be playing a mixture of old and new music, over a range of genres and tempos. Anything that tickles his fancy. As well as conventional radio, the show will be also be streamed at here and there will be a blog running side-by-side with information on artists, labels and scans of the more interesting record covers. If you get a chance tune in and get involved.

[Apiento]

Radio: Jon Savage – Savage Music 024 / 1969 Part 4

I haven’t run one of these for a few weeks so here’s the fourth part of Jon Savage’s 1969 6 parter. Have a listen if you’ve never tried them. He’s funny, slightly camp, full of amazing knowledge and importantly a music fanatic to the core.

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[Apiento]

Happy Christmas From Test Pressing

You might have noticed that we are slowing down for Christmas. It’s been a great year again, and thanks to all those who have contributed to Test Pressing – the DJs (you now who you are but especially Moon, Phil Mison, Balearic Mike, Lexx, Mudd and Phil South), the writers (Dr Rob , Andy in Jamaica and Tim H get a special mention) and everyone who has taken the time to support the site. We’ll be doing a round-up soon of the year but enjoy the break and be merry.

[Apiento]

Party: Fabric4X

This one’s a charity event with a great line-up (and me). It’s happening this Thursday and should be a fun one. Come down and support a good cause if you’re in the area.

[Apiento]

[Apiento]

Party: Afternoon Sessions

Reminder on this one… More of a pub with a sound system than a party but if you are at a loose end today and want somewhere to read the paper then get down to this. It’s their 5th Anniversary and, as we said before, the London launch for Phil Mison’s Cantoma album which was in the shops this week. Moonboots is down from Manchester with, no doubt, a box of goodness to play.

[Apiento]

Party: World Unknown

We’ve been chatting to Andy Blake of Dissident for a while so we are happy to say that he is going to be on board as a writer with us, posting pieces from his vault of magazines and books, creating mixes and updating us with news on the parties he is working on, playing at and generally whats making his world spin.

If you don’t know Andy things to know are that Dissident was a label doing the right things, World Unknown is his night focusing on the harder end of the balearic spectrum and he is as happy at home playing house and techno as he is exploring obscure US or European disco and cosmic funk oddities in a smaller space. playing reggae and dub sets at his Dubco nights or simply playing straight-up proper disco and afro grooves anywhere.

He has a new label starting soon going by the name of Cave Paintings, the first release that we heard was the sound of machines. Real live machines. No edits, no fx in Logic or Pro-tools, just straight up keyboards and drum machines. Sounded fresh.

Finally, Andy’s one of the vinyl over digital people. He believes in a ‘kind of sonic voodoo in the grooves of a record cut at the time that the music was actually made’ and thus will only play 12s and 7s. This we like. As for choosing vinyl over digital, it’s that choice that many people involved with the site have made in the realisation that its far more fun, intuitive and engaging to work with a big pile of records than wallets full of CDs or software, laptops and midi controllers.

Anyway, enough from us and over to Andy. Welcome.

::

So then, how do i describe my party to you in my first post on test pressing without coming across like some shameless self promoting tool?

World Unknown is a little do that me and my mates, Joe Hart and Duncan Clark, put on every month in a boss little railway arch in Brixton with a nice big old fashioned mis-matched reggae sound system. Although our flyers say stuff like synth wave, ebm, new beat, acid, the music we play includes a lot more than that and could loosely be described as the darker, edgier end of balearic.

Friday 16th of April is our 6th installment and we’ve got a live set from well known techno fast food outlet Subway. In all seriousness this is going to be really rather smart indeed. We’ve already got a very nice vibe going and a genuinely great crowd ranging from wide-eyed teenies to seen it, done it 30 and 40-something veterans of the acid house wars and it seems to get better and better at each one.

We’re also in the process of putting together a pretty tasty optikinetics projector-based psychedelic light show. We’ll have a fair chunk of it ready for the 16th and it should be in it’s full stroboscopic swing by the may edition. Guests so far have included Alex Patterson from The Orb, Ali Renault, Radical Majik, Gold Blood and Con Mun Gos, and future live sets will include Cage & Aviary, Gatto Fritto/Hungry Ghost, Neville Watson and Kink, Snuff Crew and more.

If you are interested in what we are up to we have website with various mixes from Joe and myself, photos from the parties and links to other people and stuff that we like at the World Unknown website and if you fancy coming to the party just email us here and we’ll furnish you with the location details.

All the best then and hopefully see some of you at the party one day,

Andy.

[Andy Blake]

Free Track: Ali Love ‘Love Harder’ (Prins Thomas Diskomiks)

We don’t normally bother posting things like this but some of you might like this free remix by Prins Thomas of Ali Love’s ‘Love Harder’ which is available here.
Yours,
The Test Pressing Information Service.

[Apiento]

Mix: Taken By Trees Rough Trade Mix

This mix came with the lovely Taken By Trees album when bought in the London institute that is Rough Trade. As you’d expect if you know the album it’s a sweet mellow mix with some eastern promise.

Big hello to the beautiful people of Gothenburg on this one – Chris & Anna, Hanna, Maria and brother John, the great Anders, Dan and Rasmus, Sara and Camilla. x.

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[Apiento]

Happy Christmas From All At Test Pressing

It’s been a good year at Test Pressing towers. We posted a Detroit legends home phone number by accident, hosted lots of amazing mixes from our favourite balearic anything goes DJs (special thanks to Phil Mison, Balearic Mike, Moonboots, Jolyon and Lexx) and played host to some amazing old tapes from Alfredo, Soul II Soul/The Wild Bunch and Jose Padilla.

Old Face and i-D magazines got plundered, Tim H introduced us to fine pieces of music in his Streatham Island Discs column, Waldo stirred it up and Dr Rob came on board at the end of the year to share his thoughts on his new life in Japan, as well his series of Tokyo To Kissa mixes. Wally Badarou and Dennis Bovell got the Test Pressing inquisition and Dave Dorrell proved himself, in hindsight, to be the most erudite quotable acid house DJ (see below). Write the book Dave.

Also, we’d love more new people to come on board next year to write about design, film, TV, news, photography, art, whatever really, so if interested get in touch here.

Stay tuned for more of the same next year and enjoy your break. We may be back before the year is out and we may not, depending how we feel. Keep it tidy and remember, it’s all about the nippers.

[Apiento]

YouTube: Look De Ibiza

This is a Ku promotional video from 1985 that is one of the finest films of Ibiza you will ever see. Unfortunately whoever uploaded the video has put a, perhaps inappropriate shall we say, soundtrack to the film. My advice would be to click on one of the Phil Mison within Test Pressing mixes and watch away.

Here’s Part 2 with the correct music. I’ll try and upload the correct first half at some point. Check the soundtrack though from Double to the sound of new beat and The Art Of Noise. Perfect.

[Apiento]