In Strict Tempo, vol. 89: One of the Best to Ever Do It
A tribute to Keith McIvor/JD Twitch and a return of the release reviews with a bumper crop of great music to listen to.
This weeks In Strict Tempo was just meant to be music reviews. I haven’t done any for a couple of weeks and had loads of good stuff to catch up on. They’re still here, just a bit further down, as usual.
Last week we sadly lost Keith McIvor aka JD Twitch. He’d been seriously unwell for a short time, and although his passing was not unexpected, but it was still an incredible shock to hear.
I won’t pretend to have known Keith, I never went to Pure, or Optimo and I think I’d only seen him DJ elsewhere once or twice. Of course, I’d listened to his radio shows, and to his mixes, some of the first ones I downloaded onto my PC were old Optimo mixes. His friends and family have written far more meaningful tributes than I ever could, and they will all give you the measure of man, as sound a person as you could ever find.
Recently my friend Luke Stonecirclesampler and I have been working on a project that we reached out to Keith on, not really expecting much in the way of a response. What we got (after a brief chat about Dave Ball and Some Bizzarre) was the most eloquently written, thoughtful and interesting replies of the whole project. We hope to be able to share it with you soon, it pains me that Keith is not here to see the finished article, that he spoke so passionately about and contributed so much to.
Everything everyone else has written about his good nature and willingness to talk about music is absolutely correct, as another friend of mine said on WhatsApp, he was the complete opposite of a gatekeeper, always happy to share his wide music knowledge with whoever was listening.
I’m sure his records and compilations will now go the same way as Weatherall’s, (one of the few DJ’s who could be compared to him) with Discogs prices reaching obscene heights, but if you’re able to get your hands on any you won’t be dissapointed.
My love goes out to his friends and family, in Glasgow and further afield.
Music Reviews
TRii - Music For Desert Reboot [World Of Echo]
Cast your mind back to early 2020, the world in the grips of a pandemic, shops not knowing whether they could stay open or even sell enough to a furloughed nation to keep the lights on. In times of darkness comes light though, and this unassuming cassette dropped on the much missed Low Company. Without question one of the albums that got me through that dark time, a beguiling collection of ‘songs’ that called to mind the empty steppe as much as the empty streets of lockdown. To reduce it to a short description doesn’t come anywhere near to doing it justice, but murky electronica is a rough stepping off point. Anyway, the good folk at World of Echo - a spiritual successor to Low Company - have now bought this to vinyl for the first time and hopefully to a wider audience. Stop what you’re doing and buy it.
Joanne Robertson - Blurrr
I covered this a while back when the first single dropped, but now the whole album is here and it’s just as good as I was expecting. I’ll confess I didn’t go back to the single much after it came out, but the album is hauntingly beautiful and I’ve saved it already.
Mika Vainio - Sysivalo [Sahko]
Seemingly as prolific in death as he was in life, this new album really does feature the last recorded work of the late Mika Vainio under his ø alias. A collection of largely ambient sonic pieces there’s times where this threatens to head towards shoegaze, but a dystopian, arctic vision of the genre, whereas other tracks are the kind of thing you could imagine Villalobos playing on a loop for forty minutes to piss off a group of festival-goers. You know that doomsday seed-bank buried deep under the tundra? This is what that sounds like.
Autechre - Quaristice [Warp]
Autechres’ mid 00’s opus gets a timely reissue for those who missed or ignored it first time round. As Altibzz lures you in to what you suspect is a friendlier place, it soon becomes clear the duo are in no mood to let up, the mutated breaks coming fast & furious before veering from the mellow, to the Burial-esque and back to the electro and hip-hop threads that run through all their best work.
Lauten Der Seele - Wir Zwei Allein [World of Echo]
A new (and final?) album from Christian Schoppik’s Lauten Der Seele project. I’m really enjoying what little I’ve heard of this so far, it’s ticking lots of boxes for me. RIYL Brannten Schnurre (obvs), that Mark Pritchard song with the Julie Andrews vocal
Joy Orbison - play it again [Hinge Finger]
Why the lowercase title, Joy? Leave that nonsense to Fred Again. Not a bad tune, but didn’t we all agree to stop using that vocal effect in 2005?
Pangaea - Neuromance [Hessle Audio]
I think this is just Inspector Norse played at +8. Quite fun though
Horse Vision - Back of My Hand [inadvertent.index]
Interesting shape-shifting lo-fi DIY gear from Sweden this, Yuck by way of Radiohead by way of MBV… there’s an album too that’s just had a vinyl release, also worth checking out
Basic Unit - Timeline [Sneaker Social Club]
The darkest of darkcore, this criminally overlooked 90’s duo get a new lease of life on Sneaker. Enough to give Mr Kirk nightmares all over again.
VA - Telepathic Fish: Trawling the Early 90s Ambient Underground [Fundamental Frequencies]
You know what they need to bring back? Chillout rooms in nightclubs. Who am I kidding? I’ve not been to a nightclub in years. But back when I did, the idea of a room to kick back away from the dance floor in was a nice bit of respite from the techno or whatever was playing in the main room. Anyway, this is the kind of stuff that would have been playing in those rooms, pop it on if you need a break.
