These are the big new tunes and reissues emanating from the (newly refurbished!) 1BTN bunker this month. Spotify playlist at the bottom of the page.   Robert Glasper ft H.E.R and Meshell Ndegeocello Better Than I Imagined (Loma Vista Recordings) The first single from Glasper’s upcoming 2021 album Black Radio … read more

Steve KIW rounds up his personal take on the development of the balearic sound.   Part four: New waves, new wavs, new ways, new raves.   Despite house and hip-hop being relatively new at the beginning of the decade the mainstream in the 90s was a musically and culturally sterile … read more

“The essence of Orkney’s magic are the deep marvellous rhythms of sea and land, darkness and light” George Mackay Brown, 1921-1996   Over the last few years Erland Cooper has released three beautiful and beguiling albums, full of the moods and mystery of his native Orkney. The last of this … read more

These are the 1BTN DJ recommendations for August 2020. Spotify playlist at the bottom of the page.   Roisin Murphy Something More (Skint Records) The Queen of the sultry groove joins forces with the queen of disco Amy Douglas for an emotive wonder that had us hooked from the first … read more

1BTN’S Jo Dressler tells the story of women making their mark in contemporary music, from Muslim metal to Filipino dancehall.   INDONESIA All female, Muslim metal band (now there’s a few demographics you don’t see melded together very often) Voice of Baceprot are an Indonesian teenage metal band, smashing through stereotypes … read more

As one half of Brum based duo Original Rockers (later Rockers Hi-Fi) Glyn ‘Bigga’ Bush created the 90s progressive-house-dub classic Push Push, put out four great albums, contributed a cut to Kruder & Dorfmeister’s era defining K&D Sessions, then he carved out an existence as a prolific maverick creator, mashing … read more

In this instalment of Steve KIW’s story of the Balearic Beat the establishment takes fright, a lot of blissed out ravers jump in coaches and record collections begin to look a lot more cosmopolitan   Part Three: Vibes and feelings   1988 was dubbed the Second Summer Of Love. Politically … read more

Never leaning on the notion of a mould or convention, Colonel Red Is a phenomenon in the underground soul circuit, blending the segways between Rnb, Broken Beat, Hip Hop and House music- a vocal that is strident in all things forward thinking. Previously as a vibration labelled Milez Benjamin, these … read more

1BTN DJ selections for the month of July; all new releases or re-issues. Spotify playlist at the bottom of the page.   Sault Untitled (Black Is) (Forever Living Originals) The third release from UK based Sault is a timely and poignant soundtrack to a turbulent summer. Powerful vocals, incredible drums … read more

Our DJs use the word Balearic with abandon. So often in fact that it came as no surprise when a listener asked: Hola 1BTN, What, exactly, is ‘Balearic’?    Among our regular line up we have the Balearic Assassins Of Love collective and the Balearic Ultras; none are actually from … read more

How’s lockdown life on the west coast Adrian? Same as it is over there, boring! *laughs* I guess music is keeping you running through though, right? I guess so, trying man. So, going back to your early days then, you majored in political law and studied entertainment law and obviously … read more

A few weeks back 1BTN’s Joel Essex caught up with the legendary DJ, promoter, and everyone’s favourite lockdown instagrammer, Luke ‘Unabomber’ Cowdrey for a good old natter. Here’s the conversation that took place.   From his early days record collecting in Manchester in the 80s, his partnership with fellow ‘Unabomber’ Justin … read more

Roots Garden is a Brighton institution. A legendary midweek club night that ran for 14 years and span off a record label that has released over 150 tracks – including brilliant Nick Manasseh productions featuring the likes of Johnny Osbourne, Cornell Campbell and Johnny Clarke. Roots Garden is also a … read more

There is no shortage of films about music from Mali. To accompany a piece about the MUSIC OF MALI, 1BTN DJs Jo Dressler and Ian Lawton offer some suggestions for lockdown viewing that will get you acquainted with the country’s rich variety of music and the socio-political problems faced by … read more

Mali, the landlocked country of West Africa has a rich, long-lived and deeply embedded musical tradition and has given us numerous musical treasures, a few of which I would like to share with you, along with a brief look at the vibrant music culture which still thrives. At the end … read more

Steve KIW pays tribute to Florian Schneider and the mighty Kraftwerk   It is impossible to overstate the importance of Kraftwerk. Consequently it’s pretty much impossible to describe the legacy of Florian Schneider, their co-founder who, on May 6, 2020, “passed away from a short cancer disease just a few … read more

Here are the big quarantine tunes from the 1BTN massive going into the month of May 2020. Incomplete Spotify playlist at the bottom of the page.    Tornado Wallace Mundane Brain (Optimo Music) I could have chosen any of the five tracks on Tornado Wallace’s excellent Midnight Mania mini album … read more

Legendary drummer Tony Allen died on 30 April 2020 aged 79.  He was furiously creative and prolific until the end. 1BTN pays tribute to the great man by shining a light on 5 recordings from the last five years that indicate the breadth of his collaborations.   This week we … read more

Guilty musical pleasures – What are they? Why are they? And what’s to be guilty about!? Jo Dressler goes in search of the uncool …   Being British comes hand in hand with being embarrassed; embarrassed to dance while sober, embarrassed to admit you find someone attractive, or not, embarrassed … read more

It is with deep sadness that we learn today of the death of another great of the electronic music scene. Detroit music icon Mike Huckaby passed away on Friday April 24th. Condolences and tributes are been shared across different social media timelines of his death and it is here that … read more

Most hip-hop fans know the story of DJ Kool Herc’s legendary back-to-school jam that contributed to the birth of a musical revolution in the West Bronx, New York City in 1973. But this origin story wouldn’t have been possible without Herc’s sister, who organised the iconic party as an end … read more

Some quarantine listening for you. Here are the April recommendations for life under lockdown from our 1BTN DJs. Spotify playlist at the bottom of the page.   Murge Can’t Hurt Me Now (feat. Sierra Lundy) (Loci Records) Canadian producer Murge creates a slice of downtempo goodness with warm analog synths, … read more

J-Felix’s brilliant sophomore album Whole Again Hooligan is a melting pot of musical influences. 1BTN Boogie head Kirollus Elyas asked him to tell us how he became a Boogie and 80s Funk fan and nudged him for five killer cuts (well, six in the end).   I love 80’s Boogie … read more

The last ten years has seen an explosion of music documentaries – bigger budget docs like Amy, Chasing the Train or 20 Feet From Stardom, but also a whole slew of indie documentaries about underground bands, more or less obscure. The democratisation of the film production process, the rise of … read more

These are the albums and tracks that are big in the 1BTN Bunker this month! There is an incomplete version of this chart as a Spotify playlist (Link at bottom of page)   Secretsundaze Ghana Nila (Secretsundaze edit) (Secretsundaze) An edit of an Alice Coltrane song, beautifully sung by one … read more

Legend, pioneer and musical hero to so many of us at 1BTN, Andrew Weatherall passed away on February 17, 2020.   Whether you know him from his work with Primal Scream on their Screamadelica album or from Bocca Juniors or The Sabres of Paradise; as Lord Sabre, The Outsider or … read more

Mark Holis’ band Talk Talk transcended their synth-pop (and punk!) roots to become, retrospectively, one of the most admired bands to have recorded in the 20th century. The band recorded from 1981 through to 1991. Hollis’s solo album followed in 98 and then, silence. When you listen to their music … read more

Jim Lister spoke to Kokoroko’s Onome Edgeworth (Percussion), Ayo Salawu (Drums) and Tobi Adenaike (Guitar) on his 1BTN show before their February gig at Concorde 2 in Brighton. Photo: Nina Manandhar.   How are you doing guys? O: Great, thanks.   Thank you so much for making the trip over … read more

Fifty years ago David Mancuso  threw the first of his legendary Loft parties. Twenty years ago Nuphonic released two fantastic Mancuso compilations (The Loft 1999 and The Loft – Volume Two 2000). We thought it would make sense to revisit this post by Steve KIW paying tribute to the pioneering New … read more

The biggest new tunes and reissues in the 1BTN bunker as we enter February 2020 with accompanying Spotify playlist (go to the bottom of the page for the link).   J-Felix Mind Up (feat. Andrew Ashong) (Tru Thoughts) Brighton and 1BTN’s very own J-Felix is also all over the radio … read more

Step onto a dancefloor in a mainstream club today and you’d be forgiven for thinking that dance music is dominated by straight, male, so-called ‘EDM’ culture. House music is going through a big resurgence at the moment, with huge brands like Defected and Glitterbox putting on events and festivals catering … read more

1BTN spoke to the maverick Scottish composer ahead of her UK tour.   You’re playing Brighton on the 10th of February, the last date of your uk tour. Are you excited about performing the FIBS material live? Yeah, it’s great, after tons of time spent behind the scenes, writing it … read more

Hey, Jurgen! How you doing? Good. Good to talk to you! You too. Where are you in the world are you right now? I’m on the East Coast, in Savannah, Georgia. That’s where I live right now. Really like in the bible belt. Lots of Gospel here! – so it’s … read more

1BTN’s Black Feather spoke to riotous Brighton two piece ARXX about their new EP fuelled by superfood smoothies and early nights, their origins and their recording process. Photo: Kaleido Shoots   Hello ARXX. ARXX: Hello.   So thought I would kick this interview off by asking what big things are on … read more

How do, Dan? You good? I’m good man thanks for having me on. Pleasure. Where about are you at the moment? I’m up in Scotland, in my little studio i’ve got with my uncle. Just finishing mixing down some new tunes, and finishing up some projects for next year. Nice. … read more

Though the wave scene has been growing and evolving for some time now, with clear distinctions between different styles, artists and labels, its emergence into the mainstream has become more of a recent occurrence. There has been an extensive amount of positive noise created (excluding that article from Vice, but … read more

The biggest tunes buzzing around the 1BTN radio bunker entering November, selected by our DJs. Full playlist and reviews below and Spotify playlist.      Cruisic, Slowly Inspector Norse (Flower Records) Quality cover of Todd Terje’s Inspector Norse. Both tracks are excellent and have an infectious funky groove, Highly … read more

1BTN spoke to Laura Ducceschi, programmer of ACCA Digital which runs from 30 Sep to 18 Oct in partnership with Brighton Digital Festival and features Holly Herndon, Tim Hecker and Caterina Barbieri amongst others (full listing here)   How did you get involved with music and arts programming? What has … read more

Kate, How are you? I’m very well. How are you? I’m very well thanks, where are you this morning? I’m in a, kinda, radio, down the line studio in the centre of London. Not too far a commute for you this morning? No it was nice I had a nice … read more

How you doing, Pete? Very well, thank you. You’re bringing the Little Chill festival to East Sussex in July, as a fund raiser for your new project, which is very exciting news. You have been busy! Yes, we have been working away on the Campfire Convention, my new social network, … read more

Hi, Sonny. How are you? Very well, thank you. So you are Leeds born and bred, Sonny? Huddersfield. Just down the road. I’ve travelled around a bit but I’m back in Huddersfield again now. Leeds has always had a rich musical heritage, especially in club land back in the late … read more

Crazy P’s loopy loved up grooves, seductive soaring vocals, life-affirming festival performances, goosebump generating DJ sets and epic remixes and reworks have soundtracked our terrace days and clubbing nights since 1995 and boy has the world sounded better because of it. Yes, the wonders that are the legendary Jim Baron, … read more

1BTN in conjunction with Detroit Tourism and Metro Centre are proud to present, Detroit Day. You know Detroit, right? Famed for it’s legendary auto industry and for it’s music; it’s the music that drew us, of course. If Detroit were a record then the commercially popular soul sound of Motown … read more

Ivan, how you doing? Fine, thank you my friend. Where are you in the World right now? I am in my house in Saquarema, which is about 2 hours from Rio de Janeiro. I understand that you have been on tour recently with Azymuth, did that you take you out … read more

Sal, how’s it going? It’s good, Mickey, It’s good. Everything’s great at the moment, pretty busy and pretty manic. Releasing a record on your own label is pretty hard work but it’s all good and the response to the record has been brilliant, so couldn’t be better really. So the … read more

Kamaal Williams gig review. Words by Joel Essex, photo by Fred Lopez. It’s been just over two years since the seminal release of Black Focus, an album that brought to wider attention the sound of a new generation of young British jazz artists. The excitement and acclaim which accompanied that … read more

We talk to Gavin Sutherland, AKA Other Lands, from Firecracker Recordings Mac-Talla Nan Creag, about their soon to be released 2nd LP, “The Sorrow of Derdriu”. So Mac-Talla Nan Creag I believe translates as Echoes of The Rock – this is the second volume – what was the original inspiration … read more

Aka ’The Dark Prince of Reggae’ aka ‘The Ghetto Dentist’ (he was qualified apparently), Keith Hudson cut his teeth (sorry) on the Jamaican music scene working for trombone legend Don Drummond of The Skatalites. After setting up his own label Imbidimts in the late 60s, he had an early hit … read more

For a short, but extremely frenzied few years, either side of the Millennium, the talents, minds and hearts of some of the finest drum and bass, house, jazz, electronic and afrobeat artists and producers from across the world collided in West London. The rise of Co-op, a club night established … read more

Glaswegian label dons, Craigie Knowes, first made a dent in the UK’s dance music scene back in 2015 with their first annual fundraiser for the charity, War Child. The record features some mean tracks from the likes of Bicep, Lord of the Isles and Hammer & Ludd. Since then they … read more

Our man, Dan Storey, wanted to know more behind the lovely music being produced by, Denis Leonovitch AKA Alterleo, a talented sound man out of Moscow. He asked and here is the result. Hi Denis, how are you? You have been Dan Storey’s artist of the month. So, for people … read more

We speak to the prolific veteran Scottish producer about his 2 new albums, Via under his own name and a new alias, Quart. You are living in Amsterdam these days – why the move there? Ive been here for 9 years almost already….always wanted to live here, always had lots … read more

The Hubbabubbaklubb crew take time off from cruising on their Mopeds to talk about their debut LP. SO TELL ME ABOUT HUBBABUBBAKLUBB – HOW DID YOU ALL MEET? In kindergarten. We where always arguing who was Donatello in Turtles. HAVE ANY OF YOU BEEN IN ANY OTHER BANDS PRIOR TO … read more

Ian Lawton spoke to Dave Howell of ground breaking FatCat subsidiary 130701. He filled us in about the history of the label, its ups and downs, its second wind, forthcoming releases and whether we should call it post-classical.. How long have you been with FatCat and how did you get … read more

In the mid-1960s, a new generation of young Turkish musicians combined Western pop music with traditional Anatolian folk to forge the home-grown phenomenon of Anadolu Pop. My book, The Turkish Psychedelic Music Explosion: Anadolu Psych (1965-1980), explores how, through the second half of that turbulent decade and on into the … read more

Who is Disco Patrick? A music lover and a record collector and also a vinyl-only DJ who started collecting records in 1978. Where are you based and why there? I live in the south of the Netherlands (Limburg). I was born there and still live there. When did you fall … read more

WH Provocateur talks to Fox & His Friends on their forthcoming compilation – Socialist Disco: Dancing Behind Yugoslavia’s Velvet Curtain 1977-1987 It seems that virtually every country tried their hands at Disco with the former Yugoslavia being no exception. Give me some backstory into Yugoslavian Disco? Was there a Disco … read more

Few artists possess such a varied and impressive CV as Neil Innes. From The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, The Rutles, Monty Python and The Innes Book of Records, to his own solo recordings including ‘How Sweet To Be An Idiot’, plus his work for children’s TV, Neil Innes has influenced … read more

As a huge Italo-Disco fan, part of the appeal of collecting the records is definitely some of the mad cover art which adorns these cheesy pizza platters. I aim to explore some of these masterpieces (or horror shows!) with you and in turn, share my love for the genre. Often … read more

Various Artists – Lost Transmissions From The Off-World Territories Invisible Inc. have just released this astonishingly diverse palette of styles courtesy of renowned ambient innovator Laraaji, multi-Grammy Award-winning producer and ground-breaking synthesist and sound engineer Malcolm Cecil (in his Tonto’s Expanding Head Band guise), Italian ‘Cosmic Disco’ pioneer and DJ … read more

Within the world of music promotions – and the deluge of files that get sent through the myriad of fibre-optic cables – a beautiful slice of new cosmic-space-jazz entitled Ancient Lights has landed in my portal from Tru Thoughts records. I wanted to find out more about the band calling … read more

WH Provocateur speaks to Shawn Lee about the forthcoming The Library Music Film WH: For the uninitiated, can you please explain what ‘library music’ is? SL: Library music is purpose made, off-the-shelf background music for use in media i.e. film, TV and adverts. It’s composed by some of the finest … read more

Ian Lawton spoke to promoter Daniel Spicer about Brighton Alternative Jazz Festival which runs throughout October at various venues. What was the original motivation for setting up Brighton Alternative Jazz Festival? Back in 2013, I wrote an article for The Wire magazine which bemoaned the corporatization of jazz. For some … read more

Dan Tester looks back with the greatest of respect on the Queen of Soul’s legacy. Included is also Steve KIW’s tribute; an exceptional and impromptu first hour, taken from his scheduled show in which he lovingly collates her legendary performances… read more

We recently added ‘Last Night A DJ Saved My Life foundation’ to our ever-evolving roster of presenters. With host, Dan Storey, along with an assorted array of special guest selectors ‘LNADJ’ will showcase their incredible knowledge of music from across the genres, whilst highlighting the importance of what they are set up to do… read more

1BTN DJ and presenter Kate Wildblood reflects on what LGBTQ Pride means to her on the eve of Brighton Pride 2018. Whether your first or your forty-first, nothing comes close to your first ever LGBTQ Pride. No rainbow will sparkle as brightly, no placard ring as true, no bass line … read more

Jazz Re:Freshed’s Jazz Re:Fest, now in its sixth year, has become an important focal point for the UK’s rapidly growing community of young jazz musicians. This year it took a holiday from the Southbank for a day trip to the seaside. London’s loss was Brighton’s gain. Only the keenest ticket … read more

We caught up with Richard Norris regarding his new project ‘The Long Now’, which is a collaboration between Richard and Icelandic musician Finnur Bjarnason. Hello Richard, so please tell us, What’s goin’ on? Well.. we have just had our first public appearances of my new project, The Long Now. We … read more

Justin, how you doing? Hi, yeh, I’m good. Just busy with some last minute running’s but I’m cool. You & Adam are old school heads of the London clubbing scene, you started Jazz Re:freshed in 2003, what came first the, the night, or the label? The night. Yeh, the label … read more

Hey, Kev. Mickey here from 1BTN. How you doing? Awesome, yeh, I’m good. Thanks. Starting at the beginning then, Kev. How long have you guys been performing together as a band? The band probably started doing this thing in 2011/12. It was a little different back then. So, it’s been … read more

Known for a series of albums exploring the cosmic end of jazz on the Pharaoh Sanders/John Coltrane axis, saxophonist Nat Birchall has released an LP of full dread roots reggae and dub with studio maestro Al Breadwinner. Ian Lawton quizzed him about the genesis of their brilliant ´Sounds Almighty’ album, … read more

1BTN’s Ian Lawton traces the genesis of New York, Jazz-Funk band Defunkt and their underrated album ‘Thermonuclear Sweat’. Defunkt pics by Ian Lawton     The first time I heard the the term ‘Jazz-Funk’ was in connection with Level 42. As a kid weaned on punk and 2-Tone, Level 42 … read more

Sampa the Great, the creator of the Great Mix Tape and the Great Mixtape II which is due for release soon, was kind enough to take time off her busy schedule to talk to Chris from Art In Brighton on their 1BTN show about her tour, life at home and … read more

As one half of Fila Brazillia and then as part of various collaborative projects, and under several solo monikers, Steve Cobby has been  a prolific producer of electronic music from the 1980s to the current day. Operating under his own rules and seemingly unaffected by the winds of musical change … read more

#metoo  – a modern man’s guide The #metoo debate has posed some thorny questions for men. What should we do? How can we help? Is it even our responsibility? A little over a fortnight ago, Harvey Weinstein’s world collapsed around him, like his dressing gown in a dimly lit hotel … read more