Radio Caroline

My interest in mixes has recently been re-kindled by this semi-obscure number from Miss Kittin. Radio Caroline the first and only volume is a different experience to any of the mixes I have in my collection not just because it's not a live recording. This compilation features Miss Kittin chiming in about various things between tracks, it works really well and offers a look into Kittin as a person (hence the title) as well as her music collection.

In true Kittin style there are some real obscure gems on this comp. Starting off with the very first track after the intro which is a techy sounding bit from Prefuse 73 under his Delarosa And Asora pseudonym, which led me to an album that I will most likely be picking up soon.



Speaking of techy, this next track caught my ear short as it may be. There seems to have been a trend both in my back catalogue and on this comp of early 2000s artists using their own (slightly boring) names. Saying that Jake Fairley is far from the most boring name in my list, that honour goes to the very eloquent 'DJ Robert'.



Saying that, they're not all boring names. Check out this stonker. Featuring some nice chilled out beats and what not alongside a man talking about his experience on the 'shrooms, oddly enough. It's the second longest track on the comp, but it definitely doesn't feel that way, plus it leads nicely into probably my favourite track from the comp.



This LP keeps on surprising me, for example take this little perplexingly titled track from the hard to google group Repeat. Turns out that Repeat are actually Plaid and some other blokes, I didn't even know they had side projects like that. There's not a version of it on the web that isn't from this comp, not even on a dedicated Plaid Rarities youtube channel which is dissapointing 'cos I'd like to hear it on its own without the sampled vocal snippets about pills from the next track. It doesn't sound much like the rest of Repeat's techno styled output but its still sounds great, it's nice and atmospheric throughout.



This was quite easy to track down actually, hell I even remember seeing it in my local HMV, and the whole HMV chain is terrible at stocking decent electronic stuff, they had it online until recently too. I'd still call it a bit of a rarity 'cause of the tracks on it, if you're liking it so far, have a stream of it and see if you can't find it too!

Longwave,
-Claude Van Foxbat