Features I by I 22.07.13

FACT At 10, Part One: the best features and charts from the last decade

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FACT At 10, Part One: the best features and charts from the last decade

This year, FACT turns 10. 

FACT began life as a bi-monthly print magazine in 2003, before transforming into an online-only publication in 2008. To mark a decade of operations, we’ll be using this week to assess our favourite content from the last 10 years – much of which is being made available online for the first time.

To kick off proceedings, we’ve picked out 10 of our favourite FACT features from over the years (it’s worth noting that we’re not talking Essential / 20 Best lists, or straight interviews – these have been treated separately). Among the haul? John Peel and Jeff Mills interviewing one another, a dispatch from the frontline of Rinse FM; a full guide to the remarkable Touch label; and Joe Muggs’ spirited defence of dubstep’s dirty side. On page two, we’ve also presented our ten favourite contributors’ charts from over the years (these used to appear at the back of the magazine), from Daft Punk’s favourite OSTs through to the 10 most overrated cities of all time.


Features

Mills vs. Peel (2003)

Speaks for itself, this one. The greatest music broadcaster this land has ever known sits down with the Detroit techno legend for a breezy Smash Hits-style Q&A. On the agenda? Their favourite smells (Mills: Formula One), movies of choice (Peel: The Blues Brothers) and what Mills would play if he was DJing at Peel’s wedding.

The Curious Story of ‘Henry Kissinger War Criminal’ (2003)

The first sentence of Mark Blacklock’s piece: “There’s a strange kind of person standing speaking to me, at the end of my bed”, incants a throaty voice. “Do you know who that is? IT’S A FUCKING GHOST, PRETENDING SHE’S THE DEVIL’S DAUGHTER.” Curious? Read on…

Woebot at Rinse FM (2005)

In 2005, Matthew ‘Woebot’ Ingram spent an evening at a pre-license Rinse FM, bumping into Wiley, Skepta, Double D and half of Roll Deep in the process. A brilliant transmission from the bleeding edge of Grime.

A History of Touch (2008)

Touch’s discography is one of the knottiest and strangest bodies of work in contemporary music, and Kiran Sande’s guide to “arguably the finest audio-visual label in the world” tells their confounding, inspiring story.

Black Patti – the Amazing story of the Rarest American Record Label Ever (2003)

…or, the story of  “the Holy Grail for record collectors around the world”. Part history of 1920s “race music”, part quest narrative, and thoroughly worth the time of any collector looking to veer off-piste.


Mala


Dubstep Blows Up (2006) 

Written just before dubstep broke into the mainstream imagination, Kek-w’s primer to the then-burgeoning movement is a wonderful exercise in the transformative power of hindsight – there’s barely a producer mentioned in the article that hasn’t since achieved canoninisation, legend status or, in the odd case, infamy.

Woebot hits the Streets (2005)

In which Woebot, hoping to wrench file-sharing off of the web and into the real world, takes to the streets of Oxford Street to give away free CDs, and learns a few valuable lessons in the process. The closest FACT’s ever come to resembling a Louis Theroux documentary.

Anarchy in the PRC (2006)

Chinese punk under the spotlight in Kek-w’s fascinating piece on Beijing’s Scream Club.

Generational Resentment vs. Infinity Is Now (2009)

Simon Reynolds’ ‘hardcore continuum’ – the notion that the last 20 years of UK dance sounds, from Jungle through Grime and beyond, are all part of a lineage leading back to early 1990s rave – remains both theoretically attractive and highly contested. In 2009, field-leading dance music blogger Mark Fisher – then trading as K-Punk – issued a strident defence of the term as a way of understanding burgeoning genres like funky and wonky; in response, Dan Hancox attacked the way the ‘nuum was having a toxic impact on the way we write – and think – about dance music. As passionate musical head-to-heads go, these two complimentary pieces are well up there.

Ban This Filth! (2013)

Joe Muggs’ 10-point defence of Skrillex, Rusko and the brostep brigade is a brilliant, spirited corrective to musical snobbery in all its forms – and, predictably, swiftly become one of the most controversial articles we’ve ever published.

Use your keyboard’s arrow keys or hit the prev / next arrows on your screen to turn pages (page 1/2)

Charts

Daft Punk’s Top 10 Soundtracks (2003)
1. George Delerue – Le Mépris (Sunny Side)
2. Ryuichi Sakamoto – Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence (Milan)
3. Vangelis – Blade Runner (WEA/Atlantic)
4. John Carpenter – Escape From New York (Silva Screen)
5. Paul Williams – Phantom of the Paradise (A&M)
6. Bernard Herrmann – Vertigo (Varese)
7. V/A – Man Hunter (Unknown)
8. Bjork – Selmasongs (Elektra)
9. V/A – All That Jazz (Polygram)
10. V/A – Wild At Heart (Polygram)

The Bug’s Dancehall 10 (2003)
1. Elephant Man – ‘Fuck You Sign’ (Jammys) – Sign rhythm
2. Capleton – ‘Baghdad’ (Stone Love) – Baghdad rhythm
3. Sean Paul – ‘Dem A Fraud’ (Good Vybz) – Shockwave rhythm
4. Future Trouble – ‘If It Ain’t Real’ (John Shop) – Let’s ride rhythm
5. Dr. Ring-Ding – ‘Bombs Over Baghdad (Germaican) – Pharao rhythm
6. Vybz Cartel – ‘Sweet To The Belly’ (Blaxxx) – Egyptian rhythm
7. Tok – ‘Cree’ (B-Rich) – Tai Chi rhythms
8. Beenie Man/Ms. Thing – ‘Dude’ (Madhouse) – Fiesta rhythm
9. Bounty Killer – ‘Warn Dem’ (Jam2) – Amharic rhythm
10. Elephant Man- ‘Violate’ (Mentally Disturbed) – Kashmir rhythm

Maurice Fulton’s 10 Songs To Fall In Love To (2003)
1. Bootsy’s Rubber Band – ‘Fat Cat’ (Warner Bros)
2. Grand Central Station – ‘Your Love’ (Warner Bros)
3. Jimmy Spicer – ‘The Bubble Bunch’ (Mercury)
4. Ministry – ‘Everyday Is Halloween’ (Sire)
5. Negativland – ‘The Playboy Channel’ (SST)
6. Martti Innamen – ‘Elsa Kohtalon Lapsi (Warners, Finland)
7. The Notorious B.I.G. – ‘Warning’ (Bad Boy)
8. Shuggie Otis – ‘Aht Uh Mi Head’ (Reprise)
9. Skinny Puppy – ‘9’” (Stella’s Home)’ (Capitol)
10. Funkadelic – ‘Better By The Pound’ (Westbound)


Daft Punk


Transgressive’s 10 Expertly Packaged Records (2006)
1. Spiritualized – Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space (Deconstructed)
2. Crass – Christ: The Album (Crass)
3. Godspeed You! Black Emperor – F A Infinity (Constellation)
4. Joeyfat – The Fall Of The House Of The Fat (Unlabel)
5. Charlottefield – Live Tape (S/R)
6. Spinto Band – Brown Boxes (Virgin)
7. Wolf Eyes – Fuck The Old Miami (Important’)
8. Trencher/Cutting Pink – Split (5 Label, Split 5)
9. The Fabulous Nobody – Love And The City (Kitchen)
10. Jeffrey Lewis – Seasons (Hallso)

Shackleton And Appleblim 10 (2007)
1. Muzikas – The Bartok Album (Hannibal)
2. T++ – ‘Allied’ (Dubplate)
3. Rod Of Iron – ‘Lightning Storm’ (Burial Mix)
4. Mono Junk – ‘Channel B’ (Styrax Leaves)
5. Can – ‘Father Cannot Yell’
6. Rhythmatic – ‘Take Me Back’ (Network)
7. Johnny Cash – ‘The Mercy Seat’
8. The Idle Race – “The Skeleton And The Roundabout’ (Liberty)
9. Pole – ‘2’ (Kiff SM)
10. Black Flag – ‘The First Four Years’ (SST)

RZA’s Top 10 Soundtracks (2003)
1. Monk Higgins – Sheba Baby (Buddha 1975)
2. Lalo Schifrin – Enter The Dragon (WEA 1973)
3. Roy Ayers – Coffy (Polydor 1973)
4. Ennio Morricone – A Fistful of Dollars/For A Few Dollars More
5. V/A – Jackie Brown (Maverick, 1997)
6. John Williams & London Symphony Orchestra – ‘Imperial March (Star Wars) (Sony 1977)
7. Willie Hutch – The Mack (Motown 1973)
8. V/A – Dead Presidents
9. Bee Gees – Saturday Night Fever (Polygram 1977)
10. V/A – Pulp Fiction

JD Twitch (Optimo) Home Listening 10 (2004)
1. Flying Rhythms – African Vs. Punk’
2. Boredoms – ‘Seadrum’
3. Eno Moebius Roedelius Plank – ‘Begegnungen 2’ (Sky)
4. La Dusseldorfl – ‘Dusseldorf’ (Nova)
5. Holly Golightly – ‘My Love Is’ (Damaged Goods)
6. V/A – African Psychedelic Music
7. Moebius Plank Neumeier – ‘Zero’ (Sky)
8. Sun City Girls – ‘Torch of the Mystics’
9. Fela Kuti – ‘He Miss Road’ (Barclay)
10. Coil – ‘Black Antlers’


Maurice Fulton


Jonny Trunk’s Top 10 Porno soundtracks (2004)
1. Cipriani – Femina Ridens (Cam)
2. Travajoli – Sessomato (Duse)
3. Fiona Richmond – Frankly Fiona (Raymond)
4. Allessandroni – Lesbo (Cam)
5. Linda & Various Artists – Deep Throat (TRUNK)
6. Nicolai – De Sade (Gemelli)
7. Silvio Amadio – The Dr And The Studio (Beat)
8. Nico Fidenco – Black Emanuelle (West End)
9. Ennio Morricone – Vergogna Schifosi (Ariete)
10. Ennio Morricone – Love Circle (CBS)

Gaz ‘Rockin Blues’ Mayall’s Top 10 Jamaican Ska 45s (2006)
1. Jackie Opel – ‘Old Rockin’ Chair’ (Studio One)
2. Prince Buster – ‘Don’t Throw Stones’ (Blue Beat)
3. Don Drummond – ‘Confucius’ (Top Deck)
4. Roland Aphonso – ‘Ringo’ (Top Deck)
5. The Skatalites – ‘South China Sea’ (Berverly’s)
6. Lee Perry – ‘Feel Like Jumping’ (Studio One)
7. Lord Tanamo – ‘Mothers Love’ (Studio One)
8. Busters Allstars – ‘Linger On’ (Prince Buster)
9. Vernon Allen – ‘Babylon’ (Voice Of The People)
10. They Maytals – ‘Dog War’ (Blue Beat)

Anthony Teasdale’s 10 Over-Rated Cities (2003)
1. Brighton – Minuscule, over-priced ghetto for people without real jobs
2. Barcelona – An industrial city by the sea! Like Hull!
3. New York – Quaint island with Birkenhead Park in the middle of it
4. Manchester – Grim mill town with cafe-culture pretensions
5. Lisbon – Like Madrid. But with loads of knob heads in brown pegged trousers
6. Paris – Full of Cure fans, beauts and racists
7. Edinburgh – A big castle and posh hits in rugby tops
8. Newcastle – Smaller than Sunderland
9. Turin – Went once. It was shut
10. Nottingham – Ten women to every man. Yeah, ‘course there is

 

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