MIXTAPES
SELECTION OF MIXTAPES RECORDED UNDER THE BANNER OF JOHNNY STORM AND THE SOPHISTICATED SISSIES
Flamingo Spirit (2023)
“The most recent addition, after I said I’d never do another mixtape again. I obviously lied. I said precisely the same once I’d finished this one, but seeing as I have another 90 minutes of discarded material I’ll have no doubt lied again.”
MIXTAPE FACT – Originally titled ‘Cars’ due to the initial car-related cut-and-paste montage I’d created, but a new name was soon needed when I axed it altogether from the mix. On the last day of recording I heard that Pisces were going through a transformative phase and (so said the Flamingo Spirit card in said tarot reading) should be embraced in a creative way. Sections of that reading by Chris Reck/Minnow Pond Tarot can be heard at the beginning of the mix.
The Horse (2010)
“Plenty of horse references, bit of bad language, and peculiar blends throughout. The Horse features no less than 80 tracks and samples – including the likes of LL Cool J, Kurtis Blow, Adam & The Ants, DJ Shadow, Anquette, Elvis, Run DMC, Ray Keith, A-Zone, and Boney M. The mix is dedicated to my younger brother Ryan and his unrivalled fear of equine.”
MIXTAPE FACT – As a child I religiously watched The Lone Ranger and Champion The Wonder Horse, which kick-started a love for horses and the need to own one. My mum and dad wouldn’t entertain such a thing, but nevertheless bowed to my insistent wish-list letters of ‘please can I have a horse, please can I have a horse, please can I have a horse’ which allowed me riding lessons. In the first lesson I went round in circles lay across the saddle of a horse; second lesson I was invited to trot over two fence poles lay across the ground (and nearly emptied myself in fear of falling off), and by lesson three had contracted ring worm from my trusty stead.
Zooter’s Solo (2004)
“Recorded in 2004 on Mini Disc via two silver SLs, a Vestax 05Pro, and two Shure M44-7 cartridges – bouncing between hip-hop classics, the breaks that helped create them, and a fair share of charity shop finds. Originally available as a two-piece DVD set, with the bonus ‘Wedding Collection’ sampler.”
MIXTAPE FACT – Originally should have read ‘Zoot’s Solo’ which is the opening track on the mix, taken off a Muppets LP I have. This used to annoy the hell out of me, that I’d mistyped it on the cover but later understood that a Zooter is also a cricket term used for a specific ball – one which so happens to spin backwards and skid off the pitch with a low bounce – which pretty much summed up the mix, so I don’t get upset about the spelling anymore.
Tractors, Rakes & Hoes (1999)
“The title comes from a line within Black Sheep’s L.A.S.M track, but – for reasons unknown – doesn’t feature anywhere within the mix: 60-minutes of 1980s hip-hop and childhood nursery rhyme LPs. I’d also just got my head around the chirp scratch, so featured it a lot, though in hindsight I’m not entirely sure if it was the chirp scratch!”
MIXTAPE FACT – Throughout the recording I regularly called up my friend Mark Archer, who was manning the Argos switchboard in Stafford at the time, and excitedly played him sections down the line.