Back To Mine with Fear-E

 

1. New Order – Regret

Everything about this song. It can instantly give me a bit of joy on the bleakest of days when I hear that opening guitar intro. Peter Hook’s bass playing is tremendous in it.

New Order - Regret (Official Music Video)

 

2. Wu-Tang Clan – Can It Be All So Simple

When I first heard Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) I was totally blown away. I had never heard anything like it, and it’s still my favourite Hip Hop album to this day. The sampling of Gladys Knight & The Pips by Rza is a total genius, and then you have the winning combination of Ghostface and Raekwon spitting the bars.

Wu-Tang Clan - Can It Be All So Simple (Official Video)

 

3. Whitney Houston – Love Will Save The Day

Pure unbridled joy. I can easily sit and listen to this on repeat over and over. Whitney’s ever-amazing voice is on top of some of the most upbeat pop instrumentation you’ll hear.

Love Will Save the Day

 

4. Glen Campbell – Wichita Lineman

I think I would just call it a day if I ever wrote anything as good as this, as you’re never going to do anything better. It sounds uplifting and sad at the same time. Poignant vocals, and accompanied by an orchestra which takes the song to another level. The only problem is that it’s so short!

Wichita Lineman (Remastered 2001)

 

5. The Cure – A Forest

This was the song that really got me into The Cure. I heard it on John Peel’s Radio 1 show when Dave Clarke was doing a guest mix. After I heard that I had a dig through their back catalogue and realised what I’d been missing.

The Cure - A Forest

 

6. Pink Floyd – Time

Dark Side Of The Moon is my favourite album of all time. The way the whole thing is threaded together as a concept and tells an amazing story blows my tiny mind. I could pick any song from it but Time is probably the one that gets me the most every listen.

Pink Floyd - Time (2011 Remastered)

 

7. SWV – Right Here

A lot of 90s RnB is on a different level. So many amazing songs to choose from that era but this massive one from SWV always strikes a particular chord. You can’t really go wrong with Michael Jackson – Human Nature as the base of the song either.

SWV - Right Here (Human Nature Radio Mix - Official Video)

 

8. Electronic – Getting Away With It (Greg Wilson Edit)

Back when supergroups were actually supergroups. This one is one of a very few exceptions to the rule that the remix actually improves on the original(which is already amazing)in my opinion The big orchestral strings breakdown in this edit is the stuff of dreams.

Electronic - Getting Away With It (Greg Wilson Edit)

 

9. Prince – Sometimes It Snows In April

When I hear this I feel a bit of sadness that Prince is no longer with us, but then I also think of the legacy he left behind with his incredible music. He was the best.

Sometimes It Snows in April

 

10. Depeche Mode – Enjoy The Silence

Violator on a whole is an incredible album but Enjoy The Silence is just a whole different level of song. The perfect balance of guitar and synth and the best lyrics Martin Gore has ever written. “Words are very unnecessary, they can only do harm” Genius

Depeche Mode - Enjoy The Silence (Official Video)

 

Fear E – Don’t Let The Grubby Little Opportunists Get You Down EP (Zone)

Fear E returns to Zone with a four-track EP in tribute to the late great Andrew Weatherall. Glaswegian Scott McKay aka Fear E makes jacking house, techno and electro that draws from the raw early sound of Chicago and Detroit. He has done so on revered labels like Dixon Avenue Basement Jams and Dark Entries and serves up fiery DJ sets that are stripped back but high impact. Next to getting plenty of plays on Rinse FM and BBC Radio 1, influential DJs like Ben Sims, Dave Clarke and the one and only Andrew Weatherall were also fans, which is why Fear E dedicates this EP to the much-missed maestro. The title of opener ‘Farewell Swordsman’ nods to one of Weatherall’s collaborative aliases, while the music is blistering acid techno. It’s driven by pounding drums and tinny cowbells as a monstrous 303 tears throughout the whole track. ‘Once Upon a Time In Midland Street’ ups the intensity with twisted metal synths rewiring your brain. More all-consuming drums and hits are supersized and make this another brilliant warehouse banger with bright sci-fi chords. The superb ‘Surreal’ is a little more stripped back but is dramatic and packed with physicality. It has a pulsing bassline and jacked-up drums taking centre stage as tortured synths twist and turn in the spaces left behind. The final dance floor destroyer is ‘Lunatic Orchestra,’ an urgent techno cut with surging synths that speak of a dystopian future world. The ‘Don’t Let The Grubby Little Opportunists Get You Down EP’ is not only a title Weatherall would approve of, but also a collection of no-nonsense music he would surely love.

Release: 9th December 2021 Fear E – Don’t Let The Grubby Little Opportunists Get You Down EP (Zone) Cat No: ZONE44 Format: Digital