Uptown / DJ Mink: 2 Seldom Heard Classics

These records are easy favorites of mine, both probably making a list of desert island discs. Interestingly enough, they are also these artists' only releases, at least with top billing. Who knows if this is because they burnt out too quickly, they were difficult to work with, or they simply couldn't get anything else released for one reason or another, but this is it, at least as far as known releases go.

For starters, let's talk about Mr. R. Dacosta, better known as Uptown. His sole release, at least as a solo artist, is the amazing Dope On Plastic. I first heard this in Liam Howlett's Dirtchamer mix, and I knew I had to find the whole cut from that moment forward. It's got an amazing beat that simply grabs the attention of anyone within it's range. It's shown up from time to time on hip-hop comps and mix-tapes, but the original release has never been available in any format other than vinyl, and apart from a European repressing in 2007, it's long out of print. The title cut is produced by CJ Moore and Dante Ross. I'm not very familiar with CJ's work but Dante is a very well known producer, even if he's best remembered as Dante The Scrub on De La Soul's 3 Feet High and Rising. Simply put, Dope On Plastic is a certified classic although it may be best known to NY residents circa 1989.

Dope On Plastic wasn't Uptown's only jam, as evidenced by It's My Turn, the single's other featured track. It's not on par with Dope, but it's worth checking out, even if it's only to hear Uptown spitting a different set of verses. That track is produced by Bobby Simmons, best known for his work with the Stetsasonic crew.

The original single, while not featuring any remixes, was generous regardless as it contained the regular tracks alongside the instrumentals (labeled Dubstrumentals) and acapellas for both. Brilliant stuff!

The only other known recordings by Uptown are his appearances on Buckshot LeFonque's Breakfast @ Denny's and the DJ Premier remix of Music Evolution, as well as another DJ Premier remix of Omar's Keep Steppin'. Now, I know who Buckshot LeFonque are/were (Branford Marsalis PISSES ME OFF!) but I'm not at all familiar with Omar, so if anyone wants to shine some light on his work, or more importantly this remix of Keep Steppin', it would be greatly appreciated!

The other feature here is DJ Mink's Hey! Hey! Can U Relate?, featuring vocals from The K.I.D. and Carruthers, together known as 2wice The Trouble. Simply put, it's a banger!

I've tried to do some research on Mink and 2wice, but I've turned up little to nothing so far. Apart from Can U Relate, Mink's only known production credit is for the track Soul Tip by Blue Eyes, another such release and individual I can't find much of anything about. Can U Relate, though, I know a bit more about.

Intended for release in 1989 on FON Records, Can U Relate received a promotional release crediting the track to Mink featuring 2wice The Trouble. It doesn't look like that release ever became officially available for purchase, but it was then picked up for release via Ozone. It finally saw release in 1990, although the only images I can find seem to hint it may have also been a promotional only release. Finally though, a certifiably available version was released that same year on the mighty WARP Records, which credits that label's co-founder, Rob Gordon, with programming, mixing, editing and co-producing the track. A remix was provided by Mark Brydon and Parrot, the instrumental of which ended up on the b-side and the vocal version on WARP's Pioneers Of The Hypnotic Groove compilation. The original version (labeled Hard Rap) has shown up in mixes and on compilations occasionally, but again, it's largely unknown apart from DJs, people familiar with the style and clubbers in early nineties England.

Both of these releases are classics, but neither are easily available, at least not in their complete forms, so I'm posting them here. I don't have an original copy of the Can U Relate single so the version posted here is someone else's rip, although the rip of Dope On Plastic is from an original test pressing I own. I'm also posting the A-Sides of each release in case anyone just wants to check out the main tracks, but you should really grab the complete releases as they're simply awesome! Enjoy!


Uptown - Dope On Plastic

01 Dope On Plastic (Vocal)
02 Dope On Plastic (Plastipella)
03 It's My Turn (Vocal)
04 It's My Turn (Acapella)
05 Dope On Plastic (Dubstrumental)
06 It's My Turn (Dubstrumental)


DJ Mink - Hey! Hey! Can U Relate?

01 Hey! Hey! Can U Relate? (Hard Rap feat. The K.I.D. & Carruthers)
02 Hey! Hey! Can U Relate? (Hard Instrumental)
03 Hey! Hey! Can U Relate? (Sunshine Dub Instrumental)
BONUS: Hey! Hey! Can U Relate? (Sunshine Remix)


Individual Tracks

Uptown - Dope On Plastic

DJ Mink - Hey! Hey! Can U Relate?

Aphex Twin - On EPs

Trying to explain Aphex Twin to people is useless. Yes, you can discuss the numerous oddball facts about Mr. Richard D. James, but that information won't give any idea of how wonderful his music really is. Recommending a starting point is almost as difficult as his styles vary so greatly. If I was pressed to do so, I would probably recommend the On EPs as they demonstrate his melodic tendencies, his noisier experiments and his beautifully disturbing ambient works.

Normally I wouldn't post something that is as easily available as the first On EP, but this isn't the standard release. Rather, this is a test pressing of the initial EP with slight but interesting differences between these and the released versions. Most notable is this version of D-Scape as it continues for about a minute longer than the released version. The other tracks all seem slightly longer as well, but not nearly as noticable as D-Scape.

The other release featured here is the On: Remixes EP. Alongside remixes of the title cut from the likes of Reload and µ-Ziq, Aphex provides a long and rather odd remix named after the D-Scape track from the first EP. The highlight is the 28 Mix of On, turning the beautiful original into an ominous ambient sound scape that sounds like a continuation of Aphex's Selected Ambient Works II. Unforgettable!

So, enjoy some Aphex goodness today. For the record, both the retail versions of the On and On: Remixes EPs are still available for purchase through most official outlets, so it never hurts to show some support if you like what you hear. If you really want to support Aphex though, visit Bleep, an online music site run by Warp Records, his home for most of his career. They have just about everything he's ever released available for purchase and you can sample bits of them too.


Aphex Twin - On: Test Pressing

01 On
02 73-Yips
03 D-Scape
04 Xepha


Aphex Twin - On: Remixes

01 On (D-Scape Mix)
02 On (Reload Mix)
03 On (µ-Ziq Mix)
04 On (28 Mix)

Plone - Plaything

So I'm watching television and a commercial comes on with a song I SWEAR I recognize, and when I finally realize what it is I'm hearing I'm even further confused. This would be a commercial for Reeses Peanut Butter Cups which features the song Plaything by the band Plone. Plone, for the uninitiated, were Mark Cancellara, Mike Johnston and Billy Bainbridge who were all from Birmingham, England. Their sound focused on older, analogue keyboards and they released a few singles in the late nineties prior to their debut album, For Beginner Piano, on Warp Records in 1999. The band continued to record and finished a second album, but with Rob Mitchell, one of the founders of Warp and the responsible party for their signing, having been diagnosed with cancer and eventually dying in 2001, their album sat in limbo and they eventually disbanded. Billy Bainbridge joined Broadcast and formed the band Seeland with ex-Broadcast member Tim Felton. Mike Johnston did solo work as Mike In Mono and joined the ZX Spectrum Orchestra and the Modified Toy Orchestra. Mark Cancellara is a dj for a reggae club named Silver Dollar in Birmingham.

Plone's unreleased second album eventually leaked to the net and the collective joy of their fans, but Plaything is a footnote which I'm rather shocked has reappeared. The track was released in 1998 on a Warp Records compilation named We Are Reasonable People. The compilation was given a limited release and is now out of print, apart from digitally via Warp's Bleep website, and all of the tracks, at least at the time, were not going to be made available elsewhere, although that rule has been broken once or twice. Plaything was ripe to be forgotten, understandably, what with an independent label (a large one no doubt, but independent nonetheless) that added the track to a limited release compilation that was not made available in all countries, making it even harder to find due to having to import it, and also for listing it as a single release instead of an album despite it's length. So, when it showed up in a US advertising campaign, the first thought that came to my mind was "someone is really earning their pay!" The second thought was "WHY ISN'T THIS MY JOB???"

So, for your listening pleasure, I present to you Plone's Plaything as well as their untitled and unreleased second album. Also, if I may suggest the We Are Reasonable People compilation as a worthy purchase for download as it contains a lot of great, otherwise impossible to find tracks from the cream of the IDM Electronic scene in the late nineties. That list includes exclusive tracks from Boards Of Canada, Plaid, Autechre, Two Lone Swordsmen, Mark Bell (LFO) and a collaboration between AFX, better known as Aphex Twin, and Squarepusher. The AFX/Squarepusher track is worth the price of admission alone, but I'm sure you'll find plenty of fun throughout this excellent compilation. Just don't try to listen to it all at once, it doesn't really suit itself to that purpose as each track is more like aural wallpaper.


Plone - Plaything


Plone - unreleased second album
01 Multitonal
02 140
03 Slow Arp
04 Swing It
05 Can't Think
06 Farm Yard
07 Arpeggios
08 Saw
09 Grandfather Clock
10 One Song
11 Smoothie Ribbons
12 Dry Pen
13 Old Shoe
14 RY30
15 Smile Song
16 Another One Of Them
17 No Drums