The incredible electronic duo, Plaid, played (ha!) a great set for the Dekmantel podcast. Here are the tunes they...selected. Big thanks to DJ Bigos for track ids.

Dekmantel Podcast 255 - Plaid

To give it its full name, the Roland CompuRhythm CR-78 is a drum machine first released in 1978. The CR-78 was notable at the time for its ability to let users store 4 different patterns of their own. Up until this point Roland drum machines only offered preset patterns. Hear this wondrous machine in all its glory via this playlist.

Roland CR-78: the playlist

The Roland TB-303 Bass Line is a bass synthesizer released by Roland Corporation in 1981. Designed to simulate bass guitars, it was a commercial failure and was discontinued in 1984. However, cheap second-hand units were adopted by electronic musicians, and its "squelching" or "chirping" sound became a foundation of electronic dance music genres such as house and techno. Here are some of the best tunes made with the little monophonic wonder.

Roland TB-303: the playlist

A playlist of the greatest tunes made with the most influential drum machine of all time, the TR-808.

Roland TR-808: the playlist

In The Absence Thereof...v1

A selection of tunes that feature the Optigan Corporation (a subsidiary of Mattel)'s electronic instrument, the Optigan.

The Optigan Optical Organ

Three decades into his career, Damon Albarn’s story is rich with divergent and intrepid projects—and, in Blur and Gorillaz, two of the biggest bands of modern times. “I don’t see really any distinction between them all,” he tells Apple Music. “It’s just that’s what my cupboard of ingredients has got in it. I can make a Victoria sponge, but I can also make a complex kind of savoury mole.” His latest venture, second solo album The Nearer the Fountain, More Pure the Stream Flows, calls upon an ingredient he’s used effectively since Blur first emerged: a sometimes blissful, often melancholic sense of reverie. So he’s a natural choice to take control of this playlist that explores shoegaze, dream pop and the spacey side of indie rock. His selections travel back to the early ’90s when, in their infancy, Blur were connecting with Britain’s first wave of shoegaze bands. “First time I saw Ride at the Borderline, they came on stage and their first chord seemed to last an eternity,” he says. “It was the most exhilarating three minutes of my young life to date.” These were also days spent touring with indie luminaries such as my bloody valentine and Dinosaur Jr. “First time I played my bloody valentine’s ‘you made me realise’, I was convinced I was playing it at the wrong speed on my record player,” he says. Damon’s picks also take us up to the present day with sonic adventurers such as Crumb and Drug Store Romeos, alongside key tracks from The Nearer the Fountain, More Pure the Stream Flows.

Beneath the Stars

Courtney Love's favourite Nirvana songs

With so many folks getting together with family and friends, there’s a lot to celebrate this summer. I put together a playlist of some of the songs I’ve been listening to lately — it’s a mix of old and new, household names and emerging artists, and a whole lot in between.

Barack Obama's Summer Playlist 2021

Songs Nirvana "borrowed" ideas from

Songs played at the ceremony on 19th September 2019, where Dave won the prize for his album Psychodrama.

Songs played at the Mercury prize ceremony 2019

The story of Tony Visconti's life told through the records that influenced him and those he helped make.

Tony Visconti: Red Bull Music Academy

The Amen break is a drum break that has been widely sampled in numerous music genres. It comes from the 1969 track "Amen, Brother" by the soul group the Winstons, released as the B-side of the 1969 single "Color Him Father". The drum break lasts about seven seconds and was performed by Gregory Coleman.

Amen Break

The Synthesizer Show

12-string guitars are twice as good as normal guitars. Which means these songs are twice as good as any other songs.

12-string Guitars are Great

Here's a list of tunes that Kurt and his pals covered by the original artists.

Songs Nirvana covered by the original artists

First broadcast on Slow Sunday 2018, the show includes a then-unheard Thom Yorke solo track, written for the film Suspiria, but not included on the soundtrack, alongside James Blake, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Szun Waves and many more.

Thom Yorke's Slow Sunday

A collection of songs about everyone's favourite brown drug.

Songs about heroin

A playlist of the very best tunes using the mighty Roland TR-909 Rhythm Composer drum machine.

Roland TR-909: the playlist

Thurston Moore's Favourite Songs of All-time

Here's a combo of Damon's best and lesser-known collaborations outside of Blur and Gorillaz.

Damon Albarn Collaborations

The LinnDrum was arguably the drum machine sound of the 80's. It was notable in that it used real drum samples instead of synthesised sounds like the TR-808. All the songs in this playlist show off how effective one little machine produced at the right time can be.

LinnDrum: the playlist

Some of the best music from across Quentin Tarantino's many, many great films.

Raygum

stuartmemo

Playlists