Halloween Pt 1 - Trash-O-Rama

What a hectic Halloween season it has been this year! Still, that means some great photos. Here's part one of three, from last Friday at Trash-O-Rama Halloween special at Gullivers, with live acts Rick Cavers, No Womb, The Thing and Klaus Kinski. Also you can spot zombie Adele and Albert Einstein in there too...









This isn't a band but it should be!

Dangerous Minds Oct 24th - Oct 30th

Got some Halloweeny treats up on DM last week:



Happy John Peel Day!
'Disco Argento': a horror theme disco version cash-in mix*
‘Ave Satanas’ - Satanic psyche rock and proto-black metal from 1967 - 1974
‘Danger 5’: a groovy new Nazi dinosaur espionage spoof serial
‘Disco Argento 2: The Sequel’ - even MORE Disco-Horror madness!

*"Disco Argento" has proved surprisingly popular - over 3000 plays so far on its Soundcloud page!

DISCO ARGENTO 2 Mixtape

So, in a sudden flash of inspiration (and after the feedback for vol 1 over on Dangerous Minds) I have put together another volume of cash-in disco takes on horror soundtrack themes. It's not all cheesy this time though, with a more general 80s/synthy flavour, and some genuinely great finds like "New York One More Night" from Francisco Di Masi's The New York Ripper score, "Drinking Coco" from Cannibal Holocaust by Riz Ortolani and the theme from Tentacles by Stelvio Cipriani. It seems like Italians really do do it better.

NOSTROMO Alien
GOBLIN Tenebre
FABIO FRIZZI Zombi 2 (aka Zombie Flesh Eaters)
FRANCISCO DI MASI New York One More Day (Disco Beard edit)
ROBERT RODRIGUEZ Police Station Assault
RIZ ORTOLANI Il Corpo Di Linda
TODD RIVERS One Track Lover (Synthia Remix)
FAT BOYS Are You Ready For Freddy?
FRANCIS HAINES The Trioxin Theme (aka Return Of The Living Dead Theme)
JOHN CARPENTER & ALAN HOWARTH The Duke Arrives/Barricade/Snake dialog
PAT HODGES Fly By Night (Midnight Mix)
RIZ ORTOLANI Drinking Coco
STELVIO CIPRIANI Tentacoli (aka Tentacles)
THE CHAMP'S BOYS ORCHESTRA Tubular Bells (Cosmic Mix)

Disco Argento 2: The Return! by theniallist

Midnight Growler ZOMBIE PRIDE! Mixtape

ZOMBIE PRIDE is on Saturday, and Growler has uploaded a mixtape of Halloweeny hits with Fred Schneider, The Cramps, Fat Boys, Elvira and loads more, so get on it!

Zombie Pride Mixtape by MidnightGrowler

Menergy FIERCE RULING DIVAS BALL 2 pics by Michael James

Some very nice pictures of me MCing and DJing at the 2nd annual Fierce Ruling Divas Ball on Saturday, taken by the ever-excellent Michael James - to see the whole set go here.

SONG A DAY FOR A YEAR & THE NIALLIST "The Slasher"

I was asked by Martin Byrne to collaborate on a track for his awesome "Song a Day For a Year" project. As it's the witching season, I decided to send him something Carpentery to work with, and he has done a fine job. Check out his blog for music, where you will indeed find a new tune, every day. EVERY FREAKIN DAY!!

Style Scanner interview

Yay! There's an interview with me up on the wonderful Style Scanner blog:

Q: I've been listening to your new album AKA - it's great! I can totally get that you're a TIGA fan. Me too.

A: Thanks, I am glad you like it! Yeah, I love that guy. One of my mates says we are brothers from another mother, and actually some of the labels and producers I have been in touch with have mentioned the similarity between his version of Hot In Here and my version of Work It, which is nice. I like his old school house vibe, but I also love that he has a personality and sings about weird shit! There's so much anonymity and conformity in dance music, which is why I love more out-there artists like him and Peaches and Green Velvet.

Q: An impressive roster of big names are featured on this album, how did that come about?

A: It started with me having a bunch of tracks which were collaborations with guests on them, and some remixes too that were just kind of lying around. As the album progressed and some of those tracks went onto it thought it would be quite a neat idea to try and get a guest on each track. There are some very different artists from different scenes, and the fact that some of these folks were actually up for collaborations was pretty mind blowing. My music is still quite unpolished I feel so to have some of these folk liking it and wanting to work with me was very gratifying. I have also deliberately stayed away from using the word "featuring" because these tracks are just as much the guests' as they are mine. Instead I've used an abbreviation of "with" which is more fair and doesn't need an explanation of "this person is a vocalist, this person is a producer, etc", because I collaborate in different roles myself too. Like I sung on Ben Butler and Mousepad's last album, and then it made sense to ask him to put some synths on my album in return.

Q: As you worked on each track were you conscious of how they'd all hang together as an album?

A: After a point I did yeah, but to be honest when I was planning out this album a few years ago the tracklisting was very different. I wanted to make something that was very eclectic, that incorporated a lot of different genres like rock and techno and disco. But as time went on I was less happy with that, and started to think of putting older tracks like "Like Em Fat" and "If U Want It" on there, and then the album became much more coherent. It also sprang from me wanting to work with openly gay rappers, so the album has a hip-hop feel, but more old school so I could still use my drum machines and stuff on it. Once I stuck to that idea it all just came together, and I was able to use some rap classics like "36 Chambers" by the Wu Tang Clan and "Miss E So Addictive" by Missy Elliot as templates.

Read the full interview here.

Dangerous Minds Oct 17th - 23rd

‘Blueprint’: the best of the pioneering 808 State
‘Batbaby’: campy Halloween fun from Fred Schneider’s The Superions

Madonna Aid v Madonna Shade

Last night saw Bollox put on a Madonna Aid special to try and reclaim teh gayz for her highness:



In retaliation Joe Spencer held a one man "Madonna Shade" protest:



Here's some pictures:

Madonna Aid's Sheela Blige with an effigy of Lady Gaga, taken on a protest walk through Canal St:



The one-man anti-Madonna brigade!



Fight fight fight!



Looks like Madonna ain't givin' up without a fight:



Wooopsie...



Rod Bollox hates Gaga!



Ah, but it was all in jest!

'Everybody Dance' Mix

Cross-post from Menergy, in preparation for Saturday's 2nd annual FIERCE RULING DIVAS BALL!

A new mix for you! I haven't put together something this straight-up housey in quite a while:

Everybody Dance Mix by Theniallist on Mixcloud

LOOSE JOINTS Is It All Over My Face (Leroc Sportif v Psonic Psummer edits)
MIKE DUNN pres MR 69 PhreakyMF (Original Phreak Mix)
GLOBAL COMMUNICATIONS The Way (Secret Ingredients mix)
AZARI & III Into The Night
POLY STYRENE Ghoulish (Hercules & Love Affair Remix)
C+C MUSIC FACTORY Gonna Make You Sweat (Edit)
TYREE & KOOL ROCK Turn Up The Bass
KRUSH House Arrest (This Beat Is The Law)
JORDAN PEAK Mail Road (Mirco Violi Raw Dub)
FIRST CHOICE Let No Man Put Asunder (Filthy Luka Edit)

Menergy 'Icons' pics

I've put together a series of Menergy 'Icon' pics featuring people involved in the club and some of our fabulous audience and guests. Here's a selection (you can see more over at Menergy.tv):

Homoelectric pics

Here's a couple of photos from last week's Homoelectric at Legends in Manchester. The photographer was VERY demanding:

Dangerous Minds Oct 10th - 16th

Massive Attack vs Burial ‘Four Walls’
Harry Potter disarms the 1% at Occupy London
Woman arrested while trying to close her Citibank account

Fierce Ruling Divas Ball 2 is A WEEK TODAY!

GURLS YOU BETTER WERK IT!!!



Facebook event page is here.

Apple Juice for Father

My dad has been very seriously ill the past week, which has been quite stressful. Who knew that standing around in hospitals waiting for news could be just so draining? At first my mum thought he had food poisoning, which started last Friday, but by Sunday it was obvious something was seriously wrong. Turns out he had an anti-biotic-resistant ecoli infection in his bladder which spread to his kidneys. It was touch and go for a few days, but after changing his drugs and giving him some new blood he has thankfully been recovering. It's been strange seeing my father so weak and vulnerable, but we know he's making a return to good health when starts asking for apple juice - not any old apple juice mind, it HAS to be the one he routinely drinks every morning and buys in SuperValu. Ah, his good old crotchety, pernickety self! After going on a mission to buy him his favourite juice, we couldn't work out which one he meant specifically, so we bought one of each type SuperValu stocks. Hence the awesome picture of my mum above, taken by my sister in law. I love my family!!

Niallist logo by Mark Lyken

Glasgow-based graffiti artist Mark Lyken (www.lykenlove.com) has designed me a new logo! Colours are yet to be finalised, but here's the outline:

Niallist interviewed on Soundblab!

Extra extra! Read all about it!

Manchester-based music maker Niall O'Conghaile, who goes by the tag of The Niallist, has made what may very well be the party album of the year with AKA, a collection of old-school hip hop and acid house work outs featuring the likes of Beth Ditto, Scream Club and Yo Majesty. Fiercely out 'n' proud, Niall's lived the kind of hip life that would make you green with envy if his music wasn't so irresistibly damn good. From hanging out with Franz Ferdinand in Glasgow to supporting MEN in Manchester, Niall's got some stories to tell but what comes across most is his love of music, his encyclopedic knowledge of its history and his unfailing belief in its power to shift hearts, minds and booties. Soundblab collared him for a chinwag about parties, politics and zombie pride.

Read the rest here.

MENERGY Fierce Ruling Divas Ball PROMO

Get your haus in order and COME ON DOWN!

Dangerous Minds Oct 2nd - 9th

New crazy headline 'Jacko Chimp Fingers Killer Doc'
Ren & Stimpy creator John K animates The Simpsons
‘Wild Zero’ the ultimate Japanese zombie-comedy Rock’n'Roll Jet Movie!
Scottish chilli eating contest goes wrong
An Ode to the Chip Shop: Tickle v Dead Prez
Because rape is fucking hilarious

Noughties 2003: A Tale of Two Discos

My look back at the Noughties continues over at Weaponizer, this time it's 2003 in the mix:

As is inevitable with any emerging scene the press were quick to lump in other acts that happened to share similar stylistic tics. Bands who existed long before DFA like !!! and Radio4 started to gain attention for being punk-funky, and sometimes these bands cemented apparent ties within this world with remixes or collaborative efforts. Across the pond the already well-established producer Trevor Jackson's Playgroup project, which had mined very similar territory two year earlier, was re-released in expanded form. Playgroup never quite hit the commercial peaks that were expected of them, but they were a definite critical and journalistic success.

Most important in defining and disseminating the dance-punk aesthetic in the early days was a free mix CD given away with the now defunct Muzik magazine collecting the best of the DFA /remixes and productions with a smattering of the other acts that fell into a similar bracket. The CD was mixed by the venerable Tim Sweeney of the Beats In Space radio show, and DFA would go on to repeat this trick with their own commercially available mixes and compilations.

Yet despite low rumblings and high praise among the cooler kids, like most revivalist scenes, it felt like the impetus for punk-funk was coming from the media and a few key taste makers rather than than the public. It's important to understand the context as to why that would be so. It wasn't just the ebbing tides of fashion that washed punk-funk back up on the beach - along with whole swathes of the press in general, dance music publications were having a hard time in the early part of the Noughties. The aforementioned Muzik magazine and my own personal favourite publication, Jockey Slut, were floundering and would eventually close for good. The superstar dj, Ibiza and day-glo trance bubbles of the late Nineties had burst and the perceived interest of popular culture was shifting away from dance and back towards more traditional indie and guitar music. Taking pills and going to raves just wasn't as exciting as it had been 4 or 5 years before. Clothes had gone from being outrageously baggy to being skinny fit. Day-glo and baby soothers were out and black leather and snakebite was in.

Read the whole piece here.