In track order they are Prefuse 73, Nobody, Daedelus, Build An Ark and Gilles Peterson's Worldwide 2004 multi-winners SA-RA. But it's that good, we've gone the extra mile to slow down the prolific Daedelus for more of an insight from his Santa Monica studio. He is represented on the 12" by 'A Touch of Spring'. This track has been previously out on 'The Quiet Party' CD, but now for the first time available on vinyl for the masses. I asked Deadelus.

What was the response when you first played this at Dublab and when was that?
That was a spell ago, I can't say exactly when, but I can confide the track did inspire more then a few double takes, there was a little something about it that people at first couldn't quite put their finger on. Later, once all mysteries were solved, I think people liked it as a summery Brazilian number.

The opening few bars certainly bring a summery smile to my face. You've thrown in a bit of some contrasting styles, such as some 80s club, 60s theme tune horns and Latin vocals. Was there anything that didn't make the final mix?
There are always a lot of sounds that get left on the cutting room floor. On this particular track you'll notice Japanese words from the beginning, which roughly translated mean "I like Japanese food, not so much" it's a hint for what used to follow. Which was a whole Japanese dialog thru-out the song, including some J-Pop singing, but I couldn't translate enough of it and I scraped everything except the intro.

You play the guitar on the track but were any other musicians involved?
This one is just me, but I've a nice long list of strange instruments my friends play rather well (one of the advantages of living in Los Angeles, there are a lot of creative types) and I'm always interested in getting the right noise just right. I also try to play double bass and bass clarinet plus a few others, but it's all in a shambles nowadays.

What have other DJs been saying about 'A Touch of Spring'?
I've gotten a few kind of "right on with the vibes", a sprinkling of "wicked 'choon' mate" but mainly I'm in the dark, I'm hoping now that now it's on wax, DJs can let me know how inappropriately short the song is...

Well, I'd agree with that. I'd like an extended remix, could I suggest a working title of 'A Touch Of Spring That Has Now Evolved Into The Nu-Flower Of Revolutionary Summer Love Remix'? Which brings me to the 'Prefuse 73' and the 'Nobody' tracks; both seem to be in competition for the longest song title, respectively 'Oh Linda You Lit Up My Life With Your Voice And Made Me Fall In Love With You' and 'Apollonia Millennium And Her Private Parts Marching Band'. They work well back to back; the harpsichord sounding breaks have that new-peace and love feel. Do you know either of them or are they just label-mates?
I've worked with Prefuse 73 on a few projects and Nobody lives in Los Angeles and is a frequent party starter at dublab events. They are both dirty Hip-Hop hippies, in the best possible sense however.

The opening track on the B-side is 'Temples In Space'. Is it me or does the Build An Ark project just get better and better?
Yes, and it's scary. Carlos Niño, who is the over-all creative visionary behind the project, I think is just hitting his stride both with Build an Ark and Ammoncontact. It's already crazier then one can imagine it's just that most hasn't been released yet, like the forthcoming Dwight Trible (one of the eighteen people who make up the Ark) record coming out on Ninja Tune later this year.

The thought of a Dwight Trible solo album is awesome. No doubt it'll get first plays on Carlos' Friday night radio show (8.00pm to 9.00pm, KPFK 90.7 FM), 'Spaceways with Carlos Niño'. The last track on the 12" is called 'Spaceways' and is the theme tune SA-RA have done for Carlos. It is the best thing they've done to date for me.
Unfortunately, Carlos' show just retired that SA-RA intro song in favour of a new tune of their composition, it's even on step beyond, two parts, I recommend tuning in just to catch it, if not for the rest of the fine, usually exclusive, music played weekly. How he gets so many songs is a mystery to me.

So that's what you will be listening to later on today. So what else is happening?
Today I'm cold chilling full effect, what else do we do on the best coast. That and laundry.

Yeah we know what you mean. So as we leave Daedelus to sort out his smalls, it's time for us check out the big 12" of the week. Your more astute vinyl importers will be stocking it such as Sounds Of The Universe (7 Broadwick St, Soho, London tel: 0207-974-2004) who have previous links with Plug Research. Best of best to Daedelus and prepare yourself for a Spring of Love coming from the West Coast.

Links:
Official Daedelus Site
http://www.plugresearch.com/
dublab, 707 Ridgewood Place #201, Los Angeles, CA 90038
Sound clips 'in the loop #2'
Sound clips 'in the loop #1'
Spaceways [I've worked it out that it starts Saturday, 4.00am GMT. I hope this is correct. The show isn't archived, you have to be logged on to hear it]