“I used to keep big scrapbooks of my favorite cuttings from magazines and so many of them were music-related, when I look back at them I can see my career path mapped out. I’ll buy records for the sleeve, I’m always on the lookout for odd finishes, packaging, and such within the vinyl format.”
This week, we’re heading back to 2014, when Eilon interviewed Kevin Foakes (Strictly Kev / DJ Food) for Dust & Grooves Volume 1. Their lengthy conversation included the birth of Foakes’ love for hip-hop, and how starting in graphic design led the path to a world of vinyl. I particularly enjoyed this Me to You, as the parallels between Foakes’ taste and my own were strikingly clear and exciting. This made it very tricky to write only a few highlights from his tracklist and my playlist, but I’ve narrowed it down to a great few.
Foakes remarks in the original interview what a great year ‘89 was for hip-hop, particularly a love for The Beastie Boys classic Paul’s Boutique. This is one of the first classic hip-hip albums I ever checked out, I still remember the energy I felt from “Johnny Ryall”. As someone coming from a collection of prog and new-wave, the guitar hook and deep backing vocals were the nicotine patch I needed to abandon my more juvenile taste into the fresh air of hip-hop. Extremely closely followed by De La Soul’s “Tread Water”. So good.
Foakes notes Eno as “a major inspiration, with the music and art running concurrently.” So, it’s easy to see why Foakes became a fan in the 90s after being lent My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts by a friend when studying graphic design at Camberwell School of Arts. I love this record, particularly “Very Very Hungry”. The interplay of rhythmic and timbral exploration is truly exhilarating without being overdone. The clean electric guitar phrases live as a loop in my head pretty perpetually, and I couldn’t be happier for them to do so.
In 1995, DJ Food released A Recipe For Disaster—a great lesson in how to master breakbeat with a high level of artistry. “Half Step” is a particularly tasty track off the record, with powerful sax from Paul Raviger and straight-up groovy beats locking you in. The whole record is incredible, but there’s something about the breakbeat working with an element of funk here that is special.
Leaning away from musical masterpieces, Foakes noted a particular gem in his collection. Teasing at How To Speak Hip being a predecessor to podcasts, Foakes described this spoken word album as “so good on every level. It’s genuinely funny, a portrait of a certain time.” I think it’s time for a revival of these records. It may not contain music in its most explicit form, but the poetic timing of the words by no means lacks musicality. Music is an art, and to stretch the boundaries of such a thing is a responsibility we, as listeners and artists alike, are indebted to keeping up.
Be sure to check out Eilon’s original interview with Kevin here, and see why these records mean so much to him and how they fit into his impressive collection. I guarantee you’ll have a blast going through Foakes’ tracklist, and this playlist may be my favorite yet, it’s just so much fun. Enjoy!
Photo collage by Morgan Jesse Lappin. Limited edition prints available here
Kevin’s Recommended Listening List:
Adam & The Antz – Dirk Wears White Sox
Frankie Goes To Hollywood – Welcome To The Pleasuredome
Grace Jones – Slave To The Rhythm
Malcolm McLaren – Duck Rock
Kraftwerk – The Man-Machine
Brian Eno & David Byrne – My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts
Double Dee & Steinski – The Ultimate Lessons
Word Of Mouth – Coast To Coast (ft. DJ Cheese)
Public Enemy – It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back
The Beastie Boys – Paul’s Boutique
De La Soul – 3 Feet High and Rising
Jungle Brothers – Done By The Forces of Nature
Coldcut – “Say Kids”
DJ Food – A Recipe For Disaster
Hal Blaine – Psychedelic Percussion
Del Close & John Brent – How To Speak Hip
Ken Nordine – Next
The The – Soul Mining
Tommy Boy – Greatest Beats
Paul Hardcastle – Paul Hardcastle
