Cue the atmospheric wild west music in the background as Solid Steel makes it’s last stand! The BBC in their unrelentingly infinite wisdom (note: sarcasm) never really know a good thing when they’ve got it (don’t get us started on the Radiophonic Workshop), and the eradication of Solid Steel from the BBC airwaves is a prime example of this sort of lunacy. Hit the jump to read about the death throes of Solid Steel at the BBC (words courtesy of Strictly Kev) and to listen in on the final British Broadcasted Steel. Parts 1+2 are streamable now from Ninja Tune on the 09/05/2008 show, parts 3+4 downloadable from bosbos.net.

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Summer is just around the corner for most people, so it’s time to put on something… funky! Cue DK, one-half of DJ Food and one totally nice fella with an ear for the tunes. Effectively a 0.5 in the official Solid Steel mix CD series, SSDK01 came across 2 CDs and features some great sounds for you to shake your rump to. If the sun isn’t shining when you’re listening, it soon will be! Part 1 is streamable now from Ninja Tune on the 25/04/2008 show, part 2 downloadable below. But first, a word or two from DK himself.

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Play that beat, Mr DJ! Yet another classic unearthed from the Solid Steel vaults/crates/someplace dark. Strictly Kev and DK take you on a lesson (1,2,3, etc etc etc) in hip hop history as they get together with Double Dee and Steinski for a memorable interview that, even if you think you know your lessons, are sure to be even more clued up by listening in. Rather than stick with a dry format, Kev has patched in all the classic beats, cuts and samples to keep everything flowing nicely. It’s not so much like listening to an interview, more like snatching pieces of a conversation between like-minded types in the back room of the record store where every anecdote will prick your ears up. Part 1 is streamable now from Ninja Tune on the 11/04/2008 show, part 2 downloadable below (in 2 parts, see below for the details). Let’s hand it over to Kev!

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War is bad. Perhaps the only good thing about war is how it inspires people to rise up and make their voices heard, however much some of our nations’ politicans choose to ignore them. Musicians often step into the breach, being in an enviable position to reach people on a wider scale. Strictly Kev covers off plenty of tracks in ‘War Is Stupid’, a perfectly titled mix encompassing the thoughts of artists compelled enough to put their feelings (in this case, about the Iraq conflict) into their music. Part 1 is streamable now from Ninja Tune on the 28/03/2008 show, part 2 downloadable below. Words from Kev after the jump.

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Alien conspiracies! Faces on planets! Unearthed DATs! Yes, it’s all here. A bit of a special broadcast, this one (aren’t they all?) as Coldcut go offworld with the Alien Sphinx. Strictly Kev is your flight director at mission control, take a close read as he guides you through the Solid Sphinx story. ‘Return Of The Alien Sphinx’ is downloadable from bosbos.net, ‘More Than An Alien Sphinx’ streamable via the Ninja Tune site, home to Solid Steel. Blast off in t-minus 3… 2… 1…

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As the opening salvo for the official Solid Steel mix CD series, Solid Steel: ‘Now, Listen’ had plenty of expectation riding on it’s shoulders. Embarking the Solid Steel brand on it’s logical progression, DJ Food and DK expanded on the hap-hazard nature of the selections heard on the radio broadcasts with an outstanding grab-bag of tracks that don’t seem to work when you see them on paper, but make them work they did. Capturing the essence of a classic steel show, the CD was universally acclaimed and stands proudly alongside Coldcut’s Journeys By DJ mix as a benchmark standard in how mixes should work (ie not just shovelling mp3s onto your laptop and hoping for the best). Hitting the road in North America, Strictly Kev and DK took Solid Steel out of the studio and out to the people, live and direct. Read on to hear tales of record buying of credit card incinerating proporations. Parts 3+4 (DK and Bonobo) are available to download from bosbos.net, parts 1+2 (Strictly Kev and Four Tet) are streamable via the Ninja Tune site, home to Solid Steel.

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There are many music producers who would happily sit back and operate behind the scenes, never revealing their true identity, determined to retain a shadowy persona to let the music speak for itself. This was an automatic given for early DJ Food contributor Patrick Carpenter. Whether intentional or not, using his initials (PC) caused a slight problem.. being mistaken as the computer that Coldcut built their tracks with! Reassuringly, Patrick is more man than machine - so sit back as Strictly Kev guides you through a great Solid Steel show featuring PC from 1999. Parts 3+4 are available to download from bosbos.net, parts 1+2 are streamable via the Ninja Tune site, home to Solid Steel.

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Many of the Solid Steel shows doing the rounds over the past few years as MP3s have mostly come from the mid-nineties onwards. While there have been some outstanding shows from that time, they don’t really reflect the early days of Solid Steel. And by early, we’re talking the eighties! Back when every radio show didn’t have an website or was instantly ripped and uploaded on to the Internet for the masses to get hold of. No podcasts, no ‘listen again’ option - unless you were sat patiently by your hi-fi stereo, finger poised over the RECORD button on the tapedeck, of course. Fortunately, the ever-dilligent archivists of sound Coldcut did the job for you, as this show from 1988 with Juan Atkins proves. The following words by Strictly Kev.

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Dastardly electronic duo Autechre have returned from the future with Quaristice, their latest album for Warp Records. Based on the sounds presented here, Autechre have fitted their new work somewhere between the likes of Tri Repetae (1995) and later (and some might say less accessible) works such as Confield (2001) and their last studio album, Untilted (2005). However, three tracks doth not make an album, so in order to hear all that Quaristice has to offer, you’ll have to wait until it’s release on the 3rd March to experience it in full.

The three tracks in this preview are ‘Tankakern’, ‘rale’ and ‘WNSN’. They have been edited from Adventures In Modern Music (10th January 2008), which featured on weekly radio show ‘The Wire On Air’ on Resonance 104.4 FM. You can check out the full show, as hosted by Tony Herrington, here. Tony introduces the tracks on the preview.

[Autechre - Quaristice Preview] (13mins, 18MB)

Welcome to the very first Vintage Solid Steel, brought to you by bosbos.net in conjunction with Ninja Tune’s ‘Solid Steel’ radio show. Solid Steel has been delivering the broadest beats for 20 years, resulting in a hefty archive to mine for some classic shows to listen to and enjoy. Thanks to the efforts of DJ Food’s Strictly Kev, our opening salvo is a legendary show dating back to 1991, where Coldcut meets The Orb. Parts 1+2 of the show are available via the Solid Steel podcast, and bosbos.net is offering up parts 3+4 to round things off.

You can expect to see many more Vintage Solid Steels as time goes on, focusing on the best of the best shows that have hit the airwaves over the years, so be sure to check in on a regular basis. We’ll hand over to Strictly Kev as he reminisces back to ‘91, filling in the blanks (and hopes you can too!):

In ‘91 Coldcut were struggling to get their fledgling Ninja Tune label off the ground after enjoying immense success in the late 80’s with international No.1’s, award winning remixes and hot producer status. After label problems they went back to their roots and kept a low profile whilst maintaining their weekly 2 hour radio show on London’s KISS FM. In ‘91 The Orb were just taking off into the big time, their own label problems a few years ahead of them. Their Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld album and its satellite singles had gathered underground kudos and they were recording the follow up: U.F.Orb. Most people would agree that ‘92 was the peak year for the Orb, in terms of success, with the second album touching down at No.1 after the first week of release and sold out shows everywhere. On the cusp of the new year - no one can quite remember whether it was Xmas or New Year’s Eve - the two met and this glorious offspring was the result.

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