Finally I’ve rectified a gaping hole in my series of CDs. Somehow I managed to do DCFs 1 to 7 but missing out DCF 5. Well now it’s done and IT IS MINT!

For your delectation, I give you “The Missing Funk”. It’s a nice break from the harder electro stuff that’s doing the rounds these days. Let me know what you think.

For the moment, it’s downloadable from my site here. I say for the moment because last time search engines got hold of it and every man and his dog (strangely enough mostly from Korea) was caning my server to download it. I’ll probably change the link when it gets too hot.

The track listing and link is as follows:

Dirty Chunky Funky 5 – “The Missing Funk”

17 Feb 08 – Pete Simpson

1. Bodyrox – What Planet You’re On (Deadmau5 Remix)
2. Brad Hed – The Girlz & Boyz (Vandalism Club Mix)
3. Wez Clarke – Someday
4. Yves Larock – Rise Up (Raul Rincon Mix)
5. FR ft. Jenny B – Love Is The Music (Nx Connexxion Remix)
6. Cafe Groove – Why U Wanna Do Me Wrong (Soul Avengers Mix)
7. Freemasons ft Amanda Wilson – I Feel Like
8. Rihanna – Don’t Stop The Music (Bob Sinclair Remix)
9. Robyn – Handle Me (Soulseekerz Club Mix)
10. Calvin Harris – Colours (Seamus Haji Remix)

You can stream a low (128kbps) quality MP3 file directly here, but I recommend downloading the full ZIP.

Martin and I have been working on a new track. We’re not giving it out yet as it is a fair way off still from being finished, but get ready! Seany mumbled something into a microphone too, and somehow it’s still in the track, I just can’t seem to delete it. ) It sounds good though.

Often a track is crafted around a sample, and it is this sample which dictates how the finished product would sound. In our case, it was the other way around: Martin stumbled upon a spoken sample which seems like it was made to go in the breakdown.

This is the text of the spoken sample by a famous actor type called Quentin Crisp. God knows where my mate found it, but it’s pure gold! (It lasts a minute and a half, though.)

“I have been to restaurants in Soho whose denizens have crossed social and geographical barriers to reach them.

“In one I have seen a girl sitting amid musical pandemonium with a book open on her knees and her little finger entwined with that of her true love. Of course, she was not really listening, not really reading and not communicating with her friend in any way that required effort or style.

“It would be hard to say whether the jukebox caused the death of human speech, or whether music came to fill an already widening void. But, unless the music is stopped now, the human race, mumbling, snapping its fingers and twitching its hips, will sink back into an amoebic state where it will take a coagulation of hundreds of teenagers to make up a single unit of vital force, which, once formed, will only live on sedatives, consume itself on the terraces of football stadia, and die.”

Now if that isn’t a quote, I don’t know what is!

Just a week ago, I had no idea I’d be doing this. I’m still shocked that this opportunity came my way and have learnt a lot from it.

Until a recent revelation, I hadn’t realised my DJ friend Martin, whom I’ve known for some time now, is also the pianist for Marc Almond. We chatted about it and he invited me to come along to one of their gigs in Birmingham. The musicians and engineers he worked with were willing to put up with me for a little bit and I could come along and help with the sound. Watch and learn, Pete. Watch and learn.

But watching and learning turned into getting hands on experience. I’ve spent a lot of time on the kit I was using but just not in a “live music” setting. In this situation, you have to get it right first time: you can’t go back and say “Can we try that again, please?” There’s a lot of pressure.