Snap Ant - In Dark Three's...
(MP3 podcast on www.parisdjs.com) Snap Ant, 2007-03-11

Info :
Ever heard of Snap Ant?
He plays bass and kalimba with Ninja Tune's UK psychedelic masters Super Numeri, with Pop Levi and Karl Webb from Loka (check their discography). If you haven't heard them yet it's still high time!
Snap Ant also released a very cool sample-free psychedelic pop album, "This Is Jut!" on Invicta Hi-Fi Records in October 2005 (read my review).
He remixed Ladytron and Coldcut.
He started a pop band called Maude, with Lynsey Packman and Linus Jackson (download their free online EP).
With Super Numeri he released in september 2005 a mind-blowing mix, "The Enochian Way", a crazy mash-up of various psychedelic stuff from all ages, one of the best compilations of 2005 (check the tracklist).
When he contacted us with this new 28mn psychedelic mashed-up mix, we were delighted, enthousiastic, jumping around, kinda like kids with a new toy: basically, we're proud to introduce the amazing world of Snap Ant to you today.
Enjoy.
Djouls /ParisDJs.com
More info :
Full discography, links & reviews available here on Ninja Obsession

Tracklisting :
01. Stevie Wonder - Earth's Creation
(from 'Journey through the Secret Life of Plants' 2xLP, 1979 / Motown)
02. The White Noise - The Black Mass: An Electric Storm In Hell
(from 'An Electric Storm' LP, 1968 / Island)
03. Shirley Ellis - The Clapping Song
(from 'The Clapping Song' 7 inch, 1965 / Congress)
04. Throbbing Gristle - Dead Souls
(from 'Mission Of Dead Souls' LP, 1981 / Fetish Records)
05. Kurt Weill - Alabama Song
(from 'O Moon of Alabama: Historische Aufnahmen 1928-1944' compilation, 1994 / Capriccio)
06. Jah Wobble - Tales From Outer Space
(from 'Betrayal' LP, 1980 / Virgin)
07. Linda Perhacs - Parallelograms
(from 'Parallelograms' LP, 1970 / Kapp)
08. Karlheinz Stockhausen - 53'20"
(from 'Mantra' CD, 1990 / New Albion)
09. Joe Meek - ?
(from 'I Hear A New World' LP, 1960 / Triumph)
10. Bo Hansson - The Horns Of Rohan & The Battle Of The Pelenoor Fields
(from 'Music Inspired by The Lord of The Rings' LP, 1972 / Charisma)
11. Brian Hodgson - Propaganda Sleep Machine
(from 'Doctor Who at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop - Volume 1: The Early Years 1963-1969' CD, 2000 / BBC)
12. Cabaret Voltaire - Eastern Mantra
(from 'Three Mantras' LP, 1980 / Rough Trade)
13. J.J. Cale - The Old Man and Me
(from 'Okie' LP, 1974 / Mercury)
14. Astrud Gilberto - Without Him
(from 'This Is Astrud Gilberto' LP, 1964 / Verve)
15. Graham Bond - Meditation Aumgu
(from 'Holy Magick' LP, 1970 / Vertigo)
16. Maurice Ravel - Ma Mère l'Oye, 1. Prélude
(from 'Ravel: Orchestral Works' LP, ???? / Deutsche Grammophon)
17. The Slits - Typical Girls (Brink Style Dub)
(from 'Wild Dub - from Punk Meets Dread Rocker' compilation, 2003 / Select Cuts)
18. Wa Muluendu - Masanka Sankayi Kandai Allstars
(from 'Congotronics 2: Buzz 'n' Rumble from the Urb 'n' Jungle' compilation, 2006 / Crammed)
19. Carlos Gardel - La Cumparsita
(from 'Cien Años' 2xLP, 1990 / EMI-Odeon)
20. Charles Mingus - Freedom
(from 'Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus' LP, 1963 / Impulse)
21. Michel Thomas - Learn Spanish
// info and scan coming soon //
22. Los Indios Tabajaras - Maria Cariua
(from 'Maria Elena' LP, 1958 / RCA)
23. Lee Scratch Perry & The Upsetters - Curly Dub
(from 'Super Ape' LP, 1976 / Island)
24. Raymond Scott - Sleepy Time
(from 'Soothing Sounds for Baby' 3-LP set, 1963)
25. Chris Bowden - Telescopic Three
(from 'Time Capsule' 2xLP, 1996 / Soul Jazz)
26. Miles Davis - Rated X
(from 'Panthalassa' 2xLP, 1998 / Columbia)
27. Soft Machine - Out-Bloody-Rageous
(from 'Third' 2xLP, 1970 / Columbia)
28. Snap Ant - Archer Ray
(from CDR, unreleased)
29. Brian Eno - In Dark Trees
(from 'Another Green World' LP, 1975 / E.G. Records)

Links :
Complete artworks : www.paridjs.com
XML Podcast link : podcast.xml
Direct MP3 download : Snap_Ant-In_Dark_Threes.mp3

Credits :
Artwork, selection and mix by Snap Ant (myspace.com/snapant)
Review by Djouls (TIMEC)
Audio mastering by Grant Phabao (grantphabao.com)

Loka - Fire Shepherds
(LP/CD) Ninja Tune ZEN89/ZENCD89, 2006-03-24

LP Tracklisting:
01. Safe Self Tester
02. Meet Dad
03. Airfling
04. Freda Mae
05. Beginningless
06. Tabernacle part 1
07. Tabernacle part 2

CD Tracklisting:
01. Safe Self Tester
02. Meet Dad
03. Airfling
04. Freda Mae
05. Beginningless
06. Tabernacle part 1
07. Tabernacle part 2
08. Safe Self Tester (Quicktime video, dir: Sebastian James)
09. Beginningless (Quicktime video, dir: Glenn Marshall)

Coldcut - Man In A Garage
(7"/12"/CDS) Ninja Tune ZEN12176, 2006-01-09

Tracklisting 7" :
A1. Man In A Garage (album version)
B1. Man In A Garage (Snap Ant Version)

Tracklisting 12" :
A1. Man In A Garage (Nick Franglen [Lemon Jelly] Remix)
B1. Man In A Garage (Bonobo Remix)
B2. Man In A Garage (Daedelus' Hydraulic Remix)

Tracklisting CDS :
01. Man In A Garage (Album Version)
02. Man In A Garage (Snap Ant Version)
03. Man In A Garage (Bonobo Remix)
04. Man In A Garage (Daedelus' Hydraulic Remix)
05. Man In A Garage (Nick Franglen [Lemon Jelly] Remix)

Super Numeri - The Welcome Table
(2xLP/CD) Ninja Tune ZEN97/ZENCD97, 2005-11-28

Info :
Super Numeri est un collectif de Liverpool dirigé par 3 membres fondateurs: Pop Levi, Snap Ant & Karl Webb (ce dernier formant chez Ninja Tune le duo Loka avec Mark Kyriacou). Pop Levi joue des claviers (piano électrique, farfisa), du vibraphone, de la sitar, de la clarinette et des percussions. Karl Webb (Loka) joue de la guitare, du sax soprano, de la viole et du clavier (Digitone). Snap Ant joue de la basse et de la kalimba. Ajoutez-y une farandole d'amis musiciens qui apportent guitare, batteries, percussions, harpe celtique, violons, viole et contrebasse et vous obtenez un groupe de 13 personnes complètement dingue. Dingue? Oui dingue, frappé, habité, taré, incroyable... en d'autres termes psychédélique! Leurs influences vont en effet de Can à Miles Davis, en passant par Pink Floyd, Tortoise, le Fleetwood Mac de Peter Green ou bien Soft Machine (première époque), et ça s'entend! Prenez le track d'ouverture, par exemple, presque 25 minutes de transe psyché-rock explosive: voilà de la jam instrumentale, du mélange de rock psyché, de free jazz, de post-rock, de folk de l'école de Canterbury (psyché-folk anglais 60's et 70's), comme on en fait plus en Europe depuis une trentaine d'années! Certains objecteront qu'aux États-Unis on peut trouver depuis quelques années un groupe exactement dans le même esprit musical: j'ai nommé Mushroom (à San Francisco), bien sûr, encore plus inconnus que Super Numeri en nos terres ignares. Le parallèle avec la formation américaine est pourtant tellement évident... Daevid Allen avec son University Of Errors ou John Medeski avec Medeski, Martin & Wood (sur scène!) poursuivent eux aussi le même genre de paysages ultra-trippés mais le lien est beaucoup moins immédiat. En tous cas, vous l'aurez compris: on peut considérer la musique de Super Numeri aujourd'hui comme unique. Essentielle, oui, aux amateurs de jazz et de rock très psyché en premier lieu. Les fans de prog-rock pourront passer leur chemin, il ne s'agit pas ici de faire preuve de dextérité extra-terrestre mais surtout d'ouvrir la porte à l'auditeur vers un ailleurs tout en fluides et en gaz, de lui faire vivre une expérience au-delà de son corps, de l'emmener loin... loin... très loin. Pour résumer l'histoire, disons simplement que la consommation de champis, de champipis, de champignons ne pourrait pas profiter d'une meilleure illustration sonore que celle proposée par cet album, ce CD rempli à ras-bord (78 minutes et quelques), cet Olympe de la musique psychédélique du vingt-et-unième siècle. - Djouls

Super Numeri is a collective from Liverpool directed by 3 founder members: Pop Levi, Snap Ant & Karl Webb (who forms at Tune Ninja the duet Loka with Mark Kyriacou). Pop Levi plays keyboards (electric piano, farfisa), vibraphone, sitar, clarinet and percussions. Karl Webb (Loka) plays guitar, soprano saxophone, viola and keys (Digitone). Snap Ant plays bass and kalimba. Add there a parade of musician friends who bring guitar, drums, percussions, celtic harp, violins, viola and cello and you get a band of 13 nutcases. Nutcases? Yes nutcases, people who'd been hit on the head, inhabited, crazy, incredible... in other words psychedelic! Their influences go indeed from Can to Miles Davis, while passing by Pink Floyd, Tortoise, Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac or Soft Machine (first period), and you can hear it! Take the opening track, for example, almost 25 minutes of psyched-up explosive trance-rock: that's what I call an instrumental jam, a mixture of psychedelic rock, free jazz, post-rock, Canterbury folk, like it hasn't been done in Europe for about thirty years! Some will object that in the United States for a few years already you could find a band in the exact same musical spirit: Mushroom (in San Francisco), of course, who are even more unknowns than Super Numeri on our uncivilized grounds. The parallel with the American formation is yet so obvious... Daevid Allen with its University Of Errors or John Medeski with Medeski, Martin & Wood (on stage!) are on the same scale of over-tripped-out landscapes but the link is much less immediate. Anyway, you'll have understood by yourselves: you can consider music of Super Numeri today as unique. Essential, yes, to jazz and very-psychedelic-rock lovers in the first place. Fans of prog-rock can look somewhere else, it's not a question of extra-terrestrial dexterity here, but especially to open the listener's doors of perception towards an elsewhere all in fluids and gas, to make him live an out-of-body experience, to take him far... far... very far away. In short, let's simply say that the consumption of mush, mushrr, mushrooms could not benefit from a better sound illustration than the one proposed by this album, this CD filled up to the limit (78 minutes and some), this Olympus of psychedelic music of the 20th century. - Djouls

2xLP Tracklisting:
A1. The First League Of Angels (24:32)
B1. The Buzzard & The Lamb (10:40)
B2. The Chart (6:26)
C1. The Sea Wolves (10:58)
C2. The Welcome Table (7:08)
D1. The Spies Of St. Ives (11:09)
D2. The Babies (7:20)

CD Tracklisting:
1. The First League Of Angels (24:32)
2. The Buzzard & The Lamb (10:40)
3. The Chart (6:26)
4. The Sea Wolves (10:58)
5. The Welcome Table (7:08)
6. The Spies Of St. Ives (11:09)
7. The Babies (7:20)

Pop Levi - Blue Honey
(7") Invicta Hi-Fi LIQ033, 2005-10-17

Pop Levi plays electric piano, farfisa, vibraphone, sitar, clarinet & percussion in Super Numeri.

Tracklisting :
A1. Blue Honey
B1. Mournin' Light

Snap Ant - iThis Is Jut!
(CD) Invicta Hi-Fi LIQ030, 2005-10-10

Review :
Oh my what a strange album. It took me quite a while to get into, maybe because of the first misleading tracks...
Opener "!Jut!" is a melodic dirty analogue thingie, quite a cool introduction to a lo-fi home-produced electro-pop psychedelic album. Then come "Shock Control" and "Function Room", leaning towards current glam-electro-pop hype.
You pass that false-leading introduction, you'll get transported into a marvelous world of wonder, filled with Brazilified-Beatles psychedelia ("Larva Ball"), Beta Band-ish trippy pop ("Berewind"), Super Numeri-esque ethereality ("She Makes All Sense", "Better One In The Hand Than Two In The Bush"), Cornelius-like dreamy electronics ("Savour Piece", "You Make Me Basic"), out-there post-punk by Muppets ("Grumpy Nymph"), with layers and layers of LSD-friendly little sounds ("Inner Red Daze") and Ween-ified alien pop ("Truning Ugly").
Whoa that's one hell of a ride into the mind of Super Numeri's and Ladytron's bass player. Are you ready for this?
Djouls

Note : Snap Ant plays electric bass guitar & kalimba in Super Numeri.

Tracklisting :
01. iJut!
02. Shock Control
03. Function Room
04. Larva Stall
05. Berewind
06. She Makes All Sense
07. Saviour Piece
08. Better One In The Hand Than Two In The Bush
09. You Make Me Basic
10. Grumpy Nymph
11. Inner Red Daze
12. Turning Ugly

Links :
snapant.com
myspace.com/snapant
invictahifi.co.uk/snapant.htm

Snap Ant - Grumpy Nymph
(7") Invicta Hi-Fi LIQ028, 2005-09-26

Snap Ant plays electric bass guitar & kalimba in Super Numeri.

Tracklisting :
A1. Grumpy Nymph
B1. The Cavaliers

Super Numeri - The Enochian Way
(Mixed CD) Counter Records (Japan), 2005-09-15

Tracklisting :
01. Sonny - Sharrock Black Woman
02. Silver Apples - Lovefingers
03. Yoko Ono - Greenfield Morning I Pushed An Empty Baby Carriage All Over The City
04. Brigitte Bardot - Contact
05. Little Richard - God Is Real
06. Pop Levi - Skip Ghetto
07. Fairport Convention - Autopsy
08. Joe Byrd & The Field Hippies - Moonsong
09. The Velvet Underground - Lady Godiva's Operation
10. The Beach Boys - Cool Cool Water
11. Snap Ant - Gunsticker
12. The Flamingos - I Only Have Eyes For You
13. Biltone - Humming Bird
14. Bruce Haak - Word Game
15. Loka - Meet Dad
16. The Shocking Blue - Love Buzz
17. Tonto's Expanding Head Band - Riversong
18. Esa Shields - Frolicsome On Last Road
19. Super Numeri - The Red Lady/Lunar Mansions
20. John Lee Hooker - Moanin' The Blues

[Pop Levi, Snap Ant & Loka are all members of the Super Numeri collective]

Blockhead - Expiration Date
(Download Only Single) Ninja Tune ZENDL113, 2005-09-12

Tracklisting :
1. Expiration Date
2. Good Block Bad Block
3. Sunday Seance (Loka Remix)

Pop Levi - Rude Kind Of Love
Snap Ant - Give Up The Juice
on Various - Rallye cloak 01
(CD) Rallye Records RYECD007, 2004-12-22

Pop Levi plays electric piano, farfisa, vibraphone, sitar, clarinet & percussion in Super Numeri.
Snap Ant plays electric bass guitar & kalimba in Super Numeri.

Tracklisting :
01. E*Rock - Living, Breathing, etc.
02. Normal Position - Ashtray
03. Wren - Drive Down Lines
04. Languis - Nothing I Will Do
05. Airiel - Stratosphere
06. Neeve - Stop Laughing
07. Signer - I Was Dressed As The Ant
08. Akt Apart - Lazy
09. Arne Zank - El Rey Gravitas
10. Pop Levi - Rude Kind Of Love
11. Snap Ant - Give Up The Juice
12. Au Revoir Simone - Through the Backyards
13. Textile Ranch - Vince Clarke Holidaye Parke
14. Pandatone - Wondering (feat. Midori Hamada)
15. Black Moth Super Rainbow - I Think It Is Beautiful That You Are 256 Colors Too
16. I Monster - Heaven

Pop Levi - Reindeer In My Heart
(7") Invicta Hi-Fi LIQ027, 2004-12-13

Pop Levi plays electric piano, farfisa, vibraphone, sitar, clarinet & percussion in Super Numeri.

Tracklisting :
A1. Reindeer In My Heart
B1. Hayley Square (Instrumental)

Snap Ant - You Make Me Basic
(7") Invicta Hi-Fi LIQ024, 2004-11-22

Snap Ant plays electric bass guitar & kalimba in Super Numeri.

Tracklisting :
A1. You Make Me Basic (2:41)
B1. Turning Ugly (3:01)

Blockhead - Sunday Séance / Jet Son
(12") Ninja Tune ZEN12159, 2004-10-18

Tracklisting :
A1. Blockhead - Sunday Séance (Album Version) (5:27)
A2. Blockhead - Sunday Séance (Loka Remix) (6:06)
B1. Blockhead - Jet Son feat. Aesop Rock & Camu Tao (Vocal Version) (4:06)
B2. Blockhead - Jet Son (Aesop Instrumental) (4:06)

Playgirl (Snap Ant Remix)
on Ladytron - 604
(CD) Emperor Norton/Rykodisc ENR7037-2, 2004-07-20

Snap Ant plays electric bass guitar & kalimba in Super Numeri.

Tracklisting :
01. Mu-Tron
02. Discotraxx
03. Another Breakfast With You
04. Cska Sofia
05. Way That I Found You
06. Paco!
07. Commodore Rock
00. Zmeyka
09. Playgirl
10. I'm With the Pilots
11. This Is Our Sound
12. He Took Her to a Movie
13. Laughing Cavalier
14. Ladybird
15. Jet Age
16. Skools Out...
17. USA vs. White Noise [Live]
18. He Took Her to a Movie [Live]
19. Commodore Rock [Live]
20. Playgirl (Snap Ant Remix)

Ladytron - Evil (Pop Levi Mix)
on Ladytron - Light & Magic
(CD) Emperor Norton EMR7058-2, 2004-07-20

Pop Levi plays electric piano, farfisa, vibraphone, sitar, clarinet & percussion in Super Numeri.

Tracklisting :
01. True Mathematics (2:22)
02. Seventeen (4:37)
03. Flicking Your Switch (3:26)
04. Fire (2:49)
05. Turn It On (4:46)
06. Blue Jeans (4:13)
07. Cracked LCD (2:32)
08. Black Plastics (4:17)
09. Evil (5:34)
10. Startup Chime (3:30)
11. Nuhorizons (4:03)
12. Cease2xist (4:37)
13. Re:Agents (4:53)
14. Light & Magic (3:35)
15. The Reason Why (4:15)
16. Seventeen (Soulwax Mix) (4:26)
17. Cracked LCD (Live In Sofia) (2:55)
18. Light & Magic (Live In Sofia) (3:23)
19. Evil (Pop Levi Mix) (3:13)