Whirl-Y-Music is the official record label of Whirl-Y-Gig. Currently on this label are the albums Whirl-Y-Waves Vol.1, Whirl-Y-Waves Vol.2 - Global Grooves, Whirl-Y-Waves Vol.3 - Sounds Imported and AZukx's second album, Mind Nature. You can purchase any of these albums directly from the official Whirl-Y-Gig web site or download the Whirl-Y-Waves compilations in MP3 format!

Alternatively, use the A-Z bar below to navigate through a selection of music that is played at Whirl-Y-Gig (arranged by artist name).

Track Listing: Disc One: Sali Sidibe & the London to Africa Allstars : Transitory World - Time is the Answer/Seashore mix (9.06) Baka Beyond : Nahwia - Nah Nah Mix (6.45) Banco-de-Gaia : Amber - Original Whirl-Y-Mix (7.33) Transglobal Underground : Mambo On (6.19) UVX : African Sun (6.00) Mouth Music : Here and Blown Away (7.46) Azukx : Lift - Original Whirl-Y-Mix (8.05) Sheamless : Fairly Shot of Her (4.04) Astralasia : To a Better Place - Monkey Pilot Mix (6.33) Joi : Fulfilment in Dub (10.43) Disc Two: Virtual Dawn : Gliding (9.39) Lee Spencer : Kogi Bridge - Whirly '96 Mix (6.15) Another Green World : Dub for Joy/Iza Wiggle (15.54) Another Fine Day : Scarborough Fair (9.13) Cortex : Cumulus/Nimbus (13.48) Aura : Starseed - Parachute Mix (20.16)

This is the long awaited Whirl-Y-Gig compilation from Whirl-Y-Music, distributed by SRD (Cat No: Whirl. 1), available only as a double CD (i.e, its not available on vinyl). Disc one is packed full of global trance faves played at Whirl-Y-Gig over the last few years, most of which are either very rare or exclusive to this CD. The usual big names that have played live at Whirl-Y-Gig in the past feature here, although there is a notable absence of Moodswings. Two familiar tracks receive subtle reworkings, namely Banco-de-Gaia's Amber and Azukx's Lift, whilst Astralasia's Hashishin gets a stomping makeover courtesy of Monkey Pilot. Transglobal Underground provide one of their better tracks in the shape of Mambo On, which I'm sure has not received a formal release prior to this compilation. I was a little surprised at the choice of track from Baka Beyond, since Nahwia is the b-side to the superior Boomelena, although I must admit that this is the only weak track on this disc. The two gems on this disc have got to be Sali Sidibe's Transistory World, a track which sums up Whirl-Y-Gig to a tee, and Joi's Fulfillment in Dub, which is one of the very few Joi tracks to actually make it onto CD (and, naturally, is wicked!). The second disc slows the pace right down, featuring six ambient long players that have previously been used for the "Parachute Dance". The one to watch out for here is Aura's Starseed which, at twenty minutes long (!), is a simple looping track that gradually builds from a few squelches into something very beautiful. Soothing synths, hushed sampled voices and chants add to this gentle track, which is perfect for the early hours of the morning after a night out. So, overall, this compilation is a definite must for the CD collection.

You can now listen to Whirl-Y-Waves Vol.1 on-line. It's available to purchase from the Whirl-Y-Gig On-line Store as a double CD or as an MP3 download.

Track Listing: Hot One! Zohar - Midnight at the Bazaar Bi Polar - Jus Warmin Monstramental Mix Lemon - Adventures In Stereo Knights Of The Occasional Table - Eden Zion Train Friendly Mix Telepathy with Francis Bebey - Come Into The World Transglobal Underground - Bhimpalasi Warrior Global Union - Destination India Dub Touch - Instant Sunlight House of Jah Mix AZukx - Lift Natious 2000 Mix Global - La-Yo-He-Ay Riven Mix Astralasia - The Sea Afro Celt Sound System - Inion Marc Sinclair & Larry Lush Mix Global Union - Rain Dance Chill Too! Lick The Toad - The Sacred Vine Oojami - Palas U-Cef - Maghreb Code Tripper With Sujarta - Anando Dhara UVX - Inner Peace Another Green World V Alien Mutation - Etherial Dub Shpongle - Shpongle Falls Celtic Cross - Hicksville Anahata - Contact Ekko - Mossman Cosmic Voyage - Sitar Steppin James Asher - The Astrologers Seat Solar Quest Mix

A limited pre-release (only 1000 copies) of Global Grooves, the second double CD Whirl-Y-Gig compilation, was available at the Reading WOMAD Festival (July 21st-23rd 2000) on the Whirl-Y-Music label. The official release date was October 2000, distributed by SRD/Changing World Records.

Global Grooves follows in the same format as Whirl-Y-Waves Vol.1, with the first disc more upbeat and the second disc featuring ambient parachute tracks, all blended by DJ Monkey Pilot. Disc one opens with 'Midnight at the Bazaar' by Zohar, a track that combines gentle drum and bass with soothing pianos, wonderful middle eastern strings and unusual distorted vocals. Its a slow opener and at first not that accessible, although the appeal of this track grows rapidly. Bi-Polar jump straight into typical Whirly mode with the instantly recognisable (and previously unreleased), foot tapping 'Jus Warmin'. A brass quartet adds to a lively bouncy beat, spiced up with quirky Hammond organs and funky guitar riffs. Its carnival time! This group are one to keep an eye on since their live set at the Reading WOMAD festival 2000 was fantastic. 'Adventures in Stereo' by Lemon steps up the carnival vibe with a very cheeky and cheerful number from their 'Fresh EP'. Lemon are one of the in-house bands at Club Montepulciano, one of London's hippest lounge bar/clubs. The Knights of the Occasional Table dish up a rarity with the Zion Train remix of Eden which is another strong track with catchy vocals & chants. And then into 'Come into the World' which is an absolute gem of a track that I first heard at WOMAD when Telepathy played live in the Whirl-Y-Gig big top back in 1996 (or was it '97?). Again, this is a previously unreleased track and hence its presence here on this compilation is a real bonus. The warm, friendly vocals of 'come into the warmth my child, awaken to life to my child' float over a catchy analogue riff, which loops in a hypnotising fashion. Transglobal Underground dish up a rather average track which, at the time of the release of this compilation, was exclusive to this compilation although now features on their album 'Yes Boss Food Corner'. The first of Global Union's tracks, 'Destination India' (another exclusive track), is a mid-paced acid 303 trancer featuring melancholic sitars and a beautiful ethnic vocal in the mid track breakdown. And then into another big Whirly tune, 'Instant Sunlight', by Dub Touch. This trips the mood back to uplifting carnival mode, with its clattery djembe beats and quirky vocal samples. The familiar chimes of AZukx's 'Lift' and the spoken sample of "music was designed to lift in a very over laden world" introduce the new Natious remix of this classic track. Again, its exclusive to this compilation and another of Whirl-Y-Gig's best kept secrets. I'm convinced that if this track got into the right hands it would be a big hit across clubland, but as a semi-selfish thought maybe its best if we keep it just for Whirly. As the chimes of 'Lift' fade out Global steps in with a bouncy fun number from one of their more recent albums. This is another track that really flies when it actually gets going, complete with an air of 'Astralasia-of-old'. Hence it is fitting that next up are our old Whirly friends Astralasia, with a new revamp of 'Rhythm of Life' (one of Astralasia's first ever tracks back in the early 90's), re-titled to 'The Sea'. And it has to be said that this is probably their best track ever, as it is one of those soaring trancers with underlying spine tingling euphoric tones - fantastic. This rolls into the new Pendragon remix of the Afro Celts 'Inion', which is a stomping hard trance number featuring the wonderful chants from the original version of the track. And then to close this first disc is 'Rain Dance', the second of Global Union's exclusive tracks, which is a regular parachute track at the moment. Combining samples from the film 'Event Horizon', tribal chants and the much used sample of "we are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams" from the film Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, this track is a fitting close to an all-round uplifting, upbeat and colourful journey through a Whirl-Y-Gig club night. And that's only the first disc.

Over on disc two we have a selection of downbeat chillout tracks, as used in the end of night parachute dance. Notable tracks include the exclusive 'Sacred Vine' from 'Lick the Toad', the eastern delights of 'Oojami', the hypnotic and haunting 'Inner Peace' from UVX, and the closing sitar lead Solar Quest remix of James Asher's 'The Astrolagers Seat'. It has to be said that the whole of this second disc is excellent, with a range of rare downbeat tracks that are perfect for that lazy Sunday afternoon, or the small hours of the morning after the night before.

And yes, muggins was responsible for the cover art. Upon being asked to design the art work I set about creating various ideas based upon the title 'Global Grooves'. With this initial bunch of ideas (mostly pictures of highly coloured grooves and patterns) I threw in a picture of a rubber duck with the Whirly logo on it - what started as a little joke was then taken seriously by Monkey Pilot. The result was a series of photo shoots of rubber ducks in the bath, taken by myself and by Monkey Pilot & family. And the final product was generated by weeks of tinkering on the computer by muggins. Many thanks to Jason Legge for the rescue when my computer died in the final stages (typical huh?!).

You can now listen to Whirl-Y-Waves Vol.2 on-line. It's available to purchase from the Whirl-Y-Gig On-line Store as a double CD or as an MP3 download.

Track Listing: Hot One! Zion Train - King of the Sound and Blues Transglobal Underground - Yellow and Black Taxi Cab Kamel Nitrate - Tandoori Shakeaway Oojami - Ararim (Friends, Family & Lovers Remix) Earthtribe - Day in a Field Hawke - Party People (Red Moon Remix) Banco De Gaia - Lai Lah (Eat Static Remix) AZukx - Heart Sutra System 7 - Bassrock Swarf - Subtext (Weirdo Remix) The Morrighan - Requiem Dub Trees - Cleaning Fluid (Groove Corporation Remix) Chill Too! Mask - Lambent Spire Nada - Earthgarden Spy From Cairo - The Ballad Kaya Project - Olelo Gaudi - ... and the Earth Said: Oh My God! OTT - Cley Hill Elephant Talk - The Lark and the Preacher The Orb - Appletree in my Backyard Sounds from the Ground - Burning Bright Gargoyles - Space Baby Protoculture - Homeworld Twofish - Deep Bass 9

Release date 24th October 2005 on Whirl-y-Music. Distributed by Arabesque. Compiled and mixed by DJ Monkey Pilot.

Pack your bags and don your travelling hat, cos it’s time to jump aboard for the third instalment of the Whirl-Y-Waves series. ‘Sounds Imported’ is a 2CD trans-continental excursion featuring a host of artists that have, in recent history, appeared live on the Whirly stage, or whose tracks have regularly warmed the workings of the Whirly Sound System. The Redwoods of the underground dance scene, including System 7, Banco-de-Gaia, Transglobal Underground, Youth (Dub Trees) and The Orb, line up along side the rare specimens, the classic varieties and unreleased delights of some of the UK’s up and coming global-dance artists and producers.

Following the same format as its two predecessors, disc one (Hot One!) features a cross section of a typical Whirl-Y-Gig club night, ranging from dancehall dub, through global beats and up into banging trance, whilst disc two (Chill Too!) offers a wealth of early evening ambient dance classics blended with a selection of current chilled grooves that have been regularly used for the end-of-night parachute-dance experience.

Kicking off Hot One! is Zion Trains ‘King of the Sound and Blues’, an instantly recognisable dub classic from their ‘Original Sounds of the Zion’ album. This flows effortlessly into ‘Yellow and Black Taxi Cab’, a Transglobal Underground gem from their ‘Impossible Broadcasting’ album, where global (con)fusion collides head on with Tuup’s raggae style storytelling about Indian style public transport. Nelson Dilation’s spiced up Kamel Nitrate add their exotic flavoured, sitar laden ‘Tandoori Shakeaway’ to the menu, whilst the Turkish influenced breakbeat of Oojami’s ‘Ararim’ intensifies the multicultural whirling dervish cyclone of sound that this CD offers. ‘Day in a Field’ from Earthtribe’s long overdue album ‘One Earth One Tribe’ sets the tribal theme that progresses through Hawkes ‘Party People’, before encountering Eatstatic’s up-tempo hybrid style remix of Banco-de-Gaia’s ‘Lai-Lah’, where samples from many other classic Banco-de-Gaia tracks are thrown mercilessly into the melting pot. Next up is the hypnotising mantra of Azukx’s ‘Heart Sutra’; it should be pointed out that, along with Transglobal Underground, Azukx are the only artists to feature on all three Whirl-Y-Waves excursions. From hypnotising mantras to the psychological revolution of consciousness in System 7’s ‘Bass Rock’, where progressive psy-trance beats spiral hypnotically and harmoniously with Steve Hillage’s trademark guitar riffs. The exclusive ‘Italic Remix’ (by Weirdo) of Swarf’s ‘Subtext’ steps bravely into uncharted waters, for this is the first real vocal-led trance track to feature regularly on the Whirl-Y-Gig play list. But fear not, for this isn’t the start of the Ministry of Whirly, since the vocals here have a distinct Celtic lilt and only add fuel to this powerful driving trancer. This leads to ‘Requiem’, where The Morrighan take the last composition of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and tastefully rework it into the trance monster that, more often than not, has featured as the trance-finale at Whirl-Y-Gig over recent years. And finally, a bit of peace, love and happiness from the Dub Trees (Youth) helps draw this first leg of this journey to a close.

Over on Chilled Too! the journey continues through a colourful and diverse soundscape of deliciously textured grooves. The haunting, melancholic intro of Mask’s ‘Lambent Spire’ gives way to the gloriously chilled and deeply dramatic ‘Earthgarden’ from Nada, which sets the tone for the rest of this extraordinary journey. ‘The Ballad’ is a deep insight into The Spy From Cairo’s multicultural album ‘An Eye on the World’, which leads through to Kaya Projects dubby percussive groove ‘Olelo’, taken from the fantastic album ‘Walking Through’ on Interchill Records. Gaudi delivers one of the many highlights on this CD, in the form of the abstract titled ‘…and the Earth Said: Oh My God!’ from the album ‘Bass, Sweat & Tears’, again on Interchill Records. Here catchy, feel-good tribal harmonies combine with a simple drum loop and percussion, driving the mood forwards and up, before sweeping into the cheeky Hammond chords and quirky world of OTT’s ‘Cley Hill’, a tune from the album ‘Blumenkraft’ that is a journey in itself. Elephant Talks ‘The Lark and the Preacher’ lively Celtic/folk fusion lends an ear from the Afro Celts, whilst the fathers of ambient electronica, The Orb, deliver what appears to be a tribute to their own early 90’s anthem ‘Little Fluffy Clouds’ with their upbeat yet spacey ‘Appletree in my Backyard’. Sounds From the Ground’s ‘Burning Bright’ is an infectious slice of percussive ambient breakbeat, whilst ‘Space Baby’ by Gargoyle (OTT in disguise along with Simon ‘Shpongle’ Posford) delves into the realms of slightly twisted ambient-electronica, backed with the soothing vocals of Michele Adamson, whose sound here is reminiscent of Miriam Stockley’s vocals in the early 90’s classic ‘Only You’ by Praise’. ‘Space Baby’ blends smoothly into the penultimate offering of Sounds Imported, which is Protocultures ‘Homeworld’, a two-part track that has been a core part of the parachute dance in the recent months leading up to the release of this CD. The first half of this track teases and coerces the listener with tasty grooves, ethnic chants and subtle hints of what is yet to come, before fading into a spacey mid-track breakdown that then embarks on the ambient psy-trance finale. And finally, and fittingly, Twofish, a group that first frequented Whirl-Y-Gig back in the Shoreditch days, round off this excursion with a mix of acoustic guitar and deep, squelchy beats in their aptly titled ‘Deep Base 9’.

‘Sounds Imported’ is undoubtedly the most complete compilation in the Whirl-Y-Waves series thus far, successfully touching on the many elements that contribute to the Whirl-Y-Gig soundtrack that has inspired the young and the old over so many years. Given such quality it seems unnecessary to add that this 2CD compilation is an essential addition to any dance music collection, although sometimes even the obvious is understated.

You can now listen to Whirl-Y-Waves Vol.3 on-line. It's available to purchase from the Whirl-Y-Gig On-line Store as a double CD or as an MP3 download.

Album: AZukx - Mind Nature

Track Listing: Father to Son Heal Yourself Spiral Song Templeboy Time and the Orange Joe2 Mad Cow Lighthouse

The long overdue second album from AZukx was eventually released on Whirl-Y-Music in July '99, coinciding with a live gig at the Reading WOMAD Festival. Most of the material on this album was written when AZukx were in Ireland back in '96, but due to differences in opinions with Mantra the album wasn't released. Hence, 3 years later it sees the light of day on the Whirl-Y-Music label, which is kind of fitting, given that AZukx was born at Whirl-Y-Gig. Moving on from 'Everything is Everything', this album explores other area's of trance. Most notable is the hard-trance content, which is found in the middle section of the album with tracks 'Templeboy', 'Time and the Orange', 'Joe2' and 'Madcow'. Both 'Templeboy' and 'Madcow' are very strong tracks and have been forming a core section of recent live performances. It's impossible not to notice that this hard-trance sound is slightly dated, given that back in '96 most of the UK were dancing to the sounds of psychedelic trance, and now in '99 the hard trance scene isn't as big as it was then. But nonetheless, these tracks are superb, acid 303 fuelled stompers. The rest of the album is much more chilled and relaxed, the best of which are 'Heal Yourself', which features vocals from Gary, and the superb 'Spiral Song'. This latter track has close analogies to 'One Tribe' (from Everything is Everything), where folk elements combined with Uilleann pipes result is a wonderfully uplifting, bouncy track. The closing track, 'Lighthouse', is soothing and ambient, which is what is needed after the four hard-trance tracks. This whole album is far more varied (in terms of BPM) than its predecessor and much more dance orientated, which makes up for the lack of clever originality that 'Everything is Everything' possessed. It's good to have AZukx back! For more information on AZukx click here.


Use the A-Z bar below to navigate through music (arranged by artist name) that is played at Whirl-Y-Gig.