OPTIMO FOREVER

This month’s Sacred Mechanics is a celebratory mix of Optimo (Espacio) and particularly Keith (aka JD Twitch)'s legacy.

It could've been 10 hours long, such is the length and breadth of amazing music Keith has turned me on to. Whole strata of underground music were first brought to my ears in sweaty nights at Optimo's legendary Sunday night residency at the Sub Club in Glasgow. Even beyond the club nights, the Optimo Music label often drains my Bandcamp funds with its incredible roster of talent.

Below, I’ve written up a full tracklist with my reasons for selection, which paints a portrait of how much they’ve been a constant in my life for over 20 years.

May Jah speed Keith and Jonnie in their incredible work.

O P T I M O F O R E V E R.

00:00 - I Wanna Be Your Dog - The Stooges

This is a genesis track for Optimo. Keith, on the Glasgow Clubbing Podcast, tells of being 'bored of techno' as the 90s ended. He booked David Holmes to play at his Club, who was equally disillusioned with the playing of Techno. He dropped 'I wanna be your dog', which Keith describes as 'so exciting'. A moment that shed light on his path ahead.

It was also the first track that stood out on a bootlegged mix CD with 'Optimo (Espacio)' in a black scrawl on a white disc, which made its way to Cork in 2002. It equally fired my synapse

02:55 - Psycholdalek Nightmares - The Freeze

Introduced on the sublime 'Dark was the Night' mix.

06:59 - Fakten - ExKurs

Another obscurity was introduced by Keith's

09:55 - Double Heart - Robert Rental

I heard Keith speak about this early Mute track and how he played it.

12:13 - Lost in Music - The Fall

This was in a folder of 'Optimo Tracks' donated to me in college by a fellow Optimo disciple.

15:29 - Why Go To War? (JD Twitch Remix) - William Onyeabor

If anything had 'JD Twitch' Remix on it, it was added to the cart. Especially when it was a West African Electro Funk pioneer.

18:03 - Facefuck - Organs of Love

I recently met and became friends with Alicia Mathews, the vocalist of Organs of Love, primarily due to the weird decision to live on the Isle of Lewis. I showed up to a party in an Optimo t-shirt, which prompted a conversation where I found out that Keith had signed her and organist Jim McKinven's music project to the Optimo Music label. I immediately found all their music and devoured it.

22:44 - Kilowi-Kilowi (JD Twitch Edit) - M'Bamina

The 'JD Twitch' stamp, obvs.

24:04 - Get Around To It - Arthur Russell

Keith playing Arthur Russell at the Club led me to rent out a CD of his at the Library, and I have adored him ever since.

26:33 - For Love (JD Twitch Remix) - Jacques Greene

Another from the 'JD Twitich Remix' Folder

29:39 - Slowing Up The Freak (IKONIKA remix) - Ewan McVicar

31:30 - My Reflections (Altered Natives remix) - Acid Ultras

33:06 - When I Get It Right - Pussy Mothers

These 3 tracks are all from the Optimo label. 3 gems in their own right, and the label is an incredible legacy of Keith's influence.

35:18 - Don't Call (Original Mix) - Desire

Jonnie played out Keith's 'Summer of Synths' mic from his recent Optimo show. The first time, Keith was absent. Absolutely forgot about this banger.

37:31 - Oldschool, Baby (Main Mix, deutsch englisch) - Westbam, Nena

Optimo classic. That's all.

40:53 - Beat Connection - LCD Soundsystem

Not long after moving to Glasgow in 2003, I saw LCD Soundsystem at their first UK gig, at Optimo. I had heard 'Losing My Edge' not long before, and it stunned me. But I had more of an affection for this B Side on the single. Pat Mahony's infectious Disco drumming makes the super-long intro, and the drop into James Murphy's vocals is worth the wait.

They only played for half an hour and finished with this track. James Murphy introduced it by saying, 'We're going to play one more song because we only have one more song' - such was the infancy of LCD's repertoire at the time.

It was a real 'I was there' moment in the same sense as the lyrical refrain in Losing My Edge.

42:07 - 1 Thing (Accapella) - Amerie

The term 'guilty pleasure' is weird. Why should you feel guilty for liking music? Who's judging?

Amerie's yearning vocals, those stabbing guitars, delicious drums and a dreamy weightlessness that lifts limbs involuntarily. An R&B banger that I felt I should hide my love for until Keith dropped it at the Subby, and the place went wild.

It was also one of the highlights of the night when I asked him to DJ at Optimo's 25th birthday party at The Berkeley Suite.

44:41 - Moving Like A Train (Smith N Hack Remix) - Matthew Herbert

First heard it on their Japanese import 'Walkabout' mix and have fond memories of Ketih dropping this at the Art School gig after ESG played. Which nicely restarts the 2nd hour with...

49:28 - Dance - ESG

As above. Another New York band that Keith served up to the city. The Scorggins sisters and their infectious drum rhythms are a sight to behold.

51:51 - Z.W.A.M - Dexter

Another from those early 00's playlists

54:09 - House Of Jealous Lovers - The Rapture

Absoluter stone cold banger from that era. It's a clear tidal mark for the moment Indie Kids danced to Techno, and Techno kids shuffled to Indie.

56:33 - (R E A L L O V E) [Optimo Remix] - Factory Floor

Sinfully brilliant remix of the immense Factory Floor.

1:00:26 - 18 Hours (Of Love) Optimo (Espacio) Remix - K-X-P

One of my favourite remixes of all time. It just goes off in a way only those Optimo boys could set a room alight.

1:03:05 - Nature Makes A Mistake (Âme Remix) - Son Of Sam

The original devastating 1984 analogue banger was introduced to me on an Optimo Podcast mix. This is a peak-hour remix by Amê.

1:05:18 - Merpa - GǼG

An Optimo Music release that defies categorisation. Insane anarchic disco genius from Japan's underground.

1:07:52 - Voices (Dub Mix) - KC Flightt

A classic snaffled from the Optimo 25 compilation.

1:11:30 - Love Song (The Starkiller's Extended Retouch) - Simple Minds

Simple Minds' appearance on Optimo's Psyche Out mix album made me see Glasgow's chart-toppers in a whole new light. Optimo's tireless digging can make you reassess certain artists' output.

1:15:39 - Tabou For The People (A JD Twitch Edit) - Sofrito Vs Tabou No.2

A bit of tribalist funk to grease the wheels.

1:18:29 - Hung Up (DirtyHands Extra Time Mix) - Madonna

Another highlight of the 25th Birthday bash. This and Amerie '1 thing' exist in that strange centre of the Venn diagram between 'Optimo Classics' and 'Hen Night Bangers'.

1:21:03 - Demented (Or Just Crazy) (Laurent Garnier Edit) - Carl Craig, Tres Demented

1:23:42 - Step To Enchantment (Stringent) (Original Mix) - Jeff Mills

Always loved the way mixes would bubble up into full-on Techno without ever noticing the shift in rhythm. Two absolute classics of the genre here.

1:25:34 - Peach Fuzz - Mandy, Indiana

Never played by Optimo, but rather me taking that spirit and mixing a stomper from the indie band Mandy, Indiana, into some Jeff Mills. Playing that trick, which Keith had mastered, of fooling techno kids into giein' it laldy to a punk track.

1:27:20 - Going back to my Roots (Betty Botox Edit) - Richie Havens

An Optimo classic given a rework by Keith's other remixing alter ego, 'Betty Botox'. I love the Betty Botox stuff. Essentially taking crackers from across genres and shaping them up for the power of the danceloor.

1:29:43 - Weird Mantras - Iñigo Vontier

1:32:23 - Polyrythmic - Phil Kieran

Optimo Music Label releases again from hardcore OM stalwarts.

1:34:51 - Snakes Crawl (East Village Mix) - Bush Tetras

Yet another to the list of New York bands that I saw in the sweaty confines of the Sub Club. The Bush Tetras prowled and stomped the stage with menace that Sunday night. Punk rhythms that kept the crowd shuffling off the back of Keith's DJing.

1:37:41 - House Of God (JD Twitch remix) - Tony Morris

Take the off-kilter electro stylings and monolithic vocals of Tony Morris and get him to do a cover of DHS's 1990 classic. That was the genius of Keith: the unimaginable pairings he could make to fit perfectly.

1:41:08 - Contort Yourself (Optimo Mix) - Twitch

As Optimo classic as it gets.

1:43:21 - Can't Cheat Karma - Zounds

One of my favourite cuts from the 'Cease & Resist - Sonic Subversion & Anarcho Punk In The UK 1979-86' compilation, Keith released on the Optimo Music label. He was just as passionate about preserving brilliant underground music from the past as he was about promoting the next wave of alternative music.

1:45:55 - God Only Knows - The Langley Schools Music Project

I first heard The Langley Schools Music Project on the "How to Kill the DJ pt. 2" mix. I chose this one because God only knows where many of us would be without Keith's influence.

1:48:00 - Everybody's Gotta Live - Love

Last word to Keith on this track:

"There’s a song called ‘Everybody’s got to live’ by Arthur Lee, and it’s just him on an acoustic guitar. But this is the benefit of doing a weekly club. I remember the first time I played it, and everyone was just like… ‘What’s that?’. Cleared the dancefloor. Played it the next week, same thing happened. Played it the third week, and on the way out, I heard people sing; it was getting stuck in their heads. Fourth week, people were getting really into it. Fifth week people were asking for it. Sixth week, people were going mad for it.”

Here’s the excellent interview, from the Glasgow Clubbing Podcast, with Keith where I pulled some of the audio into the mix:

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