A piece in Popbitch‘s mailout this week said the domination of the singles chart by downloads is facilitating a “huge resurgence of attempted chart fixing…by most of the labels, as it’s suddenly cheap and relatively easy to improve your act’s position by buying up downloads.” And while they are a gossip and innuendo kinda rag, they’re usually on the ball. Is it really that easy? I don’t pay a huge amount of attention to the singles charts, and they’re falling apart in Australia anyway, as Brazin stopped their stores (HMV, Sanity, Virgin) sending sales figures to ARIA for the weekly chart. Digital downloads have been included in the Billboard chart for three years now and the Australian downloads chart appeared earlier this year. But there’s no mention anywhere of manipulation, scams or rorting of the downloads charts. If you’ve heard about this, let me know.

From the Sleepy Jackson to Depeche Mode in not too many steps and that isn’t the half of it. Join The Dots happens every Thursday night from 9 until 11pm on FBI 94.5 in Sydney and surrounds (Blue Mountains, halfway to Goulburn and right up the coast).

End of Fashion – Love comes in
Sleepy Jackson – Acid in my heart
The Plastik Scene – Sun filled flotilla
Audio Cephlon – Here comes Mr Whippy
Luke Collison – Suk it
Andy Rantzen – Bass mechanic
Epoq – Simpel
Si-cut.db – Glad/e
Audio Cephlon – Wrapped in nori
Izu – Get UR fleece on
Bovaflux – Blind
The Village Orchestra – All the little lights going out
Fisk Industries – The azimuth of zero degrees
The Mandelbrot Set – And the rocket’s red glare
The Monochrome Set – Oh Angie
The Church – Under the milky way
The Sports – You’re a big girl now
Bob Dylan – Workingman’s blues #2
Loretta Lynn – Portland, Oregon (feat Jack White)
Nostalgia 77 – Seven nation army (feat Alice Russell)
Apathy – Personal Jesus
Depeche Mode – Walking in my shoes
Apathy – Me and my friends

This week it’s all about songs from Sleepy Jackson, Apathy and Luke Collison through to the Mandelbrot Set, the Sports and Depeche Mode. Thursday night from 9pm.

The following mix of music may do to fill your 45 minutes. I haven’t DJed much this year, but I’ve been getting loads of records, maybe more than at any other time and they’ve all gotta go somewhere. Although, I have to say, this mix is not so much about new stuff as about reevaluating some brilliant older tracks such as the first one from Japanese trumpeter Toshinori Kondo. In fact, the only new ones are from new CDs by TV On The Radio and Scritti Politti and a demo CD from Sydney producer Milkrun – all three CDs mixed in to the set using my extremely high tech Teac CD player.

I’m now co-editor of Cyclic Defrost, which is really exciting as I’ve been a big fan of the magazine and the other writers on the team for a long time.

This week my show splashed about in the soul, from hip hop to moody singer songwriter business.

Combat Wombat – Corruption Dub (Chasm Corruption Bounce remix feat The Tongue)
The Tongue – Don’t You Ever (feat Bertie Blackman)
Jack Prest, The Tongue, Ozi Batla – Flex The Joint
Good Buddha – Party Reserve (Tipper remix)
Jack Prest – Resolution feat The Tongue
Madlib – Mystic Bounce
Madvillain – Meatgrinder (Fourtet remix)
Oh No and Madlib – My Aggin (Instrumental)
Georgia Anne Muldrow – Nothingness
DJ Rells – Song for my lady
Georgia Anne Muldrow – Speakervision
Ernie and the Top Notes – Things Could Be Better
Oh No – Smile a lil bit (feat Posdnous from De La Soul)
J Dilla – So far to go (feat Common and D’Angelo)
Lootpack – On Point
Aloe Blacc – Nascimento (Birth) Scene II
Roy Ayers – Liquid Love (Aloe Blacc Latin remix)
Aloe Blacc – Shine Through (Live 7/7/06)
Steve Spacek – Dolla
50 Cent feat Mobb Deep – Have a Party (DJ Ayres remix)
Emanon – Pseudo
Superwolf – Ignition
Aloe Blacc – Ordinary People
Some Freak – E
Rebel MP – Axle Grease

This week’s show is all about soulful beats from Carl Craig, Aloe Blacc, Sa-Ra Creative Partners and the Tongue.

Post punk out of Sydney in the early ’80s was better than you’d realise if you’re just reading the standard music press. No Night Sweats has obscure but great mp3s pouring out of its html.

Me on Ollo’s new album, which drops on Groovescooter in early October.

For some reason I didn’t mention the first single of the album in my review, but it’s great and you can have a look at it here or if you’re in Sydney or London go and buy it from So Records in Newtown or Rough Trade.

Well, according to Martin Clark, at any rate.

It’s no thing to me over here so far away from those east London trends, considering funky house is basically the standard here in Sydney. But several years later and dubstep is starting to gain ground in Sydney, as Seb Chan said in his review of the new-old Tempa compilation (which will hopefully go some distance to reigniting the brilliance of these records here in Australia). With people like Eli and Scott (about to be relaunched) pushing the sound here in Sydney and Frosty in Brisbane, people are getting their heads around the rhythms…reminds me of the first hit of drum’n'bass here, without the hugeness of rave culture to shift it into full focus. Still, it’s awesome to hear these tracks again – such an insanely interesting musical movement.

I want to go to FWD>>, I’ve been telling all my friends heading to London to go to Plastic People for ages now, but none have. Though Lorna, who does the show after me on FBI, went a few weeks ago and said it was pretty much the best club in existence.