I scored a last minute ticket to Golden Plains in March and drove up to the festival on the Sunday, staying for just one night. An acid trip went a little haywire and I ended up cocooned in the back of my car, parked close to the rear of the amphitheatre. I couldn’t see the stage but I had the boot open and the sound was incredible, and as Crazy P’s core producers and DJs, James Baron (aka Jim aka Ron Basejam) and Chris Todd (aka Hot Toddy) took to the decks, my teary existential crisis slowly dissolved until I found myself pumping my fist in the air, helplessly elated. Everything was going to be ok.
The set, to me, played like a tribute to the late, luminous frontwoman Danielle Moore, and a celebration of life. The duo formed their electronic group in Nottingham in 1996 — thirty years ago. The Australian tour in March was their first time in the country since Moore tragically took her own life in September 2024. In a statement from Moore’s family following the coroner’s inquest, her husband James Ensell wrote, “if any good can come from her death, perhaps it will be increased awareness and understanding of the impact that the perimenopause can have on women’s mental health.”
A few days after their Golden Plains set I chatted with Jim and Toddy in Melbourne about hope, creativity, longevity, carrying on in the face of tragedy and the importance of music in dark times. It was an honour to speak with them, both lovely, generous people and two of my favourite producers.
Unlocked until Monday, link in stories and bio.
@crazypmusic@ronbasejam@hottoddymusic
Ron Basejam is, of course, a project from Crazy P co-founder James Baron where he focuses on deep and heavy house. He lands on Leeds label 20/20 Vision here with ‘Maynard’, which is a trudging rhythm brought to life with bluesy vocals and big horns.
Snippets are A1 “Maynard” which is Premiered today @youtube@soundcloud@maslowunknown@ronbasejam@ralph2020vision
#deephouse #newmusic #premiere
Ron returns! New 12” available now on @2020vision_recordings . Proper VFM with Ron, something for every dance floor and/or state of inebriation. Check it x
We are doing our 1st ever VC party at the same venue that my favourite Dave Clarke story occurred… a good excuse to tell it I reckon.
‘Come with me now…’
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Tickets on Dice, link in the bio…
see you down there.
Friday sees the release of @e.r.thorpe ‘s album ‘Human Love’. It’s my first foray into production for a full album project. I was Entrusted by Emma and @theviciouscharm to shape the record and they gave me free rein to experiment and go out of the box (on occasion). im very proud of how it turned out. Thanks guys. Emma’s songwriting stands out. Personality and character which is unique and It was such a pleasure to try and help her tell these stories. Big up @huwcostin who helped invaluably in the early stages. Such a lot of the vibe on this record comes from him and the early work he did with Emma. A huge thank you to the rest of the band @simon__paterson on bass, Kev Bales and @matt_klose_ on drums who all brought their A+ game and added so much to proceedings. Anyway, enough gush! We’re having a listening party tonight on Emma’s Bandcamp at 6pm uk if you can’t join us the album will be available on Friday from the usual outlets, please have a listen if you can xx
One of my most enjoyable musical endeavours is playing with this group of superb humans and musicians @torn_sail we’ve got a couple of gigs coming up and I’d urge you come listen and enjoy song writing and performance in its most visceral and and affecting form. Thursday in Nottingham, Saturday in Nantwich. You Also get the added bonus of @e.r.thorpe performing songs from her amazing debut album ‘Human Love’ ❤️
Vicious Charm are delighted to announce our first ever party on 10th April at the excellent A L P H A B E T In Brighton.
Jim, Mystery Tiime and Damian Harris will be playing - three DJ’s with split musical personalities - and the plan is to let them all express those personalities throughout the night. Each doing a set at the beginning, middle and end of the night. It’s gonna be fluid, so come early…
Jim aka Ron Basejam aka Jim Baron of Crazy P will be playing a JIM set early on, folky Balearic yacht rock type sounds that inspired his critically acclaimed album Love Makes Magic.
Later in the evening he will be shifting up a gear to the clubbier underground disco house vibes of his Ron Basejam / Crazy P persona.
Aymen Rostom aka Mystery Tiime aka The Maghreban will be starting off with dubby post punk strangeness in a similar vein to his, also critically acclaimed, debut LP ‘Maudlin Tales of Grief & Love’ then move on to the housey and ravier sounds he releases as The Maghreban…
Label boss Damian Harris will kick off with some Generalisation dubbiness, move on to worthy disco, a bit of Italo and bang it if the mood requires.
Tickets on Dice in the linktree
As well as producing the new album @e.r.thorpe album, our Jim has remixed Disarray under his @ronbasejam guise…
It’s a belter… we chose this bit of the track as it’s the calm before the storm of bass… wasn’t sure if your phones could handle it.
BOOM!
Big thanks to Svengali of the underground and all round lovely man @lukeunabomber for dropping a track from my forthcoming @2020vision_recordings ep on his @worldwide.fm show last week. Hallowed company indeed. The whole show is top draw so if you missed it listen again! x
