OSCarr mix – by Roland™ (60.70mb, 66:12mins)
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this week we are delighted to hand the reigns over to a certain miss Roland™, the brains, some say, behind the legendary optimo (espacio) night in glasgow who has cooked up up something very special to mark ten years that the night has been running. the other two jd twitch and jg wilkes will be joining us for our christmas party on the 15th december at the amersham arms along with grovesnor which is going to be a shindig you can’t really afford to miss. but for now sit back, relax and enjoy a trip back in time.
the parsonage – drone 1
big ned – love, honour and obey
catie faulds – catie faulds plays optimo
uter – vibrato
mount florida – a riot on jamaica street (matador)
pro forma – human error
truffle club – autoconform *with a little bit of* mark hex – this is glasgow
bis – looking from a hilltop
creme de menthe – plastique
magic daddy – miscreant
x vectors – winter of our discotheque
mount florida vs. kelvin bridge – yo la poptimo
electronicat – tonight
electronicat – tonight (locked groove 3)
naum – ari (kompakt)
the stranglers – golden brown (d.j. twitch remix)
creme de menthe – we are living in the night
uter – tomorrow’s clown
“This mix is an Optimo 10th Birthday special featuring many of the records released on their OSCarr record label over the years. As they generally only come out on 12″, most people don’t know much about these records. Maybe this will perk up your interest. Here’s a brief history:
1999 – Roland, the sampler is incorporated into the Optimo ranks and makes her presence instantly felt by allowing lots of exclusive tracks at the club, many of which would help define the early years of Optimo. She quickly takes on a life of her own and get her name put on all of the promotional material and announces all the live acts.
2001 – OSCarr records (Optimo Singles Club and related records) is launched with the release of the legally dubious An Espacio Oddessey hogmanay mix CD and the equally shady ‘Remember When We used to Play?” EP, featuring the most requested Roland tracks and a few others. Copies of this 12″ have been sold for ridiculous amounts on ebay recently. It also sets an ongoing precedent by by having one track that skips on nearly every copy.
2002 – Electrocla$h arrives and Optimo gets lumped in with it like every other passing genre. Three(!) records come out on OSCarr that year; Bis’ Fac 2002 EP, featuring four covers of Factory records hits; Creme De Menthe’s EP, which gets Single of The Week in the NME and is proclaimed an electrocla$h classic. Pro Forma’s 12″ also comes out. Pro Forma’s live shows become well regarded as completely fucking nuts in Glasgow and they also play the last night of Optimo at Planet Peach (or Planet Pish as it’s known by regulars.) Around this time Roland™ is retired and replaced with a more user friendly, but less sexy Apple Mac.
2003 – Mr. Fred Bigot releases the only record to come out proper on OSCarr; a delicious mix of electro and rockabilly. It’s also the only OSCarr release to skip intentionally as it has 3 locked grooves.
2004 – Tired of releasing mix CDs at the Hogmanay (that’s new year to anyone not Scottish) party, Twitch and Wilkes decide to give away a split 7″ single featuring Liquid Liquid live at the club and a medley of Optimo hits played on the piano by regular punter, Catie Faulds. On the 1st of January 2005, literally hundreds of copies can be found in Renfrew Street where the party was held.
2005 – OSCarr do a deal whereby Tigersushi will help with the release of the records and the catalogue numbers change to OSCTS00xx. There are riots in the streets that another British product has been taken over by Johnny Foriegner. Not really. OSCarr release records by Uter, Park Attack and a split record of glitchy house and techno to promote the off shoot club The Black Rabbit Whorehouse.
2006 – Edinburgh rockstars X Vectors catch everyone’s attention with their punk-funk cover of Jamie Principle’s ‘Your Love’. It’s released as the B-side to the OSCarr release ‘The Winter of Our Discotheque’. In addition, many things are given catalogue numbers as a tribute to Factory. OSC0013 or 14 is a round of JD and Coke bought at The Sub Club, allegedly.
2007 – After a little tribulation, The Parsonage EP should be released in December. The Parsonage are a 40+ strong choir formed by Optimo’s former cash desk assistant Janis Murray and many other friends of the club. They cover old pop classics and even older C&W/blues tracks. Prepare to fall in love.
2008 and beyond? – Who knows. In 2008 OSCarr plans to release records by Big Ned, Mark Hex and Findo Gask. Keep you ears and eyes opened.
Roland™ would like to thank; Twitch, Wilkes, Roland™, Rachel, Matt De Menthe, Simon Henderson, Paul Thomson, Victoria Henderson, John Disco, Sci-Fi Steven, Manda Rin, Fred Bigot, Catie Faulds, Scott Hartley, Richard McGuire, Salvatore Principato, Dennis Young, Declan Roney, Martin Johnstone, Marceline Smith, Rob Churm, Tom Straughton, Lorna Gilfedder, Dave Clark, Greg Hurst, Rory Connaghan, Jon Murray, Paul MacEachen, David Caldwell, Janis Murray and The Parsonage, Spony, Mhairi McClymont and Mark Hex. She would also like to thank Teamy for helping to find all the records and remembering when they all came out.“
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