You've got to admire a mix that includes Battles, Belle Stars and The Bartman. Diplo does it for Pitchfolk.

Sounds good to me.

Someone has been through a lot of VHS to get this together. Wonderful.

Here comes the hot steppa.

The other week I spent an enjoyable Friday evening in the presence of one Brian Eno. That has to be one of the strangest names, doesn't it? Anyway Brian was in Liverpool as part of the Free Thinking Festival organized by BBC Radio 3.

It was actually the second time I've seen the guy talk in Liverpool, both times he opened by citing 'It's Gonna Rain' by Steve Reich as a major influence on his work. 'It's Gonna Rain' is a musical composition built from two short tape loops, and played at the same time on separate reel-to-reel tape machines. As time progresses the loops fall out of sync, producing an audio equivalent of the moiré effect.

Brian stated how it changed his whole out-look on how music could be made and from what materials. How something complex could be made from simple parts.

He went on to reference websites that have developed in a similar manner, forming something greater from a simple idea or from small amounts of input by many. There were the expected MySpace and Wikipedia references (Brain reckoned 'Wikipedia is more up-to-date on Eno than Eno is'), while he also mentioned MoveOn.org set up after the 9/11 tragedies, aimed at 'bringing real Americans back into the political process'.

Brian, famous for his 'long-and-slow' ambient music, went on to explain his involvement with the Long Now Foundation, (I wanna be in a foundation), formed to get people thinking long-term. Like 10,000 years long-term, as the project he mentioned was for a clock which would keep time for ten millennia.

He also talked about the re-release of his collaboration with David Byrne, 'My Life in the Bush of Ghosts'. Their influential album from 1981, built from preacher rants and hip-hop beats, before there were really hip hop beats at all. And the new website where the public get to re-mix tracks. One interesting bloke, and no mention of Bongo and the rest of the U2 boys!

Just returned from a week abusing pasties in Cornwall. Out in a town called Bude we stumbled across a hip-hop night in a small pub called The Carriers Inn. Hosted by DJ Samo & Future P the evening's entertainment was entitled 'No Sleep Till Bude'.

One of the most unlikely venues was rocking by 11.30. The highlight came at midnight when one of the guys (Future P?) started some rather good freestyling. Topics covered England's chances in the World Cup and Craig Charles' recent run-in with the Daily Mirror.

If your in Kernow get down the Carriers 'it's a toe curler'. Just keep away from the ginger lass with the leather jacket. She makes you stroke her.

Going through some stuff the other day I found a record I'd long forgotten about. 'The Shaggs' a compilation of work by the band of the same name.

The Shaggs are not only one of the best named bands ever, their also one of the bleedin' weirdest. Not in the forced 'we-are-weird' sense like, I don't know, The Flaming Lips but naturally strange and interesting.

Their story is best told by others like Gary Gold and Lester Bangs but in short they are three sisters from Fremont, New Hampshire who formed at the behest of their father. Dot, Betty and Helen Wiggin made an album called 'Philosophy of the World', although only a box of one hundred survived after their label owner did one with the rest.

This didn't stop it becoming a cult classic, and not only for the great sleeve showing the girls with their 'shaggy' hair and instruments. 'Philosophy of the World' sounds like imposters from another world attempting bubble-gum pop. It's off-kilter and peculiar. Charming and fun. It also a bit scary.

When I was at primary school they used to make us watch this creepy kids drama called The Boy From Space, about a distressed alien boy called Peep-Peep who was stuck on Earth. This ill looking mutha, was aided by two earth kids that gave him the name because of the way he tried to speak.

The reason Peep-Peep, or P to his friends, talked oddly was because he spoke backwards, after learning english off an in-side-out plastic bag! This is how the story went, don't dwell on it. We are talking late seventies kids tv.

Anyway something similar seems to be going on with The Shaggs. Yes its guitar, bass and drums. Yes its girls singing songs in harmony. But something fundamental is different in the sound they make. As if they're getting some of the 'rules' of rock/pop twisted.

Described both as 'the worst Rock and Roll band ever' and 'better than The Beatles'. They are well worth tracking down. Predictably perhaps, their story seems to be coming to the big screen.

For more on The Shaggs see their official site, My Pal Foot Foot - a fan site, and Wikipedia.

Best Shaggs:

• The Wheel
• Philosophy of the World
• Shagg's Own Thing (My favorite with their dad and brother on vocal duties).