Darlings! This is not a regular feature here on Love Shack, Baby, but it is a favor to a very cool London blogger and person I admire so very much on these internet seas. Some of you might remember back in January, Ctel, otherwise known as ACID TED, put out a call for donations to his charities of choice, namely those who research and develop cures for brain tumors in children. This is quite a personal issue for Ctel, his story can be found here (I warn you, it will break your heart to read). And he’s coupled his commitment to the issue with his love of Techno and Rave music. This is the second time a well-known DJ has donated his skills. Please do consider helping out. You will receive an amazing gift in return: the knowledge that you are helping children and their families in real need as well as a very, very, cool and exclusive mixtape.

what follows is directly from Ctel’s blog

At the start of the year I had an exclusive mix for you. And now I have another. This time, bootleg legend Frenchbloke has prepared an exclusive 45 minute pop mix for ACID TED. This is not available in the shops or anywhere else. As last time, I am asking for something from you in return. If you have Soundhog’s mix, you need this one to complete your perfect virtual C90 mixtape.

For those of you who haven’t come across Frenchbloke (or Stuart McLean); his last.fm biog says simply “Frenchbloke, real name Stuart McLean, born Glasgow 1968, is among the bastard-pop class of 2001/2002.” That doesn’t really give you a sense of how important he is. Frenchbloke has been responsible for some of the best mixes I have heard, spanning early eighties indie to mid eighties pop to early nineties techno. And he was in under-rated Tauchseider. But around 2006 he dropped off the internet. No more posting to forums, no more website. So, I’m thrilled that he’s come back for this mix.

Frenchbloke decided it was going to be a proper pop mix. It is an astonishing mix of tracks. Not just the tracks themselves but they way that they have been chopped up and reassembled in Frenchbloke’s inimitable style. You really won’t find it anywhere else. And if you want to know how Frenchbloke made it you must look here. The mind of a bastard pop genius exposed and his grunbles about RATM’s drummer.

Frenchbloke Goes POP !
———————-
patrick cowley – do ya wanna funk?
yazoo – don’t go
mel and kim – respectable
rage against the machine – renegades of funk
the human league – love action
simple minds – themes from great cities
the cure – let’s go to bed
kiko – italomatic
craig david – fill me in
killing joke – love like blood
liberty x – a little bit more
propaganda – das testamentes des mabuse
front 242 – headhunter
erasure – who needs love like that?
animotion – obsession
a split second – flesh
richard x – rock jacket
duran duran – the sound of thunder
digital emotion – get up, action
the shamen – pro>gen
new order – blue monday
heaven 17 – temptation
the knife – pass this on
kraftwerk – computer liebe
lcd soundsystem – tribulations
fini tribe – de-testimony – collapsing edit
nine inch nails – only
tears for fears- pale shelter
vicious pink – c-c-can’t you see
velvettes – he was really sayin’ something
pigbag – papa’s got a brand new pigbag
meat beat manifesto – radio babylon – scissorkicks re-lick
man2man featuring man parrish – male stripper
the carpenters – calling occupants of interplanetary craft
pet shop boys – fugitive
no more – suicide commando
the residents – diskomo 2000
depeche mode – fragile tension
the aphex twin – onsteril / latex – ?
electric light orchestra – don’t bring me down
amadou & mariam – sabali
a guy called gerald – voodoo ray
daft punk – voyager
chic – good times
blancmange – blind vision
andreas dorau – im september
deutsches amerikanisches freundschaft – der sheriff
the future sound of london – papua new guinea
den haan – night shift
fad gadget – collapsing new people
ladytron – seventeen
mr oizo – flat beat
ami marie – spiel mit mir
jeans team & mj lan – keine melodien
kylie minogue – can’t get you out of my head
heaven 17 – penthouse and pavement
ween – friends
trio – da da da
soulwax – this is the excuse
annie – my love is better
bonus extra track

I’d like others to benefit from the time that Stuart has put in. In particular, to raise money for research on brain tumours in children. If you want a copy of the mix, there are a couple of ways to donate:

1. Use ACID TED’s donate button on the sidebar (via PayPal). And I will use your email details to send you the link.

2. Give directly to the Samantha Dickson Brain Tumour Trust (UK) by donating here or Children’s Brain Tumor Foundation (USA) here or to a children’s cancer charity in your own country. Once you have done so, you will get an emailed reply from them. Forward that email to me (see side bar) Forward ACID TED your email and I will send you a link to the mix.

Please donate. How much you donate is up to you (£5 = US$7 / EUR6). Brain tumours are the commonest solid tumours in children in the UK and USA. More children now die from a brain tumour than any other childhood cancer. If you need to know why these charities are so important, see my story here or little Thomas’ story here.

Finally, if any readers are bloggers themselves, could you please promote this mix on your sites. It’s in a good cause. Thank you.

And dear readers, have a listen to this little gem Let’s Go To Bed (Milk Mix) that I picked up off of The Vinyl Villain‘s wonderful blog. Thanks JC and welcome home! …. I’m off to bed to nurse this head/chest cold I picked up from going to too many gigs last week, xoxox