Crate Diggin’: Mr. Scruff picks his favourite cosmic space records

Halloween is just around the corner, and for us that means an imminent cosmic trip into new realms beyond planet Earth. On Saturday night Andromeda54 lands in Farringdon for a special Halloween disco, with Mr. Scruff leading the charge alongside GE-OLOGY and more. We’re running things alongside Percolate with a special spacey theme for the night, and so to prepare us for the intergalactic trip ahead, Scruff sent over some of his favourite records in anticipation. For his list, he picked out a typically diverse selection reminiscent of his DJ sets, tied together with unknown galaxies in mind.

No UFO’s (D-Mix) – Model 500 [Metroplex]

Juan Atkins Detroit classic from 1985. Ultimate robotic machine funk genius. This tune was allegedly commissioned by Detroit County Council to deal with the scourge of spaceships disturbing residents in the mid-1980s.

Walking on the Moon – Reverend Jamel & Bob Johnson [Wagram Music]

Jamel and Bob have a chat over a fat funk backing. Their main query is why people are being sent to the moon when there are people starving on Earth. Fair comment, and a killer tune!

Light Years Away – Warp 9 [Prism]

Warp 9 were proud purveyors of ‘new wave funk’, and a few of their tunes were quite big on the electro scene here in the UK. This is one that I enjoyed as a youngster, and it has some lyrics about space.

Mr. U.F.O. – Wanda “Star” Williams [T.K. Disco]

A rather slinky, slippery disco tune concerning a delightful chap that Wanda has her beady eye on – with a slight space theme to the lyrics, of course.

Life on Mars – Dexter Wansel [Philadelphia International]

Jam On It – Newcleus [Sunnyview]

More space-themed electro with a slightly daft twist. Newcleus’ picture sleeves usually contained some kind of lizard or dragon alongside the band, in a space setting. The squeaky vocalist’s sister is called ‘Megatroit’, which is the most techno name ever. Mr. Scruff plays Percolate's Andromeda54 takeover on 27th October. Tickets available here.