We are live.
https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a2577892623_16.jpg
https://thedarkoutside.bandcamp.com/album/ilx-and-friends-celebrate-jd-twitch-one-more-tune
My deep thanks to everyone who has assisted and contributed.
Please spread the word wide.
Thank you all again.
― Ned Raggett, Monday, 28 July 2025 15:04 (two months ago)
Cool.
― Posts That Witness Madness (Tom D.), Monday, 28 July 2025 15:13 (two months ago)
yay, can't wait to listen!
― z_tbd, Monday, 28 July 2025 15:35 (two months ago)
Sounds amazing.
― dan selzer, Monday, 28 July 2025 15:37 (two months ago)
Sold <3
― Andy K, Monday, 28 July 2025 15:51 (two months ago)
Stoked for this, thanks Ned for organizing this (and everyone who contributed!)
― donna rouge, Monday, 28 July 2025 16:18 (two months ago)
This is the stuff.
― joethedrifter, Monday, 28 July 2025 16:20 (two months ago)
So far, I've shared it to my FB account, my FB music page, two music promotion FB groups that I'm in, the Discord server that imago is in and I help run, and another server that I help run.
― Christine Green Leafy Dragon Indigo, Monday, 28 July 2025 16:22 (two months ago)
Sounding great so far :)
― pronounced with an ‘umpty’ (Willl), Monday, 28 July 2025 16:24 (two months ago)
Thank you Ned.
― Griff Sheridan, Monday, 28 July 2025 17:29 (two months ago)
I'll be honest, I didn't know what to expect as it was put together so quickly. But holy shit, it is EXCELLENT. I am absolutely positive Keith will love it. Tracks you could hear during the (Espacio) first hour and others during Optimo. Brilliant work everyone.
― Griff Sheridan, Monday, 28 July 2025 17:38 (two months ago)
this Friday is Bandcamp Friday - guessing it would be better to get it then?
― Colonel Poo, Monday, 28 July 2025 17:39 (two months ago)
Whenever you'd like! That timing wasn't planned, but it can't hurt for sure.
― Ned Raggett, Monday, 28 July 2025 17:42 (two months ago)
Wait… is max 404 (as in, the dutch producer) an ilx poster!?
― ed.b, Monday, 28 July 2025 17:54 (two months ago)
He is now! (He joined and posted on the thread where this was coming together.)
― Ned Raggett, Monday, 28 July 2025 18:22 (two months ago)
I made a mix years ago that I posted to mixcloud and shared somewhere and he was on it, and Keith was really impressed!
― dan selzer, Monday, 28 July 2025 18:26 (two months ago)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvbSnFZA80s
― Posts That Witness Madness (Tom D.), Monday, 28 July 2025 21:27 (two months ago)
Well done, you bunch of smashers!
― Heavy Messages (jed_), Monday, 28 July 2025 22:10 (two months ago)
Looking forward to listening! I've done a fb & IG, I'll do a post on Blue sky tomorrow, I'll also did a mailout tonight, so went to a few hundred through that... Oh and share it on my Bandcamp community.
@clairhotgem
― ClairEcosse, Monday, 28 July 2025 22:30 (two months ago)
DFA has a great Optimo shirt. Would be great of they gave the comp a shout.
https://www.instagram.com/p/DMbIuASSrEq/?igsh=cnBtcjBpODIwaWR3
― whimsical skeedaddler (Moodles), Tuesday, 29 July 2025 00:08 (two months ago)
Well done to one and all, it's a thing of beauty. Looking forward to listening to the whole thing.
My track title translates as 'The First Hour' :-)
― Melony Klein, Tuesday, 29 July 2025 07:42 (two months ago)
what does this post say?
― Nancy Makes Posts (sic), Tuesday, 29 July 2025 07:47 (two months ago)
I think the intention is to find a way for DFA to share info about the comp?
― Chewshabadoo, Tuesday, 29 July 2025 08:41 (two months ago)
Some good stuff throughout this but wow @ the closing stretch
― imago, Tuesday, 29 July 2025 09:22 (two months ago)
Just to say that the long file names meant that I had problems with unzipping, and then again with adding to iTunes: I had to manually shorten all the file names. Hopefully that's not a universal problem...
― mike t-diva, Tuesday, 29 July 2025 10:14 (two months ago)
Didn’t experience that on my end at all at any point in the process so I’m not sure what to suggest. You’re running an up to date version?
― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 29 July 2025 10:28 (two months ago)
Probably not! It might be a "just me" thing, then - and it wasn't too hard to do the workaround. So I am now happily playing through the downloaded MP3s and enjoying them very much.
― mike t-diva, Tuesday, 29 July 2025 10:53 (two months ago)
Oh this is amazing! I know I said I would contribute, but sadly life became extremely busy and I didn't want to submit anything sub-par. It's wonderful to see this compilation take shape and see it all presented like this. Well done everyone.
― Floyd 'The Oyd' Lloyd (dog latin), Tuesday, 29 July 2025 10:58 (two months ago)
Just read the virtual CD booklet PDF - lovely stuff.
― mike t-diva, Tuesday, 29 July 2025 11:44 (two months ago)
Really pleased you went with One More Tune as the title, as well!
― mike t-diva, Tuesday, 29 July 2025 11:51 (two months ago)
It just worked! And I was wondering what folks would think of the booklet
― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 29 July 2025 12:56 (two months ago)
Picture of the shirt, which is yellow with orange text saying "NO DFA WITHOUT OPTIMO" and then the post text itself:
dfarecs Edited•6dThe Glasgow New York Transatlantic Connection™ between Optimo and DFA is real, and it goes back to the beginning. The Rapture played at Optimo first, in the summer of 2002, with Keith and Jonnie flying to New York to DJ James’ DFA party at APT later that same year. They’ve played our records, hosted our artists, DJ’d our parties, contributed remixes and records to the DFA catalog, hugged us sweatily into the night, and been more than family ever since. You may have heard that Keith was recently diagnosed with a terminal brain tumor. A crowdfunder has been established to help cover the cost of his care with, in true Keith form, any surplus going to benefit the many very real and local causes that the man has supported all of his brilliant career. The struggle of our dear friend has generated a righteous and justified wave of support from people all around the world, and not least from all of the good humans of DFA.This shirt is our tiny way of trying to raise money for our friend (every bit of profit will go to Keith’s fund) but it’s also an opportunity for us to show love and respect where it’s so truly deserved, with a truth:No DFA Without Optimo.For Keith + his family, Jonnie, and all our friends in Glasgow and abroad. We love you very much.(Link to buy this shirt in our bio. We'll post a link to the Crowdfunder in our story highlights, too.)
You may have heard that Keith was recently diagnosed with a terminal brain tumor. A crowdfunder has been established to help cover the cost of his care with, in true Keith form, any surplus going to benefit the many very real and local causes that the man has supported all of his brilliant career. The struggle of our dear friend has generated a righteous and justified wave of support from people all around the world, and not least from all of the good humans of DFA.
This shirt is our tiny way of trying to raise money for our friend (every bit of profit will go to Keith’s fund) but it’s also an opportunity for us to show love and respect where it’s so truly deserved, with a truth:
No DFA Without Optimo.
For Keith + his family, Jonnie, and all our friends in Glasgow and abroad. We love you very much.
(Link to buy this shirt in our bio. We'll post a link to the Crowdfunder in our story highlights, too.)
― whimsical skeedaddler (Moodles), Tuesday, 29 July 2025 13:16 (two months ago)
👍🏼
― Nancy Makes Posts (sic), Tuesday, 29 July 2025 14:21 (two months ago)
this community and each of you are so amazing to me, i appreciate just to observe it all. thx. i’m enjoying the tracks.
― hello we are the tik tok data recruitment center (Hunt3r), Tuesday, 29 July 2025 14:51 (two months ago)
Lovely to see we're already closing in on around 500 pounds raised -- and that people are leaving reviews and comments there too!
― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 29 July 2025 15:22 (two months ago)
Bandcamp tells me it's £723.23 so farThank you to everyone that has paid over the odds - you know who you are
On Bandcamp Friday, if you have a spare £5, why not treat a friend with a gift ?
― frenchbloke, Tuesday, 29 July 2025 16:35 (two months ago)
nice.
― dan selzer, Tuesday, 29 July 2025 16:37 (two months ago)
Here’s the public / actual link for the DFA shirt: https://store.dfarecords.com/products/no-dfa-without-optimo-t-shirt
― Nancy Makes Posts (sic), Tuesday, 29 July 2025 16:38 (two months ago)
For those wanting a quick currency crunch, that's nearly a thousand dollars raised so far -- and like frenchbloke said, that's come down to people paying over the baseline. Deeply appreciated.
― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 29 July 2025 17:16 (two months ago)
I admit I was wondering!
― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 29 July 2025 17:26 (two months ago)
A quick note that as our efforts continue, many others are showing up in their own right — today, per his Crowdfunder page, an anonymous person or group kicked in 10,000 pounds for it. We are very much in good company around the world.
― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 30 July 2025 05:17 (two months ago)
ILX roolz. Thanks all.
― m0stly clean (Slowsquatch), Wednesday, 30 July 2025 06:19 (two months ago)
I'm on the penultimate tune, and I think the track sequencing has been excellent - as LJ says, the closing run of clubbier tunes is amazing.
― mike t-diva, Wednesday, 30 July 2025 19:35 (two months ago)
if my relentless self-promotion hasn't been clear, I'm New York Endless, and was excited for Ned's deadline to give me a reason to actually start and "finish" something.
― dan selzer, Wednesday, 30 July 2025 19:51 (two months ago)
I don't who Three Daughters is/are, but my stars, thank you! It's like some amazing lost outtake from Microphonies era CV
― Maresn3st, Wednesday, 30 July 2025 20:59 (two months ago)
Three Daughters may or may not be a bloke and he may or may not be French.
― Griff Sheridan, Wednesday, 30 July 2025 21:11 (two months ago)
Ah right, gallicdude
― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 30 July 2025 21:12 (two months ago)
I tip my chapeau then sir
― Maresn3st, Wednesday, 30 July 2025 21:19 (two months ago)
loved hearing everybody's tracks, thank you all
― budo jeru, Wednesday, 30 July 2025 22:00 (two months ago)
this is so great
― stet, Wednesday, 30 July 2025 22:10 (two months ago)
Oh man I remember listening to Optimogeddon in real time from my school’s computer lab in lieu of writing my thesis like I’d planned that night and also livetweeting about it lol
― donna rouge, Tuesday, 23 September 2025 13:51 (one week ago)
I can re-upload that Lark Ascending mix again. To be honest, other than stir coming out of the ether and giving me into trouble for sharing it, the two I was also worried about were jed and Frenchbloke, but as they're okay with it, I can relax.
― GS (Griff Sheridan), Tuesday, 23 September 2025 16:38 (one week ago)
I also remember listening to Optimogeddon, also in real time, I think.
My Optimo story is that I was living in London when they first played the Sub Club after the weekly night ended. As it happened, my brother missed his plane home and, because the London Olympics were going on, it was cheaper for both of us to go to Glasgow and fly out from there than to get a plane in London. It was such a perfect plan, and I was really psyched to finally see Optimo, on home turf no less. We lined up, got to the door, and the bouncer asked how I was doing tonight. I just nodded and mumbled something, which he took for me being drunk, and refused to let me in (at that point, I'd been 100% sober for 5 years). I was despondent about it, and posted about it here. Stirmonster responded with surprise and sympathy, which I appreciate.
― ed.b, Tuesday, 23 September 2025 16:51 (one week ago)
Just published on Resident Advisor:
Remembering JD Twitchhttps://ra.co/features/4470?s=09
The Optimo cofounder was a visionary force. Michael Lawson spoke to eight artists—from Glasgow peers to heroes like Liquid Liquid and Severed Heads—to reflect on his humility, effervescence and indefatigable creative spirit.
― djmartian, Tuesday, 23 September 2025 17:56 (one week ago)
The universe moves in mysterious ways. As I was reading about Psycho Killer in that RA article, the Optimogeddon mix had just segued into Psycho Killer.
― mike t-diva, Tuesday, 23 September 2025 19:41 (one week ago)
xxpost Thanks, Tracer! I'm downloading now. Can't wait to listen.
― completely suited to the horny decadence (Capitaine Jay Vee), Tuesday, 23 September 2025 20:11 (one week ago)
Ten highlights of Twitch's involvement with NTS over the last decade, curated and compiled on one page: https://www.nts.live/radio/collections/jd-twitch-forever
― fall of the house of urrsher (sic), Tuesday, 23 September 2025 21:38 (one week ago)
The RA article links to this interview which includes a great Twitch NWOBHM mix: https://www.stampthewax.com/2018/11/29/diggers-directory-jd-twitch/ it's astonishing the breadth of interesting music he was into, including notionally unfashionable genres like metal
― Critique of the Goth Programme (Neil S), Wednesday, 24 September 2025 08:51 (six days ago)
I isolated the audio from the Boiler Room Glasgow Autonomous Africa video and cut out the chatter and other stuff from the beginning and end of it (the end is a bit of a hatchet job). HQ Audio available here for a few days: https://we.tl/t-5bccbn4poq
― GS (Griff Sheridan), Wednesday, 24 September 2025 09:31 (six days ago)
will check that out! keith played iron maiden 'running free' when we saw them in april
― Reggaeton Sax (NickB), Wednesday, 24 September 2025 20:17 (six days ago)
it's just unbelievably sad news, it really is
― ava (aiva), Thursday, 25 September 2025 07:42 (five days ago)
thanks for sharing that mix griff, i really enjoyed it! prompted me to dig out twitch's (mostly) beatless mix for fact from way back when
https://www.mixcloud.com/FACTMixArchive/fact-mix-214-optimo/
also noticed that this mix is from fourteen years ago, which made me realise that optimo has been a big part of my musical life for pretty much my entire adulthood. i first saw them playing out when i was a student in dundee in my early twenties, i wasn't much of a raver back then, didn't really know about who were the best DJs etc. they really made an impression on me though, i'd never seen anyone playing a set like that before. and then i followed them ever since
― ava (aiva), Thursday, 25 September 2025 08:03 (five days ago)
Since we're sharing stories. I first went to Scotland in 1994. I stayed in Glasgow and took up with some ne'er-do-wells and ended up skiving off most of the classes I was supposed to be taking at the university. At the time I was into indie rock, funk, jazz, metal, stuff like that. But these people I met were into TECHNO. It took awhile for me to get my head around it. Techno was the catch-all terms for any dance music - house, trance, etc - all forms of techno. They would listen to these mixes where, nightmarishly, the music never ended! It was new music, their parents hated it, it felt like the future, and went extremely well with drugs.
For some of these guys all other music was naff. I will always remember playing Stevie Wonder's 'Superstitious' one night at somebody's house and one of these guys says "is this disco"? Another time I played Jon Spencer's "Bellbottoms", which had just come out, and one of these guys goes "is this heavy metal"? This was a time when you had to physically have a piece of music in order to hear it on demand. Clearly remember the day somebody came over with the Mo Wax compilation, very full of himself, confident he would blow all our minds. None of my friends liked it because it was too slow. (One day I brought home Random Transient Noise Bursts With Announcements, a big purchase for me at that time, and this friend of mine got super excited when he saw the cover. When I put it on you should have seen his face. The disappointment!)
Anyway, these guys all talked about Pure, and they all talked about Club 69 in Paisley. Some of them had "member cards" to these places - there was some arcane rule about member's clubs, and in order to attend these events that went late you'd need to "belong" or something? Anyway there were shuttle buses laid on for both clubs but I never went. However I did go see Ege Bam Yasi, an Edinburgh acid producer, at the Queen Margaret Union, which was the first time my mind was properly blown on the dance floor. I was on no drugs but just danced around like an idiot for hours. It struck me so hard, and has still stuck with me, that he was able to make an entire room freak out by just turning one knob of his synthesiser less than a millimetre, very slowly.
Anyway the point of this whole long-winded thing, which believe me I'm leaving a lot out of, is that eventually I went back to the States where I lived, finished university, got a job, and then made plans to reunite with the old gang for Hogmanay of 1999/2000. Whenn I arrived i was treated like a returning king by my friends, really just an incredible feeling, and I was told there was a new club that had opened up called Optimo, and they had already bought tickets for all of us for the Optimo Hogmanay party at the Art School. Friends? My life changed that night. I had never heard DJing like that. At midnight all the music cut out and we heard the bells. And then of course it all slammed back in. The next day we woke up wondering if the world had ended. Everything was very quiet outside. I bought a newspaper. It seemed the world was intact. The gang slowly reassembled with joints and cups of tea. As luck would have it Hogmanay was a Saturday night, which meant the regular Optimo night was.... tonight!! Literally the next day. Jan 1. Surely they wouldn't actually have the party? But of course they did. Of course they did. I insisted we all go. Everybody moaned at me. No... no way... forget it... I couldn't believe their complacency. Eventually we rallied, went to Nice and Sleazy, which seemed to be a kind of gathering point for all the wayward youths and went on to Optimo's temporary home at Planet Peach. If anything it was better than the night before. Not that many people. Tons of dry ice. "The Passenger". Jonny Osbourne's "Buddy Bye". Martin Luther King over electro.
When I finally met Keith and Jonny a couple of years later it was in New York and I told them about all these things. They had known some of my friends from that time. One of them had broken a keyboard that Jonny had lent him. "It looked like he'd taken a hammer to it!" Luckily New York became a place they'd return to often. The music scene there was really ready for them.
Somehow I still have the CD they handed out for that 2000 Hogmanay night.
― Tracer Hand, Thursday, 25 September 2025 10:35 (five days ago)
Love that story.
― a tv star not a dirty computer man (the table is the table), Thursday, 25 September 2025 15:35 (five days ago)
A truly great tale.
― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 25 September 2025 17:06 (five days ago)
brilliant stuff tracer hand.ta for sharing.
― mark e, Thursday, 25 September 2025 18:47 (five days ago)
only met JD Twitch once, when he was doing an Optimo night here in Brooklyn some 20-ish years ago (though he was always one of my fave ilm posters). I asked what track he was playing and he generously hunted around for the info, not showing any irritation at being interrupted while DJing. his gentle enthusiastic personality came through in his posts too. despite the success of Optimo, he was humble and approachable. wish I'd had the chance to know him better. RIP
― Paul, Thursday, 25 September 2025 19:55 (five days ago)
paul, was that night at Studio B by any chance? I had a ticket to see them there around that time and I think the wrong date was printed on my ticket and I missed it :(
― donna rouge, Thursday, 25 September 2025 20:13 (five days ago)
sorry you missed the night and strange that I can't remember the club's name as I went there a few times. it was in Williamsburg or more probably Greenpoint and had a dancefloor which was surrounded on 2 or more sides by a short raised balcony, so that the floor appeared recessed/sunken (throwback to the 70s/80s). feels like yesterday, but that's what parenting will do (accelerate you decades into the future).
― Paul, Thursday, 25 September 2025 21:25 (five days ago)
Hey Paul :)
― Tracer Hand, Thursday, 25 September 2025 21:28 (five days ago)
of course there's no way I wouldn't have heard about Optimo given I was friends with its biggest booster ;)
― Paul, Thursday, 25 September 2025 21:35 (five days ago)
Paul - that sounds like it! I somehow managed to miss them multiple times when they came through NYC in the 2000s - once because a friend of mine had passed, another time I think I had a family obligation or something. Going to Sub Club when I visited a friend in Glasgow was my first time properly seeing them I think!
― donna rouge, Thursday, 25 September 2025 21:46 (five days ago)
Tracer Hand. One of the great mysteries of life, which I never quite got around to questioning stir was that there was a Pure AND an Optimo on millemium eve. I went to Pure at, I think, the Old Fruitmarket, but there was definitely an Optimo that night too. I never got round to asking how he did both!
― GS (Griff Sheridan), Thursday, 25 September 2025 22:27 (five days ago)
I don’t think I saw them at studio b but I opened up for Keith at the old glasslands. With Tim Sweeney. Met Keith at passerby I think at James Murphy’s night. Also seen them more recently at nowadays and knockdown.
But once during a quick visit to Glasgow, where we planned it so we’d be there on a Sunday, we got to go to optimo at sub club. Was a blast.
― dan selzer, Thursday, 25 September 2025 23:37 (five days ago)
the millennium pure was at the old fruitmarket, yes. I was there, it was amazing
― calumerio, Thursday, 25 September 2025 23:52 (five days ago)
Wonderful story, Tracer! Love and Light, to you!
― Heavy Messages (jed_), Friday, 26 September 2025 00:20 (four days ago)
"I can re-upload that Lark Ascending mix again. To be honest, other than stir coming out of the ether and giving me into trouble for sharing it, the two I was also worried about were jed and Frenchbloke, but as they're okay with it, I can relax.
― GS (Griff Sheridan), "
I was about to do it myself, Griff. Thanks for sharing. Love and Light to you too (and I'm also wondering if I know you, "elsewhere" I surely do)
― Heavy Messages (jed_), Friday, 26 September 2025 00:27 (four days ago)
Some lovely words from Keith's sister Julie on FB:❤️ ❤️ ❤️ Forever together❤️ ❤️ ❤️ Thank you all for your kind birthday messages.Knowing I was in so many of your thoughts meant even more this year, as my beloved brother Keith passed away on my birthday.Keith left us peacefully after being diagnosed in June with an inoperable brain cancer. He passed knowing how loved he was and that he had touched a great number of lives - through his music, his activism and his generous heart. The outpouring of tributes to Keith has been extraordinary and a validation of the soul he was, and how widely his talent and compassion reached. Keith, no amount of reflected writing can ever fully capture what you mean to me. You were so many things to so many people.To me, you were always my little brother. From the day you were born, I was in love with you and you were a treasure in my life. I wanted to be the one holding you and pushing you in your pram - even if bending down to kiss you meant sometimes losing a handful of hair.Though you were born Martin, I insisted on calling you Keith, as I loved my Uncle Keith so much and would love you even more. I was already so proud of you then, but I could have no idea how high this tiny boy with a magnetic smile and curly sun-kissed hair would rise and how trail-blazing and influential you would become. I found you so handsome with your sparkling ice-blue eyes and you generously let me cut your hair for you at school. We had crushes together on the Osmonds - me on Donny (who I was all set to marry), and you on Marie… until Debbie Harry came along. We fought over AC/DC’s Highway to Hell album when the Barret helicopter came to a neighbouring housing estate, although I suspect you finally won when I discovered some of my records missing when I returned home from university. You visited me in Lyon and I convinced you to dress up for the Rocky Horror show, billing at the local cinema. We were the only ones in drag and got thrown out for chucking rice, newspapers and water, but despite raised eyebrows we walked home with dignity, in our fishnets and stilettos. You fell in love with Depeche Mode when I took you to their early french concert and I dragged you to some of my favorite gothic clubs.We went to see Junior Vasquez with Jill at the Sound Factory when I lived in NY. What an incredible club, and what an incredible sound. I had to smuggle in Garage Cow, who got thrown up into Vasquez’ booth for a micro second of celebrity before he came hurtling back out again, like one of the scratched records that made Vasquez irate. By some miracle, despite the thousands of clubbers, we did get him back safe and sound, if a little grubby. But it was Gong’s Camembert Electrique and Hawkwind that I remember most, emanating from your bedroom in Cherry Tree Park, along with wisps of illicit cigarette smoke. Dad confided he was worried when you seemed set on a music career and asked me how we could coax you into a decently paying, secure office job. Not many years later, both Dad and Elizabeth proudly attended your first experimental Sunday night set in Glasgow – later to become Optimo. I hope you know that I was always your biggest fan. I came to every Pure, 1992 and Optimo night that I possibly could get to, bringing along all my friends, many with no idea what they were in for. These were memorable moments of great joy and immense pride for me, watching you in your element, participating in your happiness, dancing our socks off. Your gift of reading the room, captivating any crowd (even the die-hard uninitiated), and lifting their energy to places they couldn’t anticipate, made each set unique and magical. Your unpredictable choices of music, the way you created something extraordinary out of tracks that had never been heard together. You were tirelessly creative. I recall the 200 hours of painstakingly reworked 80’s BPM’s you prepared for the Cure ‘Ultra-Goth after-party’, and how we danced unforgettably at the Berkley Suite to original music that had never before been able to be mixed. The Cult, Killing Joke and Kate Bush married together for the first time. You transported us somewhere completely new, yet heartwarmingly nostalgic. We were in our element and entranced by your spell. You always forged your own way, taking the road less travelled, ignoring the superhighways of commercial extroversion others were drawn to. You did this with courage, with humour and with kindness. You inspired others to want to walk this same path of adventure. You were provocative. Faced with an intimidating ‘Cease and Desist’ issued by a major commercial music label, who clearly didn’t appreciate your Post-Punk Cult Classics album title poking fun at the ‘Now That’s What I Call Music’ era, you instantly changed its name to (Cease and Desist) DIY! and relaunched it. Your heart was vast. You were inclusive. You played at small gigs you believed in, even when financially it didn’t make sense - or when travel schedules were hellish. You took time out to give advice to young dj’s dreaming of a life like yours, even when they didn’t say thank you (with a generous and reasoned lesson on gratitude offered, to boot). You regularly planned gigs to give selflessly and abundantly to the Glasgow Food banks and those who had less. You believed in a better way of living and in bringing people together to achieve the best of what was possible. All while doing what you loved. You loved animals (synthetic and real) but possibly didn’t fully understand my deep passion for all things fluffy until Zara came along. But you still loved mine and Ramona had a special bond with you and came all the way from Paris to visit you, her first time out of the country.Keith, you were my little brother, but you were also my rock, my protector, the gentle person who would always understand and be there to listen when I needed to talk. Although our two lives weren't frequently intertwined, we took every chance to see each other and when we did it was as though no time had gone by. You were always at the end of a phone and I could fill a whole answer machine talking to you (as I did once when my message recorded all the way to the end of your tape - you told me teasingly that it was so long, it never got taped over, not even on an Optimo night when hundreds of hopefuls were leaving messages trying to get on the guest list). And there is, and will always be, so much more… we shared so many moments, yet these were not nearly enough. My dearest, darling, sweet brother, how I will miss you. I can hardly imagine my world without you. I grieve your departure with every beat of my heart. You left on my birthday so we are forever connected. I love you. Always. I know we will meet again. ❤️ ❤️ ❤️
― groovypanda, Friday, 26 September 2025 06:02 (four days ago)
Thank you for sharing that. I'm not on social media, so would have missed. Really heartbreaking.
― GS (Griff Sheridan), Friday, 26 September 2025 08:02 (four days ago)
Oh man.
― Tracer Hand, Friday, 26 September 2025 08:03 (four days ago)
Yeah, gutting and also beautiful
― a tv star not a dirty computer man (the table is the table), Friday, 26 September 2025 11:24 (four days ago)
indeed. am genuinely boggling at the amount of stuff that keith managed to fit into his life, and not bullshit stuff either but real things, beautiful things, things that added magic to peoples lives.
am off up to london this evening with colonel poo to go and see jonnie play in camden. really feeling for him at the moment, feel like he's got so much on his shoulders.
― Reggaeton Sax (NickB), Friday, 26 September 2025 13:34 (four days ago)
some of my favourite Optimo memories.
― boxedjoy, Friday, 26 September 2025 13:39 (four days ago)
<3
― Reggaeton Sax (NickB), Friday, 26 September 2025 14:18 (four days ago)
I have found what words I can.
https://www.patreon.com/posts/some-weekly-163-139585080
― Ned Raggett, Friday, 26 September 2025 15:52 (four days ago)
Thanks for this Ned. The stirmonster handle came from back in the very early days of chatrooms, where he wanted to go on one to wind up some 'indie kids', as he put it, so chose stirmonster, as he was stirring up mischief about something-or-other. I'm sure there's a more modern term for it. He was also a pioneer of the online wind up too it would seem!
― GS (Griff Sheridan), Friday, 26 September 2025 16:42 (four days ago)
Ha, brilliant. A perfect neologism.
― Ned Raggett, Friday, 26 September 2025 17:06 (four days ago)
That's so mad, I never knew that and I used to do that in chatrooms in my teens. I always assumed stirmonster was sort of related to something like that but couldn't be sure, lol.
― LocalGarda, Friday, 26 September 2025 17:13 (four days ago)
i had thought it had to do with mixing!
― Tracer Hand, Friday, 26 September 2025 20:37 (four days ago)
James Murphy wore the “No DFA Without OPTIMO” shirt at the Hollywood Bowl tonight and closed out their year by saying “we love you Keith” after playing All My Friends
― fall of the house of urrsher (sic), Saturday, 27 September 2025 07:00 (three days ago)
Stet wore that T-shirt to see Pulp at the Hollywood Bowl the previous night!
― Madchen, Saturday, 27 September 2025 08:05 (three days ago)
Brain dump while it's still freshly imprinted on my lobes, thought i'd share it here too, sorry for self-indulgence...
Went to Optimo at the Jazz Cafe in London last night. Pretty great but it’s going to take a while to process the emotions. Super sad but also a lot of joy. Loads of Scottish people there, good mix of ages, lots of tears, lots of togetherness. Felt like I hugged a lot of strangers. Even in the queue for the cloakroom right at the start we were hugging people. Great set from Jonnie, 4.5 hours i think, started out slowly with some spirital free jazz, then slowly wound things up. Played Dadawah 'Run Come Rally' early on, top quality vibrations. Main part of the set was mostly in the chuggy zone and slower house tempos, obviously there were a whole bunch Optimo classics sprinkled in there (skatt brothers into 'energy flash', madonna 'hung up', a bit of a singalong to 'the sun can't compare'). played this one long thing with beeping car horns, which we've heard him play before, anyone know what that one is? its still a mystery to us. Jonnie had a photo of Keith in a silver picture frame sitting in the booth behind him, which absolutely destroyed me when i saw it, my heart just leaped. He held it aloft when he played Hurt at the end of the set, it was heartbreaking. Chatted with my guy Parris out in the smoking area, told him that 10 out of 10 customers said they were highly satisfied with him playing his sleazed-out disco version of Anarchy In The UK at Watching Tress in 2024 (this has has taken on mythic status in our little gang). There was a guy in a wheelchair in the middle of the dance which was so wonderful to see, and I had a bit of a chat and a hug with him and his girlfriend. Bought them beers cos i assumed it was difficult for them to get to the bar. Hope I wasn’t too much of a menace. Got back home at 6:30 this morning, gotta go off to work for a couple of hours in a bit. Mark had a great time and we got to dance on the stage and i didn't even have to stop him stagediving once. My brain is trashed. RIP stirmonster, hope you felt the love.
― Reggaeton Sax (NickB), Saturday, 27 September 2025 12:28 (three days ago)
The honking car horns track might be one of these from Jonnie's Car Mix. Tracklist:
Bob Thompson - Le Mans (from "Sound of Speed") Jean Michel Jarre - Le car / Le chasse neige Kraftwerk - Autobahn (Edit 1) Sound Effects The Normal - Warm Leatherette Adam Ant - Car Trouble Johnny Cash - One Piece at a Time Nurse with Wound - Cruisin' for a Bruisin' Visnadi - Racing Tracks L'Trimm - Cars That Go Boom Mach - On& On (edit ) Cybotron - Cosmic Cars Kraftwerk - Autobahn (Edit 2)Chris and Cosey - Driving Blind The Katzenjammers - Cars Gary Numan - Cars AJ McGhee - Bentleys and Hummers Squarepusher - My Hot Red CarThe Cars - Drive
― GS (Griff Sheridan), Saturday, 27 September 2025 13:35 (three days ago)
oh good shout - will check it out!
― Reggaeton Sax (NickB), Saturday, 27 September 2025 15:56 (three days ago)
yeah it's that NWW track, thought i recognised it! thanks so much :)
― Reggaeton Sax (NickB), Saturday, 27 September 2025 16:00 (three days ago)
ha awesome, love that one
― sleeve, Saturday, 27 September 2025 16:02 (three days ago)
so good!
― Reggaeton Sax (NickB), Saturday, 27 September 2025 16:17 (three days ago)
Hi all. After Keith passed away I had an idea to do a walk around some places in Glasgow where we shared the same space before we knew each other and some from after we'd met. I did the walk on Sunday 28 September and called it the Stir Stroll. I had thought about doing it with others, but decided to do it alone. I then thought about what I'd listen to and decided to choose a playlist of tracks that were relevant to my memories of the different places. Finally, rather than writing about it, I decided to record some words at each place. I never intended to produce anything from it, this kind of emerged from the process. However, today I combined the words and music and thought that I would share it with you.
https://soundcloud.com/robodisko/stir-stroll
It was never my intention to let anyone hear this, but I am aware that many of you are far from Glasgow, so I thought it might be of interest to share some of those memories from the city from the last 30 years.
It isn't scripted, just what I was thinking of at the time.
Forgive my thick Glasgow accent. However, I am both from Glasgow and thick...*
― GS (Griff Sheridan), Tuesday, 30 September 2025 22:21 (forty-two minutes ago)
I wore my shirt the other night when we had friends over, and it was fun to explain to them all what the t-shirt meant. It might as well have been in Esperanto.
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 30 September 2025 22:38 (twenty-five minutes ago)
Thanks Griff. It's a lovely thing you've done.
― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 30 September 2025 22:43 (twenty minutes ago)