Notoriously not the most friendly man in the world, I was understandably, a little wobbly of leg as I bowled through the backstage doors to chat to Bobby Gillespie in Berlin.

The band were headlining the opening night of the festival with their Screamadelica tour and Bobby had agreed to have a quick catch up before the band went on stage in the main aircraft hangar stage at Tempelhof airport.

Thankfully he was on form, and revealed to me, that the band are back in the writing mood. Not only that but he and Andy have also started recording and are hoping to have a new record out in the next year.

“We’ve already been working on some new stuff and when we’ve finished this tour we’re going to continue working on it and hopefully we should have a new Primal Scream record out by next summer or next autumn,” Bobby Gillespie told me.

The outfit hit both Bestival and the Berlin Festival this weekend, with a pretty heavy tour schedule still to wrap up this year, before they play their final gig in Edinburgh on New Year’s Eve. I asked Bobby where they found the time to cram in recording sessions; “We kind of found the time it’s hard to explain how,” Bobby explained.

“We spent six months working on the Screamadelica shows that we played last November, then we had a week here and a week there working on the new stuff.”

The Primal Scream front man said they are in no rush to finish the new album:

“I want to take my time and get it right and so far we have got a lot of good stuff recorded we’re very pleased with how it is has gone.”

As to whether they will ever work with Andy Weatherall again, who produced Screamadelica, Bobby says “Never say never.”

Listen the full interview here

As I arrived on the Island I actually almost ran into her, tanned, long limbed, her hair lighter and curling softly around her face. She was smiling and was chasing a little girl off the beach.

It took me a triple take to realise that I had glimpsed the woman people back home had grown to loath.

Everyday in London seemed to bring another newspaper splashed with shots of the singer bleeding, snotty with her eyes rolling.

But here, she appeared to have transformed, relaxed, been eating, and looked a picture of health.

Not only that, but as i booked into reception, I saw she was staying 2 cottages along in the 5 star complex I had been flown out to cover the St Lucia Jazz festival on a press trip.

From my upstairs roof terrace, I could see her out on hers, smoking and chatting to friends, her band members and a very big bouncer – who made it clear we were not to approach.

Speaking to the Tourism Minister for the island, Allan Chastanet, I was told she was getting along famously with locals and as a Thank You, had offered to headline the Jazz Festival.

Despite her fresh faced look, I still had doubts about whether she would turn up. However, with the world’s media looking on, including me, with high expectations, Amy appeared in a small blue dress a guest told me she had borrowed to perform in.

Hopes were soon dashed. Amy had, it became clear within a nanosecond, morphed into her old London self.

Gone was the healthy sparkle and its place and wobbly, glassy eyed mess. I felt so sad I felt tears spring to my eyes unexpectedly.

Vox popping the crowd after there was a lot of anger, but all I felt was that Amy was not born to perform. It isn’t not something she appeared to enjoy…and maybe this is why she felt the need to get smashed before every gig?

I am feeling really sick about the whole affair right now…it has left me with a bad taste in my mouth and more than a few tears.

This is the report I filed for BBC 6 Music back in 2009 just after the show….

St Lucia Jazz Festival Amy Winehouse FEATURE 100509 by JoYoule

11TH JULY 2011 – RITUAL UNION

Just recently Gothenburg’s finest export dropped their brand new single, Ritual Union.

This dreamy, rhythmical, shifting, moody rainbow creature sounds a little like the future of soul music, with some serious fire in it’s belly, worthy to give Clifford’s Listerine minty mouthedness a serious run for it’s money.

In fact, I can safely say this is my favourite song of the year so far, but imagine the joy, when I spotted Tensnake had got in on the act and remixed one of the hottest bands du jour.

So, it is with great pleasure, I span both versions in this week’s show. The are both worthy and needed a little space to breathe.

Little Dragon return with their new album Ritual Union, July 26th through Peacefrog, with Big Boi on production duties for part of it, after a certain Andre 3000 tipped him off.

The Remix 09 July by The Remix 107.2

“Lady who?”, I think that was the most used phrase at last nights Manchester International Festival as Iceland’s finest fire starter, Bjork, landed back on her mighty music perch.

The singer, wearing a full orange afro wig, gave fans a small glimpse into the future when she performed the world premiere of her heavily-hyped multi-media project “Biophilia” last night. She even invented her own instruments to play it on!

Hear a full run down of the event, plus interviews from her album collaborators and contributors here

After joining Jo as co-host of The Remix last week, Detroit minimal house man, Claude Von Stroke, has made a special mini-mix ahead of his set at Brighton’s Life Club this weekend.

For the final 30 minutes of the show on Juice 107.2 you will be able to catch the man in action and if you like what you hear, why not head down and join the man himself, live in the mix at Lifeclub.

He’ll be spinning an eclectic mix of his trademark sounds, alongside some of his remixes from the new Makeovers album set to launch next month, alomgside co-headliner, PEARSON SOUND, aka Ramadanman.

Claude told The Remix, a typical Von Stroke remix does not fall into the category of, “said track getting redone with a new drum beat and some dub effects on top.” No, the typical VonStroke remix tends to be a complete re-work from the ground up.

Join Jo for the warm-up from 8pm on Saturday 25 June…or to listen to the duo last week, check here.

18 June Remix by The Remix 107.2

Ahead of their set at The Glade festival this coming weekend, London outfit The Dub Pistols hooked up with The Remix for one specially crafted pre-festival mini-mix.

As well as unleashing the mix, Jo Youle, has an exclusive chat to DJ Shadow on his forthcoming album, The Less You Know the Better and unveils new remix album details of Detroit legend, Claude Von Stroke, who is coming to co-host the show on June 18 ahead of his tour landing in Brighton.

Claude VonStroke created dirtybird records in 2005 and continues to run A&R and daily operations. In between classic releases like “Who’s Afraid of Detroit” and “Vocal Chords” VonStroke managed to also produce a large catalog of remixes. A typical VonStroke remix does not fall into the category of “said track getting redone with a new drum beat and some dub effects on top.” No, the typical VonStroke remix tends to be a complete re-work from the ground up.

She will also have competition tickets for his show at Life on June 24 and copies of Makeover to give away.

Hear the full show here

Remix June 04 by The Remix 107.2

Making his first return to Brighton in 11 years, DJ Shadow delivered a killer set at the Dome and spoke exclusively to Jo about his brand spanking new album, The Less You Know The Better, set for release on September 04.

This one will feature less guests and is not purely focused on hip-hop as in his words, he’s been looking for inspiration elsewhere for this record.

The full details and interview will be unleashed, on her show, The Remix, this Saturday, between 8-10pm.

However, for a taster of what is to come, check here

05 MAY 2011 – BRIGHTON FESTIVAL RADIO

After launching the first festival dedicated radio station in almost two decades last year, Jo Youle, is back as station manager this summer, bringing the month long broadcast back to 87.7fm, across Brighton and beyond.

This year sees human rights advocate and Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi leading the charge as guest director of this years 45th Brighton Festival and as such the programming will have a wide range of influences both musically and in the themes explored in our speech based programmes. For the full rundown of the schedule and details of what is to come on the station, check out the schedule here

The station is live on 87.7fm and online at brightonfestival.org

Here’s a sample of the radio goodness you can expect

With Yoko Ono, Erol Alkan , The Orb and Primal Scream producer, Andrew Weatherall just a few of the recent hosts of the BBC 6 Mix, Jo stepped into some pretty hefty shoes at the helm of the show this month to reveal the art behind remixing.

In a one-off Remix special, Jo revelled in dragging you deep into her re-jiggled, re-wiggled little world as she caught up with some of the masters of art. Joined by the likes of LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy, Soulwax’s Stefan Dewaele, Tiga, Fatboy Slim, Armand Van Helden, Carl Cox, Leftfield’s Neil Barnes and Friendly Fires Jo got to the bottom of exactly how it’s done.

The show aired December 12 @ 8pm on BBC 6 Music.

Listen again or download the show here

Here’s the full tracklisting:
Lindstrøm & Christabelle – Baby Can’t Stop (Aeroplane Remix)
LCD Soundsystem – 45:33 (Prince Language Remix)
M.I.A. – Paper Planes (DFA Remix)
LCD Soundsystem – Tribulations (Tiga Remix)
Le Tigre – Deceptacon (DFA Remix)
Bombay Bicycle Club – Always Like This (Thee Loving Hand Remix By Tim Goldsworthy)
LCD Soundsystem – You Wanted a Hit (Soulwax Remix)
Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Zero (Erol Alkan Remix)
The Gossip – Standing in The Way of Control (Soulwax Remix)
Jamie Lidell – Telephone (Tiga Remix)
Tomas Andersson – Washing Up (Tiga Remix)
The xx – Shelter (Tiga Remix)
Tori Amos – Professional Widow (Armand’s Star Trunk Funkin’ Mix)
CJ Bolland – Sugar is Sweeter (Armand Van heldens Drum n’ Bass Mix)
The MFA – The Difference it Makes (Superpitcher Remix)
Friendly Fires – Paris (Aeroplane Remix)
Friendly Fires – Jump in the Pool (Wild Geese Remix)
Sex Pistols – God Save the Queen (Leftfield Remix)
David Bowie – Jump They Say (Leftfield Remix)
Florence and The Machine – You Got the Love (The XX Remix)
Wildchild – Renegade Master (Fatboy Slim Remix)
Tomaz vs. Filterheadz – Sunshine (Carl Cox Remix)
Mirwais – Miss You (The Thin White Duke Remix)

On this week’s show I have London lady and all round ‘Disco Leopard’ Roxanne Roll joining me on The Remix.

She takes over alongside Brighton boy ‘Flying White Dots’ for the final hour of this weeks disco-tastic Halloween affair.

To limber up for 2 hour of Remix disco classics and mash-ups, come find us here.

For this week’s playlist check here