I was wrong

So it seems that TB wasn't Thomas Bangalter after all, and that the 'Love' track was in fact produced by someone called Louis La Roche. That would be that, except that people on the Erol Alkan forum are now speculating that Louis La Roche is actually Jacques Lu Cont! Well i'm not going to get drawn into any more guesswork, but though I did suspect that 'Love' wasn't quite Bangalter quality, it's still a very good track that has got a lot of people reminiscing about filtered French house.



Whoever Louis La Roche actually is, he's provided a 320kbps version of the track to download, so if you want to feel the bass a bit more, click here. There's another nice track on his myspace as well.


So to some new stuff? Well Chaz Jankel's album on Tirk was one of my favourites of last year, and now some remixes are out courtesy of the now ubiquitous Hercules & Love Affair, and Todd Terje (who seems to have escaped mention on here so far). I prefer the Terje mix, which transforms the track into some blissful piano led dubbed-out disco

CHAZ JANKEL - GLAD TO KNOW YOU (TODD TERJE RE-EDIT)


I'm still thoroughly in love with Gino Soccio's 'Remember' (as I posted a few days ago). As a result i've been seeking out some more of his tracks, and happened upon this absolute gem. It's from the 'Editions Disco' series of edits by Prince Language, who's done a few things with DFA in the past (The Rapture) and present (Juan MacLean). I just cannot get enough of this.... so it's just fantastic to have the 2 1/2 minute original stretched out to 7 minutes of joy. Apparently it's a Bill Withers cover version, but i ain't heard that one.

GINO SOCCIO - LOVE IS (EDIT DE PRINCE LANGUAGE)


This has just popped into my inbox, so I hit play & it's rather good. Fortunately I don't have to make any effort to write something as i've been helpfully provided with this text.... "I thickened up the original VW track with some Chico Sonido percussion and some beats jacked with the help of Blaqstarr and Diplo. The female MC is Rye Rye from Baltimore--I think her 'response' to the original Vampire Weekend verses add another dimension to the track. "

There you go. Check it out if you dare.

VAMPIRE WEEKEND - CAPE COD KWASSA KWASSA (BLACK DOMINOES REMIX)




Finally, is there any more annoying sight than this? Which is the internet speed I have to endure 99% of the time. That's why I don't get the chance to listen to as much stuff as I should. And why most of my time at home is spent looking round for things to break while lines of text appear crushingly slowly on screen.



It's really not condusive to running a multimedia blog. Those of you with a half way functioning internet connection have no idea of my daily pain. Zen Internet? That's a joke, right?

So due to this, the chances of me actually listening things I get sent like this are slim. But though i've not actually heard these, they look great. Two extensive mixes of Carl Craig tunes put together for your delight. Grab 'em here and here.

And let me know if they're any good, and worth the 3 hour download :-(

My Beating Heart

Someone called 'TB' from daftalive.com seemingly left a comment this evening.

It appears to be a valentines gift to you.

It seems implausible that 'TB' would use this humble blog as a conduit to the world, but stranger things have happened! Robots move in mysterious ways.



THOMAS BANGALTER - LOVE


As for me, well this is my (late) valentines gift to you. Courtesy of Katie. This is proper good, and more evidence of why Italians do it better.

In the Night, No Control

I'm struggling to find that much new music to get excited about at the moment, so have turned back to a couple of my favourites from last year that I don't think I mentioned here. The first is Jacques Renault's 'Mystery Mix #1' on Italians do it Better... a mixture of past gems and future classics that just keeps on giving love.



There were only 300 of these released, with screenprinted sleeves, so your chances of finding one are pretty slim now. But it seems that he has a new mix up on Allez Allez now, so i'm about to tuck into that.

A by product of his Mystery Mix are a couple of new favourite tunes of mine.... all ready for rocking the early 80s Miami Vice look. Gino Soccio notes that European women talking = guaranteed hit. Nick Straker rolls up his sleeve & pumps the slap bass. Smooth!



GINO SOCCIO - REMEMBER



THE NICK STRAKER BAND - A LITTLE BIT OF JAZZ


I'm can't remember why I started listening to this, but I'm going to make it my mission to start the Laura Branigan revival. With a small amount of re-editing, this could well be the best thing ever. Anyone want to do the honours for me?



LAURA BRANIGAN - SELF CONTROL

EDIT: OK,well i'll never be able to show my face again at the bloggers christmas party. I just discovered through the power of the internet that this is acually a cover. I should have course posted the Italo Disco original verison by RAF (!). Which in truth isn't that much more amazing UNTIL a rap starts up at about 4:40 that warmed my cockles considerably. It sounds like Miker G and DJ Sven. Ring-a-rang-a-dong!



RAF - SELF CONTROL

Another Prescription

It's been a while since I pimped my art site, Prescription Art, so I thought i'd just give an update on the excellent stuff I have up there!

The most recent releases are by Zeus and Charming Baker, both of whom are well established & destined for much bigger things this year.

Zeus has produced an astonishing Stencil based on his original 'Run' painting..... designed to transfer the painting to the walls of London.






The final piece is an amazing and huge hand spray-painted stencil, in an edition of 45. It looks spectacular in the flesh!



You can check it out here. Also be sure to take a look at some of the paintings & sculptural work on Zeus' site... he's an amazing talent, and is finally going to have a solo exhibition this year. My friend Andrew at Urban Angel also has some of his work for sale.


I've also got available the first print by Charming Baker, Duck Teddy Duck. It's a Giclee print limited to 100 copies. Mr Baker also has an exciting year ahead, with plenty of proper art types sniffing around him (The V&A and ModART magazine for example)



Coming very soon, i'm really excited to be selling a print by New York's Gaia.... undoubtedly one of the hottest new street artists around. It looks quite innocuous, but is scarily large!



I've also still available are the fantastic prints by Dain and Galo.





Apologies for the sales patter..... i've got loads of exciting stuff lined up this year, so in future if you want to (occasionally) be kept up to date with art & exhibitions, you can sign up to the mailing list on the site, or alternatively i've got a facebook group you can join or flickr account to befriend.

I've got the end in sight

I've long wanted to do a mix entirely made up of Carl Craig tracks, but couldn't ever choose a satisfactory selection of tracks to fit on one CD. Well it never occurred to me to stretch it over TWO CDs, but fortunately the idea did occur to CC on his 'Sessions' compilation. Therein lies the difference between geniuses and the rest of us!



The CDs are probably focussed a bit too much on his recent tracks for my fanboy liking... though there are some tasty old skool classics dotted about - 'Rushed' by 69, 'Oscillator' by Paperclip People & 'Bug in the Bassbin' by Innerzone Orchestra (the track that supposedly invented drum & bass) for example.

It's also good to have another listen to some modern classics. One that I seem to have overlooked is last year's remix of the Junior Boys. I didn't pay it much attention when it came out, but it's stunning. It uses the same trick as on his Delia & Gavin remix, which is to have a good three minutes before the bass drum kicks in, but this time leading you in using three different elements that would each by themselves add up to a pretty kicking track.

JUNIOR BOYS - LIKE A CHILD (CARL CRAIG REMIX)

It's easy to come up with a page full of classics missed off this release, and probably a whole ream when you include remixes. But here's a few that sprung to mind.... awesome!

69 - LADIES & GENTLEMEN

INCOGNITO - OUT OF THE STORM (C'S PLANET E MIX)

INNERZONE ORCHESTRA - PEOPLE MAKE THE WORLD GO ROUND


The latest release on Adventures Close to Home is the second single by Free Blood, and comes backed with a cracking remix by Will. Some kind of tribal voodoo funk, with cellos, pianos and all sorts of other goodness.



FREE BLOOD - ROYAL FAMILY (ACTH Remix)


I've fallen in love with everything i've heard by the Black Ghosts, and this is no exception. A mash-up of 'Something New' with Lindstrom's classic 'I Feel Space'. Intergalactic disco magic. They'd better get their album out soon... after something like 5 singles out already it's going to be in danger of being over familiar before it hits the shops...



THE BLACK GHOSTS - SOMETHING NEW (GALACTIC VERSION)


Another rather good promotional bootleg has been sneaked out to accompany the new Sebastien Tellier album, 'Sexuality'. Which has also already sewn up the 'best sleeve of the year' award.



This one is a mash-up of Eric B & Rakim with 'Sexual Sportswear'.

SEBASTIEN TELLIER vs ERIC B & RAKIM - SOUL SPORTSWEAR