Alive

Been getting a few comments & emails asking if i'm still alive... the answer is yes, but since June i've been running this huge art gallery in Brighton and i've not had time for anything else. I am planning to return in January in some shape or form when I get a few hours of my life back.

A little something to tide you over

Great Escape Part 1

Yeah the Great Escape has just started. Awesome. I've been uncharacteristically excited about it all.

Despite threats of pouring rain the sun managed to creep out a gig on the beach (The Panama Kings). They weren't much good, but it's nice to get things underway.



Tonight i'm looking forward to seeing:

Kap Bambino
Fantastic looking (sounding) French band who are NOTHING LIKE CRYSTAL CASTLES. OK? ,-) Well in fact they're not that much, since they seem to be several times more punk rock, however some comparison is inevitable.



KAP BAMBINO - RED SIGN


Maps Maps is back!! Hurrah!!
Dananananakroyd
Micachu & The Shapes
New Wine

More musical genius from Bergen. Here they are playing 'The Golden Cage' with Erlend Oye. Which is about as good as things can get.



Fan Death

Somehow i've not seen Fan Death yet. I have a sneaky suspicion that they're a high budget Glass Candy, but well prepared to be proved wrong tonight. I've shamelessly stolen this new track from XXJFG. It's undeniably good, even if some of the strings seem to have been rearranged from Veronica's Veil.

FAN DEATH - JEALOUSY (DEMO)

Filthy Dukes
Crystal Fighters



If anyone's got any tips for tonight or the rest of the weekend do let me know.

I'll try & update here every so often...

Right, time to get drunkd up.

By The Sea

I seem to have gone monthly, like Q or Razzle or something. Since we last met i've moved to Brighton, which is nice. Particularly if, as now, the sun is shining. I am looking to play some records down here from time to time, so if you are looking for someone to spice up your bar or club with some gay disco, yacht rock and electroindiefunksoulfreejazzbassline then give me a shout.

I was meaning to post these up weeks ago, but time has slipped by. My first weekend in Brighton co-incided with the visit of Disco Bloodbath, so I was happy as a seagull outside a kebab shop. Amongst the usual classics (Fern Kinney) I was pretty blown away by this Chicago acid tune, with a strong resemblance to 'No Way Back' by Adonis. Well after asking at the end it turns out this one was by Adonis as well.. a lost classic that i'd never heard before. Like much early Chicago house it's perfect in its simplicity & with the right fingers on the EQs can do some serious dancefloor damage.



ADONIS - WE'RE ROCKING DOWN THE HOUSE

I can't remember how I came across this next one, and i'm not going to be able to write much about it... since mysterious early-80s italo disco producers tend to be poorly served by wikipedia. According to discogs though this was released in 1981 in Canada. All you really need to know though is that it's absolutely superb.



CAPPUCCINO - HELL DANCE WITH ME

Moving to the present day, Johnny Jewel from Glass Candy / Chromatics has a new project called 'Desire'. Though this is no great musical revolution... it seems to be honest as though he has just recruited a new singer (a girl from Montreal called Megan Louise) to croon over his trademark synths. However, Johnny's trademark synths sound fucking fantastic, so i'm not complaining one bit.

So far they've just released one five-track tour CD, of which this track is probably the highlight. A single is coming soon on Italians do it Better... keep your ears out!

DESIRE - IF I CAN'T HOLD YOU

So a few last things.

A BRILLIANT French hip-hop track / video, as recommended by my man Shaka.



The new Juan MacLean single is also superb. You might know that already, but if not watch the video.



Finally thanks to Patrick for introducing me to Townes Van Zandt, (another 'legend' i'd never heard of) and in particular his song 'Kathleen'. I used to be a big Tindersticks fan (until realising that you only really need one Tindersticks album in your life), and was particularly fond of 'Kathleen'... but as so often happens I had no idea it was a cover version. This song is heartbreaking:

TOWNES VAN ZANDT - KATHLEEN

Here's probably my favourite Tindersticks song, 'Jism', from a German festival in 1998. Stuart really has an extraordinary voice.

Lost in Shimmering Shadows

I discovered today that Todd Terje's 'Wade Nichols' alias was based on a 70s porn star who, it turns out, recorded a disco album in 1979 under his real name of Dennis Parker. It featured this gem. Truly amazing.. and that's just the silver suit!



Unfortunately he caught Aids and blew his head off with a shotgun. And there's no way to make that funny.

DENNIS PARKER - LIKE AN EAGLE


EDIT: At first I thought the audio sync was out on youtube, but with repeated viewings i'm coming round to the idea that he's just too coked out of his mind to even make a decent stab at miming.


I'm not coveting this outfit quite as much as that silver suit. But is it time to re-evaulate Boney M? On my last visit to Disco Bloodbath they played 'Rasputin' and it sounded mighty fine (though I suspect it was re-edited in some fashion), and this week i've been freaking out to this new edit on Rub & Tug's C.O.M.B.I. label, only to discover that again i've been unsuspectingly dosed with Boney M. The original video is below. Compare & contrast.

C.O.M.B.I. - MA BAKES



Now this is sure not to be the most original selection, but by christ have Aeroplane not just cracked in a thirty yard screamer again? It couldn't be any more perfect. These Belgians have magic in their fingers.

SEBASTIEN TELLIER - KILOMETER (AEROPLANE ITALO 84 REMIX)

REMOVED BY REQUEST

You've probably also heard this one since it was available as a free download on myspace, but if not it's definitely worth hearing. Fever Ray is the new solo project of Karin from The Knife... in this instance the added pan pipe pressure has been worked in by Dan Lissvik from Studio. The Fever Ray album is sure to be worth waiting for...

THE KNIFE - WHEN I GROW UP (VERSION BY LISSVIK)


Before I go, while we're talking about things Swedish, make sure you see this film. Amazing.


EDIT #2: I've just realised that TWO of the tracks here feature pan pipes prominently. That is more pan pipe then any person should have to hear in a lifetime, and for that I can only apologise.

The People Went Mad When They Heard That

Just at the second that I finished listening to the new In Flagranti album, a new remix dropped into my inbox as well. I'd been listening out for 'Brash & Vulgar' after hearing it on a recent Soulwax mix, and it's surely going to be heard out on a lot of dancefloors in the coming months. There's a killer riff running through, with a few of what have become In Flagranti's trademark vocal drops. I'm sure this will be a single at some point... at least I hope so as the original version is far too short.

IN FLAGRANTI - BRASH & VULGAR

I was just as wowed by the remix, from a forthcoming remix compilation on New York's Nubu Records, which also features Underground Resistance, Sinden, Claude Von Stroke & many others. It veers rather towards jazzy deep house, but retains a rough post-disco feel. It's also doing my head in trying to work out what the bassline at the beginning is sampled from.

I LED 3 LIVES - 5 CURIOUS RED (IN FLAGRANTI REMIX)

The other track that's been slaying me recently is the Skream mix of La Roux (which has no doubt been all over the internet by the time i've got round to posting it, but hey ho). Like In Flagranti it seems to finish tragically early, but this just sends you straight back to the beginning to hit 'play' once more. An unfortunate consequence of this mix being so good is that when I subsequently heard the original version it sounded pretty weak in comparison. Never mind. This is the tits. Rewind!

LA ROUX - IN FOR THE KILL (SKREAM'S LET'S GET RAVEY MIX)

So perhaps i've been listening to too much gay disco lately as i've been letting off some steam with some noisier stuff. I think Boys Noize showed with their remix of Feist that they can craft a tune as well as lay down fat beats - and this new remix of Royksopp is just as good. I'm trying to listen to it quietly at 2am and it sounds awesome. Surely that would be multiplied many times over through a large pile of speakers.

ROYKSOPP - HAPPY UP HERE (BOYS NOIZE REMIX)

For a treat for the eyes as well as the ears, the new Rex the Dog video is pretty shit hot:



Well hey look i'm going snowboarding next week, so I might not be able to post for a bit. And i'm sure I hear someone somewhere shouting 'one more tune'. Again JD Twitch's punk rock mix on I Get RVNG might be old news, but it's still awesome. This is from the re-edit 10" that comes with the mix, which stretches the intro out into a psych-rock spin cycle before unleasing the vocals. It's a great package & IGetRVNG rule.

THE MOB - WITCH HUNT (JD TWITCH EDIT)


Oh yeah, and i've been discovering the joys of twitter of late. If for some reason you wish to 'follow' the banalities of my life you can do so here.

Love is....

FERN KINNEY - LOVE ME TONIGHT

Dance Area

Oh man this is so good... i've lost count of the number of times i've listened to it this week. I've even broken into a bedroom jig on a few occasions. It's the new bomb on Italians do it Better.... and is their greatest record since the last one. I'm not sure that anything it does is new, but it does it so perfectly. Rewind!

BOTTIN - NO STATIC (CLUB MIX)

I just realised that i've never posted this one, having well, not posted anything for so long. I've started with this one last couple of times i've DJd... with mixed reactions to be fair... however I think it's superb so it's not my fault i'm playing to idiots ,-)

Actually having just heard the original version for the first time via youtube, i'm surprised how little Greg Wilson has done to the tune - mainly just stretching out the start & finish & added a couple of Kraftwerk samples (sorry if that's a rather simplistic analysis). I had no idea OMD were that good.

ORCHESTRAL MANOEUVRES IN THE DARK - THE MESSENGER (GREG WILSON 'RUFF' RE-EDIT)

Here's something else old, brought to you by the dependable Cosmic Club Mastercuts label.



BRIAN AUGER - NIGHT TRAIN TO NOWHERE (COSMIC CLUB MASTERCUTS EDIT)


And hey, I just got sent a video for that casiokids tune I posted yesterday. It made me grin rather a lot.