Groovin

Got this track a while back, but I am just starting to groove on it. Mike Shannon, to my knowledge, has been mostly a purveyor of strict techno and IDM style electronic music.

Imagine my surprise when I heard this tune. It is a deep groovy piece of house music, with vocals!

I had a great weekend up in the Bay Area attending what is by all accounts a pretty famous underground annual party. Good times.

Mike Shannon - What's your pleasure


Update!!!!!
This is not in fact Mike Shannon. It is the Mole. Here is the correct info.

ARTIST: The Mole

TITLE: Conversations With The Past EP

LABEL: Wagon Repair, CA

The track name is: Jingover

Drifting

Talking with a long time reader in the comments last week, he noticed how my taste has changed over the past few months. I agree. I spent a lot of time concentrating on minimal techno and house when I first set up the blog and for most of the last year.

It's not that I have completely gone off techno by any means. It is just that I have recently been feeling the call of more pronounced and obvious melody. For the most part it has taken the form of beardo disco selections, but it is really across the board. I hope I don't lose to many of my long time readers (and I know you are out there even if you rarely make an appearance in the comments section). Follow along and if you know of something similar please feel free to drop some knowledge in the comments box. I hope to learn as much by doing this as anyone does by reading it.

So for this week lets try something maudlin but distinctly American.

Lee Hazelwood - My Autumn's Done Come (soooooooo gooood)

Lee Hazelwood - Your Sweet Love

Two for Monday

I have had some amazing finds over the past week and I wanted to jump up and give everyone out there a pre-turkey day treat.

First off is the beautiful Betty Botox. Renowned for her hot legs and hot hot disco remixing action. Betty has put out a 12" on the Rvng label.

A side project by Optimo co-founder jd twitch, Betty delves deep into the world of pulsing disco edits with the recent Rvng of the Nrds vol 2 release. Following hot on the heels of Tim Sweeny's vol. 1 12", vol 2 uses Patrick Cowley as the basis for the A side. Check out:

Betty Botox - Voodoo 1


Yesterday I was equally delighted and surprised to find a cd of Phantom Slasher at Amoeba in Hollywood. A side project of the prolific Idjut Boys, Phantom Slasher satisfies in a way that few of the beardo style disco offerings rarely have. Deeply funky takes on disco classics would adequately describe this album. Dancing around the house like a gay man on acid would also describe its effects. Check out:

Phantom Slasher - Lasagne for 10

Update - Sorry I didnt know you had to register to download on Yousendit now. I will be switching to a less invasive company. Still, these are great tracks....

Thinking about...

This past week I have been concentrating on a few tracks that have really caught my notice. Last week the guys from Low Motion Disco (love that name) dropped one of their new tracks in my comments section with their now typical anonymousness. If you caught the track I featured on here before you know the style. Cough syrup beats with wondrous melodies layered over the top. I know that the last track that I featured was a slowed down version of something by the Chromatics. Where they got the source for this track, or if this was something they created all on their own is a complete mystery. In any case since they provided it so freely I am going to pass on the love and give it to you all. I am particularly fond of the guitar work that is responsible for the melody.

Low Motion Disco - frantic low moment

This second track is something many of you out there may or not be familiar with. Flaming Lips is certainly a big enough brand name in the world of rock. However, somehow I either never heard this track before or it simply escaped my attention. A couple of weeks ago I was letting the itunes do its shuffle thing when this track came on and just set me back. The beat is slow and steady and although it doesn't have the syncopation of a good disco track I find the strings so pleasurable that I had to draw attention to it and pass it on.

Flaming Lips - The Observer

Vote

All kidding aside, if you live in the states, get off your ass go down the street and cast a vote. Even if it doesn't end up being counted at least you can bitch about the government knowing full well that you did your part to change things.

The Clash - Police and Thieves



Update: Saw this over at BoingBing.net and I had to share it: George Michael's Freedom with a twist

Sven Libaek

I went to go sell back quite a few cds this last weekend and in the process came back with some incredible albums. First off this week is a collection of rare soundtrack music from the man on the left, Sven Libaek.

The album is called inner space and it is just awesome. If you are familiar with "The life aquatic with Steve Zizou" soundtrack you might have heard some of his delightful 60s infused scores before.

Sven Libaek - Growing up now (Instrumental)

Sven Libaek - Desert

Baaba Maal

Now this is going to date me, but I remember playing this out quite a bit when it came out. It was around the time that Planet Dog was gaining in ascendancy and the idea of fusing "world music" with dance was still a rather novel idea.

I personally used to play the second mix offered here, but now I might be more inclined to wards the former.

Baaba Maal - Sidiki (Groucho's 12" Yard Mix)


Baaba Maal - Sidiki (Cafe Del Mako Mix)

Joni

80s

Going back over some of my music from the 80s I am discovering again so much of what led me to dance music in the first place.

I would ideally love to post Every Day is Halloween from the early Ministry singles comp, but I have yet to find it again and my only copy was always on tape. In its place here is another great track from the early days.

Ministry - All Day Remix

Soul Mekanik

I am not one to sing the praises of a former member of Take That, but with Robbie Williams latest 12" he has drafted in some serious talent to rework his track Rudebox. I am really fond of all of the versions, but if forced I prefer the Chicken Lips remix and this particular track by Soul Mekanik.

I have been drifting off electro house styles for a while now, but this really tears it up in a bouncey booty shaking way. Hell it even has my late 50s dad walking around repeating the chorus "Why you so nasty?"

Robbie Williams - Rudebox (Soul Mekanik Extended Dub)

Update: apparently the boys from Soul Mekanik handled half the production on the entire album, so there might be more of interest here.

Deep House

I have recently been drawing some connections between balearic, space disco, and good old fashioned deep house. I went on a small spending spree and picked up some Larry Heard (although certainly not enough!) Manuel Göttsching, more Prins Thomas , and this lovely little track by Kerri Chandler.

Kerri Chandler - Digital Love Affair

Patrick Cowley (Remix)

This track is totally over the top, but still incredible:

"In 1978 Patrick recorded an 16 minute long extended Remix version of the song " I Feel Love" performed by Donna Summer . Later, in 1981 , this Megamix was released by Casablanca Records. The Original 1977 version, which was composed by Giorgio Moroder , lasted 8 minutes ."

Check out this Patrick Cowley page for more info about this disco producer

Donna Summer - I feel love (Patrick Cowley remix)

From this great compilation, of which I will probably be posting much more music.

**Update** I just reposted the remix for the guys over at RVNG
they are putting out a ton of great tunes in the psychedelic/dance/beardo genre. Check em out and blow some of that hard earned cash.

Piere Henry - Psyche Rock

Something I heard yesterday on Jack FM

Starting on my way to work yesterday I heard a station id for Jack FM that went roughtly as follows:

"Hey Jack
I guess that if I harrass little boys and then say I am an alcoholic and was abused as a kid that makes everything ok."

this was quickly followed by

The Cure - Boys Don't Cry

that combination almost made me want to rush out and find that bastard Foley and kick his and his enablers asses right then

Somehow Jon can project levity into any situation

Recent Mix

Here is a recent mix cd I made. It kind of goes all over the place but it works for me. These days if I listen to too much of one style I get bored. I put it down to a unidentified case of ADD but it could have something to do with the random function on the Ipod changing my musical aesthetic.

1)Yesterday's Dream - The Shades of Black Lightning (bumrocks.com)

2)Low in the city - Low Motion Disco http://www.myspace.com/lowmotiondisco (Someone put this out!)

3)Spleez - Rub-n-Tug

4)Rudebox (Soul Mekanik Extended Dub) - Robbie Williams

5)Welcome To Zion (Sebo K & Metro Remix) - King Roc

6)Addicted - Original Mix - Anja Schneider

7)Gol - Donato Dozzy (This track is stunning dub influenced techno, on a good system it will blow you back. Look for more great stuff on his Dozzy Records imprint)

8)Belfast - Orbital

9)Along the Wire (Superpitcher Remix) - Lawrence

10)Serpentine (album edit) - My My

11)B-Movie 6:AM - Misc.

Krautrocksampler

I don't know how many of you would be interested, but I have been searching for this book for a number of years and lo and behold thanks to Dreams Less Sweet I found it. That blog directed me to the aptly titled Post Punk Junk who is hosting this rare tome.

Krautrocksampler was written by Julian Cope of The Teardrop Explodes and Head Heritage.

Enjoy.

Link

On the Rub n Tug tip

Reading Jaime over at Daughters of Invention led me to find a few cool tracks by this group. Very cool slow motion beardo disco. Moving on from one myspace page to another led me further to Mindless Boogie. Where I found that incredible version of Hot Chocolate's disco anthem that is playing via youtube above.

If anyone knows where to pick up a copy of that version I would be much appreciative.

Vangelis

So I was going on about Vangelis in a previous post and true to form I couldn't hold back from picking up some thankfully cheap copies of his cds. At time the guy can go totally over the top, but he can be perfectly sublime too (as the Bladerunner Soundtrack demonstrates).
<-Love that pic!
Vangelis - Albedo 0.39

Vangelis - Spiral

Pharaoh Sanders

This song is just such a thing of beauty I had to jump on and turn you all on to it.


Pharaho Sanders - Shukuru.

Gram Parsons

Sorry for the lack of updates. I have been contemplating shelving this project for a bit due to the fact that I simply don't seem to have the time necessary to update it. It sure isn't because I haven't been hearing good music though.
Getting into the whole beardo disco lovefingers/bumrocks sound has opened my head up to varieties of music I had not thought of in ages (hell I am actively seeking some of Vangelis's 70s output with a fervor I haven't felt in years).
With this view in mind I picked up a double album set by Gram Parsons. It contains his total solo recorded output on one cd and it has been something I have been meaning to do for a long time. I mean if you live in LA you gotta study the history of the music here (see woebot for an expanded [and typical for him, outsider] view of LA's musical history).
Connecting the dots in his short life leads one to the Byrds, Flying Burrito Brothers and strangely the Rolling Stone's at their most country. Here is a track by him, and one the Stone's wrote with him in mind.

Gram Parsons - A song for you

Rolling Stones - Wild Horses

Louderbach

Since I got on the Troy Pierce train its kind of hard to get off. Louderbach is his darker less minus sounding work under his own Underline imprint ( I previously posted something from Matt John that also falls under this label).

My wife thinks that this track is a little repetative, as she personally prefers techno that has more of a song structure to it. Sometimes though I like a little pure machine music. Whereas machine soul like 69 makes you imagine humanoid robots displaying emotion and longing, this is pure assembly line repetition.

See what you think, and tell me about it in the comments you lazy sods.

Louderbach - Vital (Donnacha Costello Mix)

Lawrence

I have recently started writing reviews for Stylus Magazine, which I think is pretty cool cause I used to follow their reviews quite closely and its nice to now be a small part of their team.

In any case my most recent review was for the last 12" by Lawrence, which consisted of remixes of Along the Wire by Troy Pierce and Superpitcher. You can go here to check it out. Superpitcher did the apparently difficult job of living up to his former hype, but it was the troy pierce stuff that really suprised me. I have been kind of listening to his stuff from a distance, not completely involved in the output, but the Painted by Scholars mix just drew me in. I can't really explain why, although it is sleek and a bit sexy. Check it out for yourselves.

Lawrence - Along the Wire (Troy Pierce Painted by Scholars Mix)

The Mack

Recently while trawling through the soundtrack department at Amoeba I came upon this gem. I picked it up new for about nine bucks out of some hazily remembered memory of an incredible review (generally when I do this it is a 50/50 toss up as to whether it will suck or not). This time the odds played in my favor.

The Mack soundtrack is a great album all the way through. There are some highlights as in the hit "The Brother's Gonna Work it Out" but it is remarkably consistant throughout.

Check out the hit and pick up the album. This is a prime example of the long tail at work.

Willie Hutch - Brother's Gonna Work it Out

The 70s become a more and more interesting decade for the study of music, politics, and culture as time goes on. I hope its not just cause I am stuck in some kind of nostalgia trip.

Monday quick fix

I just wanted to take a few moments to introduce a few of you out there to this man. I get quite a few myspace friend requests from artists that I almost like, but this guy is really pretty good. I downloaded a couple of his tracks from his myspace account but so far they are all up for grabs. Minimal from the middle east.

Kirk Degiorgio, Esoteric

I have been a long time follower of Mr. Degiorgio's work. Not always the most pleased follower, as I found some of his attempts at Detroit homage a little lacking. Yet there always remained a spark that kept me coming back.
I think I first ran into him via Mo'Wax in the mid 90s and was recently reminded of his authority by a web page he put up detailing some of the greatest soul and r&b albums of all time. I got a lot of good selections off that list and my respect for his knowledge and insight increased tremendously.

I recently got his latest 12" and it is pretty amazing. In contrast to his earlier stuff, he attempts a disco track here and pulls it off incredibly well. Energetic, propulsive, and exciting I have already slotted it into my latest mix cds. I am going to give you his original mix but if you know anything about space disco you will get the whole thing in order to pick up the Spirit Catcher Remix or the equally fun but much more housey Jimpster Remix. Get it here.

Kirk Degiorgio, Esoterik - Starwaves

as a bonus, from a comp that came out some time ago on Hefty, here is Degiorgio remixing Phil Ranelin

"For The Children" Kirk Degiorgio - Offworld Mix - Phil Ranelin - Phil Ranelin Remixed

Prima Norsk - Space Disco

Here is a little something I picked up this last weekend at Amoeba SF. As an aside the Amoeba on Haight Street is somehow much better than our humble Hollywood Amoeba, at least as far as the organization of the dance section goes. I was able to easily find what I was looking for without any confusion as to which genere I should be searching in, which always makes the record shopping experience more pleasent. My wife and I chalked it up to the temporary nature of life in LA. It was easy to tell that many of the employees of the Amoeba SF store had been there for ages and refined their sections precisely. In LA everyone is looking to move on to something better and the committment level at retail must not be very great.

Anyway, here is to a quality record shopping experience, and to celebrate here are a couple of quality cuts from great Norwegian artists.

Lindbaek & Lindstrom - Aliens in my pocket

Todd Terje - Bodies (Prins Thomas Orgasmatron)

Very busy now

I am starting grad school this week and getting up to speed is kicking my ass. Its probably that I have built grad school up in my mind to be some kind of super difficult thing more than anything. As with many things it is the anticipation more than the actual event that is the killer.

I have picked up some really odd and great music over the past couple of weeks that I am hoping to share soon as well as some stuff that I can't share quite yet, but when I do it will be great fun. Later this week I am going to throw some more quality nordic music out there thanks to this purchase. Its been out there a while but unavailable to me.

Tonight I just wanted to share a couple of tracks from back in 1993. I originally picked this up on cassette tape in a little second hand record shop in Camden and at the time it toally blew my mind. I think it bodes well that when I found it cheap last week in San Francisco both the kids started nodding along to it in the back seat and my seven year old even raised her hands in the air at the appropriate time.

Spooky - Little Bullet

Spooky - Orange Colored Liquid (this kind of reminds me of Higher Intelligence Agency)

Back

Just got back from a week in the bay area of rest and relaxation. Posts returning soon.

For the weekend

I have been loving some of the stuff over at Lovefingers.org recently. The spacey feel of some of the tracks they have been posting has just been killing it. In particular the Throbbing Gristle track from June 15 (Distant Dreams 2) and Champs Boys Orchestra Tubular Bells (Cosmic Mix) are an absolute necessity. I have heard tons of Throbbing Gristle and am actually familiar with this track from years ago. The timing of hearing them at this particular moment though is what provides the real impact.

Here are a few things of my own that their sound has me listening to:

Psychic TV - New Sexuality

Global Communications - 5 23 (Maiden Voyage)

John Barry - Fun City
from the Midnight Cowboy soundtrack

Kompakt - Speicher 38

I haven't been giving Kompakt as much love as I anticipated when I first started this blog. At that time Kompakt was pretty much the alpha and the omega. Their string of releases was so strong and their reputation so legendary that I thought I would be spending a good chunk of time reviewing their tracks. Time and entropy can bring down the mightiest of houses though.
The fact that they handle their own online distribution probably contributes to my lack of coverage recently as well. I like to do my shopping online in one central location and for some reason I found their shop a little tedious to work with and switched to using beatport full time.
Well, their new Total comp is going to be out soon and word on the net is that it is going to be up to their old standards of greatness. I also recently got a copy of Speicher 38 (their hard dance sublabel) and my interest was rekindled once again.

Both tracks are pretty outstanding. and very different from one another. So to get some of you out there to purchase, I am only going to post one side so that you are forced to pick up the other. This is Oxia with the darker more industrial sounding track of the two.

Oxia - Future

Touch and Go 25th Anniversary

Found out about this upcoming festival a few months ago and just flipped. In the 80s and early 90s Touch and Go blew away most other indy labels out there. Their roster alone was unreal The Butthole Surfers, Big Black, Rapeman, Jesus Lizard the list goes on and on, literally the pantheon of golden age American "Alternative" Music. If you are a fan of music journalism you might have read "Our band could be your life," which documents this time pretty well. In any case the label has a festival coming up that documents their accomplishments both in the past and currently.
My friend Martin is travelling half way across the country just to see Scratch Acid (from my homestate Texas, more specifically Austin) and Big Black. Not so ancient readers of my site might know Touch and Go from CocoRosie or !!!, who are also playing.
(By the way, I can not say enough about how important Big Black was to me and my group of friends growing up so I won't even try. Just pick up a copy of The Rich Man's Eight Track and get blown away.)

!!! - Hello is this thing on

CocoRosie - Noah's Ark

Scratch Acid - Greatest Gift



Big Black - Jordan, Minnesota

Connaisseur Recordings

Besides the Lindstrom that I picked up this weekend I also invested in a couple of main floor releases. I picked up the new Pan Pot ep on Mobilee (which is amazing) and this release from the previously unexplored Connaisseur Recordings. They are a young label with only a few 12"s to their name so far, but if this is anything to go by they bear watching.

This track is by Mariel Ito, which is a pseudonym for Erik Estornel better known as Maetrik for his recordings on Treibstoff and ILLmatic. This ep has a decidedly electro slant to it, but the 3 Channels remix I am featuring pulls in a jacking minimalist direction.

Mariel Ito - Lone Romantic (3 Channels Remix)

Six Cups of Rebel

Six Cups of Rebel is Lindstrom under another name making sunkissed baeleric beats. This ep came out late last year but my head was deep into pummelling techno at that time. This summer finds me drifting upward in arpeggiated spirals to tunes like these as well as old classics by Tangerine Dream.
I read a quote from a fellow blogger where Lindstrom described the utility of his music thusly, "We want to make music people want to fuck to... fuck long and well too".

Nice one.

Six Cups of Rebel - Arp She Said

Rub n' Tug

Well I am just beginning to understand how precarious it can be to keep your head down in the sand. All this time I have been living in LA and it has been a hotbed of sweaty disco action. That is a flyer for a party I just missed and I have come to find out that DJ Harvey has been throwing parties pretty much blocks from my house for about two years now. In addition Lovefingers.org is based here in LA. Ah well, better late than never.

All this knowledge came about after purchasing an "album" by Rub n' Tug at Amoeba that I can't seem to find much of a reference to anywhere online. Its called "Better with a Spoonful of Leather." Carnage over at TAPE seems to think its a collection of edits and he could be right but I don't know the originals well enough to recognise them. The album, as Jun (who works at Amoeba) discribed it to me before I purchased it, is certainly "druggy." It sounds like chopped and screwed disco. Check it.

Rub n' Tug - Sea Men

Rub n' Tug - Tea Please

Heatwave

Damn its hot. Los Angeles has been baking for the past week. Temperatures in the San Fernando Valley yesterday reached 115 and all other conversation has taken a back seat to discussions of global warming and the cost of running air conditioning.
Thankfully I don't have to wear a suit and tie to work so I don't have to suffer as much as your typical corporate drone, but I guess that is why they get paid the big bucks. In any case life goes on, if at a slower or more languid pace. In this weather I would love to spend the day lounging at some beachside bar like Cafe del Mar, just relaxing and watching the world go by.

On a day like today I think it is fully appropriate to dedicate a tune to a classic 70s R&B/Disco band, especially since their very name evokes the times. Here is Heatwave with their classic Star of the Story off their album Central Heating.

Heatwave - Star of the Story

In addition here is a track most of you probably already know from disco comps and the movies, Heatwave doing Boogie Nights



...and just to see if anyone makes it this far into the post I am going to embed one of my greatest finds this year down here at the bottom. Last night while trawling through the boards at ILM I discovered this unreal resource. Cocoon, Sven Vath's tech label, has a site up dedicated to exploring the Cocoon lifestyle called Cocoon Styled. There are pictures from events, streaming sets, and perhaps most importantly tons of incredible dj sets available for download. I just pulled off a set of Villalobos at Voltt from earlier this year that is better than any commercially available set of his I have ever heard. There are sets there from Luciano, Vath, and many more of the names many of us have come to know and love. Check it out.

Thomas Schumacher

I have been sitting on this track for almost a month now. I purchased it pretty much on a whim, just listening to tunes wanting something that would remind me of how devestated Body Language left me last summer. After buying it I initially put it to the side because I realized that I was also a little tired of that electro one riff sound.

Still, the desire for a summer anthem has not left me. I even briefly considered making my first trip to Ibiza just to satisfy that need. The need for complete abandon, hands in the air dancing satisfaction is particularly strong with me recently. Maybe its because its been so long since I had a truely life affirming dancefloor experience. I think the last time it happened was when I saw Michael Mayer and Reinhardt Voight in Nov of 2003. Time flies...


However, traveling to Ibiza is ridiculously expensive and duty calls. So as we all should, I am going to try and make my own little piece of heaven here now. This heaven is going to be built one track at a time and in the hands of a skilled dj this track by Thomas Schumacher would be close to the summit in an escstatic set.

Thomas Schumacher - High on You(from his album Home)

Here is a little something from earlier in his career that has a bit more of an acid feel to it.

Pier Bucci

I know that most of you seem to hate it when I post video. People come here expecting free tunes and a little unobtrusive commentary with a sprinkling of spelling and grammatical mistakes. So I am really trying to reign it in.
Seriously.
But what can I do when youtube just keeps throwing me these gifts. Pier Bucci's album still moves me and after investing in some new speakers recently I can hear the ridiculous amount of detail and clarity his music has. This is all to say that I am posting more video.
This is Pier Bucii - L'nuit



Oh and if you have a chance give some cash to a worthwhile art project. Square3's film "Speaking in Code" is going to be phenomenal when it is released and might just be the closest I ever get to seeing some of the artists I love. Check it out.

For the love of Minimal

I have been dwelling on the eclectic for a while now, stretching out and letting the effects of the strong Southern California climate affect my musical direction. Its not as if I haven't been stockpiling tracks away and listening to them as they randomly pepper my day through the magic of the ipod, its just that climate influences mood and thus musical preference. When I think of most minimal I imagine Berlin in the winter. Coming in out of the cold into a dark sweaty space where the music is pumping and the people are grinding.

In my stockpiling I have continued to have love for the relatively new label Mobilee. Legend is that they rocked the house at their Sonar event and largely dominated the proceedings. Their intriguing blend of deep minimal techno/house certainly keeps me checking back on their progress.

Exerecise One's Flight Cancelled is a deep dark burner that is loaded with bass and heavy synth lines.

Exercise One - Flight Cancelled

I have championed Pan Pot on here before but I see no reason to stop a good thing. This track has been with me since late last year but continues to show up in the mixes I throw together for myself.

Pan Pot - Black Current

As an added bonus I found this clip from youtube of a forthcoming release by Sleeper Thief called Full of You.

Whirlpool Roductions/Justus Kohncke

Justus Kohncke was one of the first artists to really draw me into Kompakt. His blend of techno and unashamed heartfelt pop was just so exciting. He really new how to make a banging track as well. I had read about his first band Whirlpool Productions but never heard anything before stumbling on this at Youtube. Odd how similar it sounds to a lot of the edits coming out in 2006.

Justus Kohncke - 2 after 909

Justus Kohncke - How long has this been going on
(update: Oops according to Mr. Carnage from Tape this is actually Lipps Inc. doing "How Long" still a corker though and if you have heard any of Kohncke's disco homages you know he took influence)

Justus Kohncke - Station 18

His remix for Hot Chip's Over and Over last year really set me off. It became kind of a mantra around my house. "Over and over like a monkey with a cymbal the joy of repitition is really upon me!"

So what

So what - Miles Davis

Close the window when I roll the indo

Disco not Disco

Feeling a little under the weather today. Stuck in the house with a summer cold while the weather outside is scorching is no fun. Everytime I have to leave the house I feel like I am going to tip over.

Ugh. So its time to explore the tunes I haven't gotten to in ages. This time period of early 80s electro disco is awesome. I wouldn't define it as post punk exactly, athough it certainly was influenced by some of those sounds. More like disjointed disco. The rhythms are not really straight ahead but are still propulsive and the choices in sounds are harsh and in many cases untreated.

Alexander Robotnik is probably one of the better known names on here. His classic, Problemes de Amour, used to rock the dancefloor in one of the little clubs I went to in my hometown pretty relentlessly. Sandwiched between Duran Duran and the Cure it made for a pretty interesting clubbing experience.

Alexander Robotnik - Problemes D'Amour

Connie Case's "Get Down" was a one time excursion for Noel Williams who went on to produce Miami Bass and electro. Classic Track.

Connie Case - Get Down

Top Five

I haven't made anything resembling a favorites list or top of the pops chart in ages. These are a few of the songs that have me coming back for more.

1)Anthony Rother - Gott
This brutal stomper from late last year just jumped on my radar and I have been abusing it relentlessly recently. Rother has been the undisputed master of German electro for years but recenly has been making tracks with Sven Vath for Coccoon. "Springlove," a collaboration just released by the duo, has been sticking with me as well.

2)Rene & Angela - I love you more (Mr. K Instrumental)
This is by far one of the greatest of the many disco edits I have been jamming to recently. How far it deviates from the original I have no idea. Originally scored off of the incredible bumrocks site, this has turned into one of my favorite summer jams.

3)Nelly Furtado - Maneater (Radioslave remix)
Never thought I would see the day the Nelly Furtado would make my top songs but this remix by Radioslave aka Rekid is tops. The booty shaking backbeat is perfect.

4)David Bowie - Sons of the Silent Age
Still working my way throught the Bowie back catalog. Heroes is an odd album in comparison to those that have come before it. It makes sense when compared to the previous Low but still, Bowie was out there charting his own course in the late 70s.

5)Idjut Boys - A Place Called Tarot (Idjut Boys Re-edit)
Groovy dubby disco is the sound of summer. This track and Sizzle by Goat Dance rock. Is it the summer of Beardo Disco?

Dreams

Some nights as I lie down to go to sleep I find that my mind is not quite as ready to drop off as the clock would suggest. Everything is taken care of, I have watched adult swim and capped it off with a late night dose of the Simpsons but my normal routine doesn't seem to be enough for my brain to shut down with.
As I lay there thinking, drifting, I go over the day's events trying to determine if I made good choices or not and then likely as not listening to music in my head. I examine songs I love, searching for personal meaning and how things connect from one movement or genere to the next.
Last night I got caught up in the possible connections between Neil Young and the Sex Pistols for a while before drifting on to more etheral concerns. A recent book I read called "The Dark Stuff" by Nick Kent provided some of the glue that connected my mental ramblings. He interviewed and discussed the work of various "Dark Artists" working in the rock genere. All the usual suspects appeared, Iggy, Sid Vicious, Kurdt. The twin jewels of the book were a pair chapters on Brian Wilson and Roy Orbison.

I recently started "getting" the Beach Boys, especially now that I know how dark the story is behind those uplifting melodies and gentle harmonies. Orbison is someone I have always had a fondness for. In the interview he seems plain spoken and unpretentious. He came across as an artist that thought deeply about his work and its context while never making himself out to be any more than just another man. Profoundly refreshing.

Roy Orbison - In Dreams

The Beach Boys - God Only Knows

The Beach Boys - Caroline No

The Beach Boys - Wouldn't It Be Nice

Paradise

This Rhino Records comp on the left called "The Larry Levan Story" looks a bit cheezy. At first glance it appears to be nothing more than an extremely well timed release to coincide with the resurgance in interest in disco edits and the culture itself. I have been crazy for the stuff myself and I am particularly interested in the time just after what this comp documents. I love the disco, but I am really wanting to hear what Levan did with the harder electronic sound of the early to mid 80s. Maybe what I am really looking for is the Ron Hardy sound, but I digress.
This comp is actually pretty cool. The Sister Sledge track I am posting is one of my favorite tracks this year and it has pushed me to go back over the Nile Rodgers catalog in search of other delights (he is the producer). The inclusion of a Yaz track also made me happy. In my Texas hometown Yaz was huge (sounds weird to write that but new wave gay culture penetrated deep into redneck south Texas) in the mid eighties and the track gave me waves of nostalgia.

Sister Sledge - Lost in Music

Yaz - Situation

and here is an extra Yaz track that warped my young teenage mind.

Yaz - I Before E Except After C

That track and New Order's - Elegia made me think outside of the box as to what music could be. I just remember sitting in my room with headphones on and digging on the pan and layered effects of both of those tracks.

Merle Haggard

From the man that sang Oakie From Muskogee over thirty years ago, which became an anthem for the "Silent Majority" against the 60s flower children, comes some interesting thoughts about life in today's United States:

You had a duet out this year with Gretchen Wilson called "Politically Uncorrect." The lyrics go, "Nothing wrong with the Bible, nothing wrong with the flag, nothing wrong with the working man." That doesn’t seem to be particularly controversial or politically incorrect.
Yeah, but what is nowadays? Everybody’s twisted around. Freedom ain’t free no more. What America was and what America is is a totally absolutely different country.

It’s a different country now compared to when and what?
Fifty years ago there was as much freedom in San Quentin as there is in the streets of New York today, with obvious exceptions. You’re just as likely to have a police officer throw down on you with a .30-30 [rifle] in New York as you are in San Quentin.

There was certainly a lot more political music a generation ago than there is today. And your songs have always had a bit of a political edge. Do you see music as political force or tool?
I wrote songs like “The Fightin’ Side of Me,” “Okie from Muskogee,” “Are the Good Times Really Over”—several different politically oriented things. I’m actually not afraid to do things of that nature nowadays, but my wife and family are. You have to take seriously one’s wife who says “I know you’re not afraid, but consider me and the family. Please don’t say those things.” That is how much we’ve changed in this country. If you do something like Springsteen did, they’re liable to come and bring the IRS in on you. That’s the absolute truth, and everyone knows it.

Read the whole thing.

A Guy Called Gerald

I can't begin to do justice to the influence this guy has had on techno, drum and bass, and electronica in this little post. Suffice it to say that he was there at the beginning of the acid house sound in England, writing tracks that made the Hacienda the legendary club that it has become. He was also a founding member of 808 state and after working with them on their first couple of albums went on to inspire entire genere's with his solo albums.

Recently he has moved to Berlin and joined in the minimal crusade to overtake the universe. I am going to post a few tracks from his many albums ending with his most recent minimal anthem. Study and enjoy.

A Guy Called Gerald - Vodoo Ray (arguably one of the first acid house tracks produced in UK)

A Guy Called Gerald - Cybergen (from Black Secret Technology)

A Guy Called Gerald - Fever(or a Flame)(feat. Wendy Page) from the album Essence

A Guy Called Gerald - Time to Jak (off his most recent Sender Records 12") killer track

Gong

I have kind of a strange personal history attached to Gong and more specifically System 7 (who were former members of Gong). Long ago and far away in London I used to hang around a certain record studio where Steve Hillage and Miquette Giraudy did some work and on occassion would hang out.

I have one memory that stands out in particular of doing a party at the nearby Brixton Academy and then retiring to Butterfly to chill out. Mixmaster Morris manned the decks in the house and wouldn't let anyone else close while Hillage, Giraudy, Youth, and the usual cast and crew rolled up and chatted as a rare beautiful English morning unfolded outside. Glorious times.

In any case, having met Hillage and Giraudy I always wondered about the music they created under Gong but not really having the temperment to explore Prog rock at that time remained fairly ignorant of their accomplishments. Fast forward 8 or 9 years and I discovered this track online. Coming off of Delia & Gavin's last album I was very receptive to the arpeggiated sequence that starts the track and was finally moved enough this weekend to buy the whole thing.

Gong - A Sprinkling of Clouds

"A market system has not worked in terms of poor people,"

In a time where most political maneuvering is done to increase the wealth of a select group of already wealthy men and women, this view is refreshing in its reaffirmation of America being the land where everyone can have the chance to pull themselves up by their own bootstraps without the ceiling of an aristocracy (inherited by birth or wealth).

In regards to his decision to donate 31 billion to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Warren Buffet the world's second richest man has said:

A market system has not worked in terms of poor people," Mr. Buffett said yesterday, in an interview taped earlier in the day for "The Charlie Rose Show" on PBS.

As for any thought he might have had in giving the bulk of his billions to his three children, Mr. Buffett was characteristically blunt. "I don't believe in dynastic wealth," he said, calling those who grow up in wealthy circumstances "members of the lucky sperm club."

Its refreshing to read something nice in the business section.

Minilogue

Now this is really odd. I picked up a few tracks this weekend including this euphoric builder from Minilogue. I had been hearing good things about them for a while and already had their "Girl from Botany Bay" single. As I am doing some more research on them I discover that they are from Sweden and that in a previous incarnation they were known as Son Kite (check out some of their mixes under other stuff).

Now most people don't know this but Sweden was the home of a HUGE Psy Trance scene during the late 90s and early 00s and Son Kite was one of their biggest exports. I find it funny that they have moved in a progressive/minimal direction (appearing on Traum no less) because I have been trying to convince one of my old PsyTrance mates, Richard, to put out some music in this direction.
Seems as if these guys saw the connection even before I did.

Check out the track though. It is a long smooth builder that will put hands in the air and fits the glorious sunshine that has been peeking through the fog here recently.

Minilogue - The Leopard

Drone

The first stop on the link bar to the right goes to aquarius records, an entity I came across online but which resides in the Mission District of San Francisco. The diversity of their music is only surpassed by their reluctance to embrace techno as an art form. Thus, I have a bit of a love hate relationship with the shop. They have turned me on to tons of cool stuff on one hand and then gone on to slag personal hero's such as Justus Kohnke on the other (more on him on an upcoming post).

One of my first discoveries through Aquarius was this band The Blithe Sons. Obsessed with ambient sound, much of their work is recorded on location along the coast of Northern California. Various acoustic and local sound sources are recorded and occassionally processed to create a hypnotic drone based music. A friend i forwarded some of their work to compared it to a "blasted soundscape," which just might be what I find soothing.

The Blithe Sons - Sea Glass

Dusty

Classic album. Lush orchestration, a beautiful voice along with the analog recording process of the time combine to form a beautiful whole. Son of a Preacher Man is probably the most well known track off this album but there are plenty more great nuggets to choose from.

Dusty Springfield - Windmills of Your Mind

Dusty Springfield - I Don't Want to Hear it Anymore

angelic

angelic
Originally uploaded by mezzaluna arcana.

Sometimes Flickr is a delight. The more I explore this resource the more convinced I am of its wonderfulness.

...and now for something completely different

Recently my mind has been wandering from its usual dance based moorings in search of hooks and choruses to chant along to. Nothing like screaming out songs from your youth to make you feel tribal again.

Big Boys came from close to my original neck of the woods, Austin, Texas. I grew up a little further south but when possible we always drove up to the weirdo capital of Texas to catch live shows and bask in the atmosphere of a truely liberated town.

These guys played a hardcore based rock and roll that also took influeces from funk and whatever else caught their attention at the time. Here are a few songs that take me back to high school and driving around town with nothing better to do than drink and sing along.

Big Boys - Hollywood Swinging

Big Boys - Fun Fun Fun

Big Boys - Sound on Sound

Sahko

If you have been loving on SleepArchive spare a little thought to his predecessors. In interviews he often mentions the debt he owes to the Sahko label. In particular to Mika Vaino of Pan sonic, who previously recorded under the name OM or Ø.
If you listen to some of the tracks off this album, Tulkinta, you can hear the references that come up so often in the language of minimalism today.
Check out Boomkat's article on Sahko and what label founder Tommi Gronlund has to say about the recent resurgance in interest in minimalism.

Ø - Helium

Ø - Atomit

M_nus

I have been waiting for this compilation with baited breath (that was a lame choice of words, lets just say I was excited) and thus far it has not disappointed. The sound of min2max is, as the name implies, strictly minimal. Stripped down rhythms and finely tuned sound design make up the stock and trade of this album. Since my first introduction to techno the aphorism "do more with less" has alway struck me as highly appropriate. Like a painter who, only using the barest brush strokes, is able to suggest more than is actually there minimal techno functions best when it is suggestive rather than leading.

This particular track by Loco Dice best exemplifies this aesthetic on this compilation. A stripped down groove is the basis for the track which over time is added to and expanded bit by bit till before you know it you are jacking. Listen and enjoy.
Chantilly Bass is hosting another incredible and maybe even more vital track from this compilation over at her blogspot address. Sample the joy and then purchase.

Loco Dice - Orchidee

The Orchids

From the album Dreams less Sweet
Psychic Tv - The Orchids

Shoes at Undefeated

Shoes at Undefeated
Originally uploaded by hector.

This has nothing particularly to do with music other than they were playing what sounded like ragga at time I walked into the shop. This has more to do with my increasing facination with sneakers. Although I have not started standing in line to purchase the latest limited run of nike's, I find the culture facinating. The consumerism is so pure. It almost makes us record collectors look like pikers in comparison.

This is really the entirety of the store as well. The other wall is blank and is about 5 feet to the right of the end of the picture. The utilitarianism of the shop also reminds me a lot of a record store. In particular the new shop Turntable Lab on Fairfax has an almost identical set up with records lining the walls as opposed to shoes.

Digging

One nice thing about being a packrat, (or at least as much of one as my wife will allow me to be) , is that when the inspiration strikes you can go digging throught the collection for precursors and influences. That compilation on the left was released around 1995. Ifach was a label run by Baby Ford who was already almost a decade into his musical career by the time this came out. Ford's style by this time had already evolved into a strain of dark minimalism that would be an example for today's minimal scene. In fact, Perlon records was founded by one of his early collaborators, Zip.

Ifach Vol.1 collects the early 12"s released on his legendary label by Ford himself as well as a who's who of English techno. Ed & Andy from Plaid do a number of tracks under the alias EcoTourist and Mark Broom contributes a few tracks, as well as collaborations with Ford.

The packaging resembles nothing so much as a contemporary cdr. The artwork is photocopied and the sleeve is a flimsy piece of plasticine. Still to a budding explorer this cd was a monumental find. Along with Sahko Records output and Rob Hood's work on Tresor and M-Plant, the mid 90s provided many chances for mind expanding alternative views of what Techno could be.

Baby Ford - Dead Eye

06/06/06

Hey today only comes around once a millenium so lets give the devil his due. The most recent thing I have read on this subject, (which is contained in the wikipedia entry connected to the title of this post), says that 666 is actually a numerlogical reference to the Roman Emperor Nero who prosecuted the minority Christian community so vociferously during his reign. Therefore, hell was itself an analogy for the Roman Empire. Not exactly METAL but interesting.
All historical research aside the devil and by extension horror has made for some great tunes. Today we will celebrate The National Day of Slayer and throw in a few other choice cuts to keep things interesting.
First off the classic:

Slayer - Reign in Blood

Then from a slightly different perspective of the devil is Dies Irae. They see the devil as a contrarian rebel in heaven. Lucifer as the light bringer. The style is all over the place but very satisfying. Blues/Rock/Progressive/Krautrock etc...

Dies Irae - Lucifer

Finally, one of my all time favorite bands, The Misfits, who don't really belong here but I have been looking for an excuse to post one of their songs, so here is.

The Misfits - Night of the Living Dead

PSA

Just for your info.
Never thought I would be reccomending a purchase of mixmag, but last month's issue had a top mix cd by Hawtin on it. The tracklisting is as follows:

1	2000 & One	Leaf 2
2	Cosmic Sandwich	Man In A Box (André Kraml Remix)
		Remix - André Kraml
3	Sleeparchive	ACD-Voice
4	Shane Berry	For A Moment
5	Audio Werner	Trust
6	Heartz4	Intimacy Girl (Someone Else Remix)
		Remix - Someone Else (2)
7	Tadeo	Granade Granate
8	Troy Pierce	25 Bitches (Gaiser's Too Many Bitches Makeover)
		Remix - Gaiser
9	Fraktion	This Fever Works
10	Marc Lansley & Falko Brocksieper	Popa Wheely
11	Sebo K	Horizons
12	Alex Under	El Encuentro
13	LocoDice	Seeing Through Shadows

Its a great mix for the cost of the magazine and it has a nice continuity to it. After hearing the last few mixes by Hawtin I expected something more fractured and intellectual but this is a great mix for just dancing to, without any particularly weighty intellectual thought process behind it. Is techno becoming more hedonistic? Perhaps the crossovers that have been happening betwee house/techno/electro have born more fruit than simply new songs. Maybe the respective mindsets have expanded? Next thing you know Basic Channel are going to release a straight up jacking track. We shall see.

I particularly liked the 25 Bitches remix on this mix and the last three tracks. Alex Under has been killing it recently. The Untitled track on Multiplicaciones is awesome as well. In fact what the hell, lets start the week off with some techno.

Alex Under - Untitled

Trance, is it part of your shameful past?

The Age of Love: "The Age of Love (Watch Out for Stella Club Mix)" (1990) fromClassic Acid (Moonshine)
Michael Mayer: [Hi-hat kicks in.] Ah, I know it. It's old. Yeah, that's a fucking classic; it used to be so big here in Cologne. You'd drop it at a party, and people would freak out. It was one of the biggest anthems for the Cologne gay scene. The first years of techno here—'91, '92, '93—the gay community was much heavier involved into the club and techno here in Cologne. When I hear this, I always remember the times when clubs like Space Club were on and all the cute gay guys with their slim dresses [laughs].

Last week I was going on about Gabriel Ananda and Dominik Eulberg's influences and how they identified strongly with the eye-q sound of Sven Vath. After doing a bit of rooting around in my collection in pursuit of something that would show a direct connection I realized that I had it a bit off. The eye-q sound was harder and faster than their more recent interpretations of trance, but ole Jam & Spoon were right on the money. If you were going out in those heady days of the early 90s you no doubt heard this tune.

Listen to the sounds used, particularly in the intro. Crystalline sounds that jump out of the speakers with a metronomic pulse around 120-125bpm. If you stripped out some of the pads and the vocal chorus I would be totally unsuprised to hear this on the dancefloor today.

What is really cool about today's dance scene is the way that the ghettos of genere's from previous years have been breaking down. Dance started off very eglatarian in the fact that there were only so many tunes, so you had to play a number of styles in order to get through the night. The 90s saw genere's get so compartmentalized that there was actual animosity between scenes and little music from one genere got played in the clubs or rave's of another. Today if you flip through mixmag its hard to say what belongs in the house section or the techno section and nights spring up that play everything from dubstep to disco in the span of a night.

Anyway, enjoy the music and have a great weekend.

The Age of Love: "The Age of Love (Watch Out for Stella Club Mix)

Disco

Be careful what you ask for brothers and sisters because you just might get it. Thanks to a fortuitous string of events I have been inundated with high quality tunes and disco information. The other day on ILM I made an off hand comment about how much I have been enjoying Mr. Terje's music, as anyone who has been reading here knows. Lo and behold a kind and generous stranger reached out to me through the miricle of YSI and sent me two large loads of his reedits. I am still trying to get my head around all of those tunes when I discovered this incredible treasure thanks to Dave over at 33/45. Upon further investigation Jaime at Daughters of Invention turned me (and anyone else who reads the blog) on to 3 free downloads from the Quiet Village project.

Whew! Well all that has my head spinning. Some days are better than others on the internet and yesterday was a treat.

Here for your pleasure are a couple of the tracks I just recieved. I try not to post stuff I haven't paid for, but seeing as I have never seen this stuff for sale anywhere I won't feel too bad.

Chaka Khan - Fate (tangoterje edit)

Issac Hayes - Zeke the Freak (todd terje rekutt)

(Update: The kind stranger from ILM was Jacob Sanders. Cheers mate!)

Alden Tyrell

Due to an infatuation with Todd Terje and a host of other recent new disco music makers, I have started diverting my attention from straight techno and minimal to this revived art form. Alden Tyrell approaches disco from its 80s incarnation as Italo House. The beats are more pumping and the sound distinctly electronic, yet it still has a wistfullness for the groove and the disco ball. Its easy to see how Italo could go on to spawn genere's as diverse as EBM and trance once the gay euphoric elements are removed and all that is left is the sense of futurism and the relentless beat.
This track is off the recently released compilation of his work for Clone Records. Times Like These compiles his releases from 1999-2006 on one convenient package.

Alden Tyrell - Knockers


How can you not like a guy with all that gear and a giant robot on top?

Cluster

In a somewhat different vein from the minimalism and maximalism that has dominated my posts recently, I bring you Cluster. Sometimes grouped in with the Krautrock movement in Germany, I find the tag kosmische music more appropriate. In my limited understanding of German I believe it better describes the ambient tendencies these guys had in contrast to the metronomic insistance of most krautrock. In any case, Cluster went through many periods from pure ambient noise to an almost dub influenced sound. Cluster also had many illustrious collaborators. They worked with Michael Rother from Neu on a project called Harmonia and with Eno on a series of albums during his Berlin period (which was around the time he worked with Bowie on Low).

Cluster - Im Suden (from Cluster II)

Cluster - Hollywood (from a great Tigersushi comp called More MGM which also has Maurice Fulton and Metro Area) Update: {This file got weird and I had to remove it, sorry.}

Oh Fuck

This is going to be a tease but damn what a good tease. I just heard that Carl Craig and Basic Channel did remixes for the latest Rhythm & Sound 12." Since I have been ranting on Craig's greatness recently I was dying to check it out. So far all I have found are these snippets from Hard Wax, but damn if they don't sound good. The Craig track sounds like jacking dub(?) and the Basic reshape sounds positively epic.

Poor People Must Work - Rhythm & Sound (Carl Craig Remix)

See Mi Version - Rhythm & Sound (Basic Reshape)

Try your local record emporium or click on the Hard Wax link up above to order direct. So far I have not found them for sale as digital tracks.

Nathan Fake

I just wanted everyone to know that they could do a lot worse than picking up the latest album by Nathan Fake. Drowning in a Sea of Love has been a continual joy for a couple of weeks now and I will do my best to throw a few tracks on here soon. I had initially had expectations of it being Ulrich Schnaussy but it is so much more than that. This boy really loved My Bloody Valentine and not just the pretty parts either, some of that album had dense guitar work that was actually kind of heavy and this shares some of those moments.

Peace

Gabriel Ananda & Cio D'or

Well, its a rainy morning here in LA, but listening to this you would never know it. I have been coming around to Ananda's interpretation of house/techno for a while now. It is very similar to Dominik Eulberg's expansive interpretation of what techno can be. I remember reading somewhere that Eulberg was directly influenced by Sven Vath in the mid 90s and wanted to reinterpret that sound for today's dancefloor. Discogs says that Ananada had a similar experience with Vath and his tracks have many of the hallmarks of that mid 90s trance sound particularly the build and heavy use of melody. The difference is all in the bpm. The sound today is noticably slowed down and given more room so that a groove is allowed to develop, in contrast to the Eye Q stuff that is between 10 and 20 bpm faster.

This track is a collaboration with Cio D'or on the ace triebstoff records imprint. The 12" is a single sided vinyl with a textured back that is signed by both artists. Have at it collector scum!

Gabriel Ananda & Cio D'or - Lauschgoldengel