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".
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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!"
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
If you like what you hear, hate it, or are an artist who is offended that I have given them some free advertising and want me to take something down, email me at hector2332 at hotmail dot com.
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. 
