Monday, December 04, 2006

HI-NRG personal collection



This week I decided to post a few of the rarities from my own vinyl collection. These are all the kind of thing you play late on a dark sunday night for people who know they should be at work tomorrow, but don't really want to let go of the weekend yet. I bought both of these records in a stack off of Brick Lane by my flat one day and had never heard of this. It's a varient of Il Veliero, a great italo disco number by the Chaplin Band. It's taken from the compilation pictured above and I can't find any detail about this track or find it for sale anywhere.


Lama - Love On The Rocks



The next two tracks are somewhere better known but also great hi-nrg taken from the compilation featured above which was part of this great collection I bought on Brick Lane. I think they are special remixes for this compilation, but don't really know.


Simone - Him / My Man Must Be American

Sylvester - Trouble In Paradise

Friday, December 01, 2006




Electro's great, baile funk's great, indie punk/rock whatever is great. But none of it sounds this fresh.
EDIT: sorry the masalacism link above is finished, but here is the next great kuduro mix (video in new page).
LOOOOOVE it.


Edit - some Kuduro-ish I like.


Bowungakanani? w Msawawa

Luky Gomes - (baka) zeze e toto kuduro remix

Tchutchuca (kuduro mix)

You can buy some of these tracks and the Sweetie My Lovely on the Calabash music website.

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Hit Mix 86 - continuous mix of 1986 hits



I probably chose to post this mostly because of the design of the cover. I do love 80's groove, but most of these tracks are a bit too cheesy for me. And unfortunately, each track doesn't last very long. But for a good image of 1986 charts, it's quite excellent. I particularly like the moment where Colonel Abrams' Trapped mixes into The Whispers' And the Beat Goes On. I have listed at the bottom of this post mp3s for some of the tracks I prefer from this mix as standalone tracks.

Side A Mix
1 Sly Fox-Let’s Go All The Way
2 Nik Kershaw-Wouldn’t It Be Good
3 Paul Hardcastle-Don’t Waste My Time
4 Amazulu-Too Good To Be Forgotten
5 Princess-Say I’m Your Number One
6 Belouis Some-Imagination
7 Thompson Twins-You Take me Up
8 Samantha Fox-Touch Me, (I want your body)
9 Baltimora-Tarzan Boy
10 Kate Bush-Running Up That Hill
11 David Grant & Jaki Graham-Could It Be I’m Falling In Love
12 Kajagoogoo-Too Shy
13 Nik Kershaw-I Won’t Let the Sun Go Down On Me
14 Shalamar-A Night To Remember
15 David Grant-Watching You, Watching Me
16 Phil Fearon-I Can Prove It
17 Paul Hardcastle-Just For Money
18 Break Machine-Street Dance
19 MC Miker ‘G’ and DJ Sven-Holiday, (rap)
20 Boris Gardner-I Want To Wake Up With You
21 Latin Quarter-Radio Africa

Side B Mix
1 Ruby Turner-If You’re Ready, (come go with me)
2 Wally Badarou-Chief Inspector
3 The Real Roxanne with Hitman Howie Tee-Bang Zoom, (let’s go go)
4 Whistle- (nothin’serious), - Just Buggin’
5 Change-Let’s Get Together
6 Kenny G-What Does It Take, (to win your love)
7 Run DMC-King of Rock
8 Midnight Star-Headlines
9 The Real Thing-Can’t Get By Without You
10 Jaki Graham-Set Me Free
11 Skipworth & Turner-Thinking About Your Love
12 B B & Q Band-Dreamer
13 Rah Band-Clouds Across the Moon
14 Grace Jones-Pull Up To the Bumper
15 The Real Thing-You To Me Are Everything, (remix)
16 Millie Scott-Prisoner of Love
17 Aretha Franklin-Who’s Zoomin’ Who
18 The Three Degrees-The Heaven I Need
19 Pointer Sisters-Automatic
20 Colonel Abrams-Trapped
21 Whispers-And the Beat Goes On
22 Colonel Abrams-I’m Not Gonna Let You
23 Dhar Braxton-Jump Back


I would love to post The Real Thing - Can't Get By Without You if anyone wants to send it to me.

And another treat not from the mix that is in a similar vein (from 1988) which I just discovered:

Womack & Womack - Teardrops (Jeansbjorn & Fisken mix)

Thursday, November 09, 2006

Drop Acid - private mixtape

Also found in the Dalston Oxfam Shop tape bin some time back but I didn't record till now because unfortunately one side of the cassette is mono, it only works in one channel. But I went back to it recently and realized I really am feeling this sound right now so I posted the one side that sounds ok.

This is a private mixtape done by someone probably very late 80's maybe early 90's and there's no tracklisting but it's someone in the comments put the following tracklisting (thanks).



Good life (one of the mixes on the US 12") - inner city
work it to the bone - LNR
----?----
in the name of love - swan lake (champion) 
pump up london - mr lee
Acid Man - Jolly Roger 
Ride the Rhythm - This Ain't Chicago
---?---
can u party - royal house (champion)
---?---
keep me hangin on - kim wilde (?)
Illusion - R-Tyme

But the most bangin of all is the Jolly Roger - Acid Man track.  I can't believe after all this time that it's not even available on the US itunes store.

Listen to the whole thing as it gets much better about 3/4 way through. This obviously done by the same people who did this earlier Acieed cassette I posted. If anyone has any info on who did these, I'd love to know.


Side ? - Drop Acid mix


Clip of Jolly Roger - Acid Man from mix.


Also, I'm into ghetto tech right now and have been djing this lately. Here it is as requested by various friends.


High Powered Boys - Hoes Get Down


A good bit of the tracklisting is in the comments below.

Thursday, November 02, 2006

Street Jams Electric Funk Part 4

Guest Post!!

I was on the hollertronix bulletin board discussing various views I had on hardcore, et cetera, and a guy called Steve PMX got in touch with me (this is he) about the excellent loveliness of my blog and we started shooting the shit and then . . . boom. He's hosting a guest post on my blog!! Mostly I decided to let him post a cassette because he had this gif on his myspace.


He's a back in the day throwin parties from DC (as in crack mayor DC) kind of guy and has a radio here. So here's his selection and writeup.




Street Jams - Electric Funk - Part 4 (Rhino Records 1994)
This silly looking Rhino tape comp fully represents the underestimated magic of the 99c tape bin. Most people walk right by these tape bins, but there are gems to be found once you take a second to dig through the membrane of Meat Loaf and Joan Jett tapes on the surface. It's called Street Jams, and it's basically a VERY quirky compilation of dope 80s Freestyle/Electro/Pop(?) tracks created for the neon-lit 80s nightclubs and cardboard on the streets/sidewalks alike.

I was too young to experience the neon nightclubs, but I *definitely* remember the ghetto blasters and street dancers on cardboard mats in the early-mid 80s. One day in particular that stands out is going to see Breakin' 2 in some movie theater in Washington DC when I was 8 years old. Went with my mum and older brother, and after the movie let out I remember seeing this mad scene on the streets with tons of kids breakin on cardboard mats - battling and shit. It was so surreal and like "futuristic" - in retrospect I'm convinced that particular day dictated the direction my life/musical obsession would eventually follow. So without going too deep, this tape brings that feeling back when I hear it. Standout tracks for me are both the Freestyle joints, 'Rock The Planet' by Megatrons, 'Computer Power' by Jamie Jupitor [aka Egyptian Lover] and 'Dance' also by Egyptian Lover. 'Dance' kinda reminds me of Skinny Puppy a little, as far as the percussion and moody synths in the production. I've always seen a big link between Electro/Freestyle and Industrial music, and you can really hear the similarities here.

'White Horse' by Laid Back (pictures above) is another great tune on this compilation, which apparently got alot of support from Prince (weird); and 'Technicolor' by Channel One [aka Juan Atkins/Cybotron] gets points for paving the way for 'Baby Got Back' 6 years later (peep first 16 bars)....

Side A

1 Freestyle Don't Stop The Rock (5:29)
2 Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam with Full Force I Wonder If I Take You Home (Extended Version) (6:40)
3 Laid Back White Horse (5:43)
4 Connie Rock Me (5:23)
5 The Megatrons Rock The Planet (6:21)
6 Jamie Jupitor Computer Power (6:57)

Side B

1 Channel One Technicolor (Long Mix) (6:48)
2 ABC How To Be A Zillionaire (Wall Street Mix) (7:32)
3 Egyptian Lover Dance (5:31)
4 Freestyle It's Automatic (5:51)
5 World Class Wreckin' Cru Juice (6:39)
6 L.A. Dream Team Rockberry Jam (5:14)

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

Star Taxi Music 3 - 1988 South African taxi pop





Have you ever taken a minicab in London and loved the music playing and asked the taxi driver if you could buy it off them? I have.

In the bins at Dalston Oxfam Shop this week I discovered two tapes made by SABTA, the South African Black Taxi Association. I can't find virtually any information about them on the net, but they are musical compilations made of mostly South African pop from 1988 interspersed with some hilarious ads and commentary, intended for taxi drivers to play for their passengers during rides. This is not just irony in action, however. Some of the tunes are really great and this cassette and music will not appear anywhere on ebay or the net. I think my favorite track on here is Siyaya E Jerusalema by the Holy Spirits Choir, but also very good are Money by Splash and Ushukela Mningi Lapha by Ashiko. But you have to listen to some of the interludes as well.

This post was featured on BBC6 on 26 Oct. :)

Side A
(download all of Side A in one file here)

Interlude 1
Splash - Money
Interlude 2

Brenda Fassie - Party Time
Interlude 3
Sox - Don't Call Me
Interlude 4

Kamazu - Ju Ju Lady
Interlude 5 (interview with Rebecca)
Rebecca - Cheated
Interlude 6
Alexander O'Neal - Criticize
Interlude 7
The Jets - I Do You
Interlude 8
Mordillo - Cry Peter Tosh
Interlude 9
Peter Tosh - Equal Rights
Interlude 10
Coyote - Who's the Lord of the House
Interlude 11
Holy Spirits Choir - Siyaya E Jerusalema
Interlude 12
Vusi Shangi - Remake the World

Side B

Interlude 1
Chimora - Some More My Cherry
Interlude 2
Ashiko - Ushukela Mningi Lapha
Interlude 3
New Taxi - Don't Play with Fire
Interlude 4
Pat Shange - Undecided Divorce Case
Senyaka - Jordaan
Interlude 5
Gladys Knight & The Pips - Love Overboard
Interlude 6
Umoja - Money Money
Interlude 7
United Congregational Church Choir - He's the Only Way
Pure Gold - La Hao Le Teng
Interlude 8
Mr. D & the G Men - She Doesn't Live Here Any More
Interlude 9
Bibi Nsomi - What Kind of Love is This?
Interlude 10
The Rockets - Everlasting Love

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

HOST PROBLEMS

VERY SORRY.
I had problems with my file host and had to get a new account. In the meantime, all files have been taken down and I will have to re-upload in the next day or so. But keep your eyes open because I will be posting a compilation of South African pop prepared for Taxi drivers in the next few days.

Tuesday, September 26, 2006

Ivo Papasov and his Bulgarian Wedding Band


Ivo Papasov supposedly goes around playing up to three real weddings a week. And he is supposedly the most famous Bulgarian musician as a result.

I have been intrigued by Bulgaria for some time now. My interest in jumpy quick bouncy music, such as klezmer music and gypsy fun and related ska and indie stuff has been growing over the last few years (trust me to always follow new bandwagons slavishly). I found this cassette in the bin and had to record it because we also have the vinyl at home and have been listening to it for years now. Unfortunately, this Ivo Papasov tape is not really that bouncy, but it is beautiful. And because Bulgaria is the land of "roses and yoghurt", has cheap snow ski resorts, black sea beaches, lots of hilarious eastern european people and real estate cheap enough for London artists to invest in, it's on the top of our list for vacation spots.

I decided to try to find some more bulgarian music links but most were of
this flavor and even I have limits.

I did discover a few amusing recordings from Radio Bulgaria on this
shortwavemusic blog. This guy records radio broadcasts on his scratchy shortwave radio from places such as Cairo and elsewhere. Another great example of what the Internet does for us. I hear the Internet's catching on big these days?

Radio Bulgaria does have a slick website with some streaming music programs. I managed to find this mp3 and this mp3 of a program with some lovely folk/gypsy stuff on it. Bulgarian choral type singing does also make an acceptable mix with electronica-ish Transglobal Underground stuff (warning, these songs have a bit of a drum and bass feel at the end).

So enjoy:

Side 1
1 -
Bulchenska Ratchenitsa
2 -
Marika Duma Pro Duma

Side 2
1 -
Byala Stala
2 -
Kopanitsa
3 -
Na Trapesa

You may also want to head over to Undomondo and pick up these beautiful klezmer tracks from The Cracow Klezmer Band and the Klezmeyers.

Unfortunately, this video is a bit slow, but it is a bulgarian wedding thing.

Thursday, September 21, 2006

X-Static Volume Four / Radikal Techno


I've been too busy to record a new tape so in the meantime I'm going to post this cd. I really love this sound. Particularly good, in my opinion, are RTZ - Dance Your Ass Off, Apotheosis - O Fortuna, and Tekno Tekno - Beep Beep (Get Off Your Ass And Dance). Ahhhh, 1991. Come back to me.

update 25 Sept: Just added the rest of the tracks.

1 2 Unlimited Get Ready For This (Orchestral Mix) (5:29)
2 Ya Ya's, The Looove (Quadromania Mix) (6:48)
3 I.Q.-E.Q. James Who? (Instrumental Mix) (5:18)
4 RTZ Dance Your Ass Off (Original Version) (6:40)
5 C.Y.B.E.R.F.U.N.K. Life At The Wunderbar (5:10)
6 Lenny Dee & Nico Gonna Take You Higher (4:07)
7 Apotheosis O Fortuna (4:53)
8 Kranz Helmut Kohl Ist Tot (Soundbite Mix) (5:58)
9 DJ Keoki Present Disco 2000 Let The Rave Begin (4:36)
10 Tekno Tekno Beep Beep (Get Off Your Ass And Dance) (4:47)
11 80 Aum Mindcontroller (Long Mind Version) (4:32)
12 KA-22 Metamorphism (Party Mix) (4:50)
13 Nico Apocalypse (4:54)
14 Dante Kings (Krishna House Mix) (4:21)

Wednesday, September 13, 2006

Ring Parade 1985 (vinyl compilation from France)





I found this in a second hand shop of some sort near Tarbes in the south of France last week while there on vacation with my girlfriend. It's too tragic in some ways to not post. This compilation perfectly illustrates my taste in music. Some of these tracks are on the edge of being very good and with a little editing or remixing could be extaordinary. But most of the compilation is just hilarious. I can't find any info about this album on the Internet, but it appears to be a compilation from label Carrere put out in 1985. There was apparently one released in 1984 as available on ebay here.

Probably the strangest and most amusing track on here is a mix of Satisfaction by the Stones and Mozart, sung by Dollie De Luxe, who was a Norwegian artist. Song originally released on 12" and album called Rock vs. Opera, and performed at Lincoln Center in NY in 1987, hilariously reviewed by the New York Times here producing the soul dwelling quote which is particularly appropo in most of the creative stuff coming out today, "It is a nice parlor game, but hardly a life's work." But then, if everything you do comes and goes in a millisecond, if the big act of this year is gone the next, is it really worth playing more than parlor games? And what's wrong with that, if people are just having fun.

Most of the rest of the stuff on this album is some form of italo disco. History by Mai Tai is quite good and so is Future Brain. There are some painful tracks as well. But my pain may be your pleasure.

Programme 1
1-Live is Life - Opus
2-Around My Dream - Kazino
3-Bonhomme Apres L'Amour - Patrick Sebastien
4-Touche pas a Mon Toot-Toot - Beckie Bell
5-Paradise Mi Amor- Paradiso
6-Tarzan Boy - Paul Logan
7-Cry - T.H.

Programme 2
1-Future Brain - Den Harrow
2-Comanchero - Steven Francis
3-History - Mai Tai
4-Dizzy Night - Jane Hill
5-Et Tu Danses Avec Lui - C
6-Queen of the Night-Satisfaction - Dollie De Luxe
7-J'Ai le Blues De Toi - Gilbert Montagne

Thursday, September 07, 2006

NME Ace Case



See, I love all types of music. While I am very much enjoying the early 90's stuff that is a good percentage of the tapes left in the Oxfam bin, there are always lots of other good things. This last week I also picked up some other good early jazz/rocknroll stuff and a great tape from Ivo Papasov & his Wedding Band which I may post in the future. Apparently this tape was released by NME and it's impossible to find for purchase. I particularly love the tracks Oh! Oh! Get Out the Car (by Richard Berry who also wrote "Louie Louie") and Good Rockin Daddy (by Etta James who also did "At Last"). And the Tina and Ike track is quite good. Enjoy.

Side 1

1. Etta James -
Good Rockin' Daddy
2. Charles Brown & Amos Milburn -
Educated Fool
3. Young Jessie - Hit Git & Spit
4. Bobby Marchan -
Quit My Job
5. Huey 'Piano' Smith & The Clowns -
Don't You Just Know It
6. Arthur Alexander -
Anna
7. Irma Thomas -
Time Is On My Side
8. Benny Spellman -
Fortune Teller
9. Richard Derry -
Oh! Oh! Get Out The Car
10. The Chanters -
She Wants To Mambo
11. Alvin 'Snake Eyes' Tyler -
The Peanut Vendor

Side 2

1. Ike & Tina Turner -I Can't Belive What You Say
2. Shirley Ellis -
The Nitty Gritty
3. The Olympics -
(Baby) Hully Gully
4. Mary Love -
You Turned My Bitter Into Sweet
5. Bobby 'Blue' Band -
Call On Me
6. B.B. King -
Ain't Nobody's Business
7. Johnny 'Guitar' Watson -
She Moves Me
8. Little Richard -
Directly From My Heart
9. The Jive Five -
Rain
10. The O'Jays - Lipstick Traces (On A Cigarette)
11. The Impressions -
Keep On Pushing

All the kids who are loving a little speed disco check out this New York remake of a classic. All over yo face!! Like . . . what is on my face?

Cazwell - All Over Your Face (extended disco vocal mix)

Tuesday, August 29, 2006

Party!! Myspace night at Catch/London Wed 30th.



I'm a man who loves ideas AND SKILLS!! So I thought it would be great to do a party in London with only music from new mostly unsigned artists with songs you could download for free on Myspace. So I got some dudes I like with skills to come down and play with me, Casper from Fluokids and the guys from Skulljuice. I figured between us you're going to hear a lot of new tunes that are may be actually quite good. Like these:

http://www.myspace.com/10lec6

http://www.myspace.com/assemblynow

http://www.myspace.com/thrustlab

http://www.myspace.com/wheresmypenguin

http://www.myspace.com/trippydisco

Hope to see you there.

Tuesday, August 22, 2006

Disco Beach Party 2 (cheesy!)



So I got to post what I find in the bin, right? I was sensitive that maybe people were thinking I was on some new rave 90's come back bandwagon. So maybe I am, but I still posted this cassette because the absolute biggest without question bold caps you can't debate theme of now (and maybe the last 10 years) is IRONY! Feel free to contradict me, but I have an argument for everyone. It's all irony now. Along with some surrealism.

The very bad but amusing N-N-Nineteen Not Out was apparently the first project of Rory Bremner, parodying, of course, the excellent Nineteen by Paul Hardcastle which perhaps took itself a tad seriously being before the era of irony. My favorite track on here is The Clapping Song. And I almost did not include The Tweets in this post because even I do find it very annoying.

Side A

1 - The Tweets - Birdie Song
2 - Shirley Ellis - The Clapping Song
3 - Divine - Twistin' the Night Away
4 - Rustie Lee - My Toot Toot
5 - Goombay Dance Band - Seven Tears
6 - Sylvia - Viva Espana
7 - Jonathan King - Una Paloma Blanca
8 - The Commentators - N-N-Nineteen Not Out

Side B

1 - Evelyn Thomas - High Energy
2 - David Christie - Saddle Up
3 - Len Barry - 1-2-3
4 - Racey - Some Girls
5 - Anita Ward - Ring My Bell
6 - Imagination - Body Talk
7 - Kelly Marie - Feels Like I'm In Love

Tuesday, August 15, 2006

Techno Is Not Dead - CD Comp.


While I am getting around to recording the next cassette, I am posting a few tracks from a comp I received from a friend. LOVE this sound.

Tracklisting:
01
System B. Techno Is Not dead (Club Mix) (3:39)
02
Various The Best Techno In Town (Dark Mix) (5:38)
03
Pleasure Game Professeur Daktylus (Remix) (3:29)
04
2 Unlimited Twilight Zone (Rio & Le Jean Mix) (4:12)
05 Obscure FM Michael Jackson Is In Heaven Now (Club Mix) (3:28)
06
Quadrophonia The Wave Of The Future (Large mix) (3:27)
07
Interactive Who is Elvis (Phenomenia Remix) (2:44)
08
L.A. Style James Brown Is Dead (Dream On Mix) (3:31)
09
Holy Noise James Brown Is Still Alive (Rap Remix) (2:54)
10
DJPC Inssomniak I Come Back (Concrete Mix) (3:52)
11
Chimo Bayo Asi Me Gusta A Mi (Tom Tom Remix) (4:40)
12
Digital Boy Kokko (4:17)

Check out downrightuptight for more postings of the smylonylon tapes, which was one of the most popular posts I ever did.

CURRENT TRACKS FOUND IN LAST 2 DAYS

Celestial Circles from great named myspace band Analog Zebra.
Loda italian electronic mix from 1985 (on Jeremy Campbell's page)
Lost Penguin - Mr. Whippy remix (on their
myspace page)
Magyar Posse - Popzag (from
20jazzfunkgreats) (this is great instrumental poppy Hungarian type sounding stuff)

Monday, August 07, 2006

The Hit Factory - Stock Aitken Waterman



I thought it was time to post something a little less obscure from the cassette bins. Most of these tracks are probably well known so I'm not going to post much commentary. If you can, let me know in the comments what your favorite track is of this genre.

Stock Aitken and Waterman are still doing things. Here is a link to Waterman's website with news, etc. He's behind Lola apparently, some pop girl I'm not down with. And there are rumours that Stock Aitken and Waterman are going to come back and run a reality show about pop or something. Here is an amusing article reflecting their personalities and what's going on now.

And make sure you head over and pick up the excellent Run Disco Run - Moxie 008. It's very good, at Dilate Choonz.

Also, pick up this excellent remix of Army of Lovers - I'm Crucified (razrmaid mix). I have always loved this tune.

Side 1

1 Rick Astley Never Gonna Give You Up

2 Sinitta Toy Boy Extra Muscle Mix

3 Princess I'll Keep On Loving You

4 Bananarama I Heard a Rumour

5 Hazell Dean Whatever I Do

6 Mondo Kane featuring Georgie Fame - New York Afternoon

7 Ferry Aid Let It Be

Side 2

1 Mel & Kim FLM

2 Samantha Fox Nothing's Gonna Stop Me Now Jump and Jive Mix

3 Bananarama Venus

4 Carol Hitchcock Get Ready

5 Princess Say I'm Your Number One

6 Mandy Smith I Just Can't Wait

7 Stock Aitken & Waterman Roadblock

Videos :)


mmmm . . . the making of Venus. Too many moments to smile about. Check out the oiled dancers under the cape and the Italian honey directing them.

Thursday, July 27, 2006

The Digital Space Between - EBM/Industrial




An old friend living in Florida has just gifted me with an all of his dance compilations from the last 15 years. Some great stuff and I will post more soon in between tapes from the Dalston bin.

Not much to say here except that I chose a cd that looked like it had more stuff less likely to be found/available. This compilation is from Hard Records in Denmark. I also don't think that Industrial is very heavily covered in the blogs.

1 Front 242 Modern Angel (KMFDM Remix)
2 THD (2) Hypo (Bitcomm Mix)
3 Contagion Turn Of The Screw
4 Dive In The Glasshouse
5 Skinny Puppy Scrapyard
6 Leæther Strip Adrenalin Rush (Vegger Version)
7 Numb Ratblast
8 Vomito Negro L.A.T. (Living Apart Together)
9 Cubanate Body Burn (Julian Beeston 7" Mix)
10 Clock DVA Hacked (Reprogrammed III)
11 Swamp Terrorists Pale Torment (Convert Single Remix)
12 Die Krupps Paradise Of Sin
13 Insekt Digging In Your Soul (Insekt Remix)
14 Bigod 20 The Bog (Shot Mix)
15 Naked Apes Leave Me Alone / SMF
16 Templebeat Interzone (M. Lega Mix)

In addition, I recommend the new mix set by Jeremy Campbell from the Sonic Sunset show. He's a new discovery for me from NY - excellent leftfield disco guy. He also re-edits a lot of great tunes on his blog.

Tuesday, July 11, 2006

Just Seventeen - Get Kickin'


OK, so the Dalston Oxfam bins sometime yield slightly more cheesy things than other times. But I still love the megamix of Bobbie Brown on here as it takes me well back to some good times sitting in my car.

The good stuff here is Lamborghini by Shut Up and Dance who also did Raving, I'm Raving. Got a great Sweet Dreams sample in it. Also pretty good is the Tricky Disco track, which is actually the same guys as the following track, GTO, which is off Warp and some really good Belgian techno labels.

I will post cassette 1 next week which includes KLF, Technotronic and Tribe Called Quest.

Cassette 2 - Side 1

1 - Paula Abdul - Opposites Attract (Street Mix) (Duet With The Wild Pair)
2 - Bobby Brown - Freestyle Megamix (On Our Own, Don't Be Cruel, Every Little Step & My Prerogative)
3 - N.R.G. UK feat. Ellie - Band Of Gold (England Mix)
4 - Yazz - Treat Me Good
5 - Lonnie Gordon - Beyond Your Wildest Dreams
6 - Innocence - Silent Voice

Side 2

1 - Tricky Disco - Tricky Disco
2 - G.T.O. - Pure (Pure Energy)
3 - MC Showbizz and the Lap 1 Crew - Gotta Turn The Music Up (Critical-Core Mix)
4 - Monie Love - Monie In The Middle
5 - Shut Up And Dance Featuring Ragga Twins - Lamborghini
6 - Tongue 'n' Cheek - Nobody (Blue Mix)

Am I the only one who finds this song Chotto DongDong on this blog strangly hypnotic (great art too)?

Here are some good myspace pages:
"I Hate My Period"
"wölfgang the homo and cockface"
"Baron Von Lichtenstein and the Soggy Shorts"

And this is fun to watch in some strange way.

How come I've never found a club where people dance like this in London?

Monday, June 26, 2006

XL Recordings Hardcore




No big mystery here. Just some excellent quality Hardcore. If you wanted to get this on vinyl you'd pay a pretty penny on ebay. The Fairy Dust track is excellent. I will post side B later today.

Tracklisting:

download Side A

A1 - T99 - Anasthasia (The Scientist Remix) (5:22)
A2 -
Channel X - Rave The Rhythm (4:35)
A3 -
Holy Noise - The Noise (X-Treme Sounds) (5:33)
A4 -
John & Julie - Circles (Round And Round) (G.T.O.'s Europa Remix) (5:30)
A5 -
Set Up System - Fairy Dust (Centripetal Mix) (4:40)
A6 -
External Group - Gravity (Eternal Mix) (5:14)

B1 -
Cubic 22 - Night In Motion (Original Mix) (5:14)
B2 -
Digital Boy - Gimme A Fat Beat (Frank De Wulf Remix Part One) (4:43)
B3 -
Frequency (3) - Where Is Your Evidence ? (Hard! Harder!!) (5:19)
B4 -
Prodigy, The - Charly (Alley Cat Mix) (5:27)
B5 -
Incubus - The Spirit (5:00)
B6-
Praga Khan - Rave Alarm (Underground Mix) (5:10)

I have to recommend this current electro mix as a standout, from the Swedes Konstruction.

And . . . apparently "Glow Sticking" is an art. Here trailer for the "Art of Glowsticking" dvd.

Monday, June 12, 2006

Acieed! tape compilation




You walk into the Dalston Oxfam Shop. The bin of tapes lies before you with the slightly dank smell of worn clothing wafting from the racks nearby. Stale dust from countless little corners of homes where the owners' cigarettes and crisp crumbs linger in the plastic cases. Then you see a faded colored photocopied cassette cover which says "Acieed!" and some dodgy graphics and you know that someone has lovingly left you one of their personal comp tapes.

This is not really acid but more like early house.  No doubt the makers of the tape wanted to reference the famous D-Mob track We Call it Acieed.

Side a

Side b

Monday, June 05, 2006

SMYLONYLON 28 Tape mix!



I found a ton of amazing tapes from the Dalston Oxfam Shop this weekend which I will post soon. But as I am just back in London I have decided to post another cassette which I probably should have posted already, my Smylonylon 28 compilation tape.

Back in the late 1990's in NYC, in the search for another good used piece of clothing, I wandered into the Center for the Dull on Lafayette street. The place was like a cave inside with used jeans piled everywhere and clothes hanging from the ceiling. What really struck me, though, was an amazing mix of songs playing in the background. I asked and they were selling mixtapes done by the owner called Smylonylon. The only ones I could buy at the time were numbers 27 and 28. Some of the songs sounded like they'd been slowed down almost beyond recognition to match the beat, but it worked like very little I've heard since. Somehow, I've lost number 27 and I've asked many people and never found any other tapes.

Here's a little info on the shop and Chris Brick who did the tapes with Alex Gloor of current group In Flagranti/Codek. Check out his new cd and videos here. He was also involved in the amazing Organic Grooves parties which used to take place in NYC. I think it's a shame that such great interesting mixes are not available somehow. And I've offered to anyone I've spoken to record any Smylonylon tapes into digital. Let me know if you have any more info on these guys or the tapes. NEW INFO!! The Downrightuptight blog is going to post a bunch more of the smylonylon tapes. Yeah!

- some new info: I've been told (though I can't independantly confirm) the following about X14 and Parfum from Spain - they were "a regular dance club staple . . . in Texas in the late 80's. . . . I certainly do remember hearing [them] when i'd go out in around 1987-89 while I was a student at university in Austin. My wife just reminded me that "parfume from spain" was part of the film soundtrack for John Hughes' "She's Having a Baby." it is not on the official released soundtrack, but is part of the theatrical release of the film, specifically the scene when Kevin Bacon's character is in the photo studio trying to wrangle a baby." This excellent info from this lovely sojourner on the web.

Side A

Side B

Here is the track listing:

Side A

1. Forces - Cinnabar
2. Klaus Prunster (Klaus Prünster)- Kommunikation Hip-Ipp (would love to get this album it's on)
3. Telex - L'Amour Toujour
4. Sharpe & Numan - Change Your Mind
5. Johnny Warman - Will You Dance With Me
6. Gino Soccio - Dream On
7. Tony Cook - On The Floor (Rock-It)
8. Rockets - Video-Addict
9. Pete Shelly - I Generate A Feeling
10. Yello - Pinball Cha-Cha
11. Space Art - Love Machine
12. X14 - Parfume From Spain
13. Helen - Tunis Tunis
14. Stefano Breda - Electric Fling
15. Ray Lema - Dancometer

Side B

16. Gino Soccio - The Runaway
17. Frankie Goes to Brooklyn - Two Tribes
18. Jah Wobble - Blueberry Hill
19. Talking Heads - Crosseyed & Painless
20. Metro - Flame
21. Rockets - Back To Your Planet
22. Gino Soccio - Running in Circles
23. Sparks - Beat The Clock
24. Rita Mitsouko - Andy
25. Kid Creole - I'm a Wonderful Thing Baby
26. Belle Epoque - Miss Broadway
27. Heaven 17 - Let Me Go
28. Polyphonic Size - Saison

Here are some tracks from the mix:

Dr. Calculus - Perfume from Spain (which I think is the correct name for the track listed as X14 - Parfume from Spain on the tracklisting)

Rockets - Video Addict

And something else:

Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Old School Club Break's Dance




One of the things I love about New York is the number of people who are hustlin mix tapes on the street. There used to be a guy who operated on the corner of St. Mark's and Astor place that would have mixtapes of virtually every genre you know. And the music would often be really rare stuff from back in the day because the tapes were made by older djs from Brooklyn who were actually from back in the day but lookin for a little extra cash. Somehow I don't see people doing that kind of thing in London, where I live. Don't know why. Maybe it's the New York legacy of hip hop where part of the art form is putting out mixtapes.

So the tracks I've listed here are taken from a mix cd bought from a lady selling a variety of things on a picnic table in front of the Ricky's makeup shop on Broadway in Soho. Some good old electro/breakdance stuff here. And now that I'm back in London we will have some proper tapes from the Dalston Oxfam shop posted here shortly.

For a full track listing see the photo of the cd above. E-mail me to request any of the other tracks you really badly want (but don't just ask for all of them :)).

1 - Snap - The Power
4 - Afrika Bambaataa & Soulsonic Force - Looking For The Perfect Beat
12 - C-Bank - One More Shot
14 - Adele Bertei - Build Me A Bridge
(Trivia is that Adele Bertei was German and was the keyboardist for the Contortions, for all you no wave fans, but this is supposed to have been produced by Thomas Dolby and is a "seminal house track" according to Discogs.)

Head over and get this amazing Alhaji K. Frimpong African track from Awesome Tapes From Africa blog. It's got like an old school dancehall beat with vintage organ on it. Dope.

And great new DFA disco mix here.

Also, here's a prince extended edit of Sexy Dancer which I promised.

Check this:

Monday, May 15, 2006

Freestyle



So I am travelling in NY and have been too busy to record any cassettes though I have found some treats that I hope to post shortly. In the meantime, I found a fantastic freestyle mix in a little shop on the Lower East Side which I am posting a few tracks from. It looks like this cd has not been released because I can't find any detail on the Internet. A lot of these tracks are new to me and feel free to leave comments suggesting other tracks like this that are good, as I'm loving this.

Also, I think that some of the track names are wrong, because as far as I can tell, only Expose did Point of No Return, not Sweet Sensation. Lots of interesting detail on groups from this era like this here.

1 - C-Bank Medley - C Bank
2 - All & All - Joyce Sims
4 - One Way Love - TKA
8 - Point of No Return - Expose
9 - Please Don't Go - Nayobe

E-mail me if you want any other tracks from this album.

Also, Rock Insider has an amazing playlist of indie rock I don't know with a bunch of catchy tunes and a Klaxons that I have not seen.

And what more do you want in a blog than a collection of fantastic band performances from the early 80's in Germany. Somehow that just seems cooler than anything else. Not Rock On rocks on.

Wednesday, May 03, 2006



Digital Boy - Crossover Compilation 2

Once again, the Dalson Oxfam Shop yields some early 90s dance. It's a bit commercial and I didn't separate the tracks out this time because it's a mix, but still some fun tunes on here. The sound is maybe a bit too recent to be fully coming back yet (1994) and definitely not as chin stroking as the techno from last week, but if this blog is about anything, it's about posting stuff that's close to the cheese line.

You know that if you were on vacation in some dark dodgy beach resort in Sicily with some friends on about 3 pints and this came on, you would be thanking allah. According to this website Digital Boy was a pioneer in the Italian techno scene. I am not familiar with him and can't find much more info about what he's up to know. Leave me a comment if you know. He was very prolific it seems.

I am not only going to post early 90s dance stuff on here, it's just that of the stuff found at the Oxfam, it has been the most interesting so far.

Track listing:

Side 1
1 - Blast Crayzy Man (5:12) Featuring - V.D.C.
2 - Juzt 2 Brothers The Frenzy Dance (3:00)
3 - 2 In A Room El Trago (The Drink) (2:18)
4 - Artemesia Bits And Pieces (2:33)
5 - Masoko Solo Pessa Pessa (3:34)
6 - Anticappella Move Your Body (2:12)
7 - Silvia Coleman All Around The World (3:24)
8 - Reel 2 Real I Like To Move It (2:25) Featuring - Mad Stuntman, The
9 - Digital Boy Dig It All Beat! (3:06)

Side 2

1 - Outhere Brothers, The Don't Stop (3:00)
2 - Ronny Money Again N' Again (2:52)
3 - Aladino Call My Name (1:56)
4 - Alter Ego (6) Dance (If You Can Not) (3:30) Featuring - Daisy Dee
5 - DJ Roman A Pitar (1:53)
6 - Molella Change (1:55)
7 - Datura The 7th Hallucination (4:27)
8 - 2 Unlimited The Real Thing (3:22)
9 - Cutoff (2) Move (2:00) Featuring - Thea Austin

Digital Boy - Crossover Compilation - Side 1

Digital Boy - Crossover Compilation - Side 2

Tuesday, April 25, 2006



Technovisions
(not even listed as a cassette release on Discogs!)

This is a perfect example of the kind of thing you can find at the Dalston Oxfam Shop, 1993 goth/industrial/techno/trance on cassette that no one will likely have (or maybe want ?) in digital form. Listen up . . . some of these songs are actually almost exactly like The Knife and other rave revival stuff coming back. In particular, I recommend Kinetic (Orbital Mix) by The Golden Girls and Mihon 3 by Ongaku, who for some reason only released songs called Mihon. Apparently, Mihon 3 was party written by Uwe Schmidt (aka Atom Heart) who has now morphed into the lovely german latino Senor Coconut, one of my favorite very smart and ironic artists, who did the concept album interpreting Kraftwerk latin music style. Goes to show that you can't keep a good mind down, even if they start in minimal trance lande. Ongaku also released some tracks on a compilation called The Secret Life of Trance. uuuuh, does Trance really have a secret life?

Tuesday, April 18, 2006

Dalston Oxfam Shop April 18



So here launches my little idea. Fun to find old Cassettes in the Oxfam shop in Dalston, east London, that probably no one will ever put onto mp3/digital form. I put them into mp3/digital form. You download. One a week. Leave me comments or suggestions. Read the song listing by clicking on the picture above.


Chart Blasters 81 - Side 1

Chart Blasters 81 - Side 2

I also like to shop on ebay. Here are a few links to things I think someone should buy.

Women's 80's Gold Pumps

Vintage Chanel slingbacks

La Petite Salope designer party dress

Men's vintage Mahogany ankle riding boots