Some lost east african gems

Our african party Manifesto has been doing surprisingly well. I really think the music we play is amazing, but I was surprised that every tuesday we would get more and more people to come out. Last night was so packed we had to turn away people, and on a rainy night.  Its every Tuesday at the Burlington Club, 12 New Burlington Street off Regent Street in Mayfair, if you are in London.  We even have a sort of live house band :)  Pics at the bottom of the post.

Anyway, my partner Alberto had managed to get hold of 2 seven inches which I heard him play at some point and asked him to let me borrow and blog. I can't find any info about either of these on the web, but they are east african congo style tracks. The standout track is Bolingo pt. 2 in my opinion.

Bolingo Pt. 1 - Mukala wa Mulumba - Orchestra Mbuta Mbuta

Bolingo Pt. 2 - Mukala wa Mulumba - Orchestra Mbuta Mbuta

Mama Sango - Chako ni Chako II - Special Baruti International

Hawa Vumilia - Chako ni Chako II - Special Baruti International

NME 002 - Jive Wire

I had a real fantastic haul at the Dalston Oxfam Shop this last week. FYI the Oxjam events are starting today and going on through April. Go support cause it's a fantastic shop and organization and they've given me so much.

But back to me . . . I picked up 3 of the early NME cassettes including this one, NME 004 and NME 005. So if you look at all the NME cassettes listed here, if you add those with the 2 others I've posted on this blog already, the Mad Mix II NME 008 and the Ace Case NME 009, I have a lot of the early cassettes. Looks like the really famous C81 was followed up by a NME 001 in the same year. Weird.

In terms of tracks there are some really unusual and odd things here. On Side A my favorite track is probably the Leisure Process track - it's like twice as long as other versions I've seen on the web. But the track from Buzzz for example is apparently only on this cassette and I can't find any more info about it. I look forward to comments from those more enlightened.

Side B has some really great stuff too. The Altered Images version of Happy Birthday may be the coolest Happy Birthday song ever, and the Pablo track Madaleina is fantastic vintage african pop.

Side A

A1 Thompson Twins - In The Name Of Love (3:45)
A2 David Gamson - No Turn On Red (6:12)
A3 Leisure Process - Love Cascade (6:19)

A4 Buzzz - Tonight's Alright (3:31)
A5 Pigbag - A Live Orangutango (6:04)
A6 Aswad - Ghetto In The Sky (6:25)
A7 Scritti Politti - Asylums In Jerusalem (3:10)
A8 The Beat - Get A Job / Stand Down Margaret (7:02)
A9 Gil Scott-Heron - B-Movie (5:19)

Side B

B1 Suicide - Dream Baby Dream (3:16)

Producer - Ric Ocasek (from the Cars)
B2 Kraftwerk - Das Model (3:39)
B3 Altered Images - Happy Birthday (3:15)

Producer - Martin Rushent
B4 Theatre of Hate - Dreams Of Poppies (3:45)
B5 The Gun Club - Ghost On The Highway (2:43)
B6 Tav Falco's Panther Burns - Ms. Froggy (2:30)
B7 Black Uhuru - Happiness (4:30)
B8 Defunkt - Illusions (7:00)
B9 Rip Rig & Panic - Billy Eckstein's Shirt Collar (3:15)
B10 Carmel - Storm (4:07)
B11 Vic Godard & Subway Sect - Just In Time (2:35)
B12 Pablo Lubadika Porthos - Madaleina (4:00)

B13 - hidden track - Sugar Hill gang style hip hop ad for NME (pretty funny)

We are also relaunching our african party Manifesto tonight, 1 April in London off Regent Street at the Burlington club. It will be downstairs in the chic club space with djs and a few live musicians (but no band) and then once a month we will do as before with the full venue being used for the party with top live african bands, etc. It's easy to get in and not super expensive and still the best african party in London cause it's new AND old - and I'm djing :)

Personal Compilation from Marseille - Boom No. 12

A friend of my girlfriend's parents who lives in Marseille is a musician and put all of his music collection from the 60s and 70s into cassette compilations. Last year he decided to get rid of the cassettes and so I inherited them. Lots of them are cassettes full of Led Zeppelin and french pop from the 60s like Francoise Hardy and Michel Polnareff but there are a few compilations of rare disco and other 80s rarities that are quites something.

I am not sure in what kind of world you would consider it a good idea to do a 10 minute disco cover of almost every Beatles song, but that is what Cafe Creme felt like doing. When you combine that with the Rockollections by Laurent Voulzy who mixes a modestly ok french sentimental ballade from the early 70s with occasional dips into famous english pop rock hits like the Beach Boys (check the vid), and the Otis Redding disco cover by Mondo Wells, this is undoubtedly the CHEEEESIEST painful post I have yet put on this blog. But fortunately the Cerrone track "Love is the Answer" and the Elton track, and in particular the Mondo Wells on Side B, redeem it somewhat. I never realized that Elton did so many great tracks in the early 70s and did a Greatest Hits album already IN 1974!

Side A

1 - Tata Vega - Full Speed Ahead

2 – Elton John - Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word

3 – Abba - Money, Money, Money

4 - Laurent Voulzy - Rockollection Part I

5 - Laurent Voulzy - Rockollection Part II

6 - Café Crème - Citations Ininterrompues

7 - Café Crème - Dreaming

8 - Cerrone - Love is the Answer

9 - Mondo Wells - Otis Disco Citation (Medley)

Side B is a bit better because it features the very first single from Mondo Wells from '77. Rare-ness - featuring the best track on this cassette, White Smile, with a bit of an african/reggae disco. And Revelacion's 16 minute disco cover of House of the Rising Sun, which is a very famous old folk song which actually was first recorded in 1993, is also quite special because it was written and produced by Cerrone (see his track on Side A) and Don Ray, two of the best disco French disco artists who did a number of hits, including Supernature and the amazing album Garden of Love. Revelacion is not the most amazing work they did, but a lot rarer and still quite fun.

Side B

1 – Mondo Wells – White Smile

(here is the cover of the Mondo Wells 7 inch)


2 – Helen Davis – Satisfaction

3 – Helen Davis – Yesterday A King

(here is the cover of the Revelacion album below)


4 – Revelacion – The House of the Rising Sun + Revelacion Suite
5 – Revelacion – Crocos Dance Part 1 and part 2
6 – Revelacion – Time for Love

7 – Santa Esmeralda – Hey! Gyp!


New Music

3 amazing musical groups have albums coming out - Buraka Som Sistema (sort of kuduro-ish which I have been banging on about for a while, as here), The Long Blondes and Mystery Jets. The Long Blondes and Mystery Jets albums have been produced by my version of musical God, Mr. Erol Alkan (read about Mystery Jets album in Drowned in Sound here). Erol is one of the few musicans who I really really admire because he seems to have a talent which I cannot even imagine. This is the essence of a hero, someone who can do something which you cannot even imagine doing even if you put in a LOT of hard work. Also, Mystery Jets have some really nice guys who have become friends and I have been a fan of The Long Blondes for their amazing tracks in the past. For this reason I am very excited about these albums. You can listen to tracks on their myspace or have a listen to my favorite track from each artist here:

Buraka Som Sistema - Wawaba

The Long Blondes - Guilt

The Mystery Jets - Veiled in Grey (on their myspace)

They all have gigs coming up, but Buraka Som Sistems is playing this evening (19 March) at Hoxton Bar and Grill in London, DJ/MC set at Yo Yo at Notting Hill Arts Club on 20 March and at Fabric live performing Friday 21 March. They will make you dance.

And Mystery Jets are playing at Durrr on Monday 24 March.

SMYLONYLON No. 1!!

I feel so lucky. Friday a week ago I was djing for the first time at Fabric and Alex Gloor and Sasha Crnobrnja of In Flagranti came by and hung out for a while behind the dj booth and had a nice chat. Alex Gloor did the Smylonylon tapes which I've posted here before and he gave me this very first tape of them all! In Flagranti were playing live on the same night and are a hot item right now, which has a lot to do with their fantastic music knowledge, as evidenced by the Smylonylon tapes. You can listen and buy their new release Grand Central Shuttle here.

The early Smylonylon were more exotica/easy listening, so don't expect the dancey/droney mid 80s rare german disco that you can find on some of the later tapes. Still the stuff on here is in a league of its own and very hard to find. I discovered some of the tracks on this amazing Weils.nl blog which has rare 80's stuff, soundtracks, live shows of Siouxsie and the Banshees and more. It's truly an amazing blog.

Also - check my new blog for new music every day. Derfreshcreamy
Smylonylon No. 1 - Side A

1. Piu forte ragazze! - Samba
2. Bimbo Jet - Buffalo's Band
3. Anonymous Venetian - Main Theme
4. Enoch Light - Scarborough Fair
5. Ward Swindle - Windmills of our Mind
6. Heino - Bergvagabunden
7. Klaus Wunderlich - Lotto Zahlen
8. Silvetti - Steps in the snow
9. Esquivel - Sun Valley Ski Run
10. Martin Denny - Flamenco
11. Fabio Paramo - Playa Corola
12. Switched on Bacharach - Do You Know the way to San Jose
13. Enoch Light - Marrakesh Express
14. 10th Victim - Main Theme
15. Ernst Mosch - Dompfaff
16. Esquivel - Bye Bye Blues
17. Switched on Bacharach - Wives and Lovers
18. Enamuelle - Eternal Anguish
19. Enoch Light - past and I Call You
20. Lady nelson and the Lords - Call Me
21. Chuck Davis Orchestra - Spirit of the Sun

Here's one stand alone track:

Switched on Bacharach - Wives and Lovers


Smylonylon No. 1 - Side B

22. Mason Williams – Baroque a Nova
23. Bent Fabric – The Dipsy Doodle
24. Flutes and Percussion – Mountain Greenery
25. Martin Denny – Bacao
26. Harmonicats – Mambo Jambo
27. Latin Love Machine – Hare Krishna
28. Paul Bley – Parks
29. Claudine – My Guy
30. Vision of Eight – Olympic Village
31. Jerry Allen – Fly me to the Moon
32. Crown Heights Affair – Dreaming a Dream
33. Dexter Wansel – Life on Mars
34. Latin Love Machine – Peanut Vendor
35. Brain Tickets – Black Sand
36. Sadistic Mika Band – Suki Suki Suki
37. Incredible Bongo Band – Let There Be Drums
38. Sandy Nelson – Drums a Go Go
39. Titanic – Sante Fee

Below are some tracks from this mix. I couldn't find Suki Suki Suki from the Sadistic Mika Band, but I found this great track Picnic Boogie. And the Incredible Bongo Band track Let There Be Drums is from the same band that did Apache, which is well known as one of the most sampled of early hip hop songs and very heavily used in drum and bass (you'd recognize it). Of course the Dexter Wansel and Crown Heights Affairs tracks are famous and you should get them if you don't know them.

Incredible Bongo Band - Let There Be Drums

Sadistic Mika Band - Picnic Boogie

NEW ARTIST SECTION:

Bishi is someone who I have know for a while as she has been on the London scene doing some of the hippest parties (I first met her at Kashpoint, which coincidentally will always have a special place in my heart as I met my girlfriend there). Now she's flying on her own, has learned to play the Sitar very well and is in general a very sweet person. So I think she needs a little props up as she is doing something niche - writing and performing pop songs with a Sitar, so she certainly has a hook to her appeal. The song she sent me here is quite catchy and she wrote it with Matthew Glamorre, another very sweet and very creative person (responsible for the above mentioned Kashpoint). I think she really has some potential though I have told her I think the tracks need to be remixed or have more of an edgy dance sound to them (where are the odd 90s beats and other dance sounds from Kashpoint?). Any way - still a great track.

Bishi - On My Own Again

Urban 88

Been feeling like the late 80's have been neglected lately. People are loving early 90's rave and still searching for those early 80's new wave rarities, plus some are feeling a bit of a good disco revolution. But very few will drop the odd late 80's urban dance track in a dj set. Most of these tracks only sound really good on a good bass system, and I'm not crazy about all of them. But the Theme from P.O.P. is a fantastic acid based dance track. Also, as I am often suprised to find, this cassette has tracks which feature almost no where else from big artists (much as was the case in this previous blog for Aphex Twin and Oasis) - more than one track on the second side are mixed or written by Norman Cook aka Fatboy Slim in his early days and are almost only available on this cassette. The Urban All Stars was him and so is the Rockaway Three. FYI - most of the bits about It Came From Africa that I like which Norman used actually come from an amazing old disco track called I Believe in Miracles by the Jackson Sisters which you can download on the Butter Team blog.

On another note, I have started a new blog - Der Fresh Creamy. As the Dalston Oxfam Sh0p blog is really limited to old cassettes and that kind of thing, and yet I spend a lot of time finding new music (as I sit in front of a computer all day) and hear about things from other friends who dj in London I thought it would be nice to have a forum to share my finds. My hope is that in contrast to the Hypem.com or elbo.ws or other aggregators, which list everything, this will only list finds which are reliably good but which are not exclusive to me as they exist on other blogs. It's like a thing I've done for friends of friends instead of a blog I want to hype.

Here is the cassette. I like to include all the detail from Discogs.com so you can link to the musicians involved in the tracks.

Side A

1 James Brown Download: The Payback Mix (5:04)
Mixed By - Jonathan More , Matt Black

2 Phoenix (10) Download: Everybody (Get Loose) (5:38)
Engineer - Tom Frederikse Producer - Rochefort, Wesson

3 The Groove Train Download: Why Did You Do It (3:50)
Producer - Martyn Ware

4 Walter Beasley Download: I'm So Happy (4:57)
Producer - Lionel Job , Walter Beasley

5 Visions (7) Download: It's A Choice (4:12)
Producer - David "Pic" Conley, David Stewart (4)

6 Perfectly Ordinary People Download: The Theme From P.O.P. (6:45)
Producer - Pozitiv Noize Producer, Remix - Mike Morrison Remix - Martin Freeland



Side B

1 Urban All Stars Download: It Began In Africa (5:45)
Mixed By - Norman Cook

2 The James Taylor Quartet Download: The Theme From Starsky & Hutch (6:40)
Producer - Simon Booth

3 Rockaway Three Download: It's Your Thing (3:57)
Producer - Bob Christ , Norman Cook

4 James Brown Download: Got To Have A Mother For Me (5:10)
Producer - James Brown

5 Ace Of Clubs Download: Ace Of Clubs (4:32)
Producer, Mixed By - Paul Heard , Simon Booth

6 Roy Ayers Download: Running Away (6:56)
Co-producer - Edwin Birdsong , William Allen Producer - Roy Ayers

7 James Brown Download: Payback (The Final Mixdown) (5:55)
Mixed By - Norman Cook , Streetsahead

If you want to find a good party that feels like a community of people having fun instead of a random bunch of boring people searching for love, check out this party. Fresh but not too slick. As I am djing more and more, I list below upcoming gigs in case you want to come down.

Feb 13 - Tank Magazine party for TseSay at Automat

Feb 20 - African music set @ Come For Lunch (by some of the people behind Rakehell's)

Feb 21 - downstairs @ Catch 22

Feb 22 - African music set @ Fabric - opening for Beyond the Wizard's Sleeve, Erol Alkan's psych rock side project

Feb 28 - downtairs @ Catch 22 with Girlcore special anniversary party upstairs (open till 4 am)

Dover Street Market/Wowow Berlin

I was contacted randomly by David from Memphis London, who seems to have the "collecting" bug like I do (as he noted when looking at my record collection, it seems that I collect mostly for the hell of it, not for the value of it:)). Memphis do a great business in hard to find amazing books and they have put together an exhibition at the Dover Street Market called "Opposition" about British alternative culture in the mid-late 1980's. They have some amazing NME mags from that time as well as gobs of other cultural detritus about the Smiths and other bands. They also have these amazing stereo amps made by Ron Arad from that time frame. And . . . they have a bunch of my cassettes from that era, most of which have featured on the blog. Pictures below. Exhibit will be open not for long so check it out.

We also had an amazing time last weekend in Berlin doing an art/music thing with the !WOWOW! group. It's so cheap in Berlin and the quality of the life is so excellent, it just feels great to be there. We stayed at this amazing apartment/hotel which is furnished entirely with original 60s wallpaper and stuff from the former east berlin. After djing in Friday night at Maria am Ostbahnhof, we went to Picnic on Saturday night which was very excellent music/crowd. Pictures link here.

new podcast for Durrr

The lovely people over at Durrr let me do another podcast from the time I dj'd there on 17 December in the side room while everyone listened to Simian Mobile Disco in the other room. I like this mix. It features a lot of new music that I don't normally feature on this blog, plus a few classics that I have always loved, such as the Angel in My Pocket. Enjoy. I will be back at Durrr next Monday, the 28th if you want to come down.

Also, I should mention that this Friday, the 25th of January, I will participating in an art/music event done by the Wowow art collective as part of the Club Transmediale in Berlin at Maria am Ostbahnhof. Event details here in case you are in Berlin. Come by and say hi - I'm the one with the dorky glasses. Also, trek over to the incomparable Theo's blog to check out his art performance videos and hear the music I worked on for him at the Tate gallery when he performed there earlier this month.

Tracklist

1 - Golden Skans (cover) - Oscar Cash
2 - I’m Not Moving (Idjut edit) - Phil Collins
3 - Brazil is Here - Foals
4 - On the Road Again - Barrabas
6 - I Could be Happy (Eli Escobar Edit) - Altered Images
7 - That’s When We’ll Be Free - State of Grace
8 - Oh Vibert (Tactic Edit) - Ready For The World vs. Kerrier District
9 - Starlett Johanson (Les Petits Pilous Remix) - The Teenagers
10 - Stayin’ Alive (Teddybears remix) - Bee Gees
11 - Feelin’ Love - Hott City
12 - Good Ones (Fun Bongo Remix) - The Dirge
13 - Check (Losers Rhymix Remix) - Goose
14 - You Could Easily Have Me - Metronomy
15 - The Gay Hussar - Agaskodo Teliverek
16 - Love Hangover (Frankie Knuckles mix) - Diana Ross
17 - The Things That Dreams Are Made Of (Tiga Remix) - Human League
18 - Angel in My Pocket - Change
19 - Mr Icecream (Waxmaster Remix) - Soft Tigers

Download

Debut LP Magazine Vol. 01

This is the premier issue of Debut magazine which was started in Germany and brought over to the UK in the early 80s. It was given to me by my friend Price James who is a great friend and fantastic video director, having done videos for Shitdisco, Simian Mobile Disco, The Teenagers and Friendly Fires. Check out his stuff here. Each magazine featured a full 12" lp with various artists. I have chosen to put the complete magazine up on the web and it has all kinds of amazing pictures and material from that time. I will put up the rest of the pages and songs in early January when I get back from vacation but in the meantime you can see some pages below.

Page 2-3 Contents
Page 4-5 Michael Jackson, Ultravox, Tracey Ullman, Eric Gavin, Status Quo
Page 6-7 Curtis Mayfield, The Clash, Cocteau Twins, Style Council, Paul Weller
Page 44-45 Thor
Page 56-57 Philip Salon, Mud Club, Tasty Tim, Fouberts, Greenpeace

Also some interesting info about the Mud Club here.

A1 Big Country Harvest Home (4:10)
A2 Fiat Lux Secrets (3:26)
A3 Niagara Calls All Your Love (4:05)
A4 The Special A.K.A. Bright Lights (4:10)
A5 Wang Chung Talk It Out (3:42)

B1 Kudos Better Late Than Never (4:23)
B2 Mezzoforte Rockall (4:05)
B3 Danse Society Red Light (Shine) (2:52)
B4 Snowy White Lucky Star (6:08)
B5 Pale Fountains Natural (3:20)
B6 Thompson Twins Watching (3:48)

I also recommend you check out the Evil Twins art experience before it closes in January. It`s going on at the Le Gun gallery near London Fields in East London and involves excellent photos from my friend Patricia Niven and her collaberators. It`s much more fun than most gallery shows because you crawl underground and there`s special discoveries and it`s like a proper Alice in Wonderland experience - I wish more art shows were like this. Details here.

Get Chickenized - Frank Chickens

This is a fairly eccentric vinyl lp from the 80s which a friend asked me to digitize for her. We previously featured a great track from Frank Chickens here. I don't find most of these track to be super poppy or dancefloor friendly, but they are certainly interesting compositions - ranging from slow 80's groove to 80s pop. I think in particular the theme of this album seems to be a commentary on the situation of these Japanese women performers in the UK. This was not their first album and it appears they are commenting on the way that others perceive them as strange foreigners. In particular I think the lyrics to the lady love song Two Little Ladies are amusing including this:

"One of their games was putting books all over the floor
So that they can walk without touching the floor
They put a big book on Impressionism by their favourite window
So they can stand close together looking at the sunset over bushes
They called this occasion romantic on top of Impressionism"

I think this LP was actually signed by one of the band members Kazumi (if you look in the picture above). Probably the most catchy track is Yellow Toast. By their own admission (video below) they sing "interestingly badly". What is what most indie bands dream of, from what I can tell.



Side A

A1 We Say You Say
A2 Sacred Marriage
A3 Street Angels, Tokyo
A4 Two Little Ladies
A5 Solid Life

Side B

B1 Japanese Girl
B2 Island Inside Island
B3 Young Summer
B4 Chicken Ondo
B5 Yellow Toast

Finally - my friend Matthew (Wowow) Stone has decided to start the "Interconnected Echoes" blog in which he links from interview to interview various people's ideas on what life is all about. It's a great idea that I wish I had started and you can read what I think about life here.

Manifesto African party 27 November

Once again we have our monthly african music party coming up next Tuesday, 27 November, in London. This time we are lucky to combine the white hot new with the old. Radioclit are breaking new ground in mixing cutting edge new artists such as MIA with rhythms from strange places. They are producing an artist from Malawi called Esau Mwamwaya who will be performing tracks that he has worked in with them and they will be djing afterwards. Come check it out if you are in London. Check out fantastic new track Hide and Seek on their myspace.

Manifesto
Burlington Club
12 New Burlington Street (off Regent Street)
£5/guest list
9-2 am - 27 November

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - --

EDIT: The party was fantastic. Radioclit deserves their reputation as djs, particularly on this type of music as they rocked it out. Here are two tracks which went down like a storm.

EUE - DJ Znobia

Super Funana - Various

Star Taxi Music 5 - South African Black Taxi Assoc. comp.

I previously posted no. 3 of this series here but I had bought both together and thought I would put this one up as no. 3 got a great response. This one is also from 1988. It's a bit of a novelty value as there are not many great tracks here. It seems the south africans on this comp were trying pretty hard to use their 80's synths and imitate some synth pop from the west. But there is a unique african vibe to each of the songs, though they all do sound quite similar. Best song on side 1 is probably Taboo - Amigo, in my opinion. But of course, it's the interludes that are hilarious here. The no. 3 cassette was featured on bbc radio for that reason.

Side one: Listen to the complete side A mix here.

Intro
Jelly Bean - The Real Thing
Interlude 1
Patricia Majalisa - Gimba
Interlude 2
The New Taxi - Jehoviah
Interlude 3
Umoja - 707
Interlude 4
William & Yvonne - Mpho Le Mphonyana
Interlude 5
Mercy Pakela & Ali Katt - Thank You Jesus
Interlude 6
Princess Nana - Sekoloto
Interlude 7
Taboo - Amigo
Interlude 8
Ziggy Marley & the Melody Makers - Tomorrow People
Interlude 9
Richard Jon Smith - Meadowlands
Interlude 10
Themba "Thiza" Nhlapo - Saka Dibom-Bom
Interlude 11
The Big Dudes - Time is Moving On
Interlude - end of side 1

Side 2 (to come)

Kinky Trax 2 - 1993 New York House

For all you surrealist Jackie 60 theatre drag queens, you lovers of mid week all-nighters at the Pyramid club, you wearers of long silver macs and fishnets at Save the Robots . . . Johnny Dynell, you lovers of the beat, of the legacy of new york speed disco, who understand that if you're in a corner dancing and the room smells like a smoke machine, and your hands are in the air waving, and no one can see you, but your trousers are somehow around your ankles, and it's just fantastic cause the beat is raw and simple and it's exactly what you want to be doing . . . this is for you - straight out of the tape bin at the Dalston Oxfam Shop.
"I used to think I was fierce because I was in all the houses . . . I used to munch trade for dollahs too. . . . but now I got someone waiting at home for me goddamit!"

Side One
1 Deep South  -  I Believe (5:02)
2 Joi + Jorio - I Won't Waste Your Time (6:24)
3 The Fog - Been A Long Time (6:33)
4 Nu-Solution - I Need You (6:00)
5 Marcy Lee - Special (5:46)
6 Jack & Jill - Work It Girlfriend (5:16)

Side Two
7 Michelle Ayers - Respect (6:32)
8 Masters At Work MAW Company featuring Xaviera Gold - Gonna Get Back To You (Ken Lou 12")(9:03)
9 Devastating - Wanna Be With You (8:08)
10 Kamar - In Every Way (4:53)
11 Jason Load Experience - Mainline (7:16)
12 Dana - For You (4:50)

The Mainline track is a cover of one of my favorite disco tracks by Black Ivory which you can download also on this amazing disco blog American Athlete.
And it's time again for our monthly African party Manifesto here in London - this Tuesday, 23 October at the Burlington Club off Regent Street. Kasai Masai will be playing live and they're supposed to be the highest profile band we've had. You should also check out the very eagerly anticipated live shows of Vampire Weekend this week in London and elsewhere in the UK.

early Smylonylon - No. 4!!

Some of you will recall the amazing Smylonylon cassettes put together by Alex Gloor of the current band In Flagranti back in the 90's that I have previously featured on this blog here. A man with very amazing (and broad) taste in music. Well someone in New York finally sent me some more of his cassettes and the earliest one I received is No. 4. It's more of a 60's compilation than the other ones I've heard and Alex was kind enough to e-mail me the tracklisting. It's still amazing.

In Flagranti is playing their first live show this Friday, 28 September at Our Disco at The Hub in east london with Rory and Nadia. Details here.

Smylonylon 4 - side A

Smylonylon 4 - side B

You can check out an amazing tune I ripped from side B which is Stu Phillips - Mahabalipuram

Ripped tune - Smylonylon 4 side b

Mike Melvoin - The Plastic Cow Goes Moooooog - Medicine Man

Cal Tjader - Soul Sauce


side a
1. george harrison - fantasy sequins
2. lord sitar - i can see for miles
3. ray davis - green grow the rushes
4. francis lai - party music
5. stu phillips - mahabalipuram
6. pink floyd - see emily play
7. jean jacques perrey - porcupine rock
8. black soul - moog melody
9. shirley bassey - spinning wheel
10. d. frontiere - popi
11. the amazing adventure of the
liverpool scene - batpoem
13. moog indigo - e.v.a.
14. dave daffodil - pepperbox
15. harry beits - theme from the
fantastic plastic machine
17. jack hanson - the name game
18. dick hyman - chain of fools
19. noel harrison - a young girl

side b
20. vangelis - hypothesis
21. stan butcher - dow de dow dow dow dow
22. ananda shankar - jumpin' jack flash
23. gabor szabo - white rabbit
24. ramsey lewis - lady madonna
25. the dynatones - the fife piper
26. keith mansfield - soul thing
27. cal tjader - soul sauce
28. the plastic cow goes
moooooooog - medicine man
30. frankie vallie - the night
31. herb larson - dizzy
32. fausto papetti - groovin' with mr. bloe
33. connie francis - rock dem bells
34. roy harper - in the time of water
35. leroy holmes - what do you say
36. ferrante & teicher - lay lady lay

Also, this is one of the catchiest tunes I have heard lately. We keept playing it over and over from some crazy young kids in France. Kid Bombardos.

Kid Bombardos - Lovesong for High Kids




I am also djing at midnight at a new party this Friday night, 28 September, at the Dogstar in Brixton with the guys from 20jazzfunkgreats, Slutty Fringe and Nicole from Popscene. You can see a hilarious picture of me on the timeout article for the party.

Manifesto - African Party Tuesday 25 September

This Tuesday we are doing our monthly african party - back again after taking August off. And we have Harare, a live dance band from Zimbabwe. For those that have not checked out the party yet, I think there is a very interesting trend of fantastic sort of indie-ish bands that are incorporating african type guitar sounds and rhythms to take a genre that is maybe a bit bored and make it even more poppy and dance-able. Add to that the recent kuduro trend mixing in african type house-ish beats and you have a bunch of great new african influence music coming out right now that is not very high profile but which can make for a great party. This is behind what we are doing with Manifesto and why it has been packed very time.

One of the bands that I've been most excited about in the last week is Extra Golden, which I discovered on the amazing Benn Loxo du Taccu blog. You can download some of their songs and read an article about the mix of American rock and Kenyan "benga" pop that is taking place there. Their new album is coming out on ThrillJockey called Hera Ma Nono. I played their track Ok-Oyot System at Durrr last Monday and I kid you not, if there had not been a bit of the heavy african vocal, it would have sounded right at home as a fantastic guitar led indie track. The kids loved it.

Some other bands that are making up this trend that I am loving include Vampire Weekend who are going to be coming to the UK in the fall and have been playing to rave reviews in the US. Dirty Projectors on Rough Trade records (check out track No More and listen for the african style guitar) who will be playing at Durrr in the fall. There is another band based in London called Pirate Disko Club with track Prince of Cum. I don't know anything about them but I like the sound.

In addition, uber-cool swedish/french duo Radioclit have been doing kuduro style mixes for some time now and recently did a remix of The Little Ones - Pot A Brewin which you can find on itunes and purchase at the push of a button. They are also producing genuine artist Esau Mwamwaya from Malawi and I can't wait to hear more of that stuff. You can read an interview with them about their interest in all good things in this weeks (September 19) issue of Timeout, page 126.

Come down on Tuesday and check it all out!

Digitalism at Durrr

I am lucky to dj next Monday with one of my favorite groups ever - Digitalism!!! I used to cane their remix of Technologic last year because it's so good- in the middle of the song it has a bit that sounds like the guitars on New Order which is soooooooo good. I will, however, be playing much more random stuff than they play. Will probably play things like this great track from Party Shank called Penis vs. Vagina (slightly hetero focused). I might point out that it's full of this 8 bit sound which is what I played a whole set of last time I dj'd at Durrr.

Party Shank - Penis vs. Vagina

I shamelessly admit that I had not heard of Party Shank until I discovered them in the hilarious Peggy Crouches article in The P.I.X which is really quite good. Get on it kids.

I also just got sent some tracks from Super Volcano today by e-mail and they're pretty good. Check out in particular track Firestorm.

Super Volcano - Firestorm

Also playing at Durrr on Monday are Free Blood. You can read an interview with them (they sound funny in an american brooklyn kind of way) and listen to a Hot Chip remix of their track here. There is some mention on the Internet of them having the rhythm section from !!!. But I'm not sure about that.

Klaus Nomi Live

Klaus Nomi is one of the original freaks of the 80's. There was that fantastic time at the beginning of the 80's when it seemed like everyone was busting out of the old 70's way of doing things into the "modern era" (at least to me for some reason the 80's seem almost like part of our time, as compared to the 70's which seem like a former time). Hip Hop was being born, original electro, house coming in a few years. And the place to be was New York. But Nomi was actually already in his mid 30's when he moved to NY and was almost more in the "art" scene than the music scene it looks like. I note that this kind of operatic theatrical style of singing is like Nina Hagen did and also lots of his outfits have elements which you can see in some of the best designers today. Sadly, he was one of the first to die of AIDS. Some pretty amazing photos of him here. And here is a writeup from a very interesting lady who contacted me who was actually at the gig featured here - Madeline Bocaro, (or Bocchiaro) who by her own admission was a writer for CMJ in the late 70's/80s. If you go to the Blitz Kids site above you can even find info about another icon of our time who works on the P.I.X mag mentioned below as well as even photos of Kashpoint. 

This cassette is not quite a good quality for his songs as his other albums because it's live. But it's got a special quality to hear one of the freakiest ever in his live element - at Hurrah's club in New York in 1979.

   

 Side 1 

1 - Keys of Life 

2 - Falling in Love Again 

3 - Lightning Strikes 

4 - Nomi Song 

5 - The Twist 

 Side 2 

1 - Total Eclipse 

2 - I Feel Love 

3 - Samson and Delilah: Area 

Nina Hagen is another artist I associate from the same time (both of them Germans). Here she throws down a similar DIY rap style to Nomi.

New York New York - Nina Hagen 

Finally, you should come down and check the blog's party. Every thursday but one of the month downstairs at Catch - 22 Kingsland Road, London (we are not on next thursday). Last night Hannah Hanra totally rocked it out. It was great fun. Check out her great P.I.X mag that covers bands so hot new they don't even know they're a band yet.

Durrr tonight - djing

I am djing at Durrr tonight in the side room. You may ask yourself why I am not appearing on the flyer. That's because they love me so much, and you always hurt the ones you love - just in case you didn't learn that yet. That's really the sign that someone loves you a lot - if you know you can rely on them even you forget to put them in the flyer.

Anyway - I feel this urge to play computer game sounds type music tonight, sort of the kind of thing that slips into Crystal Castle songs and other new pop. I mentioned the idea to some Swedish friends and they told me that the kind of chiptune or "blip blop" sounds which I am referring to was a bit of a scene in Sweden some years back but it never took off too much. Anyway, here is a sample of the kind of thing I will be playing. Hope to see you there. Come by and say hi.

Cyriak - No More Memory
(if the link expires, you can download this and more music at http://www.myspace.com/cyriaksmusic )

And the kind of thing you can download at the 8bitpeoples site.

Random is one of the best of this genre.

Random - Sitges Savepoint

You can download more here.

Marti Caine and 1994 Melody Maker comp

Sorry I have not posted in a while. Summertime and I've been travelling.

This last collection from the Dalston Oxfam was not super exciting. There were some kind of amusing tapes which weren't really exciting enough to post, like the soundtrack of Starlight Express, and some really excellent tapes which were not ironic enough for the spirit of this blog (but which I highly recommend), like the Selected Ambient Works II from Aphex Twin which doesn't have any written titles but includes the great track Blue Calx.

So I have chosen to feature Marti Caine who is primarily known for her acting work apparently and for hosting musical type shows on the BBC in the early 80s, such as the Marti Caine Show. But this very slick disco album was co-written by Barry Blue - I suspect the same guy that did Boogie Nights and I Eat Cannibals from Toto Coelo. Funnily enough - these tracks are slick and well produced but somehow not really enough to make them memorable. But for anyone looking for another catchy track to play in a dj set, these might fare. I think the best is probably the slightly reggae lite tune Snowbird City.

Marti Caine - Who
Marti Caine - Love the Way You Love Me
Marti Caine - Snowbird City
Marti Caine - Tin Heart and the Rebel

Fortunately, there was something remotely more critically interesting and rare in the tape bin this time, but it wasn't in great condition. This is a tape compilation released with the April 29, 1995 issue of Melody Maker.

Some of these songs are presumably not available for purchase even anywhere else. The Goya Dress and Schtum tracks are not listed on discogs at least. Drugstore's track with Radiohead dude Thom Yorke may be their best known (El President) but I'm not sure I'm liking it better than this earlier track. The My Life Story Motorcade track is pretty catchy, but still not really my favorite cup of tea. My Life Story was apparently started primarily by Jake Shillingford whose most recent band is Exileinside. I'm not sure the new band sound is pushing any new limits, but the track Butterfly Wings is quite pretty. Anyone can feel free to explain to me the whole appeal of this genre - I just bring you what's in the tape bin :)

Side one
Drugstore - Speaker 12
My Life Story - Motorcade

Side two
Goya Dress - Scorch (demo version)
Schtum - New Brunswick

Manifesto - monthly african party

Just a little press for our monthly african party happening in London at a members club. You can check out the band that is playing which has that fantastic kind of reverb guitar sound with some salsa influences - congolese in origin, Grupo Lokito. Every party has been packed so come down and check it out.



We also have been getting a lot of press lately because of the kindness of friends. My friend Karley chose to include me in the Dazed top 50 digital online ventures. Would be kind if you could go over there and vote/rate my site. And check out Karley's blog - some very funny writing there. Also, the Guardian covered us with some amusing kudos. Again, totally undeserved, but very nice.

While you're at it - check out this great little catchy number Rach Enroll by apparently unsigned Odd Modern I happened to discover.

More tapes up soon.

50's Indian film music and Italian Disco

Viola Valentino. Don't know much about her other than that she falls into the vast category of music made in Italy at a time when this kind of hair and makeup (not to mention music) was not shameful. Still, there is something about this tune which I enjoy, and that defines me as a man who's threshold of shame/cheese is very low. I appear to have discovered the motherload of Italian gay disco cheese with this track (lots more to download here). Apparently she was married to some guy who was the lead singer of the beloved Italian band Pooh (presumably not as in "Winnie the") when she did the movie Delitto sull'autostrada. It's all part of the wide world of music we love.

Viola Valentino - Comprami

Fortunately, the Dalston Oxfam tape bins also give up good quality stuff. Here are some selections from a tape of Indian film music from the 50's and early 60's. Ironically, I selected the tracks I wanted to record and only realized afterwards that all the tracks I liked had Lata Mangeshkar (लता मंगेशकर) in them, or her sister Asha Bhosle.

I really don't know much about Indian film music of that time but apparently Lata is a super star, having in 1974 secured the Guiness Book of World Records award for most songs sung and also receiving in 2007 a Knight of the Legion d'honneur award in France. She really does have a beautiful voice and I'm sure the comments will enlighten me much more about her.

Side A
1953. Tu Ganga Ki Mauj - Mohd. Rafi
1954. Jayen To Jayen Kahaan - Talat Mehmood
1955. Man Dole - Lata Mangeshkar
1955. Jaadugar Saiyaan - Lata Mangeshkar
1956. Aaja Sanam - Lata Mangeshkar, Manna Dey
1957. Uden Jab Jab Zulfen - Asha Bhosle, Mohammad Rafi
1957. Maang Ke Saath - Asha Bhosle, Mohammad Rafi

Side B
1958. Aaja Re Pardesi - Lata Mangeshkar
1959. Sab Kuchh Seekha - Mukesh
1960. Chaudhvin Ka Chand - Mohammad Rafi
1960. Ajeeb Dastan Hai Ye - Lata Mangeshkar
1961. Teri Pyari Pyari Surat - Mohammad Rafi
1961. Husn Wale Tera Jawaab Nahin - Mohammad Rafi
1962. Kahin Deep Jale Kahin Dil - Lata Mangeshkar
1962. Main Chali Main Chali - Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle

Guest Mixtape - 1993 house from Kevin McKay - Breastfed/Prestel records

We do guest mixtapes!! I plan on making this more of a regular feature and will try to get mixtapes made back in the day by musical luminaries. Kevin McKay contacted me to offer this house mix he did in 1993. Kevin is one of the founders of Breastfed records with Mylo, who put out all of the fantastic Mylo records. Kevin was also the man behind the Linus Loves project.

Now Kevin has started Prestel records and is putting out the Cobra Dukes and also involved with Dada Life.

On his own account he started off djing in glasgow at clubs like the sub club. "Glasgow was pretty much a rave/italian house centre filled with super-excited belgian beats and high-powered scottish rave. I was just looking for something more musical, funky & different and found it in the dj (ne jocks) magazine charts. and a dj called yogi based at raw records in glasgow." To be honest, super-excited belgian beats and high-powered scottish rave sounds pretty good to me ;) But I'm also from New York and have had plenty of the type of house on Kevin's tape in my life.

The tracks which are stand out to me are the Injection - Damn that Dj and Devastating - Wanna Be With You.

Kevin McKay - April '93 House Mix

And here is the Cobra Dukes. It is quite a good catchy synth-rock sound. Still needs a good remix I think (I'm not crazy about the ones I've heard).

Cobra Dukes - Leave the Light On (link removed)

Various German New Wave/Neue Deutsche Welle

I was at a friend's house recently late at a party and she put on some german new wave. The song she put on by the Spider Murphy Gang, "Skandal im Sperrbezirk", reminded me why I always am drawn back to the genre. The problem is that for many Germans talking about NDW artists is like us and Blondie - they don't talk about it because it's so well known. And yet for us foreigners diving in the mix can be somewhat lame and daunting to figure out. So I have been trying to go through more NDW in the last few weeks to find more tunes, partly because I've found that a good NDW tune can make the crowd go crazy on the dancefloor - like discovering an unknown Blondie hit.

The first tune is probably my favorite right now.

Spider Murphy Gang - Skandal im Sperrbezirk


This next track is one of the seminal tracks on the self-titled album by Rheingold. It's not quite a dance-able, but it builds and has a great sound.

Rheingold - Dreiklangsdimensionen


The next 2 tracks are ones which I actually found myself. They don't appear normally on the NDW compilations but I pulled them from some of my NDW records and think they are catchy enough to be included.

Prima Klima - Woll'n Wir Zu Dir Gehn


Spliff - Computer Sind Doof


The following are some additional tunes which I like which are quite commonly mentioned.

Hubert Kah - Sternenhimmel


Geier Sturzflug - Bruttosozialprodukt


The following are very rare NDW which have that kind of raw early electronic quality which I love. These are BEGGING to be remixed. These come to me thanks of the the WFMU blog here which features the whole very rare LP "Kassettentäter".

Georgie D - Die Kunst wird mal durch Abschlachten gross
Ewig + 3 Tage - Keine Angst vor '84
Co-Mix - Irrwitz

Finally, I feature a tune taken from the motherload of NDW, Brotbeutel, where you can go to really discover NDW with lots of rare stuff. This is the very first release of Ideal, which was also one of the big NDW stars.

Ideal - Wir Stehn auf Berlin

Manifesto again - Afro Rave!

It's time for another african party. And we are excited about this because it seems there is a growing interest in african rhythms. Bands like Vampire Weekend and Congopunq are bringing fresh interpretations to the old rhythms and Radioclit is putting african rhythms into a lot of their mixes ((listen to their Nelly Ti Picou if you want to know what I'm talking about) . Plus people are getting tired of the same music all the time and so much african music is inaccessible or hard to find so it really is something new. I will be djing my collection and delivering you a monthly cocktail of real live bands and djs. This week we have the 8 member Zong Zing Allstars - check them out here - in a posh members club in Mayfair. If you're in London come by. If you're not, and you want to be involved in next month's party, e-mail me.

See, even Bjork agrees that it's time for Africa.



And for all you mp3 seekers, I have been gifted by a party mix by one of London's hot new bands, The Cleft Palettes which I'm posting because they have at least one african animal in their graphics :) Check their myspace for some great tunes.



The Cleft Palettes - Gravetendo party mix

(track listing - snippets of ;))

Baile Intro
D.E.E.T - Best Fwends
Don't Fear the Reaper - Blue Oyster Cult
Danca Da Ventuinha by Bonde Do Role
Dolls by Crystal Castles
South of Heaven by Slayer
Babylon Burner by Roll Deep (Breeze 16bar)
XR2 by M.I.A
Searchin' for my Rizla by Rat Pack
Eastenders by We Smoke Fags
Stand Up Sonic by The Cleft Palettes
Super Mario - Level 1
Dust Off Ya Classix by Goldielocks
Club Action by Yo Majesty
Pussyhole by Dizzee Rascal