The Face magazine May 1982

OK I have a fantastic new LP coming up for you on the blog, issue 5 of Debut magazine which I previously featured Issue 1 of.

But first I want to treat you to an early Face mag. As you can see there is a bit of a trend here - one of the only ways I can find excitement out of the soup of modern media, clowds of mp3s swirling around me from everyone with a laptop and constant media hype of cycles of designers coming and going with the latest colors and trends which increasingly seem to try to sell for the high street - is to look at media from another time and place. The Face was started in 1980 and covered both music, some politics, and fashion. It was a lot less fashion in the early 80s then it turned out to be by the time it closed a few years ago. Anyway - fantastic to read about these bands from a local London mag at the time they were starting off.

I will eventually put up the rest of the magazine but please note pages 11-12 which feature London fashion week coverage from 1982 with pictures from the Vivienne Westwood show and others. Note that as recently as 1982 London fashion week was being compared to Paris as "comic relief".

Diamanda Galas and Demob store.

Sandie Shaw, Scritti Polliti, Seething Wells, Attila the Stockbroker and The Clash.
Countryman (Island films), Konk, The Boat and Madness.

Yazoo, Vince Clarke, Depeche Mode.

World's End, Vivienne Westwood, Notre Dame X, Melissa Caplan, Swanky Modes, Zandra Rhodes, Steven Linnard, Individual Clothes Show.

And here's another pleasure from the past. Tomorrow night, Wednesday the 6th, I will be playing late 90s house music for Isa GT's new party Musicalia at the Moustache Bar in Dalston. I was listening to some of the stuff last night, proper disco house, and am really excited to bring it back out again. In many ways it just captures what I love in the disco wave going on now with a slightly harder beat to it. Are you Ultra Nate?!! Hope so.

Russian Pop tapes from Ukraine part 2.

This is the second tape in my monster Ukraine post which started with the trance comp here.

Just when you thought I was putting out some quality stuff on this blog, I take you back down again!! Having lots of conversations (arguments?) lately with people about taste and deciding how much it matters - seeing how many people evaluate where someone stands in their historical rise and fall of "coolness" of "commercial success" depending on their perceptions of taste. In that conversation I have realized that I am naturally drawn to things which are by definition usually considered not cool or popular - and that's sort of the defining quality of this blog. This is not to say that they have some inherent edgy good taste to them, I am just drawn to them because they are not popular generally. I am sure there is a couch session there somewhere. It's not like I can't perceive what is generally popular, or even popular in a crowd that is fairly hip, it's that I like to try the edges of what is cool - perhaps it makes me feel safe to know that I can test the edges without concern that I will eat myself or go too far and turn into this - something which even I would know has no cool harbor in sight.

So in 1997 this was the face of Russian pop I guess. My friend Dima helped me track down image and videos for lots of these artists. Dima is the hot sh*t in Moscow these days. You can check out his most recent mix for Moscow fashion mag Lam magazine here.

Some of these tracks I do really like, such as the Alla Pugacheva - I'll Come to the Water (honestly, I can't see how that song title matches the video), the Balagan Limited - Bahamas, mama! (which is a Russian cover of Boney M's Bahama Mama) and Alena Apina - Tuk Tuk. Not all the tracks on the cassette cover are on the cassette so I have numbered them as available. Enjoy.

Side A

01. А. Апина и М.Насыров - Лунные ночи - Alena Apina & Murat Nasirov - Moon nights
02. М. Леонидов - Видение - Max Leonidov - Vision (picture)
03. Т. Буланова - Серебристый тополь - Tanya Bulanova - Silver tree (picture)
04. К. Метов - Где-то далеко идут дожди - Kai Metov - its raining out there somewhere (picture)
05. А. Пугачева - А я в воду войду - Alla Pugacheva - I'll come to the water (officially biggest Russian star ever)

06. Русский размер и профессор Лебединский - Глазунья - Russki Razmer and Prof.Lebedinsky (picture) Apparently a pretty funny chav-rave band. Some vids and vids.
07. А. Горбачева - Танго - A. Gorbacheva - Tango
08. Демидыч - Гитара - Demidych - Guitar
10. В. Сюткин - Далеко - V. Syutkin - Far Away (picture)
11. А. Цой - Полет - A. Tsoi - Fly (wikipedia) According to Russian friends, he is kind of an underground hero and was a lead singer for the band KINO.
13. Ляпис Трубецкой - Ты кинула - Lyapis Trubetskoi - you left me. Most recent video.
14. Дюна - Воздушный змей - Duna - Vozdushny Zmei (picture)
Most interesting video.
15. Белый орел - Потому, что нельзя быть на свете красивой такой - White eagle - because you cant be so beautiful!

Side B
01. В. Меладзе - Самбо белого мотылька - V. Meladze - white butterfly's sambo (picture)
02. Л. Агутин и А.Варум - Королева - L.Agutin and A.Varum - Queen (picture)
03. Т. Буланова - Мой ненаглядный - T.Bulanova - My precious
04. Балаган Лимитед - Багамы, мама - Balagan Limited - Bahamas, mama! (picture) (cover of Boney M)

06. Рок-острова - Не любить не возможно - Rock - Islands - It is impossible not to love
07. Ф. Киркоров - Единственная - F. Kirkorov - Only One
08. М. Хлебникова - Чашка кофею - Marina Khlebnikova - Cup of Coffe
10. Shura - Отшумели летные дожди - Shura - summer rains (picture) this dude is a super camp freak.
12. М. Насыров - Туда-сюда - Murat Nasirov - Tuda - suda
13. А. Апина - Тук-тук - Alena Apina - Tuk Tuk
14. Несчастный случай - Что ты имела - Neschastny Sluchai - what you had in mind?
15. Клементия - Небесный пилигримм - Clementia - sky piligrim
16. Чиж и Ко. - Тучи над городом встали - CHizh & Co - Clouds over a city

COMING UP

This Friday Durrr is doing its first party in Paris and Metronomy is playing live. I was listening to the new Metronomy album last night and it is sooooo amazing - probably best album of the year so far. After listening to the whole album properly I think Radio Ladio and On the Motorway are my favorites. This is the band to see. And if you are in London Matthew Wowow/Stone and I will be playing a disco set this coming Monday at Durrr.

And next Friday the 18th is the 2nd of our "Come" parties - our secret Dalston party. The last one was just about my idea of a perfect party - fantastic sound system, great crowd and easy access in and out. Pictures here. If you don't know where it is, ask your friends.

Diesel U Music - African radio show

Last month Diesel U Music had a temporary radio station and I was invited to do 2 shows. The first was with Matthew Stone (Wowow) and we did trance/rave music. You can listen here.

This is the second one I did, which was a chance to show the music I usually play at the regular African parties we do, the Manifesto parties. Lots of music on here is stuff you won't find anywhere else and it's fantastic - from kuduro, coupe decale, funana and finally some older central african pop. Have a listen and enjoy.

Download (160 kpbs)/123 megabytes

Sound of Mob Culture - Lime Lizard magazine

This tape was loaned to me by good friends Josh & Tamara who do a lot of work with the Whoopee club. Josh told me that he doodled the image on the cassette cover himself.

This is really really indie from the early 90s. Most of these artists never got big. Cornershop had a hit 4 years later, and Gallon Drunk had James Johnston who is in Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds. But where is Voodoo Queens, Jacob's Mouse, Mambo Taxi, Dog Hunch, Breed or Blood Sausage today? Some good tunes on here. Poems on the Underground is quite catchy.

Side A

1. Gallon Drunk - Arlington Rd
2. Moonshake - Two Trains
3. Cornershop - England's Dreaming
4. Voodoo Queens - Supermodel Superficial
5. Jacob's Mouse - Solo
6. Mambo Taxi - Poems On The Underground

Side B

7. Pram - Watertoy
8. Dog Hunch - Jack Death
9. Breed - Woah Woah Woah
10. Seefeel - Time To Find (Saturnalia Mix)
11. Blood Sausage - Billy Joel

Friday the 13th, a new secret party is being launched with Trevor Jackson, Matthew Wowow, Pandora's Jukebox and myself at a hidden venue in Dalston with an amazing sound system. E-mail me if you want to come and want details.

Euro Disco

Another cassette from a friend - Matthew Wowow (Stone) - and I have a particularly soft spot for this kind of mid 80s Euro Disco right now. I assume part of the reason for this is that I have a fairly strong knowledge of late 70s early 80s disco that came out of the US, but pretty much missed completely this mid 80s european stuff. Not all of these are excellent, but the 'Cause You are Young by C.C. Catch is great as is Japanese Girl by Max Him.

I must admit I did not actually record this cassette because it was not good enough quality - but I liked it enough to track down the songs elsewhere. I will put up all the tracks by this evening.

Side A

1 - Brother Louie - Modern Talking
2 - Cold Dresses - Al Corley
3 - Touch in the Night - Silent Circle
4 - Touch by Touch - Joy
5 - Dial My Number - The Back Bag
6 - Cause You Are Young - C.C. Catch

Side B

1 - Tonight - Ken Laszlo (Extended mix)
2 - Japanese Girl - Max Him
3 - Pretty Young Girl - Bad Boy Blues
4 - Another Boy in Town - Two Girls
5 - Fire and Rain - Dresden China
6 - Where Do I Gebin - Eruption

Here are some of the vids for these tracks:

Japanese Girl - Max Him


'Cuase You Are Young - C.C. Catch


I WILL BE DJING AT CLUB XLIB IN KIEV

This Saturday night, 31 May, I will be djing at Club Xlib in Kiev/Kyiv with Dima Ustinov and Roman Mazurenko and other friends from Moscow (they are the hottest thing in Moscow fashion press and you can read here). If anyone reads this in Ukraine, come by and say hi.

Diesel U Music radio show in London

I am participating tonight in a radio show with Matthew Wowow from 6-8 pm British Standard Time on 87.7 fm. It's part of the Diesel U Music temporary radio station. You can listen on the link below. It is our intention to explore the area of very synthy trance/rave music from the early-mid 90s which is almost cathedral in nature . . . and also very naff in some people's minds. Check it out.

http://dum.diesel.com/radio

Edit: You can download and listen to the show on the link below. Warning! I sound like a super dork. But I sound better in the African music show which I will post soon.

download/podcast

Live at the Brain 2 - rare early techno

I went round to a friend's house recently in Whitechapel and he had a stack of tapes on his windowsill. I scanned through them and pounced on a few which he was kind enough to lend me. This one is excellent stuff and I think my taste is moving in this direction. This came out on CD and vinyl and almost all the tracks are from quite obscure artists with most of the tracks only appearing here. You can see polaroids here taken from the Brain club back when this was recorded.

You may recognize Sheep on Drugs, but this track was not on any of their other releases. Hi-Rise and Purple Room are artists who ONLY appear on this compilation according to Discogs. Nexus 21 is also on a similar Biorhythm 2 compilation I posted here but I prefer this cassette for some reason, it is more synthy and colorful to me than the more american stuff on the Biorhythm 2. I feel like this music falls in the space between italo, house and techno. My favorite track here is Kersnipp by Doi-Oing. If anyone has any of their other releases let me know - would love to hear them. (FYI - I did not record the Techno Sleeps side of the cassette as it didn't grab me.)


1 Nexus 21 Container
2 Sheep On Drugs Out Come The Freaks
3 Hi-Rise JP 233
4 Man Machine Robotu Okoku
5 Ultramarine British Summertime
6 The Purple Room Triangle
7 Lunarci Sbassed
8 Doi-Oing Kersnipp

Oh and, as it turns out, at least in america, most young bloggers are actually girls. Who knew?!!


WARNING: BLATANT SELF PROMOTION BELOW

Check my new blog Der Fresh Creamy - it's a record of what I think is party hot, but with a difference - I only put links to other blogs. So it's not just what I have to post, it really is what I think is hot. And listen to my Durrr party podcast here.

LES CHOEURS DE L'ARMEE SOVIETIQUE

I don't have much to say about this other than I really like this soviet army choir singing these military themes. Hope you enjoy. Weird that it's from Turkey? I wish this cassette had this alternate cover which I found on the nets.

LES CHOEURS DE L'ARMEE SOVIETIQUE
DIRECTION: BORIS ALEXANDROV

SIDE A

1 KALINKA
2 CHANT DE LA LIBERATION (Chant des Partisans francais) (A. Marly-J. Kessel-M. Druon)
3 LA CHANSON DU BOULEAU
4 PLAINE, MA PLAINE (L. Knipper-V. Goussev)
5 LA VARSOVIENN
6 LES BATELIERS DE LA VOLGA (arr. B. Alexandrov)
7 EN ROUTE (M. Doudine-V. Soloviev-Sedoi)

8 EPITAPHE (Mikis Theodorakis-Yannis Ritsos)

SIDE B

9 BELLA CIAO
10 LES PARTISANS (T. Atourov-S. Alimov-A. Alexandrov)
11 SOIRS DE MOSCOU "LE TEMPS DU MUGUET" (M. Matousovski-V. Soloviev-Sedoi)
12 VENCEREMOS
13 LE GLAS DE BUCHENWALD (V. Mouradeli)
14 SOULIKO (arr. A. Alexandrov)
15 CHOEUR DES SOLDATS DE FAUST "Gloire immortelle de nos aieux" (Charles Gounod)
16 LE CHANT DU DEPART (M. J. Chenier-E. Mehul)
17 LA MARSEILLAISE (Rouget de Lisle)
18 HYMNE SOVIETIQUE (A. Alexandrov)

Also, head over to the Durrr party site to download a new podcast I did in early April for the party. I really like this one, featuring lots of the tracks which I dj currently, as well as some unusual ones like the elevator music track Wives and Lovers at the start, the track from the new Chap album and Ata Kak african track which is hypnotic and hilarious.

Finally, if there is anything that I am all about, it's showing the other side of something we know well. Looking at hidden layers forgotten and showing how the past not only endlessly repeats itself, but also forgets nuances that are really fantastic. That's sort of the manifesto for the blog actually. And in that spirit, I picked up this tape on ebay from Princess Julia who has been glitterati of the demimonde in London for years. She is now (with the lovely Hanna Hanra) behind the very well connected and informed The P.I.X. magazine which is your ultimate source for all that is really new and hot in music. I don't know much about Milky Lunch, or the tracklisting for this, but it's bouncy progressive housey stuff from 1994. Enjoy.

Princess Julia at Milky Lunch

Side A (alternative zshare link)

Side B

Smylonylon 18 - Diskolos mixtape

I don't want this blog to become a Smylonylon posting spot so I will put up a new cassette in the next few days. But this Smylonylon tape is too amazing to leave to my friends only. This IS the definition of spaced out disco. Lots of people are chasing this sound but this cassette gets it so right. I've posted previous Smylonylon stuff here, but this is probably the most amazing for being equally obscure and yet very enjoyable. I think Magnifique on the first side is a standout track (you can sample it on my other blog here) and the end of side B covers that amazing Black Devil album that has been floating around the web, with some tracks to sample on the Yermam blog here.

Smylonylon 18 - Side A

Smylonylon 18 - Side B

Edit:

I had to post the Depeche Mode - Big Muff track after I listened again to Side B last night. It's such a good mix. If anyone has the Steve Bender - Good Lovin' send it to me. I can't find it.

Depeche Mode - Big Muff

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.