Cassettes!

I'm currently sat at home working on my final project for university, drinking tea and listening to lots of music. I find it difficult to decide what to put on some days, I'm a bit bored of my cd's at the moment and I don't like to listen to new music while working as I concentrate on it more than the work itself. So this week I dug out a few old essential mixes I had on cassette. There were some great sets during the first couple of months of 2000 from Mr.C, Parks & Wilson and Sasha. They really helped me develop my DJ style - moving away from the commercial house and trance I started out with and onto more progressive and tech-house sounds. I really enjoyed listening back to all three mixes even after all these years.

There were two tracks from Mr.C's mix that I always loved but could never find on vinyl. The lush Mystical Rhythm by Vince Watson was released on Alola records back in 1999 but still sounds fresh after all this time. Lovely, warm, soulful techno. The other track I was after was Burujha by Octave One, another melodic and deep techno groove.

Vince Watson - Mystical Rhythm.mp3

You can buy a higher bit rate version at Juno Download, I recommend you check out some of Vince's albums if you like this track. If anybody knows where I can buy Burujha please let me know, I couldn't find it on my usual sites.

Gavin @ Myspace

Nazi's, Star Wars & Electro

I bought this LP on the cheap some years ago now, not knowing anything about it. But how could I resist an album called "Generation Star Wars" that had Storm Troopers with the Nazi Swastika emblazoned on their helmets? For this reason, the first pressing was banned in Germany. The second pressing had the offending material removed and the 2000 reprint removed the Star Wars artwork altogether, I assume due to copywrite reasons.

Released in 1994, this was the debut LP from Germany's Alec Empire, a member of Atari Teenage Riot and the founder of the labels Geist and Digital Hardcore Recordings. At the time, it sounded like a noisy mess to me. However, after another listen during a recent vinyl sort out, it appealed more to my now matured ears. It's a cold, harsh soundscape of white noise and distorted electronics, alongside some beautiful ambient synths. I've gone for the epic opener "Lash the 90ties", its long eerie intro eventually making way for some industrial breakbeats. I've also picked out one of the ambient pieces "Pussy Heroin". You can purchase the album on cd from Amazon. Good luck finding a copy on vinyl!

Alec Empire - Lash The 90ties.mp3

Alec Empire - Pussy Heroin.mp3

Gavin @ MySpace

I'm Serious As Cancer

Something a little different from last weeks breakbeats, but just as good. As I said in my previous post, I liked Rave Alert for it's track selection and here we have two big hits from 1992 in remixed form. The Shamen, along with The Prodigy, were probably my favourite act as a youngster. The sheer amount of material that was available though meant I never heard it all and this remix of Love Sex Intelligence by 'Evil' Eddie Richards wasn't on any their cd's I owned. Eddie ups the tempo a little, cuts up a section of the vocal and slaps it over a chunky 4/4 beat, swapping Mr.C's raps for some big stabs on the keyboard. Simple but effective!

The Shamen - LSI (Freaked Out V1.02).mp3

Next up is Rhythm Is A Dancer from Snap! A classic tune that surely needs no introduction. I always liked the way this remix from Dance 2 Trance (one half of which was Jam & Spoon's Jam El Mar) really smoothed out the original. The main riff is played using a mellow guitar sound and as with LSI, the rap is dropped. I should point out that I have nothing against cheesey 90's raps, infact I think I know most of the words to both of the originals!

Snap - Rhythm is a Dancer (Purple Hazed Mix).mp3

Gavin @ Myspace

Watch Out For The Rave Alert

I grabbed a classic compilation from my youth on the cheap from Amazon Marketplace this week. I can't remember if it was me or a friend that had it originally, but either way I've had a copy on cassette for some years now. Released by Telstar in 1992, the cover warned the listener that a rave attack was imminent and they weren't wrong. Apart from a couple of duffers it's a really solid selection of tracks. It's also nice that they aren't all nasty 3 minute radio edits. I'll spare you the cheesier stuff like Seasame's Treat and A Trip To Trumpton and sock it to you straight with a couple of breakbeat monsters. I'll be back with a couple more tracks from this album in another post.

Jonny L - Hurt You So.mp3
Acen - Trip II The Moon (The Darkside).mp3

Oh and before any of you trainspotters feel the urge to tell me that a certain breakdown is missing from the Acen track - I know, but I feel this version is all the better without those James Bond strings.

Gavin @ MySpace

Nicole Willis & The Soul Investigators

Good music has a way of finding you. Sometimes it has to bump into you a few times in order to register, but eventually it’ll get through. So it comes as a great surprise that I didn’t notice Nicole Willis & The Soul Investigators sooner…

Nicole Willis & The Soul Investigators – Feeling Free
Nicole Willis & The Soul Investigators – Holdin’ On

I heard “Feeling Free” for the first time this month via a compilation, and it promptly knocked me for six. It’s effortlessly brilliant and bursting with soul. The album proves to be no different evoking memories of northern soul & motown classics at every turn. Just like ‘Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings’, looking to the past can be just as fresh as constantly moving forward.

The only track that has any hint of modernisation is “Holdin’ On” which, truth be told, I have real trouble categorising. It remains a favourite mainly due to some heavy organ work.

Nicole Willis hails from New York and started out as early member of Deee-Lite. Currently she lives in Finland with musical husband Jimi Tenor and recorded a number of solo albums before hooking up with the 10-strong Soul Investigators for this release.

“Keep Reachin Up” was released in Finland in 2005, but didn’t see wider distribution until 2006. Plenty have picked up on the release with “Feeling Free” gaining top position in Giles Petersons 2006 Listeners Poll.

However, it still seems to be poorly distributed in the UK with a direct purchase from Timmion or Amazon (or Marketplace) as your best choices.

Winners Don't Do Drugs

iDJ Magazine have a mixtape competition each month called Raw Talent. You send them a mix and if they like it they print your details; simple stuff really. I made a nice mix back in December, I really liked it and so did a few other people that heard it. Perhaps you heard it yourself, it's been on my blog for a while. Anyway, a mate of mine was a runner up at the time and suggested I send my effort in.

I hadn't heard anything from them and almost forgot about it to be honest, until I got an email from some guy in London this week asking if there was somewhere he could download the mix featured in the latest issue. I grabbed a copy of the magazine today and there is my ugly mug in print, along with some nice words about the mix. Result! Apparently, I've won a record bag or something, maybe a gig too (which is scary as I don't practise as much as I used to!).

Well this is just me blowing my own trumpet really but I don't win stuff often so I thought I'd make the most of it. You can read the piece from the magazine below as well as download the mix itself. I hope you like it.

View the magazine write-up

Download the mix

Tracklisting:

Carl Craig - Home Entertainment (version)
The Future Sound of London - Lifeforms (Wighnomy Brothers & Robag Wruhmes Simetikon 002-06 Re-Edit)
Cosmo Vitelli - Delayer (Quiet Village Project Remix)
Claro Intelecto - Only Yesterday
Skatebaard - June Nights South of Siena
Lindstrom - The Contemporary Fix (Serious Symptoms Version)
Sebo K - Horizons
Ferrer & Sydenham Inc. - Timbuktu (Âme Original Mix)
Felix Laband - Whistling In Tongues (Todd Terje Remix)
The Juan Maclean - Give Me Every Little Thing
Answering Service - Call Me Mr. Telephone (Lindstrom & Prins Thomas Remix)

Artwork from: http://stupidnick.deviantart.com/

Cheese & Lime

What an awesome sleeve! The artwork of Studio Graffiti graced all of the Lime album covers with the exception of their debut "Your Love". Lime II is another old LP that I picked up in Reading the other week, along with the Mandre albums I posted about previously. Quite different in style though, this is very upbeat, almost synth-pop style disco from 1982. It's pretty cheesey but I think it's great. Lime were Denis & Denyse Lepage, a middle-aged husband and wife duo from Montreal. Although the pair wrote and sung all of the tracks on the album, there was some confusion surrounding the groups identity at the time as they decided to hire two younger and more attractive singers, Joy Dorris & Chris Marsh, to perform their live shows. The group enjoyed great success in the club charts throughout the Eighties, spanning seven albums and numerous 12" singles and remixes. Head over to the Disco Museum for some more information. They suggest that the albums can be ordered on cd via Unidisc. Personally, I'll look forward to finding some more of their beautiful LP's in future digging sessions. Enjoy the music!

Lime - Come And Get Your Love.mp3

Lime - Babe, We're Gonna Love Tonight.mp3

Gavin @ MySpace

A Tom Moulton Mix

I've been meaning to buy this 2006 Soul Jazz compilation for a while and only just got round to doing so, collating some of disco producer Tom Moulton's - originator of the 12" single, amongst other things - best mixes.

Developing longer mixes mainly as a way to keep people dancing to a song longer than the standard 3 minute singles would allow (although to me it improves them for pure listening - virtually all my favourite Disco tracks are 5 minutes plus), many of the mixes on the compilation are promo-only or unreleased versions from his remix ouvre of around 4000 (!!) tracks (according to this interview with the man). With so much material to choose from, hopefully Part 2 will be on the way soon.

Choosing a sample track was a challenge due to the quality of the compilation, but I love the extended instrumental section (a Moulton trademark) in Dreamworld:

Don Downing - Dreamworld (Tom Moulton Mix)(MP3) : Alt Link

You can buy A Tom Moulton Mix and hear more audio samples at Soul Jazz and Amazon.

Space Jazz

I picked up a nice selection of old vinyl last week on a shopping trip to Reading, including two rather good funk albums by Mandre. Not a lot of info on the sleeves but I've gathered what I can online. Mandre was a group, and fictitious persona, of Andre Lewis, an instrumentalist who played and recorded with artists such as Grant Green, The Who, LaBelle, Earth Wind and Fire, Frank Zappa. Huey Lewis, Edwin Starr, Charles Wilson and the Gap Band, Sly Stone, Bobby Womack and Johnny Guitar Watson. He was also a tester of Roland products and was one of the first musicians to record with the infamous Roland TR-808 drum machine (featured in the second track linked below).

The first (self-titled) LP came out in 1977 on Motown Records and featured a mixture of Funk, Disco and some more Jazzy elements. It was mostly vocal tracks, including a great cover of Frank Zappa's "Dirty Love", but the standout track for me was the instrumental "Solar Flight" with its sweet synth solo's and a cracking bassline. The cover art (above) is also fantastic, very Daft Punk as somebody pointed out to me.

Mandre - Solar Flight (Opus I).mp3

Mandre - M3000 (Opus VI).mp3

The follow-up entitled "M3000" had a boring sleeve, but at least the music remained decent. The opening track of the same name kicks in with some space effects and a fast electronic arpeggio bassline, shortly followed by some TR-808 beats. Pretty impressive for 1979 I'm sure you'll agree. The tune continues in a similar vein to Solar Flight, with a Space Jazz kinda vibe to it. The rest of the album is not quite as strong as the debut, heading in more of a P-Funk direction, but it's certainly worth a listen if you can find a copy.

Gavin @ MySpace

Lefties Soul Connection

Last week has been a hectic one having just got back from Amsterdam. It was an enjoyable few days that saw me take in the sights and sounds and I afforded myself some time to do some record shopping. I thought it'd be nice to pick up something from the local music scene and "Lefties Soul Connection - Hutspot" came recommended.

Lefties Soul Connection - Sling Shot
Lefties Soul Connection - It's Your Thing / Hey Pocky A-Way

Not unknown to me (I mentioned their cover of Organ Donor in a previous post) the Lefties are an Amsterdam based funk band. The album is full of spark and there is a certain "liveliness" that I often don't get from groups of a similar ilk. Also in a somewhat unique move, the band tends to eschew covers preferring instead to create original jams. Old tricks do seem present throughout and workouts like "Sling Shot" sound like they could have come from almost any one of the groups from the 60's/70's. "It's Your Thing" obviously, is.

On my final day in Amsterdam I checked the sleeve notes to see that the record shop photographed on the cover is actually in Amsterdam. A short walk and I end up outside Wax Well Records and quickly take the picture shown above. If you look in the shop window you can see the Lefties album along with other classic albums.

Buy "Hutspot" from Juno(LP) or Melting Pot(CD/LP)