Friday 26 January 2007

Ten for the Weekend

It's Friday afternoon, the big hand is pointing at the 12 and the little hand at the 5, and my thoughts have turned to that frosty bottle of Hoegaarden taking up space in the fridge at home. Before heading back there I just thought I'd thrown down a list of ten tunes that'll no doubt be lighting up my weekend…

1. TRACEY THORN: GET AROUND TO IT (VIRGIN)
Tracey, Ewan Pearson and the bloke from the Rapture cover Arthur Russell. Sweet.

2. WEEKENDER: SUNDAY SESSION (TOKO)
Classic lazy deep house from the turn of the century. I'd not listened to this record for years and dug it out the other day. Pure late night sweetness… check that Balearic guitar solo!

3. BANGANA: FANTASMA (HEYA HI-FI)
S.U.M.O get down and dirty for some pulsating warehouse party bizniz. Big carnival drums, head-cracking bass and some delicate deepness.

4. 2020 SOUNDSYSTEM: HIGH [LLORCA REMIX/DUB] (2020 Vision)
Chunky deep house niceness with a warm electronic edge. Me like.

5. KOTEY EXTRA BAND FEAT CHAZ JANCKEL: SOONER OR LATER [CHICKEN LIPS DUB DELUXE] (BEARFUNK GOLD)
Dubwise dancefloor excursion on the flip to Kotey and Janckel's recent disco outing.

6. CORTNEY TIDWELL: DON'T LET THE STARS KEEP US TANGLED [EWAN PEARSON INSTRUMENTAL] (CDR)
Epic, uplifting space disco/electronic house from Pearson. It builds for 7 minutes, goes a bit wonky, then grooves for a further 5 minutes. Pity the vocal version is so shoddy.

7. GORILLAZ: KIDS WITH GUNS [QUIET VILLAGE REMIX] (white label)
Smacked-out Balearic weirdness from the QV duo. Get on the floor, lie down and stay there.

8. THE TURTLES: HAPPY TOGETHER [WADE NICHOLS RE-EDIT] (Tonic)
Singalong end of night fare that'll get smiles on faces. If you see my DJing drunk I'll no doubt rinse this!

9. PETER VISTI: BALEARIC LOVE (ESKIMO RECORDINGS)
Epic electronic niceness that sits up and demands to be played all the way through. Proper balearic.

10. PAUL McCARTNEY: COMING UP (PARLEPHONE)
"Diddle iddle di di dee dee… coming up!" Repeat to fade!

Have a great weekend :)

Wednesday 24 January 2007

Mischief Brew make merry with more edits

These days re-edits are ten-a-penny. It seems everyone and their dog is flexing their editing skills and taking a virtual scalpel to every disco, funk and balearic record under the sun. While some of these edits are top notch, many border on the pointless - slight dancefloor extensions for editing's sake, rather than any real desire to do something interesting and impressive with the original.

Of those edit series on the market, Mischief Brew's occasional 12s are among the best. So far, the mysterious edit crew have turned out re-cuts of Kraftwerk, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles (a brilliantly bittersweet extension of 'If You Can Want' released back in 2004), Serge Gainsbourg, JJ Cale (the West Coast swamp funk of 'Ride Me High'), Harry Thurman (the OTT disco delight 'Underwater') and, most famously, Goerge McRae's 'I Get Lifted'. The vast majority of these edits have not only been excellent selections, but also decent edits in their own right - no unecessary reworkings of obvious Salsoul faves or shocking soft-rock monstrosities can be found in the Mischief Brew catalogue. Yet, at least.

This month they return with a new edit 12, a single-sided extension of the Ashantis' 'Everybody Move', a steaming dancefloor groover that sits somewhere between afrobeat, swamp funk (think their edit of JJ Cale) and trippy disco. If that makes sense.
It has a weird kind of psychedelic quality to it, whilst retaining a strong dancefloor sensibility. As if that wasn't enough, the Mischief Brew boys are also slyly releasing a bootleg mix CD featuring 15 more of their edits – ranging from Al Green and the Fatback Band to Liquid Liquid, the Spencer Davis Group and The Clash - all mashed together in a party-rocking fashion. If you come across it, it's definitely worth checking. Not all of the edits are exactly revolutionary, but as a mix it rocks hard and the entertainment levels are up there with the best of 'em.

If you want to find out more about the Mischief Brew boys (or at least what they'll let you know), you can access their website by clicking on the heading of this post.

Mischief Brew - Everybody Move 12" (Mischief Brew) - Released Feb 2007
Mischief Brew - Funk Fusion Re-Edits Vol 2 CD (Mischief Brew) - Released Feb 2007

Tuesday 23 January 2007

Download A Taste of Tricky Disco!

As a bit of a welcome to the Tricky Disco blog, we thought you might like to download a taste of Tricky Disco - a mix by our very own "balearic beard" Sell By Dave. This particular mix was recorded live at the "Cosmic Lounge" at Trinity Centre on New Year's Eve. It boasts a selection of balearic, cosmic disco and left-of-centre late night faves, plus the midnight chimes and a couple of slightly random selections. The tracklist is as follows:

1. L. Pierre – Gullsong (Melodic Records)
2. Chris Carter – Moonlight [Tonic Re-Edit] (Mindless Boogie)
3. Anders Weiderwoller – Belladonna [Tangoterje Re-Edit] (Balearic Biscuits)
4. Felix Laband – Whistling In Tongues [Todd Terje Remix] (Compost Records)
5. Earth, Wind & Fire – Drum Song [Edit] (white label)
6. Paul Simon – Can’t Run But (WEA)
7. The Justified Ancients Of Mu Mu – Burn The Bastards [Excerpt] (KLF Communications)
8. Orange Juice – Rip It Up [Long Version] (Polydor)
9. Chris Rea – On The Beach [Megamix] (Balearic Biscuits)
10. Mudd – 54B [Original Version] (Rong)
11. LSB – Original Highway Delight (Eskimo Recordings)
12. The Osmonds – I,.I, I [Quiet Village No Edit] (Eskimo Recordings)
13. Weirdo Police – Full Moon & Thunder [Floor Mix] (Redux)
14. Roxy Music – Same Old Scene [Glimmers Remix] (Virgin/EMI)
15. The Turtles – Happy Together [Wade Nichols Edit] (Mindless Boogie)

You can download it by cutting and pasting the following URL into your web browser -- http://mihd.net/0q5hjd -- and following the instructions. Alternatively you can click on the title of this post. Enjoy!