Hey you, get on my SoundCloud

Ever the upfront, tech-savvy types that we are, we've recently discovered the goodness that is SoundCloud.com. For the uninitiated, it's a Berlin-based music sharing website that aims to give music listeners (and, specifically, DJs/producers/labels) an easy one-stop place to share music. Think of it as a kind of MySpace/Facebook for music, but with 'private' functions that allow you to promo/share tracks directly with friends, other producers and DJs and so on. As you'd expect, you get your own public profile page where you can showcase tracks, as well as a Drop Box (where anyone can deposit tracks for you to check out - very handy). Just like other 'social networking' sites, you can become 'follow' the producers/DJs/labels you're interested in, which means you get alerted when they upload some new music for public consumption. There are also forums and opportunities to comment on tracks (including 'timed comments', where you can say something about a specific bit of a track or mix).  You can also upload music to share 'privately' with just the people you want to hear it. Simple to use and a top idea, we reckon.

You can check out Tricky Disco's public SoundCloud profile here >>

If you want to send us tracks, mixes etc, you can dump them in our SoundCloud DropBox here >>

TrickyDiscoMix: Sell By Dave - Third Bass

The other night I was playing around with some reckuds and decided to record a mix ‘on the fly’. This is what I came up with – 80 minutes of bassline-heavy garage, house, proto-house and bleep techno.

 It kicks off with one of my favourite ever British garage records, the brilliantly wobbly BB Boogie version of Roy Ayers’ ‘Tell Him’, moving onto a classic record I’ve neglected lately – Todd Edwards’ hugely influential dub of St Germain. Then it’s off for a stroll through bumpin’ house pastures, with Solid Groove, Trevor Loveys and DJ Sneak at the helm. It was nice to revisit Paul Woolford’s always ace tech-house banger ‘For My Bleeps’ (2020 Vision meets early Warp via hip-house) and some heavyweight acid jack from Armando and Swag (under their bootleg ½ Inch Jack guise). The mix then takes a rather odd turn, going from early piano house (West Philips’ 1987 dub of ‘Tell Me’) and party anthem territory (M/A/R/R/S) to The KLF via some very heavy bleep techno vibes (Tricky Disco’s ‘Flyspray’). The whole shebang culminates in some dubby warehouse tackle (Francisco, a very early Todd Terje remix and Serious Intention’s legendary proto-house classic ‘You Don’t Know’). As always, it’s mixed straight from vinyl with no computer trickery, so look out for the crackles and mix adjustments!

Download TrickyDiscoMix: Sell By Dave - Third Bass >>

1. BB Boogie - Tell Him [Booty Bounce Part 1] (Laws Of Motion)

2. St Germain - Alabama Blues [Todd Edwards Dub Mix] (F Communications)

3. Roy Davis Jnr - About Love [Solid Groove Remix] (Classic)

4. Trevor Loveys - Bouce To This [Trevor's Willsden Rub] (Freerange)

5. Freaks - Washing Machine [DJ Sneak's Longspin] (Music For Freaks)

6. Paul Woolford presents Bobby Peru - For My Bleeps (2020 Vision)

7. 1/2 Inch Jack - Red Dragon (1/2 Inch Jack)

8. Armando - Don't Take It [Johnny Fiasco Remix[ (Let's Pet Puppies)

9. West Philips - Tell me [Dub Mix] (Kool Kat)

10. M/A/R/R/S - Pump Up The Volume [Remix] (4AD)

11. Tricky Disco - Flyspray (Warp)

12. The KLF - What Time Is Love [1988 Pure Trance Original] (KLF Communications)

13. Francisco - Fregna (The Age) (Pigna Records)

14. Snuten - Wild & Free (Claws Against Knives) [Todd Terje Night Version] (C&C Records)

15. Serious Intention - You Don't Know [Special Remix] (Easy Street Records)

best before: faces The Final Curtain

Those of you in Bristol - and perhaps beyond - will be familiar with Tricky Disco's regular shindig, best before:. For nearly five and a half years we've been putting on parties in a variety of venues across the city, inspired by a love of great music - both new and old - and the sorts of 'anything goes' club nights that thrill, inspire, surprise and entertain in equal measure. It's been something of a rollercoaster, if truth be told, with plenty of memorable nights along the way. We've been lucky to host some of our favourite DJs, who have without fail smashed up the dance alongside some of our friends from the world of dance music - and, of course, our little group of forward-thinking, party-minded residents.

Good things don't last forever, though, and after taking time out to decide the best way forward we've decided to call time on our little party once and for all. Of course, we couldn't go out without a final blow-out, so on March 20th we're taking over one of our favourite spaces in Bristol, Native, for one last hurrah. Ladies and gentlemen, we give you…

best before:

 presents 

THE FINAL CURTAIN

A magical evening of disco dancing and  dancefloor debauchery

F•E•A•T•U•R•I•N•G

CHRIS DUCKENFIELD

[Swag/Popular People's Front - special party selection!]

THUMBS ALOFT live feat MC COHERENT

[best of best before: mash-up!]

THE best before: ALL-STARS

Feat LEGENDARY TONE, PUFFIN JACK, THE KELLY TWINS, RICHARD CARNAGE, JAMES SMALL & PAUL WALKER

10pm-4am. £5 on the door, £3 with fancy dress/best before: Facebook Group members! Fancy dress theme: 'theatrical'. 

Thumbs Aloft 'Hail To The Edits' Download

Myself and Five-Stylez have been holed up in the Bedmo Disco bunker a lot lately, working on some new Thumbs Aloft material - remixes, edits, original tracks and, of course, our long promised first mixtape. That, 'The Sound Of Bedmo', should be ready by February - our old pal MC Coherent is working on his parts, which we'll overdub and then master the whole thing.

While we were faffing about in the studio last night we came across an old edit we'd done for our shows at Bloom, but never used. It's one of those "gets played occasionally" type numbers that sits on our portable hard drive waiting for the right occasion. With this week's inauguration of President Obama over in the US, it seemed the right time to unleash some presidential disco!

So here, for your entertainment, is a vintage, unreleased Thumbs Aloft edit… 'Hail To The Edits'. Enjoy!

Download Thumbs Aloft - 'Hail To The Edits' >>

In Love Tempo

Tricky Disco crew member Christophe - one of Bristol's finest DJs, charity shop crate digger supreme, hardcore party animal and graphic designer to the stars - has launched his own blog. It's Called Love Tempo and it's rather good. For starters it features a hot array of mixes from Chris himself, which are always essential downloads. His latest mix is particularly good. There's also some mixes from Futureboogie/Seen leg end Joe 90.

Head over there by clicking here >>

Tricky DiscoMix: Sell By Dave's 2nd Seasonal Selection

It wouldn't be Christmas at TD Towers without the obligatory "Seasonal Selection" from yours truly. These mixes tend to feature no Christmas-specific music of any description, instead offering a mix of the new and old, forthcoming bits and the odd unreleased gem. This year's effort is no exception. Like last year's mix, it was put together pretty much on the spot with no forward planning. Hopefully it feels a bit spontaneous - that's the idea.

Tracklist wise, it boasts a mix of some of my recent faves - The Revenge, that Aeroplane mix of Friendly Fires, Downtown Party Network – some classics (Metro Area, Pet Shop Boys, Kelley Polar) – and a heavy dollop of unreleased/forthcoming fare. Look out in particular for the soon-to-be-hyped Beyond The Wizard's Sleeve version of Franz Ferdinand, Mungolian Jet Set's rejected remix of Tough Alliance (never to be released, the Mungs tell us) and a cheeky dab of deep disco house from Ron Basejam's 2009 solo debut. Stylistically there's chugging slo-mo house, nudisco, Italo-pop and more besides. Hopefully you'll find it entertaining - I had fun drunkenly putting it together.

1. Intro/Ron Basejam - Fear (unreleased)
2. BBE - Be Mine (Still Love 4 Music)
3. The Revenge - Night Flight (Jiscomusic)
4. Friendly Fires - Paris [Aeroplane Remix] (XL)
5. Metro Area - Caught Up (Environ)
6. Downtown Party Network - Days Like These [Vocal Version] (Eskimo Recordings)
7. Holy Ghost! – Hold On [Mock & Toof Remix] (DFA)
8. Tough Alliance - A New Chance [Mungolian Jet Set's Rejected Remix] (unreleased)
9. The Glimmers & Pete Herbert - No Head (Diskimo)
10. Franz Ferdinand - Ulysses [Beyond The Wizard's Sleeve Interpretation] (Domino)
11. The Flirts - Helpless [DITS v Orlando Edit] (Disco Exotique)
12. Pet Shop Boys - West End Girls [DJ Hell Remix] (Parlophone)
13. Kelley Polar - The Rooms In My House Have So Many Parties (Environ)

Download here >>

Winter Warmers

Apologies to those who've been loitering around here recently, only to be met with the same content we uploaded back in October. This time we have an excellent excuse - Team TD were down in Australia sunning ourselves, playing records (thanks to Neil at A Disco Stole My Baby in Sydney) and generally enjoying life on the other side of the world. Now we're back and intend to make up for it over coming weeks with a hot selection of mixes, articles, opinion, interviews and random nonsense. Business as usual, then.

Since our arrival back on British shores, the weather has been irritatingly cold and frosty – so much so, in fact, that we've taken to wearing thick orange Arran sweaters, wooly socks and those middle aged slippers they flog in M&S. Don't judge us - it's a practical thing.

Luckily, we've found a few musical gems lately that have warmed us like a steaming mug of mulled wine. Perhaps most worthy of praise is Moonboots & Balearic Mike's 'Originals' comp on Mudd's Claremont 56 label. We've always been big fans of Mudd (inviting him down to play at our party in a boozer last year, playing his records, telling everyone what a thoroughly nice chap he is etc), Moon and Mike, and 'Originals' really is a marriage made in heaven. A proper CD comp (which, incidentally, is also available digitally 'for tha kids'), it features a heart-warming selection of quality Bally-eric tuneage hand-picked by Manchester's finest vinyl-hoarding dad DJs. We have to admit to being a bit clueless when it comes to the origin of most of the material – a mix of long-forgotten Balearic fodder and new material – but we can tell you it's a fantastic selection. It's delightfully eclectic, moving from dubby sunset Balearica (Band Aid's 'A Tour In Italy') and off-kilter electronic European pop (Byron's 'Too Much', the ecentric Italian stylings of Radio Band's 'Radio Rap') to piano-tastic 80s grooves ('Dance' by The Night S-Press), spooky late night fare (Bdum Bdum Sound) and lilting acoustica (Mountaineer, 5th National, Smith & Mudd). Although largely downtempo, it's about as far from 'standard' chill out fodder as you can get – honestly, it's an essential purchase in our eyes. Head over to the Claremont 56 website to buy a CD >>. There are only 800 available, so act fast!

Also wholeheartedly warming our cockles this month is the latest collection from the DJHistory camp - that's renowned writers Bill Brewster and Frank Broughton. The duo have been putting out some good digital-only fare lately - the SWAG best-off, for starters - but their latest venture is easily their best comp yet. 'Le Disco - Tele Music Remixed' rescues a load of old library music by some of French disco's best players and gets it touched up for modern discoid dancefloors. This basically means re-edits - and the odd 'proper' remix - of exceedingly obscure, little-heard disco tuneage by the likes of the Idjuts, Faze Action, Toby Tobias, Ray Mang, Al Kent, Mudd and the Unabombers. It's got to be hot, right? Yep. From what we can gather the majority of the edits are pretty reverential, with contributors simply rearranging the excellent source material with the odd dancefloor tweak. It's an approach that pays dividends, with each of the ten edits feeling both authentically swinging and deliciously playable. Being Brewster and Broughton, you also get a PDF boasting full sleeve notes, a history of Tele Music's players (many better known for things like Voyage, Cerrone and Arpydys) and a load of information you never knew about French disco. Yes, it's download only, but at 8 quid for 320 MP3s or 9 quid for the WAVs, you can't argue. Heartily recommended. If you're interested in downloading it for yourself, soundclips and such are available at DJHistory.com >>

We've also been getting our long johns in a twist about the most recent Aeroplane material (but, hey, who hasn't?) and the forthcoming solo effort from Ron Basejam, AKA Crazy P's Jim Baron. As far as we know Jim's not found a home for it yet, though talks are underway. We hope it finds a home, as it really is rather lovely - a frostbite-slaying mixture of groovesome discofunk, deep house and fireside dancefloor grooves. It's called 'Deep & Meaningless' - look out for it in the Spring.

Right, best dash. Expect some new mixes very soon, including the first ever Thumbs Aloft mixtappe and a seasonal selection from that pesky bearded chump Sell By Dave. Yowzers!