darondo - legs (mp3)

it's often daunting to think of the amount of quality music there is out there if someone like darondo can go unnoticed for so long. after his track "didn't i" was unearthed by giles peterson for his "digs america" compilation late last year, the la-based ubiquity records have brought together a collection of singles and demo's from darondo's early seventies career and presented it for consumption on the "let my people go" longplayer. with vocals that would make al green jealous, and a laid-back funk groove reminiscent of mcneal and niles (another "find" of recent years), this is a slow burning gem of an album that will last you long into the summer months.

this track alone is worth around $500 mint, so what are you waiting for - go get it!

the temptations - ball of confusion (mp3)

eve of destruction, tax deduction, city inspectors, bill collectors,
mod clothes in demand, population out of hand, suicide, too many bills,
hippies moving to the hills. people all over the world are shouting, 'end the war!'

without wanting to to get preachy, i thought this would be a good track to post with the current political climate tempestuous as it is, an old track with lyrics as relevant today as ever, with references to racial tension, corrupt governments and a perpetual war. on a lighter note, this went down a storm last saturday, with jason describing it as his favourite soul track of all time - so it can't be all bad then!

i've little or no idea about how many people who read this page also visit common on a saturday night, but for everyone who came down to for the "vs. aficionado" bash this weekend all i can say is that i hope you all enjoyed yourself as much as i did.

short and sweet - that's it from me!

munk ft. princess superstar - mein schatzi (zongamin remix, re-edited by midnight mike)

this will either serve as an brief introduction or a act as a timely reminder to the greatness of midnight mike. i've been buying his records, remixes and edits for quite a while now, and have constantly been amazed at his focused and often intense production style, which tred on pathways left untouched by many other electroclash producers during the genre's peak years. this is taken from a munk remix ep on gomma, and is mike rejigging a track from his labemate and sometimes co-producer, the aurally autistic zongamin.

what made me dig this gem up you may ask? well midnight mike has launched a new mp3 blog over at 12am maternal, and the quality of the tracks posted so far has been quite outstanding. the blog has also had mike's friends delving into the dark recesses of their collection, with posts from musical luminaries such as blackstrobe's ivan smagghe. this link is provided with one caveat - please don't to use all the yousendit links till i get there first eh?

buy some of midnight mike's stuff here and here.

visioneers - runnin' (pharcyde cover) (mp3)

the rise in popularity of the cover version over the last two years has been unprecedented, with bloggers continually trying to outdo one another with the latest scoop, and artists now just as happy paying respect to their peers as to their idols. where once a cover version was a nod to a particular songwriter that may have influenced a band in their formative years, lately we see an influx of tracks that are just years old. a lot of these cover versions are great, working best when an individual spin or alternative angle placed upon on an already well-loved track (see josé gonzalez's ubiquitous "heartbeats" for a perfect example). all that needs to be reminded is that quality control is still as an important issue as ever - for every johnny cash "one", we also get a u2 "neon lights".

this cover comes from the forthcoming visioneers album "dirty old hip hop", out next month on bbe. visioneers is the brainchild of 4hero's less prolific partner marc mac, and allows him to stray from the nu-jazz sound made popular by the west london duo. this was originally out on a 7" back last year, and is still available via goya music. this one of my staple "early doors" records for best foot forward, and it never really leaves the bag. maybe soon mark might drop his dr rockit equivalent ...