john carpenter - the end (assault on precinct 13) (part 1 - disco version) (mp3)

john carpenter - christine (part 2) (mp3)

john carpenter - unheimliche schattenlichter (mp3)

carrying on in the same ilk as my last post, here's another three tracks from another legend, this time its film director and musical composer john carpenter...

john carpenter over the last 30 years has been renowned for his sci-fi/horror film making, but in addition to this, he has also been responsible for the music scores on 16 out of his 19 films...these include assault on precinct 13, halloween, the fog, christine, escape from new york, escape from l.a, and one of my personal favourite films, big trouble in little china...

his music over the years has been a great influence to many techno/electro/electronica/ambient acts and the three tracks selected, all from the late 70's/early 80's, show just why...do be aware though that two of the three tracks are bordering on the dark side of italo/electro, anyone with a nervous disposition should avoid 'christine', either that or get some one to hold your hand whilst listening...

most of john carpenters soundtracks are an absolute bitch to get hold of on record, so maybe try here or if not, maybe try a trip to berlin, i picked up 3 different soundtracks there, all for peanuts...

cristal - la nuit pour nous (mp3)

cerrone - strip tease (mp3)

cerrone - generique b.m.II (mp3)

a triple helping from the legendary french disco producer today...

with the exception of giorgio moroder, there is no doubt that jean-marc cerrone was the main european influence on the disco sound throughout the 70's and early 80's, inspiring numerous house/techno producers along the way...

to anyone slightly clued up on the disco sound, most of his records will need no introduction, 'supernature', 'give me love', 'rocket in the pocket' and 'juis suis music' are all classics in their own right...so to steer away from the obvious, i've chosen three tracks that are from some of his lesser known offerings...

- 'la nuit pour nous' is a jazz influenced-disco number that appears on the flip of the ultra, ultra rare cristal release, 'phonic'...
- 'strip tease' is a sleazy driven, almost techno affair that appears on the soundtrack for the sexploitation movie, brigade mondaine: vice squad... (incidently, this track appeared on a james murphy mix for beats in space quite recently, check here...)
- 'generique b.m.II' is a head nodding, spaced out disco track that appeared on a soundtrack for the 1979 movie, la secte de marrakech, which was the follow up to vice squad and was equally as saucy...

give me love...

brennan green - little ease (mp3)

keeping up the nyc theme (and with more yet to come), here's something special from brennan green. as part of the original new york nu-disco clique (alongside morgan geist, darshan jesrani and daniel wang) he was instrumental in launching a scene that's repercussions are still felt strongly today. however, his production of late has been something completely different, going off in a whole new direction, and is leading the way in a genre i can only describe as "wonky house". these releases are truly unique - think bobby konders remixed by isolee, having a quiet night in on a whole heap of hallucinogens. on "little ease" we're invited into green's universe, with a strange incomprehensible voice calling in otherworldly tones over a tracky, motorik-inspired beat. the confidence in which this track has been crafted still leaves me in awe almost 9 months after it's original release - the track starts and finishes on a similar footing, with the journey rather than final destination taking pride of place, and the faux-ending at around four minutes in ("i think that's it") is truly something to cherish. you might want to buy this record here.

more astute readers will have noticed the unforeseeable event that has taken place as part of this post - the fact that the flipside of this 12" contains a re-rub from bff favourites lindstrom and prins thomas, that we've decided against posting. what on earth is the world coming to!?!

betty botox - voodoo 1 (mp3)

around this time last year, a lavishly packaged quality-filled mix cd surfaced in a few select shops, compiled by beats in space's tim sweeney. from it's appearance you could immediately tell this was going to be something special, and on hearing what was contained within it immediately became one of the strongest compilations of the year. it was closely followed by another mix, and by this stage, in my mind at least, rvng intl. had set themselves up as a halogen beacon for the freaky future-disco sound, where as much love went into the creation of the product as the sourcing of the sounds. this ethos followed up on their 12" edit releases, and was a strange approach standing at odds to the current disco edit climate, where non-descript record labels put out hastily bludgeoned edits of worn-out classics, pressed up on piss-poor white labels, with no real attempt to create a product to be coveted.

this track is an edit from the scissors of betty botox, an optimo side project, riding high after last week's mind-altering essential mix (and i would strongly recommend regulars of this blog to check that mix out, especially as it finished with one of my all-time favourite records). rvng have begun their campaign unleashing only luscious, obscure, screen-printed monoliths, bringing the scene forward and ushering in a new age. records created for record lovers - let the world rejoice! treat you record collection with the respect it deserves and buy the betty botox ep here.

shriekback - my spine (is the bassline) (mp3)

another quickie today - much sought after new wave track from 1982...first heard this a good few years back now on the most excellent andrew weatherall compilation - nine o clock drop...

enjoy...

peter tosh - buk-in-hamm palace (mp3)

great reggae/roots/disco crossover track from your man 'winston hubert macintosh' aka peter tosh...the track was released in 1979, and what we have here is an awesome 8 minute disco affair with mr tosh waxing lyrically about smoking the herb at buk-in-hamm place...to be honest, if the british tabloids are correct, then your man prince harry already does (did) his bit, maybe he's a big peter tosh fan...

played this the other week when we had james holroyd down guesting and he informed me that carl craig used this record for one of his past projects/productions. my carl craig knowledge is not extensive, so i've got no idea which - answers on a postcard please...

oh, and if you fancy a bit of a balearic reggae karoake session, you can find the lyrics here for a right good sing-a-long....

amral's trinidad cavaliers - 90 percent of me is you (mp3)

something short today, both in word count and track length. according to the wealth of information available out there on the internet, amral's trinidad cavaliers area steel drum band hailing from trinidad, amd i assume that the main man, or at least a member of the group, is called amral. anyway that's really not what matters - all you need to know is by harnessing the power of hyperlinks you can use the underlined text above to listen to what must be one of the greatest examples of the power of disco music being harnessed into a completely unrelated genre, as seen previously in the fantastic version of "there for but the grace of god go i" from the gories or just about anything off the reggaetastic studio one disco mix.

ode to das witbier (mp3 mix)

in what must be a best foot forward first, i've done what might be tagged as "a dj mixtape" for y'all to listen to. you may want to have your own little rave to this - in your house, in someone elses house, outside in a field, or even on your preferred method of public transport (but obviously with your headphones on, and most definitely not like some smelly teenager playing an undeciphrable tinny noise loudly through your mobile phone). this mix happened almost by accident - after recently coming home late, and very drunk, i stuck what must be the remix of the year onto the decks and was filled with what can only be called inspiration - i stood mixing records for almost two hours, and i now feel so pleased with the result i thought it best to put the result up here to share, trimmed down to a cd-sized 74 minutes. having been of a quite intoxicated state i didn't bother writing down what was playing, and listening to it now i don't really know what everything is! so rather than a playlist littered with question marks and horrible innacuracies, i thought i'd write it up what i can remember as a cheesy complilation review instead:

you could do a lot worse today than checking out this killer 75 minute live mix cd from best foot forward. taking it's cue from some of this years hot hot hottest minimal electronic sounds, this mix filters out the shit to include original tracks and remixes from james holden, todd terje, rekid, isolee, dfa, lindstrom, hot chip, carl craig, fc kahuna, martin buttrich and many, many more. don't even try and buy this in the shops!

i'm feeling quite content with this mix, and if i could offer some sort of a money back guarantee that you'd love it i really would. i can only hope you enjoy listening to this as much as i did making it - and would heartily recommend copious amounts of hoegaarden to help you try and reach that beautiful state.

by the way, my alternative picture for this post which i found on flickr may well be the best photograph of all time.

the seven seas players - spasticus autisticus (mp3)

ian dury & the blockheads - hit me with your rhythm stick (mp3)

a double dose fromn the late, great ian dury today...

first up is the excellent seven seas players version of 'spasticus autisticus', which you can find on the flip of the 12" release...for anyone wondering, the seven sea players consisted of dury, jankel and sly & robbie on drums and bass...

second up is the classic, 'hit me with your rhythm stick', which to be honest doesn't really need any introduction, apparently though there is a disco version of this track which i have never heard, so if anyone knows where i can find it, please let me know...

happy listening...

gil scott-heron and brian jackson - angola, louisiana (mp3)

just got in from work and not feeling very dynamic, so its a short one...

here goes......brooklyn-born musician and general jack of all trades brian jackson first met up with poet and fellow classmate gil scott-heron in and around 1970 at lincoln university...throughout the 70's they went on to colloborate on several albums, including the secrets LP, which the above track is from......

short but slightly informative...?

matsubara - sos (prins thomas edit) (mp3)

having been running bff the night for almost 18 months now, i'm beginning to feel quite a strong sense of, for want of a better word, "ownership" towards certain records. there are tracks that me and mark play out more often, tracks that will make friends and regulars look over with a sign of recognition whenever they hear the first few bars being played, tracks that you're unlikely to hear anywhere else around these parts. this is one of them - a prins thomas re-edit of an 80s guitar freak out, only available on his discomiks ep. the original of which was big down at the loft, a phrase which applies to most of the amazing disco-related records of the 60s, 70s and 80s.

you may or may not be interested to know that what you're reading here originally began as a tapes 'n tapes post, after having them colour me impressed on manchester on tuesday night - tight band, great sound, and above all looking like they were having a whole lotta fun. however, according to hype, every track off both the album and ep has been blogged two or three times already, so i decided to turn my attention to the path less travelled. pictures of the night (which i was going to use in the original post) can be found courtesy of the lovely people at the indie credential over here.

alice smith - love endavor (maurice fulton mix) (mp3)

chantilly - tasty treats (mp3)

hot chip - over & over (maurice fulton dub)

the term "honorary mancunian" sometimes sounds so, i dunno, shite, but in the case of maurice fulton there's nothing else quite so apt. typing him into google brings both manchester's local newspaper and greatest clubnight within the first five results, and his constant love for our fair city knows no bounds.

so as a fellow mancunian it's under these circumstances i'm pleased to present a few choice highlights from his recent career. ignoring the universally praised syclops project on london's constantly blinding tirk label (but if you haven't yet heard these four tracks you really must - check the link for samples), these three releases show fulton doing what he does best - slutty electro-funk under more aliases than america's most wanted. it goes without saying that it's worth picking pretty much everything he lays his hands on. i'm a little miffed at due to a broken mp3 player i've missed my favourite release, chair girl by mu (who also happens to be maurice's wife). i'll put in on my next action list for a later day ...

patrick duvet & his sweet perversions - sex and drugs and rock and roll (mp3)

great rerub of the ian dury classic, 'sex and drugs and rock and roll'...patrick duvet & his sweet perversions pull of an extremley cheerful disco cover, which, dare i say, is lots better than the original...

this double a-side was released in 1979 on the disques clouseau label and also features a cover of the paradise garage anthem, 'wake up and make love to me', which is equally as cheerful...two for the price of one, bargain...