pam nestor - hiding and seeking (mp3)

sometimes you just love a record, and can't put your finger on what it is - it might be down to a subtle memory evoked, a certain vibe created, or even a little snatch of an unplaceable melody - it's what the french call a certain ... i-don't-know-what (massive apologies to this man). in the spirit of this, i give you pam nestor's 'hiding and seeking', as it's difficult to express why this record means so much to me.

mixed by "britain's reggae maestro" dennis bovell, this is a laid back reggae disco number (pressed on a drool-worthy transparent neon yellow 12") and i order you to like it!

quartz - beyond the clouds (mp3)


quartz - chaos (mp3)

a double dose from quartz today. both tracks come from their 1978 self titled lp, and both are of the same ilk as messrs moroder and carpenter. the album itself comes with some great, yet slightly amusing, futuristic artwork (it comes in the form of a bizarre superman/kryptonite styled backdrop, with a few random 'photoshopped' space kids...?)

the first track, 'beyond the clouds', is a piano driven affair, which reels you in via its warm, fuzzy bass line, and moody piano tinkering. apparently, 'beyond the clouds' was a big anthem for the late 70's disco scene, especially with the gay clubs of new york and san francisco...

the second track, 'chaos', starts things off a bit mellower, but ends up in the same vain as above. the same fuzzy bassline, but this time ,its a case of less piano, and more synths/pads/layers and effects...

the crusaders - spiral (mp3)

for anyone familiar with the work of kenny dixon jnr, then the crusaders track above should sound somewhat recognisable. under his moodymann moniker he produced the most excellent 'don't you want my love', and being no stranger to sampling jazz/soul artists' work, its obvious to see where he reached for his inspiration on that track - the wonderful jazz-funk of 'spiral'. love the guitar on this one, gets me all worked up...

daft punk ft. romanthony - too long (mp3)

romanthony - the wanderer (journey man thump) (mp3)

"hey bitches what's up. my name's romanthony. you might have heard of me before ... yeah that's right, studio buddy of daft punk ... uh huh, yep, that was me who wrote and sang the vocals on "too long" from their under-appreciated discovery album. but i'm only telling you about that track to lull you into a false sense of security, because what i really wanna drop on you today took place back in the midst of 1994, before most of y'all would've even heard a dance record.

it was back then that i put out the inaugural release for prescription, a label founded by two close friends of mine ron trent and chez daimier. we put out some fucking unbelievably fine house records, but nothing came close to topping this - some say this is the finest house record ever made, and you know what? i gotta agree with them - cos not only is this track the shit, but there's three other mixes on the ep that i crafted into slabs of solid vinyl gold.

some cats interviewed me for muzik a while ago - if you wanna check out some real things i said, as opposed to some shit made up by some unknown blogger who i never met, click this. romanthony out."

control d - vision in the mirror (instrumental) (mp3)

when out and about searching for records, there’s one genre in particular that always stands out as being a bit of a gamble. the genre in question - italo disco. to me, it’s a bit like picking a fine wine or a good cheese…you either get it spot on, or you get it very, very wrong. however, with today’s picking, id like to think i’ve got it spot on. in my humble, dairy orientated opinion, you could say the cheese equivalent to this track is a slice of parmiagano reggiano - its cheesy, italian and pretty tasty...

todays track is from control d and is entitled ‘vision in the mirror’. don’t really know much about the artist, apart from they are a collaborative from rimini, italy, and that they have typically italo styled stupid names, like bugsy and zippy…the track itself is an 80’s synth, electro and slightly cheesy offering that constitutes a medley of three different tracks; human league - don’t you want me, heaven 17 – let me go, and yazoo – situation. anyway, i suggest you try it, you never know, you might just like it...

thom yorke - the eraser (slow to speak remix) (mp3)

well, i'm pretty certain this isn't as legit as other recent offerings from last year's impeccable thom yorke solo outing, but it's still well worth a listen ... coming via the mixing desk of a mysterious duo originating from new york (i know, will i ever shut up about that place?!?), this is an overhaul dedicated straight to the dancefloor, with a no-nonsense kick drum pulling the track along. if you ever had the feeling that "the eraser" lacked a little punch, i think you should consider yourself pretty damn satisfied.

jah wobble, the edge & holger czukay - hold on to your dreams (mp3)

what happens when ex pil member jah wobble collaborates with ex can bassist and sound engineer holger czukay, and the u2’s guitarist, the edge? the answer – the snake charmer ep, and on this hides the track "hold on to your dreams". "hold on to your dreams" is one of my personal all time favourites and is an 8 minute ethereal journey of, experimental, soul induced boogie, that is as off the wall, as it is genius. the track in question was released back in 1983, and is easily the best on the ep...oh, and to complete the all-star cast line up, legendary producer/dj francois kervorkian was roped in to do the production duties, arthur russell wrote the lyrics and jaki leibizeit (ex can member) did the drumming...

david bowie - oh you pretty things (mp3)

david bowie - panic in detroit (mp3)

david bowie - speed of life (mp3)

now here's something that's suprised me. if i search this site for david bowie there are a grand total of no results. that's close to 18 months without one mention of the man who is, in my own inflated and self-important opinion, the greatest solo artist of all time. think about it, bowie had 25 strong years of being a complete trailblaizer, creating all sorts of muscial styles, personal identities and hipster scenes, and elevated pop music to a higher level through a combination of great writing, unique showmanship and an appreciation of art and literature. oh and if you're wondering where 25 years comes from, let's just say that everything after the "let's dance" lp doesn't count ...

i've picked my current favourite 3 david bowie releases here, and if you asked this time next week it'd probably be a totally different set. first up is "oh you pretty things" from "hunky dory", a track that makes me long to get started on those forever delayed piano lessons. secondly is "panic in detroit", which hits the ground running with a fabulous riff and the instant opening line "he looked a lot like che guevara, drove a diesel van". finally i give you "speed of life", the opening track from the ultimate bowie album, "low".

"low" is bowie's musical apex, a fact noted by the man himself. the powerful reach of the lp, the first part of the much feted "berlin trilogy" created with the aid of brian eno, is still being felt strongly 30 years on. air's wonderful four hour essential mix began with "speed of life", q magazine rated the album #14 in it's "greatest british albums ever", and pitchfork, the new testament for the new indie generation, recently decreed "low" as the #1 album of the 1970's. side a (or tracks 1-7 for those more familiar with the CD format) are classic bowie ("sound and vision", "be my wife"), although dealing with the unfamiliar and slightly darker topics of lethargy, depression and estrangement, highlighting bowie's overcoming of his cocaine addiction. over on side b the album's true colours really come through - four ambient tracks, originally rejected for the soundtrack to "the man who fell to earth" (the source of low's iconic cover image), which see bowie pay homage to can, neu! and eno himself.

bowie means so much to so many, and with low reaching three decades old and david bowie turning 60 i thought it nice to throw a party in his honour. so the picture you see above is a flyer for "all the young dudes", a night taking place this friday at common from 9-2. i've found a whole load of manchester dj's who've grown up with bowie being a big part of their life, and for one night only we're all going to play records from, related to or influenced by the man himself. if you're from these parts, make sure not to miss it, and you live to far away to join in the bowie fun and are feeling upset, drop your thin white duke love in the comments below.

daniel wang - like some dream i can't stop dreaming (mp3)

after mentioning daniel wang in my previous post, i thought it would only be right to post up one of his 'own' tracks...

the track in question is from the afore mentioned balihu #1 release aka, the "look ma no drum machine ep", and is the classic "like some dream i can't stop dreaming". i'm sure most of you will have heard this track as it has been absolutely caned for the last 15 years by almost every dj worth bothering to go and listen to. its hard to believe this was released way back in 1991...absolute classic

gorillaz - kids with guns (quiet village remix) (mp3)

well this happens to be our 100th post, and we've finally moved to a rather lovely new web host, whose giving us loads more bandwidth - so hopefully say goodbye to our end of month posting droughts!

to celebrate this i'm sharing something very special that's been sitting on my hard drive for some time. when quiet village came to play at our first birthday party last year they handed over a cd-r with some very limited remixes that they'd been working on. this gorillaz remix, apparently nixed by lord albarn himself, is soon to surface on a white label 12" (limited to 1000 and coming direct from the source). it's a perfect example of qv doing what they do best - slow hypnotic drumming, cosmic waves, an unparalleled depth of production and 2 drugged-up vocals that drag you right down into their murky underworld. massive bonus points go to whoever can source the movie sample in the last 20 seconds as well ...

get it while it's hot!

eddy grant - timewarp (mp3)

been after this record for way too long...thankfully though, i finally picked it up in a bargain bin yesterday....

eddy grant is probably most remembered for his solo stuff, particularly his cheesy contribution to the pop world, with tracks like "baby come back" and "gimme hope jo'anna". however, in addition to this, eddy was also part of the 70's london based group the equals, who were responsible for the most excellent track "black skin blued eyed boy". if this rings any bells, then its probably because "black skin blue eyed boy" recently got covered by dj harvey and thomas bullock on the oh so elusive what ever we want records label...

anyway, back to the track in question. "timewarp" is a 6 minute spacey disco journey, which reels you in via its erratic female vocals and its hypnotic, tripped out baseline. for anyone who's heard daniel wang's seminal balihu #1 release, the track "warped" should become instantly recognisable when listening to eddy grants innovative masterpiece...

pastrami man - whole lotta pastrami (mp3)

or also known as ike and tina turner cover led zepplin's whole lotta love, re-edited by the idjut boys. pretty tasty roll call as i'm sure you'll agree! the idjuts have overdubbed the track in the way only they know how, stretching out the intro and adding more delay than anyone could ever need, and then throwing in a bit more.

this was out in 2005 on the always dependable freestyle ltd disco edit label. there's still a few places you can pick one up!

demis roussos – i dig you (mp3)

demis roussos – midnight is the time i need you (mp3)

a couple of tracks from the great demis roussos today…

the big greek man is known as much for his kaftans as he is for his balearic/disco classic, ‘i dig you’. however, one of his lesser known offerings can be found on his ‘souvenirs’ album and is a track called ‘ midnight is the time i need you’. picked this up a few weeks ago and i'm glad i did…

sia - rewrite (justus köhncke remix) (mp3)

i've been trying my best for quite a while now, but i'm still really struggling to find a decent sia record that hasn't involved the majority of creative inspiration coming from someone else - zero 7's simple things tracks were simply stunning, different gear's take on "drink to get drunk" is well worth tracking down, and both our mark and the unabombers are big fans of red astaire's version of "where i belong". however, it seems when left to her own devices i've always found that she just can't cut the mustard (prove me wrong kids, prove me wrong).

coming on top even after all the gems above, my personal favourite has to be "rewrite", from kompakt head honcho justus köhncke. his productions are nothing short of mind blowing (see "2 after 909" for irrefutable proof) and this is a beautifully subtle track, which wouldn't sound out of place on northern exposure. sia's vocals are somehow drugged-up, and glide over the top of a throbbing beat and sweeping strings. oh, and that chorus! köhncke's mastery lies in making perfect use of the spaces between the music, rather than bombarding the listener with everything and the kitchen sink. turn the lights down low, the volume right up, and enjoy.

sade – hang on to your love (mp3)

after a lazy evening in front of the box the other night, i ended up stumbling upon the simon pegg/edgar wright movie ‘shaun of the dead’. a perfectly good movie i hear you say - i say, agreed. however, whilst watching, my ears suddenly picked up when the records v’s zombie scene came on the screen. the scene in question is where shaun and his mate, ed, are in the back garden flicking through his treasured record collection being extremely particular as to which records to throw at the approaching zombies…

in terms of events, this is how it goes...new order’s blue monday gets launched by accident (first pressing of course),stone roses lp gets saved, some generic soundtrack lp gets launched, and then sade, the diamond life lp gets pulled from the box. your typical alpha male would quaff at the record, pick it up and then automatically lock and load, but personally, this is where i would have put the lp back in the box, give an acknowledged nod to the ‘hang on to your love’ track and then delve into the record box for another one. it would seem however, that shaun is your average macho man. after some flippant questioning from ed, shaun dismisses the record as being his ex girlfriends and quickly attempts another head shot on the zombies…silly mistake, you decide?

madlib ft james brown - the payback (mp3)

quick belated one, in the memory of the godfather of soul and the president of funk mr james brown. there's loads more from the big man over at hype, but this jazz-fusion hip-hop-homage from the beat konducta is a little more off the beaten track, and just the way we like it.

rip soul brother number one.

can - i want more (mp3)

steely dan - do it again (mp3)

with the new year open us, i should really be starting as i mean to go on...but due to my immune system dying, i'm not. i'm still having a bit of a struggle trying to recover from my new years exploits. so, in order to not strain myself, i thought id keep things nice and simple - what's new there i can here you say...

anyway, to get the new year rolling i have selected a couple of classic kraut rock tracks...first up is the most excellent ' i want more' from the german collective can...and second up is the classic hit from steely dan, 'do it again'....hope you like, and fingers crossed you guys and gals will 'want more', and if you do, we will be 'doing it again' all year round, yet this time being slightly more consistent and with a few more additions...

will powers - adventures in success (mp3)

happy new year and welcome back to our fancy new-look blog! i was hoping to post this yesterday, but i'm sure i wasn't the only one who spent the day on the sofa, curled up under a duvet, watching bad movies and trying to keep any movement to a minimum.

like many, you may have chosen to make some sort of a new start yesterday - to try a different outlook on life, find a new career path, or to attempt to start/stop doing something you should/shouldn't. whatever you want from 2007, i hope will powers' 3 laws of success can inspire you to be a better person this year. this track is taken from a 1982 concept album "dancing for mental health", based on the idea of what would happen if a psychiatrist recorded a workout record, and can almost be seen as the prototype for baz lurhmann's everybody's free (to wear sunscreen) (but please don't hold that against it!). i've just found a blog that purports to be written by the fabricated psychologist powers, which offers some more motivational tips - some good advice, but nowhere near some of my personal productivity favourites 43folders, lifehacker and david seah. oh and if you're planning on taking control of your life this year, the greatest start (and a recommendation with my strongest backing) would be to begin getting things done!

so as will powers puts so perfectly - "make it habit, make it happen", and all the best for 2007 from us here at bff.