phil mison – luna (mp3)

cantoma – pandajero (mp3)

reverso 68 – piece together pt 1 (mp3)

frontera – walking in the rain (mp3)

it's time for the next instalment of our ‘beginners guide to’ series, and what better way to continue, than to introduce our next guest down at best foot forward this saturday, phil mison…

after falling into the world of dj’ing, mr mison finally got his ‘big break’ way back in 1991 when warming up for underworld's darren emerson. from here, things gradually started to escalate, most notably when jose padilla asked him to come play at the sunset hangout cafe del mar. after a good 2 year stint as the cafe del mar resident, phil decided to return to british soil to concentrate on producing some of his own material…

it would seem as no coincidence then, that the man's first solo project was to be found on the café del mar 4 compilation. the track ‘luna’ is a floaty, blissful 6 minute journey, that is perfect for those ibizian sunset moments. from here, the artist name phil mison disappeared and instead, he became the artist now known as cantoma, dos hombres, bazuaka, reverso 68, frontera and balearic buffin…

one of these guises, cantoma, appeared on the fantastic soundcolors 4 compilation. having previously compiled and mixed soundcolors 1-3, phil passed the mixing/compiling task over to his dj buddy, and local mancunian, moonboots. from here cantoma escalated and various tracks, and an album, followed. the track selected, ‘pandajero’ can be found on the ‘cantoma’ album, but was first released back in 2001 on a super limited danish release for music for dreams…

with the success of cantoma apparent, reverso 68 and frontera became the next projects on phil’s agenda. the birth of both projects came about after a meeting with a certain pete herbert. after buying records from pete for a good few years, the two got chatting and decided to put their joint admiration for all things italo/disco/cosmic/balearic into action…

first up was the more dance floor orientated reverso 68. their debut release came in the form of ‘piece together pt 1’ and was released on pete herberts own label, specialist interest. then came the frontera project, first up was the track ‘nature’- on the now, much easier to get hold of, music for dreams america label. then came the album, and more recently the 12” release of ‘walking in the rain’. ‘walking in the rain’ is a cover of a flash & the pan track, and is an obvious indicator of their admiration for the synthesiser sound…

here at best foot forward we are a little excited about his pending appearance. not only has he produced some of our favourite records of recent years, but he also still manages to dj globally to rave reviews. only last year phil played in hawaii at dj harveys 39 hotel, and although manchester is not quite honolulu, we think our northern charm, chips and gravy, and me and kev in a pair of jazzy hawaiian grass skirts, should just about win him over...

note : if for some reason, you cant make it down on saturday, why not click here (or here) to have a listen as to what you're missing out on...

dabrye feat. mf doom - air (mp3)

something sweet today featuring everyone's favourite metal-faced villan, mf doom ... and yes, i know i'm supposed to "remember all caps when i spell the mans name", so if you're thinking of grassing me up, you can tell doom that we operate a strict lowercase-only rule here at best foot forward!

with a kick-drum begging to to rip a whole through your ear-hole, and a synth line straight outa the year 2050 - make no mistake about it, this is some mean shit.

pepe bradock - deep burnt (mp3)

iz and diz - mouth (brad peeps remix for friends) (mp3)

gotan project - santa maria (pepe bradock wider remix) (mp3)

it's strange how much musical knowledge is taken as a given. allusions to artists and albums are bandied about every day, and if you're not up to speed on the current musical canon then certain frames of reference used by others can leave you in the dark. here at best foot forward we had a sit down and thought about this, and decided that starting today we're going to be providing semi-regular "beginners guides" on artists, labels, scenes and genres that we feel could be of aid to the modern audiophile.

these aren't meant to be the result of obscure trawls through second-hand shops, or beard-stroking "look what i've got" reflections. this is really based around helping others learn about music that many people have decreed as common knowledge. and for those who are already up to date with the records providing within, hopefully these guides should serve as a nice trawl down memory lane.

we start with lesson one, on french deep house auteur pepe bradock. pepe's musical background has helped to shape his unique style, after growing up playing in various jazz-funk bands, and working as a hip-hop producer for a short while. during the early 90's pepe fell in love with the then burgeoning techno scene, and turned his hand towards this fresh sound. in 1999 he released the 'burning' ep on kif recordings, which contained the instant classic 'deep burnt'. this track is based around a simple loop (taken from freddie hubbard's 'little sunflower' fact fans!) and builds up a beautiful hypnotic groove over 10 of the most wonderous minutes in modern music. the record was rightly hailed as the work of a genius, and can still be heard in clubs worldwide today. if you haven't heard this record before, mon dieu, you're in for a treat today.

pepe then released further spell-binding eps on various labels, with a frustratingly large wait between each. however, he managed to keep the insatiable vinyl junkies ticking over with his inimitable interpretations of the works of others, two instances of which are included here. 'mouth' is probably pepe's second most recognised track, honouring the classic records "boompty" ethos whilst keeping a distinctively francophile edge. oh and sorry about the quality of this mp3, but my copy is worn down through constant usage, so doesn't sound as good as it used to - proof and reason, as if any were needed, for you to go track it down yourself! finally, here is his remix of the then ubiquitous gotan project, mixing the old and the new with a nod to his musical heritage. a dark techno snarl rests alongside the gorgeous bandoneón line from the original, in a remix similar to daft punk's take on franz ferdinand - just leave the original on in the background, and we'll put on some fucked up noises over the top.

monsieur pepe bradock - a modern marvel, as i'm sure you'll agree.

handsome boy modelling school ft. sean lennon - sunshine (groove armada's sunset dub) (mp3)

woah woah woah where are you going?!? yes i know, you might have heard some of the last album from handsome boy modelling school that really did suck, and yes, groove armada are far too occupied with making big room bangers and playing average dj sets for exorbitant amounts of money, and of course, sean lennon has done nothing of note for pretty much his entire life, but just here me out here ...

this is simply stunning - a piece of balearic beauty up there with sebastian tellier's 'la ritournelle' in terms of pure ibizan bliss. so what if it's a fluke? the sea's lovely and warm, leave your preconceptions on the shore, and jump right in.

everly brothers - illinois (mp3)

if, like me, you happen to be going through a happily prolonged country-rock/laurel canyon /60's/70's left-coast singer-songwritery phase at the minute, then the first track on side 2 of don and phil everly's sublime 1968 lp, 'roots', is for you. yes, the same rollicking 1950's two-part harmony peddling pin-ups who sang indisputably fine pop songs such as 'wake up little susie' and 'bye bye love', went on (unlike most of their initial contemporaries) to release one of the best country-rock lps ever.

written by enigmatic laurel canyon outcast randy newman, the beautifully melodic cover of 'illinois' represents the brothers' ambitious and successful attempt to synthesize their established rock & roll spirit with the emerging sonic aesthetic of mellow, contemplative sounds gathering pace within california. a structurally simple, laid-back breath of country-piano air, this record sounds as innocent, summery and fresh as i bet it did 40 years ago. take a listen because, if you ask me, teenage fanclub, sufjan stevens and fred deakin - not to mention countless pop-folky others - have been listening contentedly over the intervening years.

track the lp down at whatever cost. i'm glad i did.

patrick cowley - mutant man (mp3)

this track pretty much sums up my posting rate of recent weeks - very, very slow. patrick cowley brings the bpm right down on this spaced out, drug induced track. the most excellent 'mutant man' is off the mind warp lp, and i imagine that if i ever got lost in a 'k-hole', then this is pretty much what it would sound like...?

disclaimer: best foot forward in no way condones the use of ketamine, no matter how good it might sound...

public image ltd. - this is not a love song (mp3)

a short and sweet anti-valentine message, with love from best foot forward. have a great wednesday!

dennis parker - like an eagle (mp3)

not to be confused with steve miller's equally brilliant 'fly like an eagle', this is epic disco slow-mo from the man who i believe must be one of magnum pi's greatest influences (check out that stashe!) dennis parker. dennis was born in new york in 1946, and before becoming a disco hero was a soft porn actor, going under the alias of wade nichols and starring in such unparalleled productions as 'secret dreams of mona q', 'my sex-rated wife' and 'raw footage' (yeah, you're just pretending you've never heard of any of them).

this is a great string-led number, recently revived in popularity after being featured on both james murphy's spring radio mix and radio slave's creatures of the night compilation. original props must go to par-t-one, who liften the vocal hook for their 2001 club hit 'i'm so crazy', which for disclosure purposes i should inform you i absolutely adore.

norwegian physicist and sometime dj todd terje must be a big parker fan too, as his recent outing on the superb mindless boogie label was also under the wade nichols moniker. i wonder if softcore pornography may be the next logical step for terje?

thomas bangalter - extra dry (mp3)

slum village - raise it up (mp3)

daft punk - aerodynamic (slum village remix) (mp3)


with the first anniversary of jay dee/j dilla's tragic death tomorrow, i thought my first foot forward onto this blog should involve the unearthing of a handful of james yancey-associated material. poignantly released the same week as his death, yet not in the cynical vein as other posthumous rap releases, dilla's masterful donuts has deservedly received unanimous adulation in the last year, from the rawest of rap pages to the trendiest of style mags.

however, I want to return to the pre-stones throw days of his native detroit collective slum village. one of the prime underachievers in mid-late nineties rap, the sv crew were long-championed by the the entire hip-hop community following dilla's legendary production work for heavyweights from both coasts such as de la and the pharcyde. somewhat foolishly touted as the next tribe - not least by q-tip himself - the trio of t3, baatin and dilla struggled through contract disputes and countless bootlegs, remaining largely unknown outside of america until the 2000 release of their first official album, 'fantastic, volume 2', on french label source.

a patchy lp, the set nevertheless contained the underground detroit club anthem 'raise it up'. the song - unbelievably - was energised by a sample from thomas bangalter's 'extra dry' (off the classic trax on da rocks 2 ep) after Dilla heard a bootleg album assuming it was the work of some obscure techno producer who would never notice. inevitably though, bangalter caught the video on mtv and immediately recognised his sound happily married to rap. rather than demanding royalties, the parisian deemed it cool to be sampled by such respected hip-hop performers and instead asked sv to remix one of daft punk's tracks in return. the result was the reworking of 'aerodynamic' from 2001's loved-or-loathed 'discovery'.

so here it is. dilla combined an astoundingly simple loop of the original's borderline-cheesy accordion with neck-snapping digital snares and irresistibly understated raps from all three sv members, thus cementing one of dance music's most wonderfully serendipitous, unexpected and all too brief artistic unions. oh yeah, and it trumped the neptunes' remix of 'harder, faster, better, stronger' on the very same 12" hands down.

brooklyn express - sixty nine (mp3)

after being struck down with 'man' flu this week, im going to keep this short and sweet. i believe the reason for my flu pandemic, is thanks to me (and friends) going slightly over the top with the party celebrations at the fantastic homo electric last friday. don't have many memories from said night, but this track is definitley one of them. not played it out, or heard it out in a while, so i thought i'd dust it down for your listening pleasure. oh and for anyone interested, the late, great tee scott helps out with the production/mixing duties...

tim wright - the ride (luciano's dancehall mix) (mp3)

something from the top shelf today ... now now, nothing rude, top-shelf is my term for records bought once upon a time that don't get to see much needle-time anymore. it might be back of the box or bottom of a pile for other people, but as you can see from my set up it's easiest putting things you don't listen to often up above head height, hence "top-shelf" - not just a clever name!

this is another techno destroyer from luciano, nailing the minimal paradox of a track doing very little but still managing blowing your head clean off. i'd be tempted to stick my neck out and tell you it's all down to that xylophone, but there's so many little production quirks that if anything was missing it just wouldn't be right. i first heard after damian lazerus dropped it as his opening track at a party celebrating the launch of hiscrosstown rebels project. the big divider on this track is the rap - i personally love it, but it seems to split people down the middle and can ruin the whole thing for some.

shit, if i can find something this good in the record room by accident, i wonder what could turn up after a proper root? hopefully more to come!

oh and we're bringing in some new blood here at bff, my good friend rob, professionally educated in hip-hop (and that's the honest truth), wil hopefully be posting sometime this week. i'm sure you'll all be nice to him ....

claudja barry - love for the sake of love (mp3)

another saturday night favourite from the salsoul stable. claudja barry was a formative member of disco group boney m until 1976, and two years after flying solo she dropped this gem on her album 'claudja'. the unforgettable vocal hook coupled with an uplifting arrangement and irresistible bassline have given this track an timeless quality, and if you were to root through one of our record bags tomorrow i'm pretty certain you'd find this.

if you're thinking this track sounds familiar, then you'd be right. if the trippy drumbeat has triggered a memory in your well-learned head, then you've previously have heard it on 'claudja', one of the stand-out tracks from lindstrom and prins thomas' debut album. however, if you're already acquainted with the melody, arrangement and pretty much everything else, you may wish to hang your head in shame for being such a big fan of montell jordan's sample-heavy 'get it on tonite' - booooooo!

black sun disco heat - black sun (mp3)

i recommend you speed up your bandwidth for this one…

the fantastically titled ‘black sun disco heat’ are a group of dudes from new jersey, who, in 1978, sat down and recorded the equally as fantastic ‘black sun’. this epic of a disco record was released on buddah in the height of disco fever, and when i say its ‘epic’, i mean it. over the impressive 16 minutes, it gradually ebbs and flows taking in everything from moody electronics and synths to the more soulful vocals and uplifting string arrangements, not to mention that guitar noodling....