bobby konders - nervous acid (mp3)

33 1/3 queen - disco 4 (mp3)

major problems - murder (25 to life mix (mp3)

a fresh face for best foot forward today, and for my first trick i present a beginners guide to what is one of the most seminal house labels of all time - nu groove records.

for those interested in the house sound of new york at the beginning of the 90's, a trawl through the nu groove archive is a must, as it showcased some of the early work of joey beltram, bobby konders, lennie dee, kenny dope and the brothers ronald and rheji burrell. the label covered a broad spectrum of styles but it all sounded very straight outta brooklyn and in 1990, they released classic after classic, chilling out the summer acid house scene with konders and 331/3 queen, and getting militant later in the year with major problems dropping the city under siege ep around the time of gulf war 1. the burrell brothers contributed greatly to the label under a variety of names - ny house'n authority, metro, bas noir - and all should be checked out.

by 1992 the label had run it's course and the strictly rhythm label had firmly established itself as the label from new york. nu groove released well over 100 releases and in them you can hear how house music, made by young kids on basic equipment, progressed into the 90's with better technology and the emergence of a global audience. dopewax, rhythmatic rage and massive b were all offshoots from nu groove and as with just about everything else coming out of brooklyn at the time, are all well worthy of a listen.

johnny wakelin - in zaire (mp3)

never ones to be pigeonholed here at bff, i think this may be the first boxing related record we've released into the wild (although i have had to stop mark from posting 'eye of the tiger' on a few occasions now). this track is from a little-known british 1970's artist johnny wakelin, a man who was quite clearly infatuated with the legendary muhammad ali - although i imagine back in '76 that pretty much describes everyone! both wakelin's hits owed much of their lyrical prowess to mr cassius clay - this track takes it's cue from the rumble in the jungle, ali's famous fight against george foreman (in his pre-grilling machine days) which took place, yep, in zaire.

lyrically this track is just genius, and is backed up with an african beat that leaves you feeling like you've just done seven rounds with the louisville lip. you can feel the humidity of the arena, the excitement of the event, the pre-fight build-up and the unbelievable atmosphere of the crowd all condensed into 3 minutes and 18 seconds. put simply - this is a record that will make your week a whole lot better.

space - carry on, turn me on (mp3)

not played this out for quite a while - i'd forgot how ace it is...

i've got to thank our good friend ryan, who we had down at bff this saturday, for re-jigging my memory. we were a bit worried about his balearic/disco capabilities, especially as he is a man who cant grow a beard and has a penchant for all things of a jazz nature...but, hats off, he put me and kev right at ease, when he played the cheeky 7" version of 'carry on, turn me on'...

a.b's - deja vu (mp3)

i stumbled across this a good few years back in a charity shop somewhere out in the sticks, near copenhagen. to be honest it's never really blown me away, but i have always quite digged it, mostly for its slo-grooving bassline, and slightly cheesy (japanese?) vocals. don't really know much about these guys apart from that they originally released 'deja vu' back in tokyo, japan in 1983...

i have been meaning to put this up for quite a while now, ever since mark e of jiscomusic and running back released his single 'deja vu' back in october last year. for anyone who has heard that release, and then listens to this one, it should become pretty obvious as to where mark e got his inspiration...

ginuwine - pony (instrumental) (mp3)

brandy - what about us (instrumental) (mp3)

lisa "left eye" lopes - the block party (mp3)

although the title suggests an ambitious attempt at capturing the essence of a whole musical genre (and believe me, how i wish there were enough of these records to label it a 'genre') this post is better read as a starting point for an appreciation of the oft-maligned black pop of the late 90's/early 00's. whilst much of the play-it-safe mainstream output of these artists reeks of soulless money grabbing blandness, nuggets of astoundingly produced tracks do exist.

it is fair, i think, to attribute godfather status of this sound to mr tim 'timbaland' mosely. preeminent producer of missy elliot, justin timerlake and, most recently, nelly furtado, timbaland's continued relevance at the head of black america's musical table has persisted since crafting missy's first important steps into an unassuming pop landscape in 1997. mr mosely cannot rap. he can, nevertheless, create pieces of four-minute magic that coerce self-consciously cool kids into record stores and into buying 12" singles by the risible ginuwine. now that's some trick.

another peer of timbaland is rodney 'darkchild' jerkins. responsible for jacko's underrated 'you rock my world' comeback in 2001, jerkins loves playing with electronic harps (see brandy and monica's seminal 'the boy is mine') and injects shuddering acidic synths into the bouncing jeep beats of the track included here. much like ginuwine, the girl otherwise known as moesha ultimately represents an interchangeable instrument of the song's overall aural ambition. therefore, like 'pony' above, the instrumental is the one to go for - just wait until the final minute and a half where jerkins wrestles his groove through the kind of stuttering and staggering electronic funk that aphex twin used to captivate us all with. and to think radio play obscured this piece of goosebump brilliance with brandy's irritating ad-libbed wailing.

combining salaam remi and lisa 'left eye' lopes for a shot at experimental pop success was a stroke of critical, if not commercial, genius. remi's work goes back to the mid-80's with kurtis blow and continued through the 90's with the fugees and into this century with nas' welcome return to form. on first listen - maybe even on fourth or fifth listen - this record appears to be far too sprawling and bonkers to claim any kind of cohesive dynamism. yet one soon understands that the track's sprawling staccato rhythm and lopes' fantastically cutesy lyrics define the forward thinking sound of acid r'n'b whilst never for one minute ignoring the traditional oral wordplay of expressive black cultural history. that's why, in this case, the vocal cut is in! we call it bonkers-hop.

the three records included all achieved pop success and were all over the conservative mediums of fm radio and mtv at the time of their release. however, to me, contemporary mainstream music seemed on the verge of positively changing with each track like this at the turn of the century. sadly, instances of technological sonic shifts colliding spectacularly with the staid music charts are diminishing. perhaps it is corny to suggest that the death knell for the largely abstract 'acid r'n'b' movement were the very real and tragic deaths of both aaliyah and left eye within a year of each other between 2001-2002. however, the musical chasm left by two of the boldest and blackest female voices penetrating late-american popular culture has yet to be filled. lets hope their legacy never has to ask: 'what about us?'

barbara lynn - you make me so hot (mp3)

more 70s disco-slow-mo, from barbara lynn. there ain't much out there on them internets about mrs lynn, so rather than ramble random drivel about someone i have no knowledge about whatsoever i'll just drop this track and run away. see ya!

the other people place - sorrow & a cup of joe (mp3)

the other people place - moonlight rendezvous (mp3)

with the recent re-press of the other people place 12" - 'sorrow and a cup of joe' - what better way to celebrate than to share another track with you...

the other people place was a side project by james 'drexciya' stinson, who, due to a heart condition, sadly passed away back in september 2002. just before he passed away, he managed to release the most excellent 'life styles of the laptop cafe' lp on warp records...

when released back in 2001, 'life styles of the laptop cafe' was described in one review as being 'electro for the 23rd century shopping malls'. the use of mellow, warm atmospherics, combined together with a minimal techno sound, make this statement perfectly plausible. but there's so much more to it than that. its an album that since getting introduced to it a few years back (cheers web-badger!), has just grown and grown, revealing much more depth and soul than the average, monotonous sound of an elevator journey or mall visit...

to choose a favourite track off this album, was an extremely difficult task, from the cosmic vibes of 'sunrays', to the superbly layered deep grooves of 'its your love', each track just begs for your attention. however, in the end, 'moonlight rendezvous' stood out as the winner, with its 808 drums, layer upon layer of synths and gentle, mellow bass line, this just had to be the winner...

tony sherman - slippin' into darkness (mp3)

a super quick one today from the dutch artist, tony sherman...

back in the mid 70s, the super fly mr sherman, was mostly renowned for releasing a couple of northern soul sounding hits like, 'sing with me', 'tonight' and 'i wrote you a letter'. however tucked away on his 197? 'sing with me' lp, is the awesome afro funk gem, 'slippin' into darkness'. oh, and trying to find any information on this guy is nigh on impossible, hence the lack of...

goblin - suspiria (mp3)

we've spoken at length about our love for new york wonderkids rvng, and were lucky enough to be sent a copy of their latest addition to the 'i get rvng' mix series, put together by delectable nyc party queen justine d. optimo's twitch mans the desk and makes sure that the lights aren't going into the red too much, leaving justine free to put together one of the strangest mixes we've heard since the my gran did that speed garage tape back in 1998.

from tracks we've posted (david bowie's '1984' / daniel wang's 'like a dream ...'), to tracks we play week in week out (chic's 'i want your love' / delia and gavin's 'black spring') this could quite easily be a bespoke mix created especially for us. above is an excerpt from 70's italo-horror-prog-rockers goblin from later in the mix, but it could just have easily been any of the other 23 killers. completely timeless and unlike anything else around, this is as good to your ears as justine is to your eyes. don't hang around, it's limited as hell - buy or cry!

whilst still on the big apple tip, i met james murphy last week and whilst trying to keep my cool, but almost certainly looking like a awestricken record nerd, discovered a few interesting 'sound of silver' titbits. apparently the title track of the new lp is lcd soundsystem's "homage to the orb", they are having some issues getting said track to work right live (causing them to leave it out of the set altogether at present), and the music to my ears (and hopefully yours) in that 45:33 is currently being cut up to be pressed onto dfa 12" platters.

can. not. wait.

the who - eminence front (extended mix) (mp3)

something special today from uk dad-rockers the who, who've recently been confirmed as a headline act for this year's glastonbury. i spent a long time wondering where the hell i knew this track from, and after consulting the almighty wikipedia it finally became apparent - it must have seeped in during the hours spent cruising round the streets of san andreas, rocking out to the sounds of k-dst (which also featured america's 'horse with no name' - another bff fave fact fans!).

i simply can't stop listening to this record right now, ticking all the boxes as it does - starting of with cosmic twangles a-la ginny's 'can't be serious', opening into a big balearic rock riff, and then letting rip with chorus filled by a huge bassline and shout-a-long lyrics. a current best foot forward staple, and long may it continue to be.

peru - africa (mp3)

picked this album up a month or so ago. released way back in 1983, the dutch trio, ruud van es, peter kommers and rob papen managed to get their hands on a ridiculous amount of roland synthesisers, rhythm composers, drum machines and, most probably, a shit load of super skunk. the result of this lethal concoction, is the incredible, and extremely baked, ‘continents’ lp…

to be honest, i could have selected any track from this album, and i'm pretty sure complaints would have been at a minimal. however, personal highlights do come in the form of ,‘continents’, ‘africa’ and ‘oriental’. after some deliberation, i decided to post the ‘africa’ track. which as well as being a firm baldelli favourite, is also, 11 minutes of full on, synthesiser erotica. enjoy, im pretty sure they did…

metalchicks - conspiracy (mp3)

something super quick today, while i sit in a manchester bar waiting to meet a client (ah the wonders of wi-fi!) ... this is the b-side of a 12" from late last year by the largely unknown japanese two-piece metalchicks, and is a piece of baldelli inspired super-slow kosmiche brilliance. fans of lindstrom or brennan green will be wondering how they missed this one! catch up and get it here.

among the many strange things that happened this weekend - trying to sleep in a cold car with a bff contributor, and meeting james murphy after the lcd gig. good gossip and pictures to come (of mr murphy obviously, not me and mark trying to sleep in the car).

musicmarkers ltd - havah nagilah (mp3)

after raiding my italo collection this morning, it would seem that im going into dodgy territory again. don't worry though, musicmarkers ltd pull out all the stops on this one. taking their inspiration from a traditional hebrew folk song, 'havah nagilah', they use some of the original middle eastern influences, blend it together with more modern sounds, and then turn it into a massive, cerrone sounding, jewish disco monster...let us rejoice

n.e.r.d. featuring common, mos def, de la soul and q-tip - she wants to move (mp3)

common featuring erykah badu, q-tip and pharrell williams - come close (j-dilla's closer remix) (mp3)

double header today, two tracks united together under the hip-hop tradition of remixing a record by getting load of your famous friends on board for a rap-battle extravaganza. both of these records come loosely under the guise of the soulquarians, a hip hop soul collective who share a love of music and the collective star sign of aquarius.

n.e.r.d.'s 'she wants to move' was the lead single off the deservedly unloved 'fly or die', the piss-poor follow-up to their still-golden 'in search of ...' debut. the original version of this track was the only redeemable three minutes from their second lp, created after pharrell williams had been left a shadow of his former creative self by way too much money/fame/cocaine/pussy/ass-kissing/hype/free bape (delete as appropriate).

second up is dilla's respectful remix of common's 'come close', the original of which comes from his creative pinnacle and career peak 'electric circus'. now you've gotta be seriously confident in yourself when taking mary j blige off any track, but dilla replaces her with common's on/off partner, track muse, and fellow soulquarian erykah badu, and further and compliments her silky tones by stripping the track down into an old-school block party vibe, with record crackles and a warm bass thump. both q-tip and pharrell pop up here too, with the neptune throwing in a great verse offering to "ride you on his handlebars". smooth stuff.

sly mongoose - delusion habit (mp3)

this is super balearic - phil mison played it down at bff on saturday and i just had to get my greasy mitts on it...

only just getting a release last week, this 12" also includes the main track 'bad pulse'. as good as the main track is, personally, i'd flip it over and head straight for 'delusion habit'. with its mid-tempo disco shuffle, playful organ melodies, and subtle trumpet solo's, id say this is a firm favourite for 'goal' of the month...

said track is available through the mule musiq record label. based in tokyo, japan, these guys really seem to be hitting the spot right now, as well as the track mentioned above, other releases of note include, sly mongoose's 'snakes & ladders' 12" from last year, a couple of force of nature 12"s (one already featured on bff) and various (more jazz orientated) releases from kuniyiki...

don't sleep on this one, get your wallet out and buy from here...

link - arcadian (global communication remix) (mp3)

was just sorting some records out and i came across some early mark pritchard/tom middleton bits, thought i would share one with you...

link was originally one of mark pritchards first solo projects back in the early 90s. tom middleton eventually got involved with the production and they became known as 'link & e621', with the 'e621' referring to tom middleton. the track selected here is called 'arcadian' (one of pritchards early and solo techno releases), a few years later global communication (aka pritchard & middleton) did a remix for the 'artificial intelligence 2' lp on warp records. for those of you that know the seminal '76:14' album, you should pretty much know what to expect here. for those of you that don't, just sit back, relax and enjoy...

celestial choir - stand on the word (larry levan mix) (mp3)

trevor dandy - is there any love (mp3)

ecstasy club - jesus loves the acid (mp3)

we don't shy away from the big topics at best foot forward, so that's why today i'm going to cover the complete subject of christianity in under 400 words, using one image and three mp3s as props. how's that for value?

first up is a larry levan production , originally released on a super-rare longplayer and more-recently bootlegged to the joy of us mere mortals (optimo and james murphy included). this is bewitching piece of disco music, and the fact that a track so religious can be so ass-shakingly spectacular really does surprise many people. larry levan really nails that american gospel church vibe, especially towards the record's climax. if you're a fan of this, you might want to check tim lawrence (author of disco bible and best foot forward bedtime favourite 'love saves the day') saying a few things about the track here.

next up is something from numero group, "the greatest compilation label in the world right now" (copyright bff and many others) . if you haven't checked out anything on this label yet, you've really been missing out - everything numero have turned their hands to has been gold, be it funk, folk, afrobeat or power-pop, and their quality control and commitment to crate-digging is without equal. this track is from the 'good god' compilation, and contains gospel tracks by obscure bands from the late 60s and early 70s, when gospel had started to be strongly influenced by funk and soul.

and now for something completely different, which should be big for fans of tramp!, trash, headphonesex, 20 jazz funk greats and tape. religious in name only, 'jesus loves the acid' is a scorcher of an acid house record from 1988. opening with a quote from pope john paul II (or pjp 2 to his vatican buddies), the track descends into acid chants and a dark, menacing 303 line that offers no respite. there's so much more more to this 12" than just this track though - the artwork is pure genius, and the b-side is a 10 minute acapella of freaky cackling and acid chanting, perfect for twisting with people's heads at 4.30 in the morning. this record retains a freshness that would allow it to be released tomorrow and could still blow people away - one of the all-time acid greats.