Another LP very much in a similar vein to the Studio one. It came out on Tirk Recordings which has released a lot of my favourite stuff this year including an excellent forthcoming retrospective of Chaz Jankel's work entitled 'My Occupation' which I highly recommend. Hope you enjoy this album as much as I have done and as I mentioned in my previous post, please try and purchase any of the LP's if you really like them.
I'm going to start to post some of my favourite albums of the year so far. Here is the first in a series and probably the one that I have listened to the most this year. I can't get enough of it. Most of the albums cannot be easily categorized into a genre but I have found my tastes to be very much in the cosmic disco/balearic/nu-disco vein aka 'the scene with no name' or whatever else you want to call it. Simply good music basically. If you discover something you really like, please try and purchase it so you are supporting the artist involved.
A deep house/broken beat/future jazz (aka simply good music) classic.
A link to a wicked five volume collection of some classic Timbaland productions which everyone who is remotely into hip-hop needs. Admittedly I am not into all of the songs but the majority are actually quality if only for the beats. As anyone who has ever dabbled in trying to produce their own beats, it's a lot harder than it sounds and Timbaland is one of the dons.
A classic remix of a classic track. I may not have purchased or even liked anything by MJ Cole (looking strangely like John Terry in the picture to the left) since 2003, but he still remains a legend in my eyes for some of his classic 2 step productions/remixes from back in the day. This Marcus Intalex & ST Files remix is immense and still sounds fresh, which is quite an achievement if you consider the amount of drum & bass that sounds dated a week after it's released, never mind almost 7 years on. I've also included the quality Recloose remix of 'Wondering Why'.
I only just heard the acoustic version of this track the other night and was struck at how haunting & emotive it was. I also love the original 'Fleetwood Mac-esque' version from their critically acclaimed 2006 "The Trials of Van Occupanther" LP. This is taken from their current digital-only EP 'Oak and Julien'. A bit of a change to all the up tempo stuff I've been posting.
Heres some more disco since I'm listening to quite a bit of it at the moment. Two quality tunes that always sound good. The first is pretty well known and by Hudson People (a London based late 70's jazz funk band) which is extremely funky. The second by Omni is less known and when first released, was initially a bit too fast (over 130bpm) for most of post-disco England and became bigger on the Northern Soul scene. Slightly camp sounding but I love it, ha.
Compiled by the Tiefschwarz brothers and released on the excellent Four Music label. An excellent collection of electronic dance/house which is impeccably programmed & mixed.
Two classic remixes of a pretty standard Heavies track. The original single also includes a nice Ummah (aka Jaydee) & Q-Tip remix but I will stick with the MAW versions since they are the best.
This Belgian produced international underground disco anthem has been sampled numerous times in house music but this original 1978 version is still the best I find. Also thought to have one of the best basslines of any disco track ever.
Something a bit different to start today. This classic has been having a bit of a revival at the moment, especially with all the 'cosmic disco/balaeric' nights that seem to be going on. I heard Greg Wilson played an Ashley Beedle edit of it last week at Bestival which went down as one of the tracks of the festival. If anyone has it, I need it.
No matter what type of DJ you are, if the dance floor is empty and you need a tune that's guaranteed to get people on it, you could do a lot worse than this. A certified party classic.
The best way to describe Leo Minor's music, particularly this track, is it lies somewhere between Andre 3000, Jamie Lidell and Mocky. I first got hold of this track last year when it came out on a limited test pressing and haven't heard anything from him since. I believe an EP is scheduled for some time next year followed by an LP. If this tracks anything to go by, it's only a matter of time before this guy becomes big.
One of the best combinations of Hip-Hop lyricism and Drum&Bass I've ever heard. If you like quality Roni Size/Reprazent-esque stuff then you will love this tune. Raw, heady future funk.
A nu-jazz/broken beat (hate those terms) dance floor anthem that I still regularly hear getting played at various nights. I also had to post this track after watching this. Reminds me of someone I know. I'd love to pop down 'O-school' one day...
A quality remix by the big German. Useless fact of the day: Pooley's real name is actually Ian Pinnekamp and Crazy Penis are now known as Crazy P. Fascinating.
Heard this track again last week down at the 'Brownswood Sunset Sessions'. It fitted the location & mood perfectly at the time, here it is to download. Modern jazz at it's finest.
The following quote I found when googling the track probably gives the best description: "soulful stringed electronic euphoria like Detroit's finest, a timeless understated masterpiece"
Before Tiefschwarz changed musical direction and went all 'trendy-electro', they were primarily known for their love of deep house. This quality house tune they produced back in 1999 stands the test of time well. I'll also try to upload an excellent compilation they put together a few years ago which is still sounding fresh.
Probably one of the best and certainly my favourite example of what could be classified as Indo jazz. One of my all time personal favourites of any genre however.
Only recently discovered this on the BBE 'Kings of Diggin' comp. Highly recommended btw. The music says it all really...
