Great Big Western MOFO Store

Something nostalgic for the Old Folks right now. It’s celebration time. Some classic pop albums are turning 40 this year and hey surprise… they receive a deluxe reissue.
Sergeant Pepper by the Beatles is one of them but I’m will not go in to deep on that one because other blogs will and besides, I think it just sounds pretty outdated by now and features, apart from a couple of outstanding tracks, mostly crapy tunes. That’s what you get from to much dope, although Pet Sounds still sounds great.
Anyway, another classic one is Freak out. It was originally released in 1966 as one of the first double albums along with Bob Dylan’s blonde on blonde. It’s not my favourite Frank Zappa or Mothers album but it’s their first one so it deserves attention but a 6 cd reissue sounds a bit to much. There’s a 4 cd set and a 2 cd set with the appropriate MOFO title (which is short for Mother’s Freak Out or just plain old Motherfucker – which is the main reason they had to change their original name into Mothers Of Invention). The extra’s on the two packages don’t really overlap so real fans are screwed and have to buy all 6 (2 sets).

And what do you get for all that money? Well, I’m not sure. If you’re interested in the man’s work it’s illuminating documentary stuff but if you’re just a music fan with a taste for the straight and the bizarre it’s just way to much of the same stuff. 5 not all to different versions of one song sounds like overkill but if you take the time for it, the basic instrumental tracks, stripped down from their silly compulsory lyrics, reveal early experiments in advanced contemporary percussion, jazz and electro-acoustic sounds by what was actually a really great genuine R&B band. They not only rocked but also knew how to make it swing which was a pretty rare thing in those days if you compare them with other so-called psychedelic West Coast bands (some albums in the YCDTOSA series give a token of their Soul and R&B side). This concept got well develop later on, on other albums but the foundations of the early Mother’s sound are to be found on the Freak out album.

I found both MOFO packages on Chá De Pila which features more recent Pre and Post Mortem Zappa stuff but I thing I will go and buy them for the liner notes and memorabilia stuff because I’m that kind of nerd.

How Could I Be Such A Fool
Anyway The Wind Blows
Trouble Every Day
Help I'm A Rock

Who Are The Brain Police (basic instrumental tracks)
I Ain’t Got No Heart (basic instrumental tracks)
You Didn’t Try To Call Me (basic instrumental tracks)
Vito Rocks The Floor
Psychedelic Upholstery (Mixed Media Detroit 11-13-67)

Goxxip – DIY with Body & Soul

Great Googly Moogly… I saw The Gossip play live in Brussels just the other day and it was absolutely smashin’. They really made an impact. Gossip’s leading lady Beth Ditto is not just a great vocalist and performer but apparently she knows well how to tremble a sensitive snare - as we put it around these parts. Many young, gay and gravitairy challenged people look up to her and find her to be some kind of punk role model. Good for them. For a more down to earth straight person like me it’s all about the music and they really delivered with fire and soul. Or rather body and soul because you can’t overlook Gossip’s front lady. Her voice is the main attraction but her performance and appearance ad a lot of amusement value. She’s fun to watch. She’s small, round but all female and without any complexes about it. I think she has a great future ahead of her but so does the rest of the band. Their sound is sparse and primitive but nevertheless a real knockdown. They rave up Rock music and the final result shows again what R&R should really be and once was: some great dance music. I also hope their message gets across.

There is also another band currently mixing the Do It yourself attitude of punk(rock) with some Soul and Gospel: The Noisettes. I don’t know much about them but they caught my attention with their tribute to the early rock pioneer Sister Rosetta Tharpe.

Gossip – Coal To Diamonds
Gossip – Keeping You Alive
The Gossip – Careless Whispers (Live Wham cover)

The Noisettes – Sister Rosetta (capture the spirit)
The Noisettes - Don't Give Up

Sheik Yer Bouti

La Derriere dans l'envers de Bollywood.

Playlist:

1 Mandam Aliek – Nawal Elzoughi (Arabic)

2 Alfrah Baladi – Mostafa Sax (Egyptian)

3 The potion of desire – L'orchestre de danse orientale, exotic oriental bellydancing

4 Scimitar – L'orchestre de danse orientale, exotic oriental bellydancing

5 Spice – L'orchestre de danse orientale, exotic oriental bellydancing

6 Temptation – Arash (iranian)

7 Mehbooba – Sholay (indian)

8 Arrab Habibi – Tamer Hosni (arabic)

9 Saharik Bahrel Le – Sözlü Pop arabic, Mezdeke 2 (Turkish)

10 Maach – Afshin (iranian)

Get Physical Music’s 5th Anniversary

In 2002 Walter Merziger, Arno Kammermeier (Booka Shade), Philipp Jung, Patrick Bodmer (MANDY) together with Thomas Koch and Peter Hayo started their own label. Five years and nearly 80 releases on, the Berlin/Prenzlauer Berg-based label has grown and evolved into one of the globe's top dance labels with eclectic tastes in Disco Funk, Chicago House, Electro house, Techno, Deep House and Tech House.
This broad taste and the occasional impulse of new blood let Get Physical to break the mould and prevent an all too obvious Get Physical sound. The label made benefit from the momentum of German electronic music and established a strong roots in clubbing. Almost all the Get Physical singles and 12 inches are clubhits (In White Rooms, Mandarine Girl, Body Language, Walk Right Back,…)

To celebrate this anniversary they released a CD with new and exclusive tracks by in-house talents Booka Shade, DJ T, MANDY and Lopazz and remixes of some of Get Physical's greatest hits by highly respected producers.

Naturally, the anniversary will be flanked by a European tour that will bring them to 10 days off in Ghent in July.

Booka Shade – Vertigo (Henrik Schwarz remix)
MANDY + Booka Shade – Body Language (Konrad Black remix)
DJ T – Freemind (Dexter remix)
Samim – Rora (original mix)
Booka Shade – Unhealthy Pleasures
Riton + Heidi – Vejer (Padded Cell remix)
Fuckpony – Ride The Pony (Sebastien Tellier remix)
Booka Shade – Mandarine Girl (Fakesch remix)
Booka Shade – Night Falls (Larry Gold’s ‘Night Falls Over Philly’ String Version)
Lopazz – The Fact (original mix)
Lopazz – Migracion (Fujiya & Miyagi remix)
Chelonis R. Jones – I Don’t Know (Herbert’s Presets Only Mix)

There is still a recent Essential mix by Booka Shade on the BBC site.

no need for a name

I’m almost trough with this chain of concerts. The Gossip and Chromeo are still on schedule.
The last gig on Wednesday was really great as I knew it would be. Les Rita Mitsouko gave 3 concerts in a row at a small venue to promote their new album Varieté. Cathérine Ringer is still pretty and wild and custom made for a live on stage. She has a very unique body language, which is totally her own. The way she moves, dances, gesticulates and makes faces at people or to underline the content of the lyrics. She’s a true original.

Because the Orangerie in La Botanique is so small, I got the chance of seeing them from up close. It’s was really… frappant… to see, as they get older, that Cathérine Ringer and Frederic Chichin start to look more and more as characters from Jacques Tardi, auteur of graphic novels [Tardi wouldn’t like this label though, but there just isn’t a other English equivalent for the French and Dutch terms apart from comics]. I'll give proof later on.
it's pretty funny. They still look great and more important sound great.

Another welcome surprise was the preset Sebmartel. I had never heard of Sébastien Martel but apparently he’s still one of France best kept secrets.

Now that things are slowing down a bit I can spend more time relaxing, reading books and checking out what I’ve been missing all those years from not having a TV set. I bought the DVD box of The BBC series The Office, including the Xmas specials. I’m turning into a real couch potatoo for the moment because Green Wing, another fine example of British comedy is scheduled for the next rainy evenings.

88 The Temptations – Don’t Let the Joneses Get you Down

Other worries or more accurate items of interest and concern, are the upcoming holidays. I’m planning to join a bicycle trip from Bangkok to Saigon. I’m really looking forward to this. The trip runs along Cambodia and the ruins of Angkor Vath. Hopefully I’m finally going to make it this time and see the sites.

I’m also still waiting for the first African in outer space. There have been some Afro-American men and women on the various space shuttles but no native African has had a blast off from Lagos or Cape town so far.

In the meantime some more spaced out tracks.

89 Dexter Wansel - Life on Mars 1976
This has nothing to do with the David Bowie track. Dexter Wansel is a Philly keyboard player with some moderate success in the 70’s but his lasting legacy will be his contributions to the Gamble and Huff Philly Sound.

90 Rodney Trotter - Space Nigga' mid 70’s
This track pops up on a number of compilation albums these days. It’s a nice bit of proto-Newcleus electro in which Rodney Trooter [no, not the Only Fools and Horses character] talks of his band landing from the cosmos to wipe out use of that still troublesome ‘N’ word.

You might have noticed some changes on this site over the past few weeks. I’ve run an update on the looks and content. It became a bit more custom made. It’s not that difficult if you take the time and effort to get into all the features Blogspot has to offer.
About the content. I’ve added some extra pages to give some sense of direction to the various styles of music. This main page will stay the central topic but some items will get some sort of regathering on one of the following specific pages.

Black Gold Radio is, as the name already gives away, dedicated to everything Black. No written content here. Its basically just a place where I can leave a widget from Box to publicly stream all the Rare Grooves that I’ve been posting or that I’ve been planning to post because by now there’s already more in the Box map to which the widget links than what I’ve been able to write about and post.

Willie Hutch – Brothers Gonna Work It Out (The Mack 1973)

If you want to download a track, choose the option share (by right clicking the track) and there you can find a link to a shared folder from Box with the same name.

The Latin Section is dedicated to Everything Latin. I’ve had this one for quite a while now but finally got around to do something with it. Again no written content here but a roundup of various posted items on Out to Lunch and home made compilations like the one which I posted recently. Part 2 and 3 are on their way.

Joe Bataan – The Bottle

brasíl is dedicated to the brazilian way. Again this page will feature a roundup of various posted items on Out to Lunch and home made compilations like the ongoing alphabet of MPB / Musica Popular Brasileira. Ongoing because this alphabet is still being written today. Currently I’ve been posting C and D.

Bonde do Rolê – James Bonde

Time Goes By / Con Bolly is inspired by a trip to Barcelona and La Terremoto’s cult hit Time goes by Con Loli but in fact this page is dedicated to everything Bolly [Bollywood or Bombay], Kolly [Kollywood or Kodambakkam Madras] and yes… even Lolly [Lollywood or Lahore]. Not much written content over here but as always a roundup of various posted items on Out to Lunch and home made compilations.

Lover’s Paradise

Um Flash Electricó de alleman is dedicated to electronic music in various forms. No limits, German style, French style, Detroit or Scandinavian style … anything goes if I like it. It’s getting boring I know, but again not much written content over here but a roundup of various posted items on Out to Lunch and home made compilations like the one I posted before: Pop Is Not Dead but Just Smells Funny and String Delay.

Booka Shade – Vertigo (Henrik Schwarz remix)
Faze Action – Keep it Coming (Beats)
Olivier Giacomotto – Gail In The O (John Acquaviva & Damon Jee remix)

The Houston Helpdesk. I had a Myspace account for years but lost track of it until friends of mine got into it too and as result, I revamped the whole thing. I made a fansite out of it in order to keep track of all the bands and artist (dead or alive) that I like. It pretty handy if you want to stay up to date of current and upcoming concerts, clubgigs and record releases and the occasional chat. What the name is concerned, it just popped up somewhere on these pages. Some people though that it was a band name. Maybe I should give up my daytime job and become a fulltime inventor of band names.

And finally, last but not least Last Bongo in Belgium. I didn't make the name of this one up myself. It's an actual song title from the Incredible Bongo Band, yes the one from 'Apache' fame. Why they called it Last Bongo in Belgium? Beats me, how should I know. Maybe they we're thinking about Last Tango in Paris but for all I know, they could just as well have called it Last Bongo in Bulgaria or... in the Balkan or even better Last Bongo in the Congo. Maybe that's how they finally got to Belgium. Isn't that how we all eventually wind up in Belgium?
This page is dedicated to everything marked BEL and worthwhile even for people who are not from around these parts. This small spot on the globe has produced some fine and lasting contributions to mankind which have universal value, relevance and beauty. Being caught here, shouting all of this from the top, seemed the most atypical thing to do, since we are known to be rather unpatriotic about it. That’s why I tend do this.
What better native to start with than Tintin. It was only recently that we celebrated the 100th anniversary of Hergé. I like to draw a bit myself every once in while, that’s why I’m interested in cartoons, comics and graphic novels.
Most of the content on this page though, consists of music, mainly danceable stuff. I know that we‘re getting a kind of reputation in terms of music these days but that doesn’t mean that there wasn’t anything worthwhile going on in the past.

In terms of dance music I guess it all started with Marc Moulin and his alter ego Placebo way back in the 70’s. He kept playing music over the years and stayed an seminal figure in the Belgian music scene up until now as producer, radio DJ and musician. He received worldwide recognition for his early blend of jazz and funk which predated trip hop and his band Telex which inspired early electro and techno. Other classics that will pop up are Front 242, the R&S label output,…

Water & Leather / Election Time

It's election time over here. On Sunday we're going to choose who's governing our affairs for the next couple of years.

So what do you fancy most...

O
some half naked men playin' with water in a nice funny featurefilm from a true musical Genius, Hermeto Pascoal with the appropiate Música da Lagoa... E maravilhoso.


O
Or some Itchy and Scratchy, just one guy wrapped in all sorts of leather features and paraphanilia



[frankly I don't know what this all means but who does...]

Rare Grooves a-go-go

' Ze magic word for tonight is… down right funky '

Tonights post is a very rare piece of 70’s disco funk for which the label rare groove seemed to be invented… or better it was a rare gem since Ubiquity Records re-released this album a couple of years ago. This self-entitled album from Tommy Stewart was originally released in 1976 and is best known for the essential party anthem Bump and Hustle Music but frankly looking back, that track is just a mere side dish. It’s now a puzzle to me why those UK DJ’s who rediscovered it in the 80’s only played this one track to death on the dancefloors and left the other ones untouched. This album has so much more to offer.

I picked it up in 2005 while going trough crates of newly or fairly new released vinyl – ubiquity is a good reference, it always has something worthwhile – because of the Bump and Hustle track but Gee, there really isn’t a thing as great and rewarding – well ok, I can actually think of some other things – as coming home with the loot, a stash of fine music only to discover on first listening that the rest of it is way much better than what you thought it would be. My mind was set on one or maybe two great songs and the rest as mere fillings, because I never heard much talk or a buzz about the rest of the album, only that one famous track. Songs as Get Off Your Seats, Make Happy Music and Riding High are among my most favourite pieces of 70’s funk.
Especially Riding High has everything a rare groove should have. A magnificent piece of slow but steady going symphonic funk, lots of strings and horns, only sparse but strong female vocals chanting the title of the song and plenty of layers of advanced instrumental interplay, all building a massive groove without necessarily finishing in a single climax. As if hearing a passing train. Hopping on to a groove that's going steady and still goes on way, way after you jump off.
It still sounds fresh today, some people state that this track could easily have been released in 1988 so close is it in style to early house music with it's soaring strings and strong female vocals and certainly all the short edgy hooks and vampish riffs.

The record was a relative flop on release which is hard to grasp. It’s as good or even better than any dance record released in those days.

Apart from the info in the interview further down, I can only ad here that trumpeter, pianist, arranger and composer Tommy Stewart was born on November 19th, 1939. His mother, a songwriter, vocalist and choir conductor, set him on a musical path at the age of 10. As a teenager, Stewart studied with the legendary Fess Whately, attended many fine schools and served as the leader of the well-known Alabama State Collegians. Stewart taught music as a band director while performing and arranging outside of class.
Tommy Stewart is always described as a quintessential musician. This description is evidenced by his impressive musical career, which has spanned over 40 years now. In 1964 he played with Fred Wesley and members of the 55th Army band. He wrote and composed for TV and played with Blue Note recording artist Duke Pearson. Stewart has worked as an arranger, producer, performer or writer for an impressive list of various artists in the field of Jazz, Soul, R&B, funk and disco, including Sonny Stitt, Joe Newman, John Coltrane, Alice Coltrane, Bobby Blue Band, Gladys Knight, Barry White, Wynton Marsalis, Loleatta Holloway, Isaac Hayes, Lou Rawls, Clarence Carter, Johnny Taylor, Major Lance, John Edwards, Eddie Kendricks, Erskine Hawkins, Luther Ingram, Millie Jackson, Flip Wilson, Roy Gaines, Tamiko Jones and many others.

In 1973 he arranged and composed a musical score called The Burning of Atlanta for Buddha Records, another rare collectible LP. However, it is the self-titled 1976 album, TOMMY STEWART that most people associate him with, mostly because of the song Bump And Hustle Music.

Tommy Stewart is the co-founder of the African-American Philharmonic Orchestra. He now stays busy playing jazz trumpet and is helping develop R&B acts. His regular live gigs are as the Tommy Stewart Orchestra and with Cleve Eaton and Friends. He was inducted into the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame in 1988.

Interview from the Ubiquity Site

This is the first full-length LP and CD re-issue for Tommy Stewarts self-titled tough-to-find album. It’s a legend amongst collectors and DJs for the party anthem Bump And Hustle Music. That tune appears on many play lists because it is on so many bootlegs and compilations. Featuring a killer vocal hook by Hot Buttered Soul (Isaac Hayes backing singers) it’s a little known fact that this track almost did not appear on the original record, it was only an afterthought put to tape last minute when the band
thought they were a track short.

Recording began in Atlanta, Georgia at Sound Pit Recording Studios, and was finished in Memphis, Tennessee in 1976. This was the latter end of the rare groove era, which is reflected in the combination of funk with early disco style production. In fact, Stewart is often labelled as the innovator of disco-funk because of this album and his production on releases like Southside Connection and Sil Austin. In addition to Bump and Hustle Music tracks like Riding High and The Fulton County Line qualify the album as a classic and one that sits pretty next to the likes of releases by The Headhunters, Roy Ayers, and the Mighty Ryeders.

In his High School he was voted most musical by classmates at graduation time. Stewart taught music as a band director while performing and arranging outside of class.

Bump And Hustle Music was a last minute song, recorded on the spot, laughs Stewart. It was the one we expected would do least well. He adds. The band was packing up their instruments after the album recording session. We had a drink or two, kidded around for a while and then I came up with the bass line, he remembers humming the instantly catchy 3 or 4 notes. Everyone kicked-in ideas and we laid down the instrumental version based on my arrangement. I then took the instrumental to Ardent Studios in Memphis and recorded the vocals with Hot Buttered Soul.

The LP has a peach on the cover. Not because it is Stewarts favourite fruit. In fact it was purely a marketing gimmick that was intended to help album sales through the popular Peaches music chain. Unfortunately the label wasn’t able to capitalize on the gimmick and the album didn’t achieve instant notoriety.

I didn’t really hear any buzz on it until the 1980s. DJs in the UK had picked-up on it, I saw a review in their Blues and Soul magazine, I guess Bump and Hustle Music was quite a hit over there, says Stewart. Then when the 1990s rolled around I was able to use the Internet and find out that it was getting lots of plays all around the world!
In the meantime Stewart had kept himself busy working with Loleatta Holloway Salsoul Records diva, and John Edwards, a vocalist for the Spinners who had releases out on Ace Records.

I never expected this album or that song to become an anthem, admits Stewart. But I do hear the connection with dance music produced today. The main difference is new music is mostly made electronically. On Bump and Hustle Music we did it live, those are live strings and horns recorded on the spot.

82 Fulton County Line
83 Practice What You Preach
84 Bump And Hustle Music
85 Get Off Your Seats
86 Make Happy Music
87 Riding High

Gilles Peterson, Ben Westbeech and Koop

Last weeks have been pretty intense. Lots of concerts and clubdates but the sky is brightening up now. There aren’t that many interesting gigs in the pipeline so I can spend some time to keep you all informed about what’s been.
I’m planning to post a best of for Mouse on Mars. It was an interesting combination: first a cheerful Barbara Morgenstern, next some advanced beats and noise from Mouse on Mars and to finish things off, a theatrical aftershow with Planningtorock. I was keen to see her videoperformance and right so. It was also a pleasant reunion with the orangerie at Le Botanique. It’s a small concert hall but definitely on of the best in terms of sound. But more to come on that one.

There was also Gilles Peterson at the Depot. He came to DJ but he brought some presets with him for starters. Things got pretty hot and humid with a new UK Soul act called Ben Westbeech. He’s signed to Gilles Peterson’s new label Brownswood. I thought I’d never heard him before but as it turned out, I had already heard him on the radio and some compilation albums as a guest singer. His style of singing and music is pretty similar to that of Jamiroquia. Some people hate it but I like it. Let’s see how he evolves and what comes next.

Later that evening the Scandinavian band Koop did their workout. They just released a second album with an update of Big Band Swing and Jumpstyle Jazz from the 30’s and 40’s. I liked the first album but never bought it. It was a little bit to slick and mellow just as the Gotan Project. But the new stuff is pretty swell. Really top. They brought a small combo with them of really fine ace musicians and a female vocalist. She sang much in the same way as Billie Holliday. They’re booked for the Blue Note Festival later on this year. If I can, I will go back to catch them a second time.

The evening ended with a DJ set of Gilles Peterson. I’ve seen him spin several times. He’s a pro. Can’t miss. His little bit of smalltalk at the start of the show is always kind of funny. He looked like he just flew in and missed everything that’s been on before and asked what we’ve been up to – ‘O, you’ve been listening to Ben then and what else… Koop’ ‘Great, let’s see what we can do next for ya’.

80 Get Silly – Ben Westbeech
81 I See a Different You – Koop

West End Records - Larry Levan - The Paradise Garage

The Baldelli posts and the arrival of Gilles Peterson this evening bring me in a disco mood and what better place to turn to for disco than the NYC West End Records label.
West End Records is, along with Prelude and Salsoul, part of the holy trinity of disco labels. Although the label’s offices were upstairs from the legendary Studio 54, its output was aimed at an equally legendary nightspot farther downtown – the Paradise Garage. The West End owners had a very close and intense relationship with Paradise Garage’s DJ Larry Levan which led both West End and the Garage to great heights.

The Garage attracted the best dancers in New York City and in order to keep them moving, Levan concocted a truly original mix of searing grooves and quirky, offbeat records that were somehow magic on the dance floor.
Levan's tastes were reflected in West End’s output: in particular Arthur Russell’s avant-garde masterpieces of compressed dynamics but also many popular productions by Kenton Nix, most notably with Taana Gardner, that crossed over from hardcore dancers to all of New York. Ultimately, West End mainstream and underground sounds proved that disco was more then mere plastic crap.

Baldelli and Levan are both legendary DJ’s but they have a totally different style. Baldelli’s main concern was to keep a flawless groove going without missing a beat, while Levan as fearsome decksman, was less concerned with smooth segues than with capturing and pushing the fervency of the dancefloor moment he was creating. Levan's transitions often clashed, but that only added to the momentum. It’s only in the studio work that their styles come closer together.
Likely the canniest remixer ever, Levan turned normal-length funk tunes into epic dance workouts with startling regularity, patiently layering minimal tracks until they built into feverish crescendos.

‘Taana Gardner's classic track Heartbeat, from 1981 for instance, demonstrates this better than any other. For one thing, it's slow — 98 beats-per-minute as opposed to the traditional disco BPM, which ranges from 110 to 125. For another Levan slides into the hook slowly, opening with 20 seconds of a heartbeat and some handclaps, then brings in the drums and one of the most sampled basslines in history for another 20’’ before the rest of the instruments come in. (De La Soul used it on their Buddy remix, and Ini Kamoze turned it into a hit with Here Comes the Hotstepper). The first words (Heartbeat, it make me feel so weak) don't occur until exactly a minute into the track, and by then Levan has set you up for one of the great R&B vocal performances — sweet, fluttering, stinging, impossibly carnal. When it winds down at the six-minute mark, Levan brings the beat back for Gardner to talk over, and amps the groove back up again for four more glorious minutes. The ten-minute whole could go on for twice that length without complaints.’

All of this happened in the early 80’s when disco went back underground and became a site for experimentation again. Some of the disco tracks of those years like Ednah Holt's Serious Sirius Space Party and New York Citi Peech Boys’ (of which Levan was a member) Don't Make Me Wait, started flirting with electro and became digital-funk milestones alongside Afrika Bambaataa's contemporaneous Planet Rock. However the most of these track are mostly old skool. A mix of funk, soul and the occasional latin flavor.

61 Taana Gardner - Heartbeat (Club Mix)
62 Taana Gardner - Heartbeat (Larry Levan Mix)
63 D'bora - No Sense (1984)
64 Michele - Disco Dance
65 Colleen Heather - Magic
66 Loose Joints - Tell You (Today) (Original 12 inch Vocal)
67 Ednah Holt - Serious Sirius Space Party
68 Billy Nichols - Give Your Body Up To The Music
69 New York City Peech Boys - Don't Make Me Wait
70 Raw Silk – Do It To The Music
71 Mahogany - Ride on the Rhythm (1982)
72 Sesso Matto - Sessomatto (1976)
73 B+ - B-Beat Classic (1983)
74 Shirley Lites - Heat You Up (Melt You Down) (1983)

After a while all of this eventually evolved in something else all together. Let’s call it NY house music.

75 Frankie Knuckles - Your Love

As a side dish a band that tries to bring back those funky days. I’ve already written about Escort.

76 Escort - Starlight
77 Escort - All through the night

And some random stuff I’m currently listening to, but they fit in nicely.

78 Sounds of Blackness - Optimistic
79 Benny Sings - Little Donna

For those who like some visual footage to go along there are some video's on youtube about the era. First a short but comprehensive version on the birth of disco and clubculture in NYC with the main protagonists involved.

Next a short token of the atmosphere at the Paradise Garage.

Old skool Sue Mashing It Up

BarbieQ


As a kind of antidote to all the time passing by con Bolly some random novelties.

Strategy - Future Rock - Can't Rolll Back
A recent discovery is Strategy. A one person band apparently with a new album called Future Rock. Very sophisticated and groovy but not exactly the Future of Rock but rather the future of AfroBeat, Soul and Dub.

Riot in Belgium - La Musique (Adam Sky remix)
Riot in Belgium a sort of Belgian band (I’m not really sure) that’s been around for a while now. Great remix of a great tune.

Piano Club - Girl On TV (Philippe Zdar Mix)
Another Belgian band Piano Club. They keep growin’ by the dozen and most of them are pretty decent too. I hope this evolution never stops.

Groove Armada - Get Down
The new Groove Armada single goes Dancehal.

Chromeo – Fancy Footwork
Finally a new Chromeo album. First single and just as good as before. Same old shit but I really like it.

Moments - James Brown
I finally found my all time favorite James Brown track. It wasn’t easy to find. A rather atypical track. No floorfiller but a theme for thought. Mr. Brown reminiscing in his own way about the state of affairs in the world. Same ol’ shit as up to date as ever. Things will never change if we don’t start to THINK!

Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings - Naturally - How Do I Let A Good Man Down
A recent discovery. Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings are state of the art genuine old skool Soul and R&B but not from the past but from the present. A band from Brooklyn with a great female vocalist and some ace musicians. This track from the album Naturally sound very in line with The Ethiopian Groove. Which in it’s turn is based on Soul, Funk and R&B. So full circle.
This reminds me that Paul Weller of The Jam and Style Council is comin’ to town on Wednesday to spin some turntables as a DJ. He’s presenting a fine selection of his private soul and funk record collection.

The White Stripes - Icky Thump
Wow, what a Progrock monstersound the new single from the White Stripes has. It’s seems that they’re on a mission to revamp all forgotten music styles.

To end, something that brings back memories. Some videos that I found on Youtube with Lady Miss Kier. The summers of 1990 and 1991 when House seemed brand new. I didn’t know anything about Detroit Techno or even House back in those days. The electronic music I heard was pretty white and European (Kraftwerk, Front 242, Cabaret Voltaire,...). I’m mainly into black music so it was a pleasant surprise to find out about black electronic dance music. All thanks to Bootsy and Worrel and Deee-Lite. If you want more of this nostalgic stuff, just go to MeckerMeckerMecker just over to the right in the column of links.

Bombshell

Pyar Zindagi Hai from Muqaddar Ka Sikandar (1978)… they don’t come much better than this one. For me this is classic Bollywood, Masala style. Masala means spicy or if you like, rather burned. I say classic, but in fact there isn’t much of the famous fancy dancing in the featuring disco scene but only a rather sticky slow.
Still the music compensates a lot. In the film Sikandar, or Alexander for that matter, has a troubled youth, makes fortune but can’t forget his childhood sweetheart who chooses another guy. He doesn’t know what to do with himself and starts drinking as is clearly shown in this key scene from the movie.
This song was revamped a couple of years ago on the Bollywood Breaks & Beats album as Lover’s Paradise.



If you can’t get enough. You can watch a chunkload of this stuff over at Bollywood4u.punt.nl. No subtitles though.

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This film also features another famous more loungy song O Saa thi Re. The song has 2 versions. A male version song by Kishore Kumar and a female by Asha Bhosle.



In order to compensate the lack of fine dancing another great moment in the history of Indian movies. Hoton Me Aisi Baat from The Jewel Thief. I doubt it but from what I heard, all of this was done in just one shot.



To end this list, just for fun a favourite of mine O Mere Sona Re from Teesri Manzil (1966).

Myspace is Your Space

I have a Myspace account for quite a while now but I never really could figure out what to do with it so I didn’t use it, up until now. I decided to make a fansite out of it since so many bands and artist seem to have a Myspace. I’m adding artist pages on a weekly basis in order to generate a catalogue of all the artist, musicians, composers, performers, also those who are already deceased. Also clubs and concert halls, just anything I really like. It’s handy for me to check if anyone is playin’ anywhere near myplace.
So check The Houston Helpdesk.

Keep it Real

Also tired of those 99% of music videos which are about …
a) rappers with gold, cars, the hood and ho's
b) blond chicks dancin' and shakin' it with the occasional licking sweat shot
c) overacting bands playing in a computer generated environment

That being said, it's nice to see something refreshing every once in a while.

Just check this video for Grizzly Bear’s song Knife and see... yes, an overacting bands playing in a computer generated environment!



Now that commercial Rap Music is officially declared death, underground Hip Hop is still flourishing. The Roots are one of those bands and they are already around for quit a while now. Back in 1996 – when DJ Shadow declared Hip Hop dead for the first time – they already made this self-ironic video which is the manual to how to make the perfect hip-hop video. It also sort of works as a PowerPoint presentation with moving images and sound because of the captions. The video wouldn't be as good without the those captions. They are essential and funny!

What they do by The Roots. Nice song by the way.

Prairie Storm



I went to see a concert of Low a couple of weeks ago. It took me a while to collect and load this stuff, so that’s why I’m posting this only now.
It wasn’t my first Low concert. Their concerts are always nothing more than amazing. Up until now they always delivered. I’ve never been disappointed. Which is hard to do in their case because one wrong note or bad voice affects the quality of the entire performance. If it doesn’t sound right you’ll hear it. It’s the nature of their music. What they do looks simple but it’s not. It’s a sparse and wide open sound with long and ever winding melodies and an occasional explosion of feedback. It reminds me of those Great Plains in the Midwest (they live in Minnesota which technically speaking is not a part of the Plains). These endless fields and prairies which are usually peaceful and tranquil but which are also the homeland of storms and tornados. The eruption of guitar noise and feedback amidst songs of angelic beauty resembles a prairie storm passing by. A great overwhelming experience which has more impact and effect in this receiving environment.
For me their music (apart from the lyrics) deals with the countryside and the forces of nature. So it’s not urban music. The lyrics about human nature ad extra layers. A man lost in space and time? An inner turmoil in resonance with that of nature?
This imagery always brings me, through wild associations, to the Wizard of Oz. That prairie twister which blows the house of Judy Garland all the way to Oz.

Anyway, back on track… it seems that they also have a special bond or a relation of some sort with this country and it’s audience. Maybe it’s because we’re one of the first foreign countries where they had fans and got to perform. I don’t know? Is it because we’re called the Lowlands? Too obvious.

This is my selection of song from the Albums I have. I think they played almost all of these songs apart from Dinosaur Act, Laser Beam and When I go Deaf but I'm not sure anymore.

(That's How You Sing) Amazing Grace
Sunflower
Monkey
Belarus
Breaker
Dinosaur Act
Time Is The Diamond
Laser Beam
Sandinista
The Lamb
Hachet
When I Go Deaf
Like A Forest
In Silence
Pissing
Point Of Disgust
In Metal
Violent Past

Low was the main act in a small series of concerts, kind of festival, of like minded music on the same night. There was an up comin’ Belgian band called Krakow which was a bit of a disappointment. I only knew one song of them from the radio which was a really nice blend of alt.country and close harmony but they didn’t get around doing much harmony. They sang separately but none of them had a voice that was distinctive enough to carry any of the slow moving song (to say it mildly). More teamwork next time.
Next on the bill was another American act that didn’t ring a bell. I had never heard of Death Vessel. On the basis of the name I was expecting a couple of headbangers that would emphasis on the hard-core side of slowcore - the label Low always gets identified with - but instead it was a very pleasant encounter with a singer-songwriter in the best folk and country tradition of The Anthology of American Folk Music.
Another great surprise and disbelief was my share when this tall guy with long black hair sang with a soaring, crystalline soprano. He sang in a high register with a clear tone that’s beautifully sustained. If you closed your eyes you could hear a wonderful female country singer.
Death Vessel played it pretty straight. Just a man with a odd but beautiful vulnerable voice and some acoustic picking and plucking at a safe but skilful pace. I hope that he doesn’t get boxed as some freak country act - come and see the cowboy who sings like a girly. It would be a damn shame.

Mean Streak
Blowing Cave
Break The Empress Crown
Mandan Dink
Deep In The Horchata

I ♥ PowerPoint

I like PowerPoint’s or keynotes for that matter (I still don’t know if they’re equally good programs. Brief, keynotes should be better, I’ve heard). Sure, I’ve seen some lousy ones in my live and even made some myself, but a good presentation in general is a wonderful experience. People often mistake PowerPoint as a method - or even worse a default autopilot where you simply have to put in stuff, fiddle with some knobs and the program does the rest - but it’s not. It’s a tool and you’re the presentation.

A good story, some truly awesome visuals (but keep it simple) and a gifted, if possible funny storyteller make a great combination. I see and perform a lot of presentation myself but there’s still a lot that I can learn. I sometimes deliver, but sometimes I don’t. I’ve noticed that it usually goes wrong when I didn’t or couldn’t spend much time on a good visual presentation or when I have to rely on the outline of the support to know what I'm telling. I really don’t like using one I didn’t make myself. When a slide is simply ugly, it hurts. I get sick. Call me a sissy but I’m very picky about it.

That’s why I sometimes search the internet for presentations of all sorts and read books on the topic. An interesting site is Presentation Zen.
That’ how I learned that one can even commit Comedy with PowerPoint presentations.

Like in this one on economics. I don’t have a PhD in Economics so every once in a while I need a hand to fill in some papers. they usually contain a lot of fancy lookin’ mumbo jumbo but luckily there are people who can actually translate all of this in reasonably understandable language.
A nice story and while listening one also gets some brief outlines on a better use of yes… PowerPoint, especially the use of bullets. Unfortunately the slides look rather bland though.

Only a miner portion of the communication during presentations is verbal, as is proven in this one. Even though the person only uses one word an a deadpan standard outlook (which is probably a part of the case here, I guess) the message gets across.
Anyone who ever had to sit trough on a presentation about management and assorted stuff or technical information knows what this is about. Just watch it until the end. The clue at the end is really funny and so recognisable.


At last, in order to end, one of the best PowerPoint/keynote presentations I’ve recently found on the - as usual - great TED site. Only just images and no text this time though. It takes a while to load. You can also see it right here Edward Burtynsky on Earth's manufactured landscapes.

Did you notice how technicaly advanced these plugins are? Chapter marks and exploding views, great!

Recent Live Gigs

20 april / Daniele Baldelli / Make-Up Club Ghent
21 april / Digitalism / Dirty Dancing Mirano Brussels
Digitalism – Pogo
26 april / Leslie Feist / Le Grand Rex Paris
Feist – Mushaboom
Feist – One Evening
Feist – My Moon My Man
27 april / Justus Köhncke / Make-Up Club Ghent
Justus Köhncke – 2 after 909
Justus Köhncke – Elan (Prins Thomas version)
Justus Köhncke – Timecode
Whirlpool Productions – From Disco to Disco

Baia Sound

Going trough my Baldelli tapes and other data carriers, I realized how great this stuff really is but also how utterly obscure most of it was. I already posted some tracks before that once were heard on the dancefloors, terrace and the swimming pool at Baia degli Angeli (recent rediscovery Timing, Forget the Timing by Black Devil and Magnifico Mambo by Five Letters). I ad some others now that I think are simply irresistible.

057 André Gagnon – Surprise 1976 mix version
058 James Mason – Sweet Power Your Embrace
059 Rhythm Makers – Zone (1976)
060 Bombers - Don't Stop The Music (1978)

Culture High&Low

Gee, I won’t be able to make it to the Eskimofabriek tomorrow for 5 years of Culture Club. As a comfort I listen to this track from The Glimmers with Tim Vanhamel of Millionaire. It seems that he’s everywhere these days considering his up comming opening for Battles with Coca Cola met God.

Disco Drunkards – Let’s Get Physical

More Disco... but not as we know it

No Indian or Paki 3 day-wedding can go without this song from the movie Qurbani. It's Cheese Captain, but not as we know it. Still love it.

Nazia Hassan - Aap Jaisa Koi




Some extra's on top. Another feature from Qurbani.

Hum Tumhen Chahtay Hain Aise - Qurbani


Kuch Kuch Hota Hai - my personnel introduction to Bollywood. I saw this on a black and white tv durring a nightdrive by bus from Delhi to Chandigarh way up north in the Punjab.

Subliminal Advertising

A friend just send me this link. If it's genuine, it's really astonishing. It deals with the way you can influence the minds of people if only you play it just right.
I don't know this guy Derren Brown, because I no longer have TV, but apparently he makes documentaries of some sort on mind tricks. I'm gonna check them out.