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Showing posts from September, 2012

Boombox 3 Quality Soul & Swinging Disco

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‘Starlight’, the debut single from Brooklyn disco revivalists Escort came out 6 years ago, but is no less relevant than it was after its release. Part of it is its nailing of disco chic (and post-disco synth squiggles), part of it is that after dropping a string of singles, the act finally released its self-titled debut album last year, thereby reintroducing the song. And the newest part of it is that it's been remixed for the band's upcoming ‘Escort Remixed’, out on October 16th. The compilation collects some already released mixes as well as some new ones, like the RAC remix of ‘Starlight’, which I play in this third part of of ‘ Boombox ’. This remix of ‘Starlight’ spices up the track with a more Italo-indebted bass line, while retaining the sharp strings and Adeline Michele's lush vocals. It breathes new life into a club track that has shown no signs of fading, ever since its birth. And don’t forget to listen to La Bionda, a duo formed by brothers Carmelo and Michel

Doctor Who Meets Doctor Boogie

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Doctor Boogie in space! I selected a new edit from a guy I mentioned earlier on my blog, namely Baron von Luxxury (Blake Robin). He has written songs for artists like Little Boots and Dr. Luke protege (and 'California Gurls' co-writer) Bonnie McKee. He has also done remixes for Marianne Faithfull, among many others, and runs the very enjoyable Disco Workout blog . He just released his great new single ' Glass candy '. Baron von Luxxury explains how he laid his hands on 'Rhiannon': "This re-edit/remix/rerub of Fleetwood Mac’s 'Rhiannon' is the first in a series of 70’s and 80′s re-edits I’m making from the original studio multitracks. Each will be different tonally, but I’m trying to keep them all vintage-y sounding, using only the original tracks and refraining from using any (or too many) modern dancefloor tricks like filtersweeps, “swooshes” etc. Just delay, reverb and editing. Coming soon: BvL takes on Bowie, Clash, Talking Heads and more...&quo

I'm A Street Player

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Freefoto We started walking from the street corner where we heard the street player. We enjoyed the views in Neon Valley Street and Funky Frith Street. Then we went from the back street (surprisingly!) to Baker Street, which is a short cut in this mix. From there to Green Flower Street is also a small step. Although we got lost in 23rd Street, we managed to go down on Disco Street. We proved to be street tough and kept on dancing on Queen Street. And at the end of our walk we still heard the street music... ;-) I really like 'Street corner' from Ashford & Simpson. The two of them wrote many soul classics for Motown and other labels, like ‘Ain’t no mountain high enough’, ‘California soul’ and ‘I'm every woman’. Nick Ashford, who died last year, and his wife Valerie Simpson are probably best known for their worldwide hit 'Solid’. Last June Valerie Simpson released 'Dinosaurs are back again'. The re-edit of 'Street corner' is beautifully done by Laur

Boombox 2 Funky Grooves & Electro Soul

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Dâm-Funk The second part of ‘ Boombox ’ is the evidence that there was still some very good disco around after the heyday was over by the end of the 1970s. Disco went out of the mainstream and back to the clubs where it belonged in the 1980s. Party people started to dance on funky grooves and electro soul, music that is often referred to as ‘post-disco’. Unlike disco music of the 1970s, post-disco usually lacked the typical shuffling hi-hat driven beat, walking basslines and string orchestration. It now featured drum machines, synthesizers and sequencers. Soulful vocals, however, remained an essence of post-disco. The main force in post-disco were mainly one-hit wonders and short-lived collaborations, while record producers played a significant role in post-disco in general. An exception to this rule and one of the key-figures at the same time was Prince, who made some sublime crossovers between funk, electro and rock. From the late 1990s, post-disco started to live again in one

More Than A Mellow Mood

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The opening song from Players Asscociation (known for ‘Turn the music up’) is some kind of (underground) disco classic. The following track from Sashay is from an album I reviewed last week, called ‘ Evans Pyramid ’. The song never saw the light of day at the time (late 1980s), because a deal with Arista Records didn't come through. The track from Intercity Sound Association will be (re-)released on the 25th of September. The album is called ‘Philly sound’, although it's not the real Philly sound, of course. It’s a good imitation of Philly (and other kinds of seventies) soul, made in Germany (no, not in China...). The real Philly sound comes from McFadden & Whitehead, for instance, who are featured with 'One more time'. Everyone knows French bad guy Serge Gainsbourg ('Je t'aime... moi non plus'). I selected an unreleased remix that DJ Cam did on 'Ford Mustang' (a duet with Brigitte Bardot). He gives the track a pleasant hip hop vibe. The ones f