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Showing posts from July, 2018

Smooth Sailing: Sea Grooves & Latin Moods

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Harpers Bazaar May 2017 Joan-Smalls and Elsa Benitez by Mariano Vivanco Let me take you on a Latin Soul sailing trip this time! Enjoy the Sea Grooves & Latin Moods! By the way, this part of Smooth Sailing is based on a cloudcast called Sea Groove that I did exactly 8 years ago. The closing track is from the album We Want A Piece Of The Pie by Septimus, only recently officially released by Cultures of Soul : "The final product was an album featuring eight tracks of sumptuous, jazzy R&B and funk, showcasing the crisp musicianship Septimus had honed night after night playing for nightclub crowds in Oklahoma. It also felt slightly out of time, hearkening back to the deeply earth and spiritual feeling of early 70s soul more so than fitting in with the gleefully cosmetic and glossy tone of early 1980s boogie funk.” (Uchenna Ikonne) Tracklist: Alaida Costa – Catavento (1976) Mo’ Horizons – Kiss (2011) Patti Drew – Fever (1969) The JuJu Orchestra – Funky Nassau

AOR Radio: Long Hot Summer

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Rutger Geleijnse Here I am again! The warm weather inspired me to create this soundtrack to sunny days. It surely is going to be a long hot summer over here in the Netherlands! Make a car ride along the coast with me, while you tune into AOR Radio ! One of the tracks is Lovin’ And Losin’ You by Dwayne Ford. The song is #31 on Hello Loser’s Yacht Rock Top 100 :  Dwayne Ford is the classic tale of “what could have been.” Enjoy the ride!  Tracklist: Isle&fever – We’re Not Broken [Camino 84 Remix] (2018) Richard Stepp – Caught Up In A Whirlwind (1979) Bobby Caldwell – Down For The Third Time (1979) Shadow – I Can’t Keep Holding Back (My Love) (1980) Leon Ware Feat. Flora Purim – Somewhere (1982) Kalapana – Love ‘Em (1976) Lee Ritenour Feat. Eric Tagg – Is It You (1981) Rob Mehl – Taste And See (1980) Husky – Song Of Praise (1975) Wild Nothing – Partners In Motion (2018) Akasha – Madam Operator (1980) Darden Smith – Loving Arms (1993) Galaxy-Lin – Long Hot Sum

Smooth Sailing: Suntanned Lounge & Summer Chill

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Joan Smalls Instagram Enjoy yet another trip on my lounge boat! One of the tracks on this new Smooth Sailing episode is Les Fleurs by Minnie Riperton: “ Les Fleurs found Riperton imagining herself a flower budding into bloom, a hippy-dippy metaphor for every soul realising its true potential. Stepney’s production echoed that metaphor, its sparse guitar and drum verse blossoming into wonderfully overblown choruses encompassing swooning strings, blaring horns, artfully arranged choirs and Riperton’s own theremin-rivalling whistle-register scree; the entire track is some winningly over-egged pudding, its absurdity part of its charm. Though it was overlooked on release, drum’n’bass adventurers 4hero’s faithful reworking for their 2001 album Creating Patterns won a belated new audience for the Riperton original.” ( The Guardian ) Sool combine the best of music from France and California. L.A. native Art Bleek and French singer Mercy Collazo mix up pop, soul and electronics. Their

“Pop Eyes”: Summer Synth- & Sophisti Pop by The Smooth Operators

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Photo by Hanny Naibaho on Unsplash Enjoy these fresh ice-like summer synth- and sophisti pop songs by The Smooth Operators ! One of them is from The Dream Academy. The self-titled debut release for the art-school trio led by lead singer/guitarist Nick Laird-Clowes was produced by him and David Gilmour (Pink Floyd). The band used lush string arrangements and choir-like background vocals to create a sumptuous backdrop for their paisley-tinged pop. It worked to best effect on their smash Life in a Northern Town with its nostalgic lyrics and references to Frank Sinatra, The Beatles and The Walker Brothers ( Make It Easy On Yourself ). The song was written as an elegy to British folk singer Nick Drake, who died of an anti-depression overdose in 1974. The single's record sleeve included a dedication to him. Life in a Northern Town reached number 7 on the American Billboard Hot 100 in February 1986. Its memorable chant-like hook was later used in Sunchyme by Dario G. Tracklist:

Evening Steps: Sunset Soul & Disco

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Jussara Romão on Unsplash Evening Steps: Sunset Boogie & Disco sounds best when the light is starting to shimmer after a warm summer’s day! Enjoy! Three-time Grammy Award–winner Barry White is known for his distinctive bass-baritone voice, spoken intros and romantic image. His greatest success came in the 1970s as one of the frontrunners of disco, creating Love’s Theme with his Love Unlimited Orchestra and songs like Never Never Gonna Give Ya Up , Can't Get Enough Of Your Love, Babe and   I'm Gonna Love You Just A Little Bit More, Baby (which is on this cloudcast) as a solo singer. During the course of his career, White achieved 106 gold albums worldwide, 41 of which also attained platinum status. He had 20 gold and 10 platinum singles, with worldwide record sales in excess of 100 million. The so-called Walrus Of Love passed away on the 4th of July 2003, so last week it was exactly 15 years ago. Tracklist: Central Line – Walking On Sunshine (1981) Change – S

AOR Radio: Hot Summer Madness

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Aurélien Buttin (C-Heads Magazine) A few years back I shared a car with two ladies who were in the middle of a conversation, when I heard the intro of Sweet Lui-Louise by Ironhorse softly coming through on the radio. I immediately asked them to stop talking and turned up the volume. The only way to listen to that song by Canadian rock legend Randy Bachman (of Bachman-Turner Overdrive fame) is to play it as loud as possible on the car speakers! :-) A little bit out of the AOR box is Under The Sun , the new single by German singer/producer Roosevelt. For Young Romanc e (out on September 28) Roosevelt aka Marius Lauber travelled to Los Angeles where he worked on completing his demos. Where the first album was deeply rooted in club culture, and neon lit Nightmoves , his new album shows his newfound love for bigger, bolder pop songs. Sky High by British band Jigsaw was the main title theme to the film The Man from Hong Kong and a worldwide hit in the latter part of 1975. The song