The Contemporary Fix

Well the day has finally arrived!  Lindstrøm performs tonight at the Paradise Lounge.  From what I've heard he will be performing extended mixes of the tracks from his album along with a few other songs.  As you might have read from Max's interview on the last post, he "no longer DJs" so this will be a laptop performance with live manipulations from MIDI controllers and other control surfaces.  I am soooo stoked for this one.  In celebration of the king's arrival I have decided to share with you one of my favorite songs by Lindstrøm.  Actually, it's a remix of Lindstrøm's "The Contemporary Fix" by fellow Scandinavian disco house master Bjørn Torske off of the EP of the same title from a few years ago.  Prins Thomas has featured this track frequently in his mixes over the last few years, including his RA podcast, his set at Gun Club, and a few others I've heard.  Enjoy this as you get ready tonight and prepare yourself for the cosmic journey on which we are about to embark.

Lindstrøm - The Contemporary Fix (Bjørn Torske Remix)

Off The Deep End

Big reminder, tomorrow Lindstrøm comes so get excited! It will be his only live show on the west coast and he doesn't come to the states very often so this is a rare opportunity to see the steward of cosmic disco working his magic live! Tickets are available here for those of you who haven't got them, and the party is, as usual, at the Paradise Lounge, and runs from 10pm - 4am. Also for more on Lindstrøm, my fellow blogger Max was privileged enough to get Hans-Peter to answer some questions about his album Where You Go I Go Too. Read it here. Now on to the tunes...

So since getting into disco, house and all things electronic, I've realized a lot of the guys I'm big on have a loungey vibe that verges on the reaches of the genre of deep house. Less the housey beat, these tracks could be given a balearic title or nudisco, but the four to the floor funkiness puts them into the deeper category. I'm not saying these two guys I'm posting are deep house in the way it was big a few years back, but deep seems to be the best categorization for the vibe they put forth. First up is England's Red Rack'em Presents Hot Coins' Valiant Truth EP from one of my favorite labels right now Tirk (who have featured the likes of Sorcerer, Chaz Jankel, Idjut Boys and Greg Wilson). This EP is a bit quirky, but the title track is pretty awesome. Think Mark E's chugging funkiness with a wash of echoey shimmering synths as if you're playing Lindstrøm at 33. Enjoy this bouncey downtempo jam.

Red Rack'Em presents Hot Coins - Valiant Truth

Next is a name I was unfamiliar with until a few weeks ago, Arturo Capone, an Italian producer whose album Miocuoure was released not too long ago on Bear Funk whose parent label is is Bear Entertainment. Between the two they have released artists such as Max Essa, Illija Rudman, Lexx and Mudd (of Claremont 56), and Norwegian spectacles Lindstrøm and Todd Terje. This release has a deeper, housier vibe, but maybe that is telling of a new direction in the genre as Capone chooses to use organic basslines and live drums throughout the album to give it a feel much like Prins Thomas' remixes at times. Also, the album features the use of guitar sounds much like those in the Idjust Boys' edit of Nick Chacona's "Band Practice" throughout. At times it can run short of ideas, but at its best Miocuore captures the essence of how disco has pervaded so many different contemporary electronic music genres. The track I share with you today might be my favorite on the album and reminds me of Lindstrøm's "I Feel Space", enjoy.

Arturo Capone - Teate

Miami Vice

Cross-posted at Mind Grapes

Serious question: is Miami Vice the best movie of the 2000s? Not even on some sub-hipster crypto-ironic bullshit (though I should admit: I am not, like, rational when it comes to Michael Mann), on a real tip. Watch it again, homie, 'cause I bet you were one of those dudes scowling when you came out of the theater. And I sympathize! It's not really an easy movie to like. Mann doesn't give a shit about his characters, except that they look good, or the plot, except that it provides him with certain set pieces. Me personally, I like Mann 'cause he's the only guy making 80s movies in the 2000s. But also: this is the best-looking movie since, I don't know, Legend or something. I don't think any other filmmaker right now really knows how to use a digital camera the way Mann does, to milk the grain for those beautiful, bizarre colors.

I think my favorite bit of the movie isn't actually in the movie—it's the trailer, which made me go from being annoyed by the Jay-Z/Linkin Park mashup to loving it. I'm not going to post it here, but I will YouTube the trailer:

I don't know what to say, man. the dude makes me want to move to Miami. I won't insult your intelligence by posting In the Air Tonight, either, but, dude, if you haven't seen this, then... kill yourself:

Anyway. Michael Mann has just about the worst taste in music of any major filmmaker nowadays (though, I'll say, he makes it work for him), but when he was producing and directing the Miami Vice TV show, it had one of the best soundtracks on TV—not just the Phil Collins jams, either: motherfucking Jan Hammer. "Crockett's Theme" is the classic (if you've got Pure Moods, and you should, you've got it), but since I'm a nice dude I'll throw in "Russian Story" as well.

Jan Hammer - Crockett's Theme
Jan Hammer - Russian Story

The Disco Revenge

A couple months ago, the beardo thread on ILM turned me onto The Revenge (Scottish edit specialist Graeme Clark) with his incredible edit of Hot Chocolate's "Cadillac" (which was perhaps my favorite edit of 2008) on Jiscomusic - the label that has released Mark E's most spectacular works "Smiling" and "Scared". Having successfully caught my attention I pursued other works by him and another project of his the 6th Borough Project (Clarke and Craig Smith, also a UK resident). So this post will introduce you to their latest works.

First up is a track off of the 6th Borough Project's Part One 12" on Instruments of Rapture. The three edits on this record are all funky disco house jams, including a dub by The Revenge. Driven by house beats, swollen with disco samples, and given enough reverb, echo and delay effects to smooth the transitions, these are some of the finest edits I have heard in a while. Super soulful funky jams that work well on lazy afternoons or early in the night to get the dancefloor started, think stoned french house. From Part One, I've chosen to share the first track "Hang On". I don't know the sample on this, but 6thBP takes it and works it well over for more than seven blissful minutes of warm funky goodness, enjoy!

6th Borough Project - Hang On

Next we have The Revenge's latest work from his Jiscomusic release. More powerful and overt in their energy, these edits come at you like his edit of "Cadillac". Especially "Savin' The Day", which is an edit of Alessi's track of the same name from Ghostbusters! I remember liking the track from when I watched the movie years ago, but The Revenge reinvents it into a dark dubby dance monster. Looped to perfection, this track finds more and more energy as it chugs along. This is a floor filler for sure!

The Revenge - Savin' The Day

For more from The Revenge check out OOFT Music for mixes and more exclusive edits.

On The California Coastline

Chromeo was amazing last night, playing every song off of Fancy Footwork and finishing with my favorite song from the album "100%", quite a memorable night I must say.  But upon returning to Los Angeles I realize how much the winter makes me miss the weather down here.  A quick post today, I just wanted to share with you this funked out rock jam off of Manfred Mann's Earth Band's self-titled album I just picked up.  Quite a few other gems on this album as well.

Manfred Mann's Earth Band - California Coastline

Chromeo, O Chromeo!

A week from today at this time I will be trucking down I-5 at 80mph with my fingers crossed that we don't hit any traffic because beginning at 9pm is Chromeo's last American show before returning to the studio! The show is at the Key Club, and I think tickets are sold out, but hit me up if you managed to catch some. The last time I was lucky enough to see the electro duo was two summers ago before Chromeo became rampant in every club. Truly one of my favorite groups of the last 2 years, they have rode the success of their second album Fancy Footwork to its complete capacity, touring regularly for the last year and and a half. Anyways, I came across this remix by them (not something they do often) of Treasure Fingers' bouncey house track "Cross The Dancefloor" (which you can find on his myspace). They retain most of the funky instrumentals and replace Treasure Fingers' vocoder with David's smooth voice, sounds as if it was meant to be. A great afternoon jam, electric slide and do the marshmallow!

Treasure Fingers - Cross The Dancefloor (Chromeo Remix)

New Year's Bliss

I am so sorry for being absent for so long, I took an extended holiday break from posting. Things have been busy and when you fall out of the habit of posting and begin watching Battlestar Galactica at the same time, time seems to fly by. Either way we are back with a new track for you and some exciting news. On Sunday this MLK weekend I will be ringing in the day of Dr. MLK at the Briss Bar party my good friend Jaxon from Robots In Heat and I are having at the Bliss Bar in Noe Valley. Actually, it's not much of a party but we will be playing some downtempo jams and if you're Sunday evening is free you should definitely stop by. The bar is located at 4026 24th Street and while I've never been I'm sure Jaxon and I will round up a good time with some low key vibes. I would also like to take this time to announce the first Disco Horror/Robots In Heat disco party Beards Of A Feather which will be taking flight at the end of next month at the wonderful 222 Club in the Tenderloin. More details to come as we figure them out, but mark Thursday, February 26th on your calendars because it is sure to be a fantastic time. But that is the news for now, so how about some music.

Rune Lindbæk was featured a few months ago for his Klubb Kebabb LP from 2007, but just a month or so ago he released his Bonat Synthesizer EP. The four track record contains a range of original material covering various directions in Scandinavian nu-disco, the title track of which features Hans-Peter Lindstrøm himself on drums. (For those who haven't heard, Lindstrøm is gracing San Francisco with his presence on January 31st at the spectacular Paradise Lounge). The track I share with you is the most upbeat of the melancholy jams on this EP, driven by a bouncy low pass filter bass line, crisp drumwork, and a horn sample that propels the song's few crescendos out of a fog of verby synths. A sweet track, enjoy this "Nautilus" as you explore the ocean deep to find the fluorescent brilliance of creatures that hide in the dark flickering to the beats put forth by Rune, enjoy with a dose of "Deep Sea" off of the Blue Planet series.

Rune Lindbæk - Nautilus