I SAID “NEW” DISCO NOT “NU DISCO”

 
The neo-classical disco movement revs its engines, eschews Moroderist throb. Your move, IDIB.
Al Kent presents The Million Dollar Orchestra – Dontcha Wanna Get Down (2008)
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Arcade Lovers – Fantasy Lines (In Dub) (2008)
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Escort – Love In Indigo (Extended Version) (2007)
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A LEGEND; SOMETHING LIKE JAY-JAY OKOCHA

You know, if there’s one thing that the internet is short of at the moment, it’s badly made, fad-ragging remixes of M.I.A. tracks. In fact, if I die without hearing someone finally doing the OBVIOUS and crimping off some baile/B-more/electro/fidgit/bassline/mashup versions of Bamboo Banger or Paper Planes, then this, dear friend, will surely have been a life half-lived. I really hope Discobelle or Palms Out Sounds get on the case [...]

LETTING THE MUSIC PLAY: THE BEST OF FREESTYLE #2

Expose want you to run away with them, presumably to the land of assembly-line Latin dance-pop, where candy-coloured 808s frolic ‘tween the bubblegum blue bushes that proffer forth their bitter-yet-sweet berries of melodramat…oh, never mind.

Expose – Come Go With Me (1986)
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THE YEAR THE PIANOS RETURNED?

OK, I don’t really know who Villalobos thinks he is, but it would certainly take a pair of swinging great balls of almost heavenly dimensions to release a track that essentially does nothing in its seventeen minute length (SEVENTEEN!) over and above what it manages to do in the first ninety seconds. Piano, click track, chant, filter. [...]

PRETTY LUSH

More forward-thinking bass transmissions from Hyperdub, and another welcome blow for dubstep formulism. This time new girl Ikonika is on the boards. Old 8bar grime 12s that have warped in the sun, pulsating Detroit drums, steel-hammering clank, and lolloping sublow vibrations. Essential purchase.

Ikonika – Please (2008)
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FISH SUPPER

Ryuichi Sakamoto’s ‘Riot In Lagos’ is one of my favourite tracks from the more avant end of early electro – brightly-coloured Japanese melodies that are both plonky and wonky, without being cloying – Mario-cute rather than Hello Kitty-cute perhaps. Unlike the self-consciously robotic Afro-futurism of Cybotron, Hashim et al, it stands out for being firmly grounded [...]

I’M GONNA SET YOUR FLAG ON FIRE

Two takes on Hayes‘ unusually breezy Blaxploitation theme ‘Hung Up On My Baby’. His original is pent-up hood funk in recline – in the park and shaded by trees, mildly stoned, satisfied but still hungry. The Geto Boys lace the low-end and make a last grasp at manning-up, but now even the sunshine of the beat can’t be [...]

A MAN WHO CAN SHAKE THIS TOWN

Early, largely forgotten Chicago/italo femi-anthem from Screamin’ Rachael, the “Queen of House”. Imagine Frankie Knuckles, Kano and Bette Midler on a hen night that starts fairly politely – behaviour coquettish even – before the stripper arrives, and the whole thing descends into an orgiastic mess of cheap wine, posing pouches, whipped cream, and flailing tongues.

Screamin’ Rachael – My Main [...]

WILLY’S TWONKER

OK, so I was going through the new Dooms Night remix EP, and I got to the Crookers one and I was kind of “bleh” about the whole affair – fidgity bass, some baile horns and claps, the usual post-Switch/post-Herve et al bloghouse-isms  – AND THEN…AND THEN…AND THEN THE FUCKING OOMPA LOOMPAS WADDLE INTO FOCUS and it’s a different kettle [...]

SMARTER THAN THE NORMAL MAN

My friend was talking about the Egyptian Lover yesterday, which made me dig up this – EL on the boards, Jamie Jupitor on vocoder. Bone rattling West Coast future funk.
 
 Jamie Jupitor – Computer Power (prod. by Egyptian Lover) (1984)
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