Guest Mixes Updated

Hi Y’all,

To make it a hell of a lot easier to pick your way through our archives I’ve updated the post HERE where you can find all the links to stream or podcast our shows from Dec 08 onward.

There’s quick links to our guest mixes from Pete Herbert & Dicky Trisco, Johnny Rocks & Videodrome, Pablo Contraband, James Alaska and Tim ‘Acid House’ Rivers plus selections from special guest Ali ‘Go Bang!’ Back.

Get on it

Rich ‘Seasonal Headskater’ Recess

Larry Levan vs James Alaska

I’m telling you now… you ain’t never heard anything like THIS before…

James Alaska is one of the most marvelous people I’ve ever met. He’s also one of the most persistent musical train spotters I have ever known. In metaphorical terms, his beard of knowledge has grown to such gargantuan proportions that sometimes in bad weather, light aircraft attempt to set down on it. His love of disco knows no bounds and for this, I must salute him. Having played storming sets as a resident at Magnet in the late nineties he then went on to deliver repeated nights of musical passion as one half of the Love Thy Neighbour duo James Shakti & Stuart Principal, between 2001 and 2006 in various salubrious venues in London.

James has now arrived in another age of musical knowledge, having recently completed an MA in Sonic Art, he’s now creating music compositions as part of experimental electronicists Vlk and The Alaska None. The beard situation has worsened. Now, on top of the impromptu run-downs of Chic catalogue numbers and release dates, we are blessed with further knowledge about the source of sound itself. Its bloody mind boggling – so I thought I’d share… brace yourselves.

What we have here is a 10 minute edit of MFSB’s Love is The Message by James (the full piece is a whole 19 minutes long!) called Paradise Dust. If you’re expecting disco, please readjust your head, but consider first that this was generated from disco – from the very essence of our dear godfather of groove Larry Levan:

And here’s what James has to say about his composition – yes, it’s an essay, but if you’re into vinyl, disco, Levan and a bit of musical philosophy, then you should probably trim your beard, grab yourself a cup of tea and settle down to a story. A story about how James found Larry, and Larry found James…

Bridging the electro super highway

Music.

Sometimes it can’t easily be defined. It is what it is, and what it is…is good!

Heres a prime example. A track for me which instantly had me wide eyed in a panic to find out what it was I was hearing. Is it house? is it electro? The conclusion I came to and many others too about this particular record is that its neither, you cant tie it down, its a force to be reckoned with and it not only crosses genres but redefines them completely.

When Nitro Deluxe released ‘This Brutal House’ back in 1986 it blew up from the NYC underground quicker than they could press copies of it. And rightly so, it is an amazing track – haunting in its simplicity & with one single objective in mind…MAKE THEM DANCE!

Aldo Marin aka Nitro Deluxe was an 80’s electro producer and pioneer of crossover sounds.

He had a part to play in a mind boggling array of 80’s electro and early house releases. At a true crossover period in the world of dance music he used the now primitive technology around at the time to create melodies that still sound fresh today! He fused Chicago House, Techno and Electro into one record, thus creating a whole new sound.

Dont be fooled by the simplicity of the production, I guarantee you’ll be moving your feet before the 30 second mark arrives. If not, leave now!

Buy it from Juno Download HERE

November 2009 radio show on Deep Frequency

Our latest radio show has now been uploaded to the Deep Frequency archives for your listening pleasure.

You can stream the file direct from here (you have to allow pop-ups from the DF site for this link to work) or

Rounder Records – you dig?

I love record shopping. Vinyl shopping to be precise, flicking through the racks, scooting for tracks and picking out potential winners, sometimes losers too, but always giving me that feeling of contentment; new grooves will soon be cut by the needle. The familiar crackle and pop of the first play – warm sound. Yeah, it’s vinyl for me.

Don’t get me wrong – I can handle a download or three, CDJs are fun bits of kit and the things you can do with mp3s are nothing short of genius. But I just can’t resist

Dances with Wolves

The name Wolf Music conjurs up all kinds of thriller style tomfoolery and visions of hairy beats that bite this time of year…

But by no means should this influence your decision to read on, even if you’re suffering from pre haloween ‘over it already’ fever.

Wolf music first came to my attention recently when scouring new releases on the Juno chart. Ooooh I like the name, was my first thought, ooooh they’ve released some mixes of that awesome Atmosfear track! I thought next. And my third and final thought (as I can only usually have 3 in a row before i get a migrane) was…aaaaaaaaaaah they’re from Brighton!

As I dug a little deeper and made contact with the Wolf boys (via hairyface book – groan…) I soon found some chaps not only with an unadulterated raw passion for good dancefloor music but also two people who really care about the quality of their output and strive to keep things diverse by getting other quality names (including The Revenge & coming soon involvement from Ilija Rudman) in on the act while they’re at it! Oh and they’re ever so friendly too.

Heres a few words straight from the Wolfs mouth:

Wolf Music are a Brighton & Southampton based record label created by two music obsessives – Meat & the Wolf. Heavily influenced by underground House, Disco & Soul – we set up Wolf Music so we could have an outlet for the amazing music we were picking up and hearing from friends on the scene.

We are three releases in now and the reception has been incredible. Our current release ‘I Wanna See All My Friends At Once” is out now on vinyl and there will be some digi releases from the EP coming next month (including remixes).

After that we have a belter of an EP from PBR Streetgang (2020 Vision), with remixes courtesy of Soft Rocks & Ilija Rudman. This is a little bit different musical style wise from the previous releases, but it fits nicely into that peaktime pocket and shows we’re no one trick pony.

Party wise – we are guesting all over the place at the moment, but also have a monthly residency in our hometown Brighton. All details will be up on our MySpace Account; Check it here

Hoooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwwlllllllllllllllllll

So, there we have it. Not much more to say other than WATCH THIS SPACE. I sure will be…Enjoy!

Taken from Wolf#003 (out now on Vinyl out soon on digital download):

Eddie C – My Woman (Wolf Mix):

Firecrackers, Wing Chun & Chess

A couple of weekends ago I inadvertently became one of the masses to get rather over excited about the sounds coming out of Firecracker Recordings. This stuff is quite infectious – three tracks on the latest EP creating a kaleidoscope of cosmic disco and funky fun. I’ve yet to check out some of the earlier releases (oh I’m SO behind the times!).The artist roll call includes Linkwood, Fudge Fingas, Vakula, Intrusion (one half of the Detroit/Chicago-based duo Echospace) and House of Traps. Go do your diggin’.

Originally an Edinburgh based label, the chaps have put out their 4th E.P. on lovely 10 inch vinyl – the chaps also do mp3 releases, but you won’t find CDs out there. There’s a selection of tracks previewed on their Myspace and a decent little overview of the label here from July this year. You can buy the music from links on their Myspace or just skip straight to Phonica for the latest release.

By their own admission they picked up:

Phonica – No.1 Bestseller

Juno – No.1 Bestseller

Boomkat – Recommended Release

Piccadilly – Recommended Release

Rush Hour – Recommended Release

Fat City – Record Of The Week

Rubadub – Hot Release

these are no mean feat, and in my view, very deserved accolades.

I also have to be one of the few people to have read the full blog entry expounding the similarities between Wing Chun and Chess. What this has to do with their music I don’t know, but I enjoyed it greatly.

Rich

Bet you’ve got a neat jukebox

A nice track off the Milky Disco 1.5 comp released end of last year.

Lurifax is an alias of Balearic champ Peter Visti. If you dont know peter, definitely check him out. Hes released great tracks on Eskimo amongst other labels.

I took the track away on holiday with me earlier in the year on the trusty Ipod. Whilst chilling on a sun lounger listening to the Milky Disco release it occurred to me how good it would be to add some samples.
In comes one of my favorite Sci Fi masterpieces of the 80’s. David Cronenberg’s The Fly.

The samples capture the optimism of our main characters at the start of the film but the driving eerie sounds of this track are a firm nod to whats about to go down…

Sit back and soak this one up, its a beauty!

Takin’ the space walk, space talk…

The delicate sound of psychedelic sexiness. We find ourselves in an Asha Puthli groove, doin’ the Space Talk and, why yes, doin’ the space walk too. Bass thumps and humps kicked out by a cosmic navigator, give us something to hang on to, while our minds twist and turn; eased through the disco-galaxy by the gentle thrust of Asha’s vocal. A pitch shift solo sends the warp core to melt down. “Help me SOS planet, I need, someone right now”. Time moves so slowly, and we wonder if our journey will ever end or ever begin again. Disappearing into the black hole and we are lost to the cosmos. The devil is loose. Where can we find these sounds from the past? And how can we return to hear them in the future?

October 2009 radio show on Deep Frequency

Hi pop pickers! You can catch the latest installment of One Hundred Below Radio here on Deep Frequency. If you like the show be sure to ‘click’ your approval on the website.

You can stream the show (you have to allow pop-ups from the DF site for this link to work) or download the podcast directly  from the archives section of the site. Alternatively sign up to the iTunes podcast for monthly tunes direct in yo earz.

Here’s the trax:

PART ONE:

1. Why – Carly Simon
2. Invisible College - Gatto Fritto
3. Bare Back – The Temptations
4. Slowtrack - Rayko
5. Venus – Roberto Rodriguez
6. Pitfield Girl – Phelps

PART TWO: James Alaska Mix

7. Rock on – David Essex – (James Alaska re-edit)
8. 2000 Light years From Home – The Rolling Stones
9. Jus’ Pilau – Akwaaba
10. Guiro Electro – Bobby Matos
11. Whispers – Aeroplane Feat kathy Diamond
12. Sweatshop (original mix) – Syrup
13. Prophecy (Danny Krivit edit) – Margie Joseph
14. Lovers’ Holiday (12″ version) – Change
15. Still Going theme – Still Going

PART THREE:

16. Harlem (Eamon Harkin Edit) – Bill Withers
17. Jealousy & Lies – Julian Jonah
18. Keep On Going – Fleetwood Mac
19. Spaghetti Circus – Still Going