Hoya:Hoya

Ryan and Jonny have decided to tread the murky waters of blogging by focusing on their genre-bending night Hoya:Hoya. This blog has loads of potential, as does the night, because the sheer musical knowledge and enthusiasm of the pair is second to none and I, for one, will be checking the blog daily. You can bookmark the site by visiting them here.

As an added bonus I've decided to repost Ryan's excellent Hoya:Hoya Vol. 1 mix for all of you to enjoy. As you can tell from the tracklisting Ryan charts all waters from soul to dubstep to afrobeat gluing the mix together in only a way a selector as talented as he could do. Download the mix from here. I've played it over a hundred times according to my iTunes counter and I still get gooseflesh when he mixes out of the Mala into the Tunde Williams.

Ryan Hunn presents Hoya:Hoya- Volume 1

1. Stan Lelowski- The Moon (Poljazz)
2. Joe Bataan- I Wish You Love (Part 2) (Fania)
3. Doug Hammond- Wake Up Brothers (Tribe)
4. King Tubby, Scientist, Prince Jammy and The Aggrovators- Harder Dub (Fatman)
5. Lloyd Coxsone- East Of The Rockfort Rock (Tribes Man)
6. King Tubby- Puppy Dub (Fatman)
7. 2562- Kameleon (Tectonic)
8. Skream!- 2-D (Tempa)
9. Mundo- Big Up (Dub Assembly)
10. Mr Scruff- Chipmunk (Ninja Tune)
11. Mala- Left Leg Out (DMZ)
12. Tunde Williams & The Afrika 70- Mr Big Mouth (Afrodesia)
13. Le Simandou De Beyla- Festival (Syliphone)
14. Dego & Kaidi Tatham- Got Me Puzzled (2000Black)
15. Daedelus- Sawtooth EKG (Ryan Hunn Edit) (Mush)
16. Scienz Culture- Ginsu (Son of Scientist Mix) (Sunshine)
17. James T. Cotton & Rodger Devine- ARAK (CD-R)
18. Luther Davis Group- You Can Be A Star (Soul Cal)
19. The Players Association- I Like It (Vanguard)

Feist - I Feel It All - Escort remix

We've all had Feist's album shoved down our throats every time we've stepped foot in a shop as there seems to be some unwritten law that her album has to be played all the time! When I first heard the album I thought it was great but I've gone off it a bit in recent weeks due to overexposure but this popped up in my inbox today and my first reaction was to have a little groan but after listening to the loose drum work, the handclaps and the great afro-inspired horns I was smitten. New York's Escort have been releasing disco for a while now and having a full band can't have made touring easy but they've stuck with it and with cuts like Karawane, A Bright New Life, Starlight and their version of Tracey Thorne's It's All True have made them favourites on both sides of the Atlantic. No samplers, no gimmicks, just a tight band playing disco licks...hallelujah!

Feist - I Feel It All - Escort remix

Swag remix competition

Swag have uploaded the parts to their tragically overlooked wonky disco outing Musicbox and want people to remix it for a possible future release. I'm going to have a go and you can download the parts from here. When you're done e-mail the results to djhistory[at]gmail.com.

We bowled England out for 203. Who said our attack is toothless?

Truth & Beauty

If this blog grinds to a halt for the next few days it is because I have decided to ruin my sleeping pattern by waking up at 3am to watch South Africa play England in the test match at Headingly. Being a cricket fan in the US is a lonely existence as proven last night after our rounders game when I was trying to explain the game to a few of the locals, I pretty much gave up when they said that baseball players play more shots that cricketers do.

England are 70-3 at the moment and they have their last two recognized batsmen at the crease...BOKKE!!!

Deodato - Skyscrapers

Eumir Deodato is a Brazilian Grammy award winning producer who has worked with everyone from Johnny Tropea to, erm, K.D. Lang, and to whom he has lent his undeniable musical charm and wonderful ear for melody and arrangement that have earned him plaudits the world over. His albums are absolute masterpieces that are best enjoyed with a nice bottle of red surrounded by nature. Having said that his records can be absolute dynamite on the dancefloor as well and this track, Skyscrapers, is the tune that I drop when I try to get a sense of who the steppers in the house are. I even played this at DRY201 in Manchester once and was immediately asked to stop playing the 'jazzy shite' which I took as a very good sign that it was going to be a good night ahead as they all were in that pit on Oldham Road. This track is by no means Deodato's finest but it is one that has seen a lot of deck time around here and one that is best enjoyed very, very loud.

Deodato - Skyscrapers

Plaid - Ralome

Ralome is off of Plaid's standout electronica albumRest Proof Clockwork that totally blew my mind when it was unleashed in 1999. Plaid initially were a side project for Black Dog Productions but obviously as WARP took on the project and once everyone was drawn to tracks like Ralome and Rakimou the little brother soon became the main man. This track is as balearic as anything I have ever heard, if you're a fan of Tortoise, Voice of The Seven Woods, Broadcast and the like then you'll love this superb slice of sunshine electronica. Charles Webster recently included it on his compilation for 'Defecated' and it is just the sort of record that I'd given the chance play early doors on at 'Nado or at my new night Shaved Guevara (more on that later) but my only complaint is the frankly awful Kid Acne artwork that dated the moment it went to the printers. Dive in, the water is great.

Plaid - Ralome

John Ozila - Funky Boogie

Here is a real record collectors' gem, one of those records that defines the afro sound favoured by Beppe Loda and pals at Typhoon in Italy during the late 70s. I don't know a thing about John Ozila, and believe me I've been searching for information for a good hour now, but what I do know is that this record that I found in a dollar bin is actually worth in excess of $100 and gets everyone from Laurent Garnier to Gerd's knickers in a twist as it is one of those records that will make a dancefloor explode. If all of the new disco/cosmic producers would take a leaf out of John Ozila's book then we may not be wallowing in the sub-prog bollocks that seems to be littering the scene at the moment of which I see Aeroplane as the biggest culprits with their bog standard cosmic fodder that doesn't sound a mile away from records favoured by Sasha et al at the tail-end of the 90s. Funky Boogie could've been released last week and it would've started a revolution, somebody reissue it please because if people are going to ape a sound then make it John Ozila's for the love of good records.

John Ozila - Funky Boogie

Shout Out Louds - Impossible - Possible Version by Studio

South Out Louds are a Swedish Band who are one of a litany of bands from the shoegaze scene who seem to be making music that is catching my ears at the moment - I blame the wife. For this track they've employed everyone's favourite Scandinavian maestros to rejig their new single Impossible and to my ears they've made it sound like the best track that The Cure never wrote. It's all here, great production, swooning melancholy lyrics and the most balearic guitar work this side of Sant Francesc. A record for a sunrise if ever I have heard one - superb stuff.

Shout Out Louds - Impossible - Possible Version by Studio

Some records I'm digging...

It's been a trying week waking up at 3am to watch the test side grind out a draw against the Poms at the home of cricket and I'm spent, so I'm just going to link the videos to these records that I seem to be playing constantly at the moment. I'll stick the mp3s up later in the week once I've gotten some sleep. All of these records are easy to pick up and cheap as chips.



Hot R.S. - Slow Blow



Silver Convention - Fly Robin Fly

(I'm posting this one mostly because the lead singer is easy on the eye, track isn't bad and is a cheapie - don't pay more than $2 for it)



Sheila & B. Devotion - Spacer



Barry White - Its Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next To Me



Gilberto Gil - Toda Menina Baiana

Photek feat. Robert Owens - Mine To Give

Probably the coolest man named Rupert alive, Photek has been at the forefront of dance music production since the halcyon days of drum 'n bass in the mid-90s when every production he put out was lapped up by enthusiasts the world over. His educated ear has helped everyone from Roni Size to the producers of the feature film Dreamland realize their musical vision for their projects and in addition to this Rupert had the balls to make a house album at a time when drum 'n bass was engulfed with a rent-an-amen-break tracks that made the scene so dull for a while. This cut featuring the voice of house music, Robert Owens, is off Solaris that proved what an incredible talent Photek is. It is a record that oozes quality, soul and progresses perfectly through the groove aided by Robert's superb delivery. Truly one of the great house records of all time. Let your ears drink it up.

Photek feat. Robert Owens - Mine To Give

Panthers - Goblin City (Holy Ghost! Extended disco dub)

Who are the Panthers? Well I don't have a clue as their website unbelievably doesn't have a bio on it, which is a rookie error if ever there was one, so all I have is the track to go by and that isn't a bad thing in all truth. New York's Holy Ghost! take the track to that 3am late-night vibe that'll make dancefloors erupt, especially with it's repetitive vocal refrain that will have the arms in the air and the hips shaking. This is one of those records that makes perfect sense in a loud nightclub on a thumping system and seeing as it was released the other day it should be doing that this weekend at various clubs the world over. Great tune.

Panthers - Goblin City (Holy Ghost! Extended disco dub)

Errors - Salut! France!

This is the sort of record that I would generally sneak into the first hour of my radioshow when I would usually play records that were a little more left of the disco/house blueprint and this was easily one of the cuts that I loved to play. It was released on Rock Action Records home to bands like noise terrorists Mogwai and I'm not even sure how I found out about them, possibly my wife had something to do with it seeing as she is a fairly avid seeker of indie records - I'm sure she'll confirm later. Errors are a Glaswegian band whose atmospheric leftfield sound has been compared to the likes of Mogwai but they definitely have their own sound, one that traverses a glitchy, loop-driven groove that utilizes melody in an extremely fresh way. They also get extra points for calling their album How Clean Is Your Acid House?

Errors - Salut! France!

Manchester Family Tree

Ace find by Jeffo, I was lucky enough to live in the city and meet a fair amount of these characters. Amazing city, brilliant people. (Click on the picture for a larger picture)

Cole Medina - Love You Inside Out (The Pinches mix)

Here is an absolute treat for those of you proud members of the sub-100bpm club. Los Angeles' Cole Medina has take a pair of scissors to the Bee Gees' Love You Inside Out and done nothing more than elongate the intro turning into into a slo-mo slow-burner that should find favour with the BBQ set on these warm balmy summer days. This is one of those records that you can leave on loop for half an hour or so and be perfectly happy as it sunkissed groove inevitably makes your day shine. Superb stuff and one that should appeal to everyone from the soul set to the discoid dumpers.

Cole Medina - Love You Inside Out (The Pinches mix) (Removed)

Black Renaissance - Black Renaissance

Harry Whitaker is a piano player, producer and arranger who on Martin Luther King day in 1976, at the age of 26, recorded Black Renaissance Body, Mind, and Spirit, a holy grail amongst collectors of soul-jazz and rare groove. So rare, it's virtually a myth to many collectors and music aficionados, and one that a few people I know have spent a fair amount of money on including myself. It is one of those records that isn't only aided in the legendary status by its rarity but also by the supreme musicianship on offer by all the players. To add to that the album was basically bootlegged by a Japanese label called Baystate, who never bothered to inform Whitaker as to its release. When Baystate folded, copies virtually vanished, leaving Whitaker with no distribution, no money, and no way to hear the actual LP. To make matters worse, the master tapes of the recording were destroyed in a fire. Thankfully Ubiquity Records somehow managed to acquire the rights to the album and re-released it a few years ago much to the chagrin of those of us who had dropped $350+ on a copy. This is a record that is compulsory for any record collection - superb stuff.

Black Renaissance - Black Renaissance

Nalin & Kane - Beachball

I was listening to an old mix from the mid-90s that a friend of mine and I did, and this tune immediately jumped out and I couldn't decide if sentiment was making me all excited about it or if it really is a decent tune. I'm in two minds truth be told but back in the 90s when this tune reared its head and was appropriated by lotions as their anthem of choice it was a barnstormer that was played by everyone from Sasha to Danny Rampling and followed me around for a few months at seemingly every party that I went to over that time. I'm sure the vast majority of you groaned when you saw it on here but for those of us who lapped up just about everything that was thrown at us in the mid-90s from Goldie to this, it was an absolute anthem but ultimately we all got sick of it but it still puts a smile on my face. This one is for you, Graham.

Nalin & Kane - Beachball

Razzy - I Hate Hate

Razzy Bailey is a purveyor of blue-eyed country and soul and this cut taken off the album also titled I Hate Hate is probably his best work, well to these ears at least. There is something incredibly beautiful about the lyrics and the organ melody all delivered with aplomb by our hero who it seems had a lot of trouble in the music industry constantly dropping out of it whenever record sales went bad. He did have remarkable success in the late 70s and early 80s where he had thirteen number one tracks, none of which I have ever heard of. I'm quite happy having this as the only Razzy track in my collection and to be honest it doesn't get any better than this.

Razzy - I Hate Hate

Death Star Cafeteria

Hilarious.

Flying Lotus feat. Dolly - RobertaFlack

This track exemplifies all that is fresh in the world of music at the moment to me. There is something beautiful about the way how Flying Lotus has added Dolly's exquisite vocals to a fairly bleek beat landscape and his ability to make an almost transluscent synergy of the two is the stuff of genius. This is off his new album Los Angeles and for anyone who even has a passing interest in the beat world then this is a great entry point. Gilles Peterson's recent show has an indepth and strong look at the scene and you can download the show from here - heavy cut after heavy cut. Superb stuff.

Flying Lotus feat. Dolly - RobertaFlack

Pepe California - Sunshine

I know very little about Pepe California beyond this track that featured on his mini album Yes I Do, which you can buy from here. I haven't really been able to find anything in English on him but he seems to be Japanese and obviously a lover of psychedelia and balearic goodness which is reinforced by this track that is beautiful from start to finish. I would love a copy of this on 12" but so far I haven't had any luck but I've enlisted help from friends of mine in Tokyo, so hopefully one will turn up sooner rather than later. If anyone knows anything about our hero get in touch. A record for the bears, I think.

Pepe California - Sunshine