Matias Aguayo - Minimal - Markus Rossknecht Remix

The minimal bubble seems to have burst. The days of atonal soulless records seem to be on the way out with a much needed and welcomed injection of cheek into the records played at the likes of the Panorama Bar, Watergate etc. That is not to say that every minimal record was rubbish but the amount of hours I spent wading through the bland in places like Phonica I'll never get back - but the same could be said for just about every genre in all fairness. Matias Aguayo is a welcome addition to the dance music cannon and he's been around for a while now but this track should surely appeal to everyone from the beards to trendy haircuts with its tongue in cheek refrain and deep chords that make this a late night surefire winner. For this track he enlists the help of his Broke bandmate, Markus Rossknecht, to add the necessary funk and with the two forming a burgeoning production partnership they most certainly are a pair of names to keep an ear out for. Absolute winner.

Matias Aguayo - Minimal - Markus Rossknecht Remix

Runaway - Brooklyn Club Jam

Here is an absolute party monster that I am sure that all of you that have been out anywhere decent over the past few weeks have heard booming out of speakers and getting the arms in the air. This is a proper 3am peaktime monster that really comes alive well beyond the witching hour when the dedicated come out to do their dancefloor gymnastics. Runaway burst onto the scene with their superb pair of edits on Wurst that were absolutely essential a year ago or so and this track should put them well and truly above the precipice. One of those records that makes you anxious for what they come up with next. An absolute monster of a record.

Runaway - Brooklyn Club Jam

Carl Craig - Undisputable

Today was the last Bears Upstairs radio show at the Beehive and seeing as it was my stomping ground every Thursday for over a year I thought I'd share one of my favourite records from when Paul and I did the KUMO radio show. This is an edit of The Undisputable Truth's Sandman, which is absolutely killer in its own right but what Carl Craig has done is stretch it out into an absolute dancefloor winner. This is a get out of jail record if ever I have heard one and a tune that makes me get misty eyed when I think of all those great nights having a laugh above Sankey's in cold Manchester with some of the warmest people known to mankind. I'm massively missing Manchester at the moment - great place, outstanding people.

Carl Craig - Undisputable

Jacques Renault - Sweet Rollin' On

1100 copies of this were pressed and it is already sold out and in this day and age that is absolutely incredible. New York's Rvng Intl. have been doing their own thing with aplomb for a couple of years now and they've never been one to follow trends - although it does seem that popularity has caught up with them somewhat - and everything from hand screen-printing the record sleeves to pressing their singles on the best quality wax makes them an absolute breath of fresh air in these troubled times. Jacques Renault - a member of the group Runaway who just released the absolutely monster track Brooklyn Club Jam - is fairly new to the scene and this EP should elevate him to a higher place amongst the disco cognoscenti and I'm not sure what the original source material for this is but it does go rather well with the Fela tune below. A great record from somoeone to keep your eye our for.

Jacques Renault - Sweet Rollin' On

Hercule - Little Green Man

Originally released in 1978 this Italo bomb has been known to change hands for upwards of $500 and thankfully a couple of kind souls have re-issued us saving some of us a small fortune and probably absolutely pissing off the collectors who paid the silly money. This is as quirky a disco record as you could ever find and play this after Bumblebee Unlimited Lady Bug and you'll have all the fans of the weird wonk absolutely eating out of your hands. Check that bassline for some proper heaviness. Ace tune.

Hercule - Little Green Man

Freda Payne - Unhooked Generation

Detroit's Freda Payne has been lighting up airwaves since 1963 with her polished voice that has had everyone from Quincy Jones to Duke Ellington clamoring to work with her. She's probably best known for her track Band of Gold that was written by the incredible production team of Holland/Dozier/Holland and was included in Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. This cut is absolutely incredible and has been a carnival favourite for years and was included on Norman Jay's Good Times Vol. 3 a few years ago and as a result I played it to death but it is more than due for a revival. What a voice!

Freda Payne - Unhooked Generation

The Mole - Ain't The Way It's Supposed To Be

The Mole makes chuggers, records that groove and lock in and take you all the way across the rhythm spectrum to a place that is half techno/half house/all damn good tune and this cut from his latest album As High As The Sky - which is a soaring album if ever I have heard one - is the very epitome of the genre-not-grenre. Warp your ears around this one.

The Mole - Ain't The Way It's Supposed To Be

I've been massively busy with my new job and haven't really had much time to do much of anything and until things calm down I'll be on hiatus for a while. Hopefully all back to madness within a week or two.

Welcome Back SWP

After a few years wasting away playing for Chelski, SWP has returned home and scored two goals in the shirt he was born to wear.

1 Chelsea 3 5 7
2 Liverpool 3 2 7
3 Man City 3 4 6
4 Arsenal 3 3 6
5 West Ham 3 1 6
6 Middlesbrough 3 1 6
7 Aston Villa 3 1 4
8 Bolton 3 1 4
9 Man Utd 2 1 4
10 Blackburn 3 -2 4
11 Newcastle 3 -2 4
12 Hull 3 -4 4
13 Wigan 3 3 3
14 Fulham 2 0 3
15 Stoke 3 -2 3
16 Portsmouth 3 -2 3
17 Everton 3 -3 3
18 Sunderland 3 -3 3
19 Tottenham 3 -2 1
20 West Brom 3 -2 1

September sees us playing Chelski next at Eastlands, then Omonia Nicosa away in the UEFA Cup, then Pompey at Eastlands, Brighton away in the Carling Cup and Wigan at the JJB. Could be a very good month indeed.

The Dirtbombs - Kung Fu

I was listening to a Seth Troxler set from Killer Robot in Cape Town that was posted on E-vent recently and his second last track was this beauty from the Motor City's The Dirtbombs who are fronted by Mick Collins of The Gories infamy. This track, which is a cover of a Curtis Mayfield cut of the same name, was initially released on their 2001 album Ultraglide in Black and more recently dance music deity Kenny Dixon Jr. released it on his Mahogani imprint and pretty much everyone from house DJs to balearic DJs were playing its off-kilter yet brilliantly simple groove all over the shop. This is just the sort of thing I like to play when I DJ out (granted that hasn't happened in a while) because it is utterly unique and bit of a curve ball for the dancers to deal with. Superb stuff from a great band.

The Dirtbombs - Kung Fu

The Chap - Ethnic Instrument - Joakim remix

North London's The Chap have been making post-punk dance music since 2001's Fun EP which has had them traversing their own path through music that is akin to the likes of LCD Soundsystem, They Came From The Stars (I Saw Them) but they haven't managed to quite reach the sort of pubic reaction that those bands have managed to. Cue the input of the truly brilliant Joakim who has sliced, tweaked and diced their new single expertly and turned it into a balearic gem that has a bit of balls to it. It's brash, it's loud and it's fucking brilliant. Buy it now.

The Chap - Ethnic Instrument - Joakim remix

SK8OLOGY

SK8OLOGY is an exhibition that combines skateboard counter culture with the world of fine art with 150 artists from various backgrounds who have all lent their craft on the decks, which are being auctioned off to support Now That You Know, which is a non-profit organization that helps to provide ambitious girls from developing countries a secure environment for learning and growth. You can start bidding on these decks, of which I have chosen my favourites below. I particularly like the Jon Chase deck, which is beautifully executed.

Tocayo


Seth Haak


Munk One


Mark Cruz


Keith Renner


Jon Chase


Haubs


Bryan Sheffield

Mark 4ostia - Disco Music Fantastic Music - Rodion Remix

Here is a fun party record and then some! Rodion has been traversing his own unique course through cosmic waters for a while now and his remix of Box Codax in particular got me excited about his work with its great breakdown and driving bassline. This record has that bouncy drum synth line that will get people bouncing off the roof. It may not be the most original thing that you'll ever hear but it is definitely the sort of record that people in the death of the night will remember with smiles and whoops and hollers. Great Saturday night dance music.

Mark 4ostia - Disco Music Fantastic Music - Rodion Remix

Kode9 & The Spaceape - Konfusion

The more I've been exploring the whole dubstep scene the more I've come to realize that it is impossible to stick it into a box as the scene is characterized by an almost playful disregard for the rules. I find tracks like this one to be raw unadulterated party music and if I was 18 years old dubstep would be like the second coming. The music is raw and I particularly like the conscious lyrics on this one. Is dubstep going to take over the world? I'm not sure but I can assure you that if the quality of output is as good as this then it'll be an exciting couple of years as the genre continues to develop.

Kode9 & The Spaceape - Konfusion

Andres - Salvador de Bahia part 1

This KDJ executive produced bomb came out in 2003 and to my ears is as balearic as it gets really. My theory on what is and isn't balearic is a simple one, if it sounds as good in the sun as it does in the dead of night and makes you want to get some sand between your toes then it is balearic. Now that probably includes every record ever made but who gives a shit really, it is all subjective when dealing with the white isle. This is one of those records that is all about the rolling bassline that permeates through the whole track accentuating every element. It is as perfect as it is simple and is an often overlooked Detroit classic. Oh and if you ever get the chance to go and see Andres DJ then do so, the man is a demon on the ones and twos.

Andres - Salvador de Bahia part 1

The Aloof - Never Get Out The Boat - The Gosh Mix

Here is a beauty that came out at the turn of the 90s and was a record that I played well into the turn of the century at which point it was put on the bottom shelf and we all know what happens then. I might even resurrect this one as it has to my ears stood the test of time and deserves a further play or two. The vocal sample comes from one of my favourite movies the epic Apocalypse Now as uttered by Captain Benjamin L. Willard played incredibly well by Martin Sheen. I had forgotten all about this record and it is something that I would've loved to have played on the radio in England just to see what the reaction would've been. For us in Cape Town this was as underground a record as it gets but I get the feeling that all and sundry in England would've known about this one, which kind of proves my point that every man and his dog older than 30 in blighty has large chunks of the 90s missing from their memories and to that I doff my cap.

The Aloof - Never Get Out The Boat - The Gosh Mix

Soul II Soul - Back To Life - Burnin' Bass Club Mix

I moved this week, which was/is a time consuming wretched affair but the one perk of moving beyond living in a bigger place is that I get to shuffle the record collection around a bit and this was one of the tracks that was on the bottom shelf of my Expedit where, lets face it, good records go to die. I remember playing this one to death and judging by the state of the record sleeve it has more than earned its keep. Written by erstwhile Madonna producer Nelly Hooper and the legendary Jazzie B this cut like a knife through Cape Town clubland and I'm sure that any of you that were getting right on it during the early 90s will remember this track raising the roof at places like Bar-Do-Me and the Power Station where a lot of us too young to get in would dance outside in the street, halcyon days indeed. I remember that the fairer sex used to love this and when they were happy we were happy. One of the first rules of being a DJ is that if the girls are on the floor the boys will follow, even the most hardcore of heterosexual trainspotters can't resist a bit of shake-shake. Listening to this track again after all these years nearly brought a tear to the eye...nearly.

Soul II Soul - Back To Life - Burnin' Bass Club Mix

The Souljazz Orchestra - Mista President

It is fairly common knowledge that I am obsessed with all things Afrobeat and The Souljazz Orchestra are a welcome addition to the cannon. Hailing from the night lights of Canada they've been reinterpreting the legacy left by the West Africans with a sound that is equal parts Fela, equal parts Mulatu and just enough James Brown to get the bodies sweating with their own and unique groove that has enamored listeners and dancers from Ottawa to Osaka. It comes as no surprise that they are a multi-cultural collective who have brought their various upbringings and influences and stirred it in the melting pot that is quality afro music for the 21st century. This track was chosen as one of Gilles Peterson's top 10 tracks for 2006 and if you don't own the album Freedom Don't Go Die then purchase it immediately, each and every track is dripping with all the intensity and groove that your record collection demands. They're just about to release a new album called Manifesto and this may be a bit tired to say but if it is half as good as their previous effort then our ears and feet are in for a treat. Soul-stirring stuff.

The Souljazz Orchestra - Mista President

Here they are performing People, People...

David Holmes - I Heard Wonders - Andrew Weatherall Vocal Mix

Belfast-native David Holmes has been rattling dancefloors since the age of 15 and was responsible for promoting seminal nights such as Shake Yer Brain and Sugar Sweet after which Orbital wrote one of the greatest records of all-time Belfast after playing there. David has since gone on to release records such as The Film's Crap Let's Slash The Seats and Let's Get Killed, which featured the superb My Mate Paul. For a number of years now he's been out here in La-La Land doing film score work for the likes of Steven Soderbergh but he hasn't forgotten his roots and his latest album The Holy Pictures is a return to form for our hero and this track I Heard Wonders is culled from it but it isn't the original that I am providing but rather the incredible Andrew Weatherall vocal mix that sounds in places like Pulp on even more Amyl Nitrate in the best possible way. I can see everyone from the skinny jeans set to the beer belly beardy types falling for its lucid charms.

David Holmes - I Heard Wonders - Andrew Weatherall Vocal Mix

As a side-note, Andrew Weatherall is in superb form at the moment check his brilliant remix of VV Blood's Crying Blood for further proof.

Enzo Avitabile - Black Out - Club Mix

Big favourite with DJ Alfredo in Ibiza back in the halcyon days of peace, love and respect out on the white isle before it all went south. I normally only post records that I own but I'm going to make an exception for this one as it is too good not to include on here although I have just bought a copy off some guy in Greece. God bless the internet.

Jamie Woon - Wayfaring Stranger - Burial remix

Burial has managed to remain incognito since he came charging onto the scene with his South London Boroughs EP that came out on Hyperdub back in 2005 but he's recently been outed in a national UK publication recently in light of his Mercury Prize Nomination as William Bevan and not Aphex Twin and certainly not Norman fucking Cook as was alleged a couple of months ago. His reasons for keeping under wraps are refreshingly that he just wants to make music and not be too bothered by the trappings that come with fame, which he most certainly has since publications like NME have declared him their favourite new band, the bandwagon jumpers. This remix of Jamie Woon may err a bit too close to the MJ Cole two-step side of things but the atmospherics and mood of the piece elevate it far beyond anything that the two-step/garage scene ever managed to release during their heyday. Just like everything else that Burial has released this is absolutely brilliant and one that is not to be missed. If you like this sort of thing check label-mate Kode9's work and especially his incredible remix of James Yorkston's Woozy With Cider.

Jamie Woon - Wayfaring Stranger - Burial remix