Cap Free, Customer Appreciation

For those of you who think CZ is far too crazy, sketchy, and keeps some pretty odd hours,  I give you: The After-After-Hours.  Just when you thought shit couldn't get any crazier.  Leave it to my band of merry men to uncover another hole in the wall just a stones throw away.  So obviously we went, I mean it is the Holidays after all.

The place was pretty clean, brand new, with a no ball caps policy that i am NOT a big fan of.  But in spite of the abrasive security, and whack policies.... the music was pretty damn sweet.  So sweet that we literally shazammed every single song for an hour.  Good thing we were there to populate the dancefloor too. No, no...you're welcome.  All this on Comfort Zone "customer appreciation night"- No cover and free CZ swag to every customer. now THATS customer service!


Dr. Dru - The Voice Of Dru (Original Mix)

David Keno, Nico Stojan - Princess Of The Night (Original Mix)

Funky Fat & Digitaria - You Bring Me Down (Original Mix)

Wham! Bam! thank you Santa.

before I get all snuggled into bed to wait for Santa... I just remembered I had meant to post this song at some point over the Holidays.  I can think of no better time than now!  Proving even Christmas songs can get a little funky sometimes.

Merry Christmas everyone! Wherever you're hearing this I hope its a Happy Holiday.

Wham! - Last Christmas (Matthew Kyle Edit)

whats Nu is New again

I know Nu-Disco was a very 2011-12 thing but in my books Disco never died, so why should this Nu variety?  I've only just recently heard this pretty awesome new album from DJ Dan.  Somehow I've managed to have never seen him live, yet... go figure.  Well a few weeks ago I heard this one drop and I am not ashamed to admit I was twirling up a storm.  And since there are few things as gay as Christmas....lets celebrate the Holigays with a little soulful disco vocal. YES!

DJ Dan - Out Of Nowhere (Original Mix)

and in keeping with the vocals and harmonies: Maceo Plex.  This man cannot do anything wrong it seems.  When you find someone who produces so many different styles of FANTASTIC  music.. latch on. Latch on and don't ever let go.  If I'm not mistaken Elum Audio is his own imprint, and a collaboration with a few others... pretty dope stuff.  I wonder is Jon is related to Rui?

Maceo Plex & Jon DaSilva -Love Somebody Else feat. Joi Cardwell (Original Mix)

'tis the season

This past year has flown by so damn fast.  It seems like only yesterday I was getting ready for my knee surgery.   This past weekend was the now annual tradition at CZ of "Just Like The Old Days".  A day once a year when they bring back some of the regular DJs from years ago which also brings out lots of the old crew of patrons too.  I wasn't a regular by any stretch back then, but getting to hear Paranoid Jack and El Duran play with Deko-ze & Addy was a pretty fantastic treat.  An astoundingly appreciative and fun crowd, with loads of classic tunes.  Sounds a bit like nostalgia overload but it isn't.  Anyhoo, its a busy time of year for everyone, so take a minute and enjoy some tunes. Heres a lil sample of the tunes from the classics weekend, but don't worry.. Deko-ze's set will likely be posted on SoundCloud so when it is I'll put a link up here too in case you don't follow him... which you should.

Tom Novy feat. Lima - Take It(Dani Koenig Remix)

Roots and Wings - Come Over To My Place

And this little nugget that I've been listening to a lot lately.  I don't know about y'all but when I was a kid my mom had these old disco records called "STARS ON 45" and it was basically a Bad Boy Bill style disco mashup with every pop song from that year blended into one fabulous record.  Right up there with Kenny & Dolly's Chirstmas record as one of my favourite of my mom's. This reminds me of that... in name only.

Kris Menace pres. Stars on 33 - LUV (Original Mix)

Francis Harris has the blues

He was part of the last post, and has made several appearances under various guises, Adultnapper, Lightbluemover, and now under his own name: Francis Harris.  His first LP under his given name and to say it's stunning is both a disservice and a huge understatement.  On top of being lauded as one of the best albums of 2011 by several media sources, Leland  has also(so far) spawned 3 remix EPs.  The live instrumentation, and fairly melancholic tone to the whole album is so haunting that its bound to get you thinking.  Personally, I love stuff like this; Its dark, its deep, its emotional.. and even sexy in parts.  The vocals on Lostfound are like something I don't think I have ever heard.  I found it difficult to settle on two favourites, but trust me.. you're going to want the whole album.  Put it on while you're reading before bed, or maybe even if you're doing something else in bed!  And when you realize the scope of the work this guy produces.. I'm going to go as far as to put him in Nicholas Jaar territory. Big praise from me. He has an ear and a feel for so much.

Francis Harris - Pensum (vinyl edit)

Francis Harris - Lostfound

Children Of The Dark

On a day such as this... Gay Christmas some call it, Halloween to others, I wanted to put up something spooky but I just can't stop listening to this damn song by SSION.  An artsy-indie-dance band from the bastion of all things queer & arty... Kansas City? Well music has no borders I say.  Its a little bit Culture Club, its a little bit Scissor Sisters and yes, even a little bit Pet Shop Boys.  Sound campy and fun? IT IS. And for even more fun I highly suggest watching the video right here.  Its a bit out there, but like a good car-wreck you just can't stop watching... and I guess the title sounds a bit Halloweenie..

SSION - My Love Grows In The Dark

I've posted another track by Lightbluemover before.  But what I didn't realize until today, was that Lightlbuemover and Adultnapper are the same person. And in keeping with the season... this one passes the Halloween test. Its got weird creepy vocals and everything!  And just in case it needed to be cooler its featuring Black Light Smoke(also featured here before) and its on Toronto's own My Favourite Robot Records. Any more boxes I could check??

Lightbluemover - Children Of A Lesser Dog feat. Black Light Smoke

Domo Arigato, Nathan Barato

Due to a variety of factors, several of my favourite local Toronto DJs were no longer playing at my favourite Toronto club.  Luckily it appears thats done with, as Mr. Nathan Barato played at CZ a little while ago! Not the 2 hours he was scheduled for, but 4.5 hours. It was almost frustrating because I said I would leave when he was done and the bugger just kept droppin' bombs!  #dancefloorproblems.

So here are a couple of the beauties he played for a very appreciative, if small, CZ crowd.

Starting with this Julio Bashmore remix of Bobby Womack... A friend of mine over in Amsterdam has opened my eyes to several other wonders by Bashmore and I highly suggest you get on that train.

Bobby Womack - Love Is Gonna Lift You Up (Julio Bashmore Remix)

and this funky funky tune.  Just wait for those rather surprising drops of a nice synthy bass. fun!

Mark Henning - You're Digging Into Me (Original Mix)

Lastly, I had heard this name before.  As Ive mentioned before my friend Josh and I have a little musical exchange going.. well my end is basically this blog now, but he still keeps one of my favourite traditions alive... the mixed tape!Or flash drive, or cd, or dropbox folder...

Ben Pearce - What I Might Do (Club Edit)

All I wanna do is love ya

It seems like good things come in bunches lately.  Sometimes I go weeks without hearing anything I'm all that interested in and then this week I can't swing a cat without hittin a NiCE(7) tune! the improper capitalization and numbering will make sense shortly.   I've also just booked my birthday weekend in Montreal with about 10 friends. Hold onto your chapeau's Montreal.... it's actually 3 birthdays so that means 3 times the fun and shenanigans... but not til February.

Also arriving in bunches, dance tracks with old soul samples. One from Curtis Mayfield and one from marvin Gaye arrived in the iTunes today..  Heres the Curtis Mayfield one.  If it sounds familiar it should.  The same sample is from Bran Van 3000's discotastic single  "Astounded" from about 12 years ago.

Tube & Berger, Milan Euringer - Lovebreak (Original Mix)

and for those moments you feel like something a little more piquanté...

NiCE7, Bruni & Daniel - Party People (Original Mix) 

You got me howling

You can talk to me 'til you're blue in the face about pretty near anything.  Chances are pretty good that I won't remember it.  I don't mean it as an insult, that what you are saying isn't valid or important.. just.. I don't remember things. From people I get introduced to at clubs who I meet the next weekend and have no idea who they are, to events that happen in my house that I get reminded about and still don't remember.  It is obviously sometimes a problem.  I do, however, have a fucking great memory for somethings.  And its been this way since I was a little kid.  I will not forget a sports statistic, a weird lyric to a song or who did that remix to that song.   So I guess thats something. Right?

So I heard this song this weekend.  And I couldn't place who originally sang the words I was hearing, but I was pretty sure he was black, and it was from the late 60's-70's.. I threw a few names out but couldn't place it. As it turns out...I wasn't far off, it was Al Green.

Claptone - Good To You (Original Mix)

I seem to get something new and fall in love with it immediately and listen to it to death for a few days until I discover something newer and shinier.  Currently the shiniest thing on my iTunes is this bumpin' little bit of sound from Adam Marshall. I heard it in a mix on soundcloud first, then the only thing shazam would tell me was that it was on the Cocoon Heroes dbl. album compilation by Joris Voorn and Cassy.  It took a few days but I was finally able to track the sucker down.  ANNND the label that released it is called New Kanada. Neato.

Adam Marshall - Thelon

And the other one is pretty awesome too in a very different way... Its sexy and kinda wounded sounding. Emotional. I love it.  Its the first solo project by Frank Wiedemann of Ame, so you know its going to be pretty solid.

Ry Cuming & Frank Wiedemann - Howling (Ame Remix)

fluff that stuff

Ive really noticed lately when scrolling through my iTunes, or listening to something from the 90s...dance music has changed. A LOT.  Its not a bad thing or a good thing in my opinion... just a thing. Like everything else it has to change or it either dies or gets boring.  I've heard a few things lately that really made me miss that nice steady house beat from back-in-tha-day.  Sure some of it is a little airy-fairy some of it you might find boring. but hot damn! if there aren't some absolute beauties.  So with this being Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada.. today I would like to give some thanks for the people that worked their asses off 10-20 years ago and didnt make piles of cash like some folks do now.. to make awesome tunes and keep a scene going so we could get to this point.  Obviously I have a lot of other stuff to be VERY thankful for.. but for now.. that'll do.

G-Pal - Life

Rainbow of a weekend.

That was one hell of a weekend. Yes its Tuesday, but I think I can now wrap my head around some of the stuff I saw... and more importantly heard.  I'm used to seeing some pretty nasty pieces of work at clubs.  I'm sure its the same everywhere. People that don't know how to have fun responsibly or with a little bit of dignity.... and well, this was one of the more colourful weekends I think I've ever seen. All the colours of the rainbow were there (and then some). Brown for the unconscious fella at one club that poo'd his pants, Yellow for the guy at another who pee'd his pants, Red for the guy who passed out and smashed his face open on a metal table, Purple for the idiot with no shoes on with open sores on his feet. Honestly, I don't think I've ever seen so many disasters in one 2 day span. Luckily, I had a great time with great friends and heard some great music.  So heres some of them.

Him Self Her - Gone Too Long (Original Mix)

Roisin Murphy - Simulation (Mano Le Tough Remix)

Eric Sneo & Chris The Voice - Shut Up & Dance (Original Mix)

Uniforms For The Dedicated

I've never had vertigo that I can recall.  But feeling like this hangover may just be the onset....  Spin(s)-Spin(s)-Sugar.  Anyhoo, seeing as I totally flaked out on a BBQ I was supposed to attend and leaving the house is looking unlikely I'll upload some new moonbooties.

I think I'm well past due for a trip to Scandinavia.  The amazing music, fashion, and general style that comes out of that little part of the Globe has been pretty inspirational for as long as I can remember.  Add this to the long list of cool shit;  An arts and media co-op called Uniforms For The Dedicated comin atcha straight outta Stockholm. "Uniforms for the Dedicated was founded in 2007 as a collective of artists, musicians, film makers and designers – a playground of creative talent that today provides influence and inspiration to our clothing line as well as stand alone projects under the Uniforms for the Dedicated creative umbrella." So basically get all the hip, talented, like-minded folks together and make awesome stuff. Clothing, furniture, music, salad.  Ya why not salad?  I think its time to get me a little collective going. I know some pretty damn awesome people, too ya know!  But for reals check out their website I linked to up there, its pretty cool.  The only complaint I have is that the sound quality of the actual recording seems a bit low... which doesn't really add up.  But there you go. its a nice song anyway :)

Uniforms For The Dedicated feat. Maria Nordstrom - March Of No Coincidence (Deniz Kurtel Remix)

Remember Nina Kraviz? The Russian party-bomb that isn't a part of pussy riot but rather a party making machine? I do. She's been on the blog before and here she is again with a pretty trippy/dark tune, seems to kind of be her specialty.

Nina Kraviz - Ghetto Kraviz (Amine Edge Edit)

praise!

I just have to do another post.  When a new song comes along from Candi Staton I have to think its worthy of a second post....lets not even mention that its remixed by Larse of Noir Music. Lets also not mention that its about as pretty as a song could be.  Oh... and one more thing.  The things the interweb can lead you to uncover is really quite magical: Candi Staton, up there in my top 5 vocalists ever is married to none other than former Toronto Blue Jay, former Montreal Expo, former Atlanta Brave, former.. ok so the guy played for a lot of teams... but he was the shit as far as defensive-speedy infielders go... Mr. Otis Nixon!

How d'ya like them apples? ha.

Candi Staton - Hallelujah Anyway (Larse Vocal Mix)

its just that music in your phone

I can't listen to reggae style beats if its hot out. I've never been to "the islands" but something about that music just makes me really uncomfortable when the sun is shining.  But that exact same music on a rainy day... when its dark and overcast, or shit... it could even be snowing... and well its a totally different kettle(drum) of fish. 

A musician friend of mine living in Amsterdam mentioned a new collaboration between The Orb and Lee "Scratch" Perry and I was obviously pretty curious as its not exactly the first dance partner I would've picked for either of them but now that I've heard it... wow.  The whole album is pretty astounding.. and it just so happens that I'm making my way through it on a particularly dreary day.  Perfect. 

A day I might add, that began with Nicolas Jaar's Essential Mix (without the BBC babble).  I've been seeing it on soundcloud for a little while but I kept skipping past it. I don't know why, as you would think Nicolas Jaar + Essential Mix = Aurgasm.  And you'd be totally correct.  More a masterpiece of thoughtful music than a floorfiller DJ set. But Nicolas Jaar is just that. A Master. The opening bit of dialogue from the man who scored Twin Peaks is so haunting I'm getting chills just typing about it.. I'm also a total geek for cinematic scores so that could explain that.

Ok anyway.. I got a little bit lost there. Here are my fave 2 tracks off the new album The Orbserver In The Star House by The Orb feat. Lee "Scratch" Perry.

The Orb feat. Lee " Scratch" Perry - Ball Of Fire

The Orb feat. Lee "Scratch" Perry - Hold Me Upsetter

Now that we've looked after rainy day music... its time for somethin' to get your feet poppin'... This one was also on that schweet mix Josh made for our last roadtrip.. and what an apt title, seeing as thats where most people have all their music nowadays.

Dixie Yure feat. Uri - Music In Your Phone

Welcome to the Idiot Fair

I know Summer isn't officially over yet.. but once September hits it really does feel like Autumn in my mind.  And what a Summer it was! But I won't lie, I really do love Autumn.  the fun new wardrobe replaces the boys in shorts... and the weather is much more tolerable... though I do love the sunshine.  I guess I officially put Summer to bed 2 weekends ago when I went up North to Sudbry and my friend Pierre's place for a little roadtrip with the boys.  Chillin' on a gorgeous Lake with great friends and great music for Labour day was definitely the right choice.  Josh, as always, had a fresh playlist ready for the roadtrip and we sort of played dueling iPods the whole trip, which is quite fun. So over the last couple weeks theres been A lot, maybe too much, new to me music coming in my ears and its always hard to decide what to put on here... but here we go.

When I first started the blog I think one of my first posts was about Aquarius Heaven... and I mentioned his stuff was all produced by dOP.  I didn't really know who dOP was... well.. now I do. Three party animal French guys from Paris.  Their stuff seems to range from chilled lo-fi funk to more hip hop based tracks. but its all pretty damn good.  Here is their latest single Kisses, and one from a previous album that I'm really diggin'.

dOP - Kisses (Original Mix)
dOP - New York


I mentioned Josh's pretty legendary mix albums he throws my way... well heres one of my favourites from the most recent one.  I will, however, warn you.  just skip the first FOUR minutes.  I'm all for a little bit of mixing space but really... 4 minutes of monotony before the song really starts... and this isn't even a club mix or an extended mix... its the original.  Mind you, it is a pretty fun little bit of oddball circus music leading into it.. so if time is on your side then just listen to the whole thing patiently, damnit!  And in keeping with house music's pretty hilarious lyrics... this one is great.

Adultnapper feat. Black Light Smoke - Idiot Fair (Original Mix)

Oh My Dear!

I, quite happily I might add, have a pretty fantastic group of friends.  As a line in one of my previous posts suggests, "I don't want the party to become my life... I have other interests too".  So after a pretty astonishing weekend of great dance music, I spent this Sunday with my good friends Cameron & Robin taking in a little Shakespeare in the Park... which was a pretty fantastic interpretation of A Mid Summer Night's Dream. It's open Sunday through Thursday in High Park, Toronto @ 8pm, and it was a superbly acted and well produced production of a story most of us have probably seen or heard of before. It does close next Sunday so if you haven't yet I definitely advise checking it out.  It is a PWYC event with a suggested minimum donation of $20, I definitely decree it worthy of that at the very least.

Now back to the subject at hand... MUSIC. I'm finding it a little bit hard to move on past my last post.  Still hopelessly in love with Crazy P's Eruption.  HOPELESSLY.  But I was also privy to some pretty sweet sets courtesy of the likes of the incomparable Matthew Dear, Lee Foss, Pat Mahoney and Soul Clap this weekend at a pretty damn stupendous beach party here in TO at Sugar Beach. After which I went to Footwork for the after party featuring Mr. Dear, Lee Foss and an (incredibly forgettable set from Soul Clap...R n B people....R n B.... at an after hours).  Sufficed to say, I will not over exert myself for Soul Clap ever again. You really ought to have an idea of where you've been booked to play... but to some extent when it got as bad as it got, people actually left the club: see here.  For those unaccustomed to the Toronto scene ... FW usually hosts premium.. top of the line House/ Tech-House and Techno. When a packed club of people spend 5 minutes standing around looking at each other, maybe someone ought to intervene.  INSIJS.

Luckily Lee Foss was on next and it got better from his first track.  Steadily progressing to a nice bit of thunder before Mr. Matthew Dear took over, and as you might expect, DESTROYED it.   The following is a collection of stuff I heard this weekend.  Well the stuff I was actually able to Shazaam, as a lot of the tracks were probably unreleased at this point so I'm having  little bit pf a hard time tracing them down.  Hope you enjoy it.  I most certainly did.

To start things off I'll start with Matthew Dear's last track of the evening, before moving onto FootWork.  As much of a music geek I am...there are still certain thing that I'm not sure what they're doing up there.  I kinda like it that way.  Matthew Dear's final track at the WKD Beach Party....

Marie Madeleine - Swimming Pool (Jacques Renault Remix)

Next up: Definitely no stranger to the Moonboots blog... Maetrik(a.k.a Maceo Plex, a.k.a Eric Estornell) who just keeps on, keepin' on with his pretty flawless production values and steady beats with poetry samples:

Maetrik - The Poem (Original Mix)
 
And lastly ... I ended my journey of the weekend at CZ.  If you follow the blog you already know how I feel about this place so I won't bore you with that.    I'm not typically a big pop music fan, but the Beyonce ft.Jay-Z track Crazy in Love has for some reason always got me.  Part of it may be this funky disco sample that I'm sure has existed for 30+ years but sadly I only know it from that track.   Anyways short story long.... I'm having a happy birthday chat with a buddy of mine and I hear it come in.  You'll know what I'm talkin' bout!  And if by chance you happen to know where that original sample came from please use the "contact me" buttons on the blog site to let me know, cuz I'm always in search of new sample sources.  Oh... and PS... this sucka' ain't out for another 2 weeks.

Nick Corline - Kiss Me (Nick Corline Club Mix)

gettin a lil craycray

I don't know that I can top this Thursday.  My hubby and I have a roommate who, for no reason or occasion decided to treat us to a fridge full of groceries, a bottle of champagne and a bangin' California Cabernet.  All this after going to see the largest touring of Pablo Picasso's works in about 40 odd years at the Art Gallery of Ontario... pretty smashing day. Then I made a bitchin' dinner out of all those groceries and danced around the kitchen as I made it.  If theres one thing other than groceries essential to the preparation of a good meal its great music.

A few posts ago I dropped a lil Crazy P.  The track that I posted is a remix off their 2011 album When We On.  I got curious about the original, and being more of an album guy really I just got the whole album.  Its an art form all its own, constructing a cohesive album. And let me tell you.. this entire album is bordering on masterpiece.  Up there with one of my all time faves, Groove Armada's Love Box, the beautiful/lazy disco vibes on this gem are something special.

The first track I'm sharing with y'all, Eruption, is far and away my favourite on the album. TURN THIS SUCKA UP! I dare you to sit still.  How do I see these guys play live?? Thats the next conundrum.

Crazy P - Eruption

Crazy P - Heartbreaker (DJ Edit)

Crazy P - Future Beat

Don't lead a lonely life.

Im a sucker for some nice vocal samples.  Especially older pop music re-purposed into something a bit funkier. Check out these puppies.... so I can get back to cleaning my damn floors!!

The Mekanism - Missing Love (Original Mix)

Dj Glen - All That She Wants (Glen & AOB Bootleg My Ass mix)


and when you're done with that! why not check out my buddy Deko-ze's new chart up on beatport!

Theres stuff from Dj Chus, Michel Cleis, Matteo DiMarr and a new track and remix from the man himself.

Deko-ze's August Jungle Funk Chart 

Do you think like a fish?

Its been a very busy couple weeks but in a good way.  Managed to make it to Montreal for a quick trip to take in Diverscite  and meet up with some friends who had just completed the Friends for Life Bike Rally (a 600k bike ride from TO->MTL to raise money for the People with AIDS foundation)and got to hear Chus & Ceballos at Stereo.  Then back to Toronto for about a week and then off camping for 5 days with my hubby to celebrate his birthday.  Had a great time with great friends on both trips... and now its time to get back to life and back to reality which means work... and blogging!

There was so much great music at Stereo.  That club truly is a special place.  If you love clubbing and haven't been there yet.. run, don't walk. Its worth the visit to Montreal all on its own. Absolutely tremendous sound quality.  This is one of the final tracks Chus & Ceballos played, and actually my introduction to The XX.  I've heard of them but kinda wrote them off before... I don't have any idea why... and granted this is a remix so maybe not even a great example of their own work but its fun.

The XX - Crystalised (Edu Imbernon Remix)

Now I wasn't actually at this next party.  But back in the day I spent my formative years in the Halifax rave scene.  And every year for the past 5 years or so a bunch of the old promoters and crew put on a Halifax Classics reunion weekend and bring in a big name to play out in the woods at some little camping and cottage retreat.  I've yet to make it back for it, but this year they had brought in Mark Farina. A friend of mine recorded the opening few minutes of his set on video and he opened with this little nugget.  I know South of Roosevelt were just featured a few weeks ago... but its a pretty fun throwback track... and for anyone out there with any dj skills I'm sure they could turn it into something even more dope.  I'm really going to have to check through the rest of their catalogue cuz these little remixes of oldies are awesome!

Tracy Chapman - Give Me One Reason (South of Roosevelt Bootleg)

Every year my hubby and I go camping for his birthday.  We go to the same spot every year... a gorgeous 70 acre stretch of land owned by a friend of ours.  No electricity. No people. No running water(other than a little stream).  Just a cute lil swimmin' hole, a few clearings for tents, and an out house.  On his actual birthday night we were listening to his iPod which has stuff on it from years ago because we never update it, and came across a set from Hector Romero.  Which is where we discovered this.  One of the funnier house tracks I've heard in a while.. absolutely spot on with the lyrics. It had us in stitches around the campfire several times. And what an awesome name.

The Royal We - Party Guilt (Matt Styles Club Mix)

And lastly a little classic gem that Chus & Ceballos played towards the end of that night in Montreal at Stereo ereo ereo ereo..

Tanya Louise - Deep In You

sunny songs for a rainy day

I can't think of anything more enjoyable on a shitty rainy day than sitting here basking in the loving glow of my iMac, as I hunt down some new choons, with the Olympics happening in the background.  So thank you rain. Maybe that can be my new excuse for not blogging lately...? its just been too damn hot!

Going to kinda ease my way in with this cute little remix from Ron Basejam.  He's appeared here before, at least once.  So far most of what I've heard from him is a little bit soulful and a little bit playful.. and this one is pretty much right on both of those marks. Plus theres a line about the sun and warmth etc and thats kinda what I want to hear you sing about on a rainy day.

The White Lamp - It's You (Ron Basejam Remix)

Do you know who John Barry is? I really think you should. Especially if you're a movie fan, a music fan, or even more so a fan of the way music is used in film.  John Barry scored the Bond films(as well as countless other films)...actually a master at setting a mood with a haunting score.  I'm not sure how it's never dawned on me before but Gui Boratto is so similar it hurts. The style, the sound...very few people, and I've heard a lot, can give chills with dance music the way Gui Boratto can. Exhitbit A: this remix of the Battles track "Wall Street".

Battles - Wall Street (Gui Boratto Remix)

So I show up at my friend Charles's house last week and as I walk in i see a flyer for a party in a couple weekends. Lee Foss, Matthew Dear, Soul Clap, Juan MacLean, Nitin and a few more that'll probs be the undercard.  Thats easily the tightest lineup I've seen not at a dance music festival this year. Even better was he fact that as I was looking at it I was actually listening to Matthew Dear... who I completely love. On top of making pretty much every kind of music you could think of and making it well.... hes not exactly hard on the eyes.  Plus his label has one of the cuter logos out there (Ghostly International).  The guys responsible for this remix of Matthew Dear's "Her Fantasy" have appeared before as well...from remixing Neil Young(amazing) to their own productions they turn out stuff that sounds exactly how you'd expect someone by the name of Poolside to sound like... sun soaked, breezy summer beats.

Matthew Dear - Her Fantasy (Poolside Remix)

And now what a rainy day really sounds like.... Another find courtesy VisionQuest... and the rather whacky names of their seasonal collections... this one from the Teen Collection Hot Jam 96.  The title doesn't exactly make me want to run out and buy it but once I knew it was VisionQuest I was fully on board. It sounds a lot like Trentemoller who I was a titch obsessed with back in the day... only a bit more dancefloor friendly.

QBeck feat. Julia Govor - Alice

JuJube Eyeballs.

So in my last post it was Pride weekend here in Toronto. A weekend of, to quote Pirupa, "party non-stop".  It also coincides with the annual dispersal of NPAP(No Pots and Pans), an annual collection of a hundred or so of the years best dancefloor ready tunes and remixes and a few hour long sets from some local and sometimes International DJs put together by my friend Charles and disseminated to the masses via flash drives to the couple hundred of us lucky enough to get our hands on one....before passing it on to others to keep on "playing it forward".  I thought thats in this post I would give NPAP a shout out and drop my favourite off of this years collection.  It has quite literally been on repeat on my iPod since I heard it. 

Crazy P have had a few different incarnations and I remember coming across them for the first time about 13 years ago on a John Acquaviva mix when they still went by Crazy Penis....its a bit of an attention grabber. This is pretty far removed from that sound... having said that, I havent heard the original.. but well.. just enjoy it. Its a good'un.

Crazy P - Beatbox (PBR Streetgang Remix)

And secondly, one of the best tracks of the entire weekend... after the Frankie Knuckles one from the last post of course.  Dj Jamal dropped this lil beauty which actually wound up being officially the last track of Pride weekend as he wrapped up Gay Day (or Canada Day to some) at CZ on the Monday following Pride.  It took a little while for it to sink in what we were actually listening to.  You know those times your there singing along to a track and you have no idea what it is.... or why you know the words... but for some reason you do.  It takes a lot of balls to do a remix or a cover or any kind of rendition on a Beatles track.  When you've got a catalogue like they do of popular music that is engrained in the conscience of pretty much everyone from just about everyone spanning 50 years, its kind of hard to better it. I won't say this betters the original.... but it is easily the best dancefloor interpretation of any Beatles work I've ever heard.

South of Roosevelt - Over Me (Original Mix)

an offer I couldn't refuse.

The Godfather of House touched down in Toronto last night to help kick off Toronto's Gay Pride closing weekend, at an absolutely off the hook party in a cute little park that totally came alive with fantastic music (and great lighting too!). I've heard Frankie Knuckles before.... about 7 years ago I think at Sonic, and just like that time it was a master class in fusing styles and genres from all over the shop into a pretty damn fine set. There was one track that really stood out so off I go onto my Shazaam... and damnit. nothing. I HATE THAT. Luckily there was a very friendly former staffer from Stereo-ereo-ereo standing beside me who saw my frustration and leaned over and showed me the track name already in his iTunes. Nick from Stereo(formerly) you saved the day :) I've been listening to this little nugget all morning/afternoon trying to kick this wicked tequila hangover.

Sorry for the delay, and I cant really explain having the time or inclination pride weekend to get this post out... but there you go :)

Happy Pride ladies and gents!  Now its off to check out some Guy Gerber (live) and Richie Hawtin etc etc playing at Ontario Place for Digital Dreams.  This hangover isn't getting any better. ooof.

Frankie Knuckles pres. Director's Cut feat. Jamie Principle - Your Love (The Shapeshifters remix)

Shiny Plastic People

As most anyone I know will tell you, I get quite quickly and easily distracted onto different tangents.  Whether it be while I'm searching for something online or as is most often the case, while in the middle of a conversation.  Like a puppy.  I'm yours until something shiny goes by.  So its not that surprising I got incredibly distracted today while searching for......something. I don't even know what it was anymore because I got lost on this tangent of amazing spacey disco edits and blissful stoner music.  And it was all thanks to this chap named Mark E.  The tracks are long ones, with none on this collection coming in under seven and a half minutes.  Its the kind of stuff you put on while you're at home in your underwear playing video games, or maybe cleaning the house in solitude one happy sunny afternoon.  I checked out a few of his remixes via youtube as well and its all pretty consistently wicked.  Disco influenced, bumpin' soulful electronic music. It has a pretty mature sound so why not make yourself a Manhattan, roll up your sleeves and get down to business.  He reminds me A LOT of Motor City Drum Ensemble who I posted on here a while ago, and who I also love.  Turns out hes from Birmingham. huh. How about that? On a label called MERC Records. Seemingly gone are the days where you can presume to know something about a certain style or sound hailing from a certain spot.... Music Without Borders. Yeah buddy!

Im going to go back on what I said about cleaning the house and video games.  Its perfect for all-day, all-night listening. I promise.

I couldn't decide on one track to play for you so I'm going with three.... simply because posting the entire album would be silly.  So here..in order of how much they make me wave my pointed index finger around in the air while I try to type:

Mark E - Plastic People(MEdit)

Mark E - You(Full Vocal Mix)

Mark E - RnB Drunkie

Be Yourself.

Ugh what a week.  My first time putting in a full weeks worth of work in four months, and it had to come on the heels of having a friend and his boyfriend in town last weekend- turned out to be a heavy weekend. Anyhoo... no parties this weekend. just work :( I was really enjoying the whole unemployed thing but being broke, as my grandfather would say, is a damned inconvenience!

I was going to say my "fellow blogger" Vince sent me this guy's soundcloud, but since he never posts anymore I'll just call him Vince, and yeah, Sascha Braemer you sound pretty dope.  Good bunch of remixes there and the set I heard its pretty wicked too.  Both of these little nuggets come via him.

Adana Twins - Strange (Original Mix)

and this beauty is a remix of Sarp Yilmaz's Downtown.  That snare is pretty vicious, and it totally reminds me of another track but I can't quite place what song that snare reminds me of. Body Monster by Leon???

Sarp Yilmaz - Downtown (Sascha Braemer Remix)

Lastly, it would be just plain wrong if I didn't mention Danny Tenaglia here.  The Maestro announced the other week he would be taking an indefinite leave from touring.  Not retiring, but resigning, as he reiterated several times through his facebook profiles.  I've seen Danny 3 times live. Once at Guvernment, once at the now defunct CiRCA, and once at Space Ibiza... I know he isn't everyone's cup of tea and that his marathon sets don't sit well with everyone but come on... the guy is 51 years old and when it comes to producing a show the edits and shit he pulls together are some pretty genius bits of programming even if you don't like his crazy goofy antics with flashlights and whatever.  Hes been doing this for 30+ years, and compared to so many of his contemporaries who are total divas or stern as hell with attitude problems galore, Danny brought personality, flare and uniqueness to our scene.  He's one of the very few who seem to actually give a shit about the movement that was(?)/is(?) house and if I never get to see him play another marathon 9+ hour set... what I heard in Ibiza was WELL worth the trip... even if he didn't remember our brief period of correspondence when we spoke for a bit after the show.  A pretty simple message from a very complex and talented man from Brooklyn.

enjoy your time off Danny!

Celeda - Be Yourself (Part One)

100% for 0% - a Black Velveteen Fur Coat.

Ok I have no excuse for being lazy with posts.  So I might try and cram this one with some sweet little nuggets.  First off, I went to my first Zero Percent party last weekend, Zero Percent volume 8 with Nathan Barato, Joee Conns & Pauze.   I've known Alex who is one of the guys responsible for these parties for a little while but just couldn't make it to any of the previous ones.  The fact that Mr. Barato was playing was extra incentive, I won't lie.  The space was fantastic! A bit on the hot side but who doesn't like a little sweat with  their bangin' beats? The sound system was unreal... a worthy investment that did not fall on deaf ears at all, and a super fun crowd.  If you haven't been to one of their parties before... go to the website I linked to and get on their mailing list or check them out on facebook to get info on upcoming gigs.  Now I'm sure you all know "Last night a DJ save my life".... well it came on my oldies radio station I listen to at home not 2 days before the Zero Percent party, and I thought to myself: "Why have I never heard a remix or edit or anything interesting done with this?".  Enter Joee Conns.  In terms of knowing what you're in for when Joee is playing there are few that are as consistent in the Toronto scene that I've heard on a regular basis enough to comment on... consistency is only a good thing if you're consistently good.  And he is! He dropped this edit of it and it was pretty awesome! so I asked him about it after he finished playing and.. ya. It's his own.  I FUCKING LOVE IT when that happens. So, should you be ready to support a little CANcon again, please go over here to buy the track from Beatport, which is getting some International support from Chus & Ceballos(and I'm sure some others). Nice.
Some Jennnifer Hudson weight watchers commercial came on as I was tinternetting away this morning,  and she was doing a screechy-accapella version of Lenny Kravitz "Believe".  I hadn't listened to Lenny Kravitz of any description in a very long time so I hopped into iTunes and put on his greatest Hits album, and after a couple tracks on comes Black Velveteen.  I don't think a lot of people either A) know this song or B) liked this song, because its such a huge departure from EVERYTHING he had ever produced....I  just love it and figured it was deserving of a post spot.

Lenny Kravitz - Black Velveteen

A couple posts back I mentioned how a local Dj surprised the hell out of me by completely changing his style.  Chris Larsen who normally plays a particularly sludgy brand of minimal brought out this bad boy to which the entire club erupted into spontaneous applause when he finished playing it..

Fur Coat feat. Cari Golden - You And I (Original Mix)

One of my favourite tracks ever. Yeah thats some lofty praise. Its pretty timeless, its catchy as hell, got a sultry black woman singing how she been done wrong by some no-good man. Its about love, and loss and in the past month I've heard 5 new remixes or edits or whatever of it. Angie Stone's Wish I Didn't Miss You. Here are two of the better ones I've heard. 
This first version comes courtesy of Vince who played it for me on Easter weekend but its taken me this long to get around to.

Indigo Souls - Same Old Story

And this version via the fantastic Sander Kleinenberg..

Electronic Youth - I Wish

I think it was Johnathan Rosa that played this.  I've been hearing this Etta James vocal sample pretty constantly and in everything from Pretty Lights to Avicii (hmm thats not actually that much of a departure...) .  This is way more up my alley.  Makes you wanna throw your hands into the air with a full blown glory glory Halleluiah!  And then followed up quickly with a few twirls.

Audiowhores - Sometimes (Original Mix)

I've already posted the original of this one, but heard this remix today and LOVED it.  And its a pretty good way to close things out.

Aquarius Heaven - Can't Buy Love (Future Sounds Remix)

Satan that I used to know

That Gotye track Somebody that I used to know has been in everyones ears for the past month or more and to be honest I'm kinda over it.  But I heard 3 great remixes of it over the Easter weekend.  I really have to say that I had a pretty great weekend of tunes.  I usually do, but this one was pretty sweet.  Chris Larsen played pretty fantastically at CZ which was a pretty big surprise as I typically am not a huge fan of his sound but man what a set so props to him for sure for that. And during his set he dropped one of those 3 great remixes I heard of Gotye which, as it turns out, is his own edit and low and behold its on his Soundcloud as a free download! Nice one.

In a taxi on my way home from a party and still having not heard enough, I popped on my headphones to listen to a little Kaiserdisco set I had on my iPhone, which I never seem to get all the way through, and on comes this little beauty. wow. Its an instant mood setter and I really love it :)

Terry Grant, MSMS - Closer

Carl Craig has got to be the most prolific producer ever. For real.  The guys has had his hands all over absolutely everything for, what seems like forever.  And I can't think of anything of his that I've heard that wasn't pretty cool and ranging from techno, electro, sexy deep house... he does it all.  So I'm listening to this 5 hour Stacey Pullen mix the other day and BOOM this track comes in.  Part of me is scared, part of me is laughing, and the other part is dancing around the livingroom.  Its a few years old and its one of Carl Craig's alter(ed) egos, Tres Demented.  Sounds like some honey gone and done him wrong...that bitch better run for cover!

Tres Demented - Shez Satan

sloppy chicken realness.

I've never really been able to follow recipes.  I have a good idea of what I'm supposed to do in a kitchen after 17 years of working in restaurants and seeing it on a daily basis, and as those who know me will likely loudly attest to, I am really not that good at following instructions.  So I had this big ol' club pack of chicken breasts and I was going to make some chicken parmesan with a couple of them and the others I wasnt sure.  So I hop online and find this cute little recipe for some chicken with an orange glaze... it sounded pretty damn easy and the end result was to resemble that stuff you get when you order Chinese food. A sort of battered fried chicken bits with a nice tangy sauce.  Sufficed to say, there are now 3 sloppy chicken tits in my garbage along with all the crap that I went through to get them to that point.  I was so friggin mad... fast forward a little bit... Ive folded laundry... played a little PS3.. made the chicken parmesan to be consumed when the hubby gets home, and I'm plodding around the livingroom listening to a set the fantastic Sander Kleinenberg recently put up online.  How is it that in over a decade of partying on a nearly full time basis I have NEVER HEARD HIM LIVE :(  Apparently he's a handsome little devil too? Anyhoo... this set is so full of such lovely surprising goodies! it basically turned my entire shitty chicken experience on its ass. F U Chicken!

This first one reminds me of something you'd hear from the Vagabundos of Cadenza Records or maybe even the Maestro Danny Tenaglia.  Its got a minimal sort of thing going on but its funky as the day is long and some weird little bouncey noises for good measure

 Paolo Driver - Good Afternoon (Los Suruba 90's Remix)

And this little ditty.. well the vocals and the beat in spots were driving me crazy. I couldn't tell if someone was doing a remake of "I Feel Love" or if it was something new.  Being compared to a disco standard like that can't be a bad thing.... turns out its actually a pretty old track from none other than Goldfrapp that just got a nice little remix treatment from the man dubbed by Resident Advisor as the Top DJ in the World this past year....

Goldfrapp - Strict Machine (Jamie Jones Remix)

and one more for the road.... I never thought I'd see the day that I posted a Katy Perry song and sincerely said I liked it.. ok Teenage Dream is pretty gaytastic but not really for this blog.  Then I hear this...

Katy Perry - The One That Got Away (Plastic Plates Remix)

Bad Bad sooo right.

Had a little reprieve from posting some stuff so thought I might go for another biggie like I did a couple months ago.  People seemed to like that one.  Plus its a nice distraction from thinking about hockey where the Leafs have not won a game at home(in Toronto) for nearly 50 days. ouch. Though we might not be putting together any winning possibilities in any of our professional sports teams right now(but the Jays look great in spring training), one thing Toronto is absolutely flourishing in is great music.  Me being the dufus that I am, didn't even realize it was Canadian Music Week, and inspite of that fact managed to get out to see the absolutely fantastic Nicolas Jaar (could he be more attractive??) last night at Revival.  Ive loved nearly everything I've heard him produce, and as entertaining as the live show was... I kinda expected a bit more.  Maybe its because he didnt go on until ONE bastard THIRTY in the morning and the place was rammed so full you literally COULD NOT move for 2 hours prior to him going on...Doors at 10, act at 1:30? No. Aside from that booking/promotion gaff, solid friggin show! Oh.. well.. except for the slight production software fart about a minute into his first track, but after a quick reboot of the ol' macbook pro.. all good.  Even with the couple negative comments i made there... VERY happy i heard him, it was a great night.
So I mentioned the TO music scene a bit up there.. these guys BadBad, NotGood have been on a bit of an internet tear the past few months. So much so that they've dropped out of music college because of the demand for public performance. They're a jazz & hip hop 3 piece that brings in guest vocalists and have a pretty wicked reputation right now.. winning accolades from jazz festivals in Europe and a lot of print space.  They did a show honouring the late J Dilla a few months back here which I would have loved to have been at but alas... heres a lil taste:

BadBad, NotGood - Electric Relaxation

Not even arguably.. one of the best pop albums to come out in the last 10 years, The Arcade Fire's The Suburbs is probably what I listened to the most over the past year and a half.  This past week my friend Jenn showed me this cover. Total departure from the original but pretty cool in its own right.

Mr Little Jeans - The Suburbs

I wish I could remember where I hear some of the stuff that I come across... but I have no idea. Some mix somewhere and I do remember that until I got the track I skipped back to the time in the set this one came in at a lot.

M.in & Mr. Pong - My Hands Are Closed ( Dan Caster & Rene Bourgeois Remix)

So after that Nicolas Jaar show was the awesome (and new to my ears..) Andrew Ross. It started out with this funky vibe and everyone was dancing and having a great time.  Me being an idiot left a bit early and of course it turned into a full on disco stomper, where, according to my friends that stayed he dropped this little beauty.  Which I now remember was performed by a drag Queen at a friend's album launch party years ago and I had always loved but never had until today! My life would be an empty shell without Shazam, truly.

Material & Nona Hendryx - Bustin' Out

And lastly, on one of my dives into the depths of my hard drive I found this one that I hadn't heard in a couple years.  I had a pretty intense love affair with Solid Groove for a pretty long time and this remix of a Nick Holder track is a very good example of why.  Turns out I'm still burnin' that candle...  This ones a total bangin' floor filler so crank it up, kids.

Nick Holder - Bad Girl (Solid Groove Remix)

rinse.repeat.

The last time, and I think the only time, I listened to a song on such a ridiculously heavy rotation was Azari & III's Hungry for the power.  We're talking a good solid 15 times on repeat here, before my friend Josh said he couldn't handle another listen. But we couldn't figure out what the track was. It was in a mix with no tracklist, and Shazam was not being very helpful.  I log into soundcloud and was checking out a new Rob Dietz track and then this came on when it finished!  Is that destiny? Good luck? I dunno, but its something.... I'm just happy as shit that I have it now :)

Superhero - Drugs & Choices (Original Mix)

a little something for the weekend, Sir?

I have to think that if Danny Tenaglia is giving another DJ props thats a good thing. I know some of my friends don't like Danny's style but you can't deny hes a legend either way.  So today when I log into facebook and theres a post from DT saying how much he likes this guy, I take notice.  I've heard of Simon Baker before but theres so many damn DJs in this World of ours I tend to glaze over a lot unless someone gives me a reason to check out something new... like DT did.  Anyhoo... the mix was pretty fun and a lot more of a deep house vibe than I expected given who was promoting it.  So as a result of that, I have a post! :) Thanks Simon Baker & Danny for giving me a new soundtrack for my weekend.

Cajmere & Russoul - Let's Dance (Original Mix)

Claude VonStroke & Jaw - Le Fantome (Original Mix)

Holy Ghost!

Its funny how the same name or words can be appropriated completely differently.  I was listening to BBC Radio 6 (6music) on my walk home from physio this morning and Steve Lamacque was asking listeners to check their library and see how many duplicates of the same song they have.. like covers remixes whatever.  And then I'm at home and I hear this track called Holy Ghost! and I start to realize I have seen this before...  So this track is essentially the 90s hip-hop sensation Got Your Money by Ol' Dirty Bastard.  Its pretty fun, and its keeping with my theory that everything old is new again in the spectrum of electronic music. You've got all these versions of The Sound of Violence being played again. You've got life is changing by Cricco Castelli serving as the basic entire track of Alex Kenji's Get Down, and there was the awesome lyric sample of Missy Elliott's lose control in Leon's  Body Monster.  Basically as I get older all these things are coming back... but seemingly faster than they used to.  Maybe producers are getting lazy and not looking far enough back for their samples and inspiration.  No maybe, they are.

Back to the task at hand, I decided to see where I knew Holy Ghost! from and it was a band name.. not a track. but strange how there's an exclamation point in both I thought.  Maybe I'm looking too deeply for a connection that just isn't there.  However as I would expect from music in my iTunes, I quite like both... so here you go.

Holy Ghost! - I Know I Hear (Jacques Renault Remix)

Sharam Jey & Tom Breu - Holy Ghost! (Original Mix)

The Wonder of Stevie

Stevie Wonder's reach seems to know no bounds.  The man is without a doubt one of the most referenced, covered, sampled, respected and highly regarded artists ever.  You'll hear people from every style and genre of music singing his praises and citing him as a big influence on their career.  But I think this is the first time I've heard a new edit of something of his that really jumped out at me.  I heard it via facebook courtesy my friend Angus and  I was pretty floored.  I hope you are too.

Stevie Wonder - I wish (Kolombo Re-work)

take these shackles off my feet so I can dance!

Whatever it is these fellas dropped out of the move sounds to me like it's paying off.  Drop Out Orchestra area couple of Swedish lads who my friend Charles sent my way via SoundCloud.  Most of Drop Out Orchestra's(LOVE the name) stuff that you can hear on their SoundCloud is remixes and edits of old disco and soul tracks, which are all pretty light hearted, fun ways to hear old tunes we all know and love, like the one they do of Shackles(Praise you).. love it. And I can't tell you how many times I've used the line "take these shackles off my feet so I can dance"!  Theres a few cute little mixes there too that sorta run through a bit of an ambient-spacey disco vibe.  But for the post today I have a remix of one of their own productions... happy listening :)

Drop Out Orchestra - Ego (Second Date Remix)

old man winter

I've been living in Toronto for about 7 years now.  March has come to mean a few certainties to my life in Toronto. One is that our "beloved" Maple Leafs(ice hockey team) will be finally starting to look like a competitive team and strive for the playoffs only to fall short and miss them.  They have not qualified for the payoffs since I moved here and I'm starting to take it personally.  This year they decided to look like a team for the first hald and are now tanking badly.. sigh. 

The other certainty is (at least for the first part of the month) shitty weather. Today is a shining example that the lovely mild winter we have become used to this year was just a tease, as Old Man Winter decided to slap me around with some rather nasty hail on my way to physio this morning. Its the kind of weather that makes me want to curl up no a bearskin rug with a bottle of scotch and something that might sound like this first track, brought to my ears by the fantastic Marc Riley of BBC's Radio 6 Music.  I just downloaded one of those fabulous radio apps that allows me to get virtually any radio station in the world on my phone, and if you're a music fan... 6 Music is awesome.  They kinda stick to the theme of playing whatever they feel like. and have some very interesting presenters, like Mr Riley (formerly of Marc & Lard if you ever listened to Radio 1 about 10 years ago) and Jarvis Cocker has a show on Sundays which im very excited to listen to this week! Moving swiftly on... Im going to go grab that scotch and look for a bearskin rug now that I found the music..

Francois & The Atlas Mountains - Edge Of Town

I got sent this one by my buddy Josh who I have a little musical exchange going with and I've been meaning to post it for ages but something would always sneak in there.  I seriously hope this dudes name is a stage name... or he must've had a hell of a lot of teasing as a kid. Gorgeous track regardless!

Bonar Bradberry - You Were Away

a taxing time of year

I usually take my taxes to H&R Block for.  Its easy and you get your refund right away... mind you, you have to pay for (a lot if its a decent return) the service. This year I decided to do it myself and forgo all the hassle of arguing with the dear ladies at H&R who, in my experience, do not have English as a mother tongue, and also seem to have very little knowledge of how to complete a tax sheet.  After several bungled attempts at various programs and things I decided maybe my headphones would calm me down a little bit. So I panned through my iTunes to find something that might do the trick and settled on the timeless Mushroom Jazz series by Mark Farina. Its been too long.  An oldie but a goodie, from Mushroom Jazz vol. 4...

Sub-Conscious - Irreconcilable

and then after still managing to screw up my taxes..(i forgot to enter in the fact that I paid income tax already on the online form.. oops!) I needed a little bit of spirit lifting. A new friend in Montreal introduced me to this one, by one of my absolute FAVOURITE  vocal performers ever.. Roisin Murphy. She makes everything sound so much more exciting and sexy.

Roisin Murphy - Ramalama (Bang Bang) [Rob Mooney & Junior Gee Remix]

And lastly, if anyone out there can identify what this vocal sample is from I would be extremely grateful! I heard it at a party about 13 years ago and have been looking for it... then I heard it sampled in this track thats from 2007 but havent been able to track down what the sample is from.  Start this video at the 2:38 mark and you'll hear a woman's voice saying "All that jazz and Chicago" looped a couple of times. Knowing me its something I should really know but can't place... help!!

a little something a la mode

Theres so much music out there.  So many different genres & sub-genres, and different "styles" or whatever you want to call them.  Its impossible to hear everything that might move us or touch us in some way.  Chances are, your favourite song ever... you'll never hear it.  I mean I'm 32, and it seems to me that sometime in the last 30 years the executives in charge of the Big Business side of the music industry decided that rather than supporting the arts, they would suck it dry and replace it with repetitive glittery puff balls. I like glitter, but really,  someone tell  Simon Cowell to piss off already. Wow i kinda got lost on a little tangent there(escapé).  I think the point I was trying to make was I spend more time than someone who doesn't earn a living from music arguably should, online reading about music and listening to music and well, I'm a little bit obsessed and still stuff passes me by for years at a time. Like for instance this beauty from Antony & The Johnsons.

I love Antony & The Johnsons, this was apparently on a single only release in 2009 so I guess that its acceptable that I missed it.  And despite my little tirade in paragraph #1 about radio shlock... some of it is good.  I do, for instance, really like the original of this cover done by the parents of little blue ivy or ivy blue or whatever she's called.  And its fun to post something other than bangin' house tunes sometimes :)

Antony & The Johnsons - Crazy In Love

And I found this album that I downloaded about a year ago and had completely forgotten about hidden in a random folder on my desktop! Love it when that happens.  SomethingALaMode are a duet of classically trained French boys who grew up on club culture.  I'm a big fan of Albums as an art form all their own.  I think putting together a solid albums worth of material that is cohesive, and varied where each track compliments the other in some way is a skill that clearly, not everyone has. This is one of the more up-tempo tunes on the album, with several of the track being nice simple string arrangements with a little funk to 'em. Nice to see people with the skill and knowledge of music they have explore the other side of culture and put out music like this. Neato.

SomethingALaMode - By Your Side

Way back playback (cover/remix edition)

I've been trying to stick to only going to clubs where the music sucks so I won't be tempted to dance.  This might sound crazy, but my knee still isn't dancefloor ready, and won't be for quite some time.  Its kinda frustrating though, and yesterday I couldn't resist going out to Deko-ze's birthday party @ Footwork...and then maybe I went somewhere else too but in any case... it was great to be with friends and hear proper music & celebrate someone's birthday. What more could you ask for? How about inspiration for a blog post!

White Horse by Laidback.  I'm sure you all know the song.... did you know its by two, tall skinny white boys from Denmark?  Ever since I heard that song I've had this image of this funky group of black dudes from Brooklyn in shiny disco suits slappin' the bass and gettin' funky while they're playing this song.  Finding out that its these two rather dorky Danish guys COMPLETELY, and i do mean completely threw me for a loop.  So at this point I say, not only is that song amazing, but you should really check out Bakerman by them too(I think I may even have posted something about it on here when i started the blog?heres the video on Youtube directed by Lars vonTriers. actually.).  These guys were really a class apart in my books. Which brings me to the post. ahem.  Track #1 of 2 inspired by last nights outing(s): White Horse by Wonderland Avenue.  How this song was made 6 years ago and I never heard it boggles my mind.... actually maybe i did hear it but didn't have the advantage of the wondrous apps Shazam & SoundHound! So thanks Greg Gow, or as I like to call you, Greg Wow, for delivering it to my earzies.

 Wonderland Avenue - White Horse

And next up, a gent who was very prominently featured on all of the hand-me-down school binders I received from my sister when I started school, Mr Corey Hart. And ya thats right, I had binders with I love Corey Hart scrawled all over them courtesy of my sister who is 9 years my senior. Ask the 5yr old little boy starting school if he minds.. Hell No! he'd say, cuz he actually DOES love Corey Hart. So much so, that in my Grade 1 school photo I made sure I popped my collar as an homage to my (at that moment) musical icon. Its pretty hilarious really. Anyhoo, I'm not sure if this was Deko-ze's production partner on Disco Fans, Jerome Robbins who played this or the visiting from Germany Jay Frog, but thanks! They played a different remix of it that was a bit more techy (the D.I.M mix), but I've chosen the much more housey sound of Tocadisco for the blog post... Its just that kinda day.  Yes we all hate those jack asses with sunglasses on in the club, but this song- to me anyway, is so friggin bad ass. Maybe thats my 5 yr old ears listening?

Tiga & Zyntherius - Sunglasses At Night (Tocadisco Remix)

80s synth realness

So a friend in Montreal told me about this compilation album by Aeroplane called In Flight Entertainment with a bunch of cool artists on it... like Poolside(who did that Neil Young's Harvest Moon cover in one of my first posts on here), and these two as well.  If you don't like that whole throwback to the 80s sound that was sort of everywhere the last couple years you likely won't like this first one that much..

Cosmonauts - Snakes Head

And Stars on 33 give us a pretty groovin, funky instrumental.... when is it summer?  I love their name.  Its a total throwback to the old Stars on 45 LPs my mom had at home when I was a kid.


Stars on 33 - Something You Can Feel

balls are empty...

Man I really have to pull up the boot straps on this whole blogging thing.  I won't be posting any Whitney remixes(although there was an amazing remix by one of those big remixers back in the day-Hex Hector maybe??- of I learned from the best, that I used to LOVE).  I did however watch her funeral service, which really wasn't a funeral service.  It was a Church service celebrating a woman's life and ya I loved it.  If Reverend Winans did his service here in Toronto he might rival Deko-ze for Sunday morning attendance!- I said might. .. He'd really have to up the ante BPM wise...

I wish I could say I've been spending this time accumulating all kinds of wicked new tunes to post, but I haven't. I have however come across a couple little ditty's today that I will share with you :)

Easing in nice n slow is lightbluemover.  Sounds like a fancy name for a break-dancing smurf, but i like it. The track has this nice little slow burn to it with a bit of a harder funky side that wants to slap you around a little.. and I don't think I'd mind. If you want to hear it played a wee bit quicker.. check out Maceo Plex's Essential Mix.. its the 2nd track.

lightbluemover - Ddisko

Now, I'm not entirely sure what the lyrics are to this song... but I can definitely make out "balls are empty".  To be honest it really doesn't matter what the lyrics are...its a hard, deep, dirty, chugging beat.  And if the lyrics are what I think they are... then it's a match made in heaven..err maybe a brothel.

Martin Eyerer - Bells A Go (Sascha Sonido Remix)

Sad songs always sound so pretty

Ever notice how some tunes have this gorgeous beat and just hearing it is cheering you up, and then you start to focus on the lyrics.  I love me a good lyric, and for some reason I have always found that kinda melancholic,"depressing" music to be a bit cheerful.  Someone like say Fiona Apple. She doesn't exactly instil the average listener with glee, but something in the way her songs are structured or maybe its her voice.. I dunno, it just kinda cheers me up.  Then you get something like the couple of tracks I have for you today.  Pretty sounding songs with this underscored sadness and hate. I LOVE IT!

First up is Steffi.  Steffi is regarded as "The First Lady of Berghain",  so you would naturally assume mind assaulting German minimalist tech. But if you did, like me, you would be wrong.  This is the opening track from the  Panorama Bar mix volume 3, done by Prosumer... and given how nice the opening track was I figured I was in store for a really great mix. Well guess who is batting 0 for 2! Me. To each their own but... its all over the place, pretty off the wall track selection, theres no real flow to it and doesn't really feel like its going anywhere. This opening track however is great and serves as a great example of what I was talking about up there in paragraph numero uno.

Steffi - Sadness

And to really drive home my point....

GusGus - Hateful(Ada feat. Mayburg Mix)

Ridin On Da Riddim

So we've been experiencing this unseasonably warm winter here in Toronto, even by global warming's standards.  I found out its because of some pretty bad ass and rare wind phenomenon happening at the North pole which is basically keeping all that cold air in a constant spiral circling the pole, neat eh?  Here I was thinking its because there's so much hot shit music wise every where that the planet just can't take it!-Actually, I'm going to keep that possibility open.

Some new stuff I happened across in the past few days:

Fink.  This multi-instrumentalist fellow out of somewhere in the UK, safe bet that its Brighton.  I've heard a few things with the name Fink involved but i was not entirely sure they were the same guy because they are sooo different.  Apparently, they are. As soon as I saw the name Ninjatune associated I knew the depth and breadth of his catalog was entirely possibly produced by the same guy. Cool.

Fink - Move On Me (Alphapriest Remix)

I don't really know anything about this guy, however, a point of note. There is a new movie out with Tom Hanks.. something about 9/11, called Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close.  Well there is also a song of the same name on the full length LP, which was released back in the fall. Anyway, that isn't the one I'm posting.  My friend Josh brought this one over and we both agree that the actual name should be "ridin' on da riddim" not Riding on The Rhythm... discuss.

Spencer Parker - Riding On The Rhythm

Lastly here is a, as of yet, unreleased goodie!  Toronto's Gavin Bradley has teamed up with DJ Meme once again for this clubby tune that just screams summer.

DJ Meme feat. Gavin Bradley - Call For Me (Original Club Mix)

CANcon

Time for a little CANcon.  For those readers from outside our shores, CANcon was a measure introduced by the CRTC(Canadian Radio & Television Corp.) to make sure that Canadian talent was going to get exposed to viewing and listening audiences. Basically if you are a Radio or TV station based in Canada there are very strict guidelines that say you have to play X amount of Canadian content in relation to everything else you play.  And really, without it I'm sure we would be even more under the influence of American broadcasters than we already are... And Silly Dingdong would still be singing to loggers in remote regions of Quebec instead of counting her million$,  so I never thought I'd say this but... THANKS CRTC!

Now it kinda seems like Marc Houle is like a lost legend in the Canadian scene.  I dunno if he's moved abroad or something but he should really be mentioned in the same breath as Acquaviva and Hawtin etc.  Heres a reason why, courtesy of Marco Carola's mix from the Fabric series (#31- and its great btw.)

Marc Houle - Kicker

If Hamilton, Ontario can ever be accused of poppin' it'll be because of the Junior Boys.  I didn even know they were Canadian let alone from Hamilton until last year.  Something about that just doesn't make sense.  Although, thinking about it, some of the most talented musicians I've known have lived in or been from very industrial and culturally repressed places.  Add to their amazingness, a remix from Ewan Pearson (love!) and you get this track named after my Grandmother.. well sort of.

Junior Boys - Hazel (Ewan Pearson's House Remix)

Lastly, a friend of mine just released a new track.  Its a remix of the new Starkillers "Disco Fans". Sure to be blowing up floors all over the place and its now available on Beatport.  If you do not know who Deko-ze is, you either aren't a dance music head from Canada or you need a slap. So when you consider how much music we all get for free.... pop on over to Beatport and show some love for a little CANcon.

What does Black sound like?

No I am not about to entire into some racial tirade about what black music is. But i love the name of these guys.  Two young black kids from Jersey(New, not the Isle of) calling themselves the Voices of Black. Whether its a comment on the colour of their skin, some sort of political statement or maybe they are talking about something entirely different. I really don't care.  Its interesting shit. Sometimes it gets a little bit weird and spacey but its obvious that their influences are pretty varied. And like I said, Its interesting. Refreshing to the ears to hear such a diverse collection of stuff.  Especially this umm cover(?) of one of my All Time faves...

Voices of Black - Papa Was

Voices of Black - A Place Called Fame

Lost & Burried Treasure

Its been 2 weeks since my knee surgery and though I've been mostly sat on my ass, I dunno what it was I just wasn't really up to blogging.  It could easily have been the pain killers- I was a Percocet zombie.  Now that I've started physio and I'm walking, actually I'm not going to call how I move around walking because it looks more like a Neanderthal shuffle, but ya now that I am doing that, I really am feeling better about things.  That and a steady bunch of visiting friends have really helped.  And so this weekend, chilling with a few friends I managed to go on a search for sunken treasure without ever having to leave my gorgeous new sofa.

Sometimes I consume so much music in the run of a day that it kind of gets lost on me.  I'll hear it and move on, without ever really listening. Next day, rinse-repeat, and after 3 days I don't even manage to remember that I was completely in love with a track and it has died somewhere in the recently added side of my iTunes.  Lucky for me, my husband appears to pay a bit closer attention, and had harvested a bunch of these little beauties into a playlist which repeatedly had my scurrying off the couch to find out what they were and how they managed to sneak into my iTunes without me noticing.

Beacause I've taken a bit of flack from a few people for not posting during all this free time, Today its a SuperSized, two-parter.

It's a (bizarrely warm) rainy Monday here in Toronto, but I'm fairly certain you'll be able to notice that the weather has had an effect on my musical distractions in part number 1 of today's post:

Dinah Washington - This Bitter Earth

Ruede Haggelstein & The Noblettes - A Priori (Original Mix)

Groove Armada - History

And now for part 2. That Dinah Washington song by the way... amazing.  After we heard it in Shutter Island(meh) last week it was on repeat for about an hour, so at least something good came out of watching that. With these next couple I'm going to try and pretend its not a rainy Monday and that my dancing shoes are not on a shelf collecting dust. If you think you recognize In The City, its because that little ditty looping in the background is from Pharcyde and has been sampled to death for probably about 20 years.

Alena - Changes (Ron Basejam Mix)

Andre Crom & Martin Dawson - In The City

Goloka - Ain't No Game

hoping for some mighty efficient machines

I cannot stop listening to this album. Every spare second I have had for 2 days has been spent with this as my musical backdrop.  The album is about a year old, released last February by a producer from Denmark named Kasper Bjørke.  Its called Sitting On Top Of Utopia, and what a fucking marvelous view it is from the top! Hot damn.  Theres elements of disco, dark menacing electronia, indie pop and even parts of it that remind me of Muse and strangely it doesn't feel scattered.  This will be my soundtrack while im sitting in the hospital tomorrow recovering from ACL reconstructive surgery on my left knee, giddy'up!
These are my early two favourites from the album:

Kasper Bjørke - Efficient Machine

Kasper Bjørke - Fido & The Friendly Ghost

Cow birds in the clouds

So I ended up taking a little break from the blog over the Holidays... There was just so much going on I didnt really have time to spend an hour sorting through tunes and writing, but its nice to be back :). Eventful doesn't even begin to summarize the season but after all the parties, the presents, the drama and oh my god the booze, its a brand new year.  I don't tend to make grandiose resolutions, and this year will be no different.  Generally just striving to be a more complete person, and experience new things.. so bring it on 2012. 
Musically I'm going to sort of ease it on in on a pretty chilled tip.  A producer friend of mine from the UK whose musical opinion I really respect put this next album as his tops of 2011 and I completely agree. I won't get all flowery and start describing it but it is a 28 track album. Ambitious to say the least.  The album is called "Clouds" and its by a fellow named Apollo Brown, hailing from the Motor City... and no I don't mean Stuttgart this time. Also check the album art... i like it :)

Apollo Brown - Drinking Life

Apollo Brown - Know The Time

Now maybe Santa brought you new dancing shoes for Christmas.  Maybe yours have been in the closet picking up dust over the Holigays? Either way, dust those puppies off cuz its time for a nice proper House Jam! Courtesy of none other than Crosstown Rebels, comes this beauty of a soulful chuggin' track that, to quote my friend Walther, is a "real treat".  On top of the fact I really love the song, its got a completely foolish name... my favourite. Mind you, I mean... maybe every cow does have a bird and I'm just out of the loop?

Guti & Dubshape - Every Cow Has A Bird