make my absence known

I just spent the afternoon returning some shitty headphones I bought a few days ago and trying out new ones... all with this lil beauty pumping through them.  For the record, I settled on the Sony MDR-ZX300s. Nothing too wild, decent sound, iPhone controls if I ever want to use them on the trot and $50. Satisfied. :)

Riva Starr feat. Rssl - Absence (Adam Port Remix)

Gentlemen prefer BLOND(:ISH)ES

Getting ready for Electric Island here in Toronto, with Green Velvet, Hot Since '82 and Soul Clap.  Its a new (this summer season) party that the good people of Footwork and Embrace put on every long weekend in the summer.  It took Toronto a little while to figure things out but my god is this ever a great idea,  partying away on Toronto Island with the city in the background.

The lovely ladies of BLOND:ISH have introduced me to these two tracks, one of which is their own production. And its also telling me one thing: I was an absolute idiot for not going on the boat cruise they did. Loving the dark, progressive and rather haunting nature of this one... its almost cinematic.

BLOND:ISH - No Place Like Gnome (Original Mix)

I wish I could play this every time I'm out somewhere and someone has to bail for work related reasons.... usually its me to be honest! So luckily I will now have this on my phone and I'll just play it for myself as a reminder to shut up about it: Hi Me. Its Me. Don't tell me that we have to work on Monday, Ok?

Kotelett & Zadak - Sunday (MOLLONO.BASS Remix)

British Invasion

There has been a distinct lack of funk in my life for a while.   So when I came across this Chicago House bit of boogie it was on repeat for a little bit. As I've said before you really can't ever go wrong with Candi Staton... well here she is, reinterpreted again into a funky house tune, courtesy of Pete Le Freq from the UK.  You probably wouldn't think that funky house is much of a UK thing.. and.. well I don't think you'd be too far off base with that... but there funk scene is superb.... so I guess it stands to reason that now the kids are getting into it and turning some of those great samples into stuff like this:

Pete Le Freq - Room Of Strangers


I also happened upon a new album by Luke Solomon called Timelines.  Its 18 tracks long.. a few of which are hand picked remixes by the likes of Mark E and Ewan Pearson to name a few.  Rather than a DJ set it really is structured like an album and there are a lot of different soundscapes and musical styles.. Its a pretty fun record really. Somewhere between Matthew Herbert and Jackin' House lives a fun (British again!) boy named Luke Solomon.Also a point thats really worth mentioning if you didn't know he is the other half of The Classic Music Company with none other than Derrick Carter. cred.

Luke Solomon - Lonely Dancer (Dance the pain away)[feat. Jon Marsh] (Ewan Pearson Into The Night Remix)

goddamn. that's a lot of brackets.

the longest weekend of your life

Here in Toronto this weekend if you happen to be a gay guy (or girl I suppose) who loves good dance music, this is going to be the longest weekend of your life.  Firstly, its Gay Pride here in TO, which hosts one of the biggest Pride festivals in the World. Theres so many musicians & DJs involved in that alone that its almost an embarrassment of riches musically.  But when you add in the Digital Dreams Festival (i HATE the name..) with the likes of Richie Hawtin, Dubfire, Luciano, Tiesto, Kaskade etc etc the list really does go on and on and on Monday seems like something that you hope never comes. Oh, except for this weekend, because it also happens to be our fantastic little Country's birthday on Monday!  So naturally theres a party on Centre Island with Sasha, Audiofly & Guy Gerber plus all the after-after Pride parties.  There will be a lot of bleary eyed boys & girls by the time Tuesday rolls around.  Normally I'd be at the front of the pack, this weekend however I decided to give myself the gift of strep throat.  Fingers crossed it gets out of my way by tomorrow!!

So with all of the bang bang pots and pans circuit music coming my way in the next little while I thought what better way to ease into the weekend than with a little Israeli deep house via Berlin :)

Chaim - Orion Skies (Original Mix)


Henry Saiz - All The Evils Of This World (Chaim Remix)

Output > Input

On a recent journey to visit friends and celebrate my nuptial anniversary in New York City, the Maestro himself, Danny Tenaglia happened to be playing in his 'hood of Brooklyn.  Never one to miss out on a chance to see Danny, I obviously jumped at the chance!  So over the bridge Cam and I went to meet with some more friends who were already inside. The club was pretty much perfect (except for the drink prices) but BIG, crystal clear sound, a small room box space with a balcony that surrounded the dancefloor that was packed with a knowledgeable and appreciative crowd made up for that.  OutPut in Brooklyn should somewhere to add to the long list of things to do and see in NY.

Danny took us on a trip like he always does, going from disco (I Feel Love was the first track I heard once we got inside) to deep house, tribal & techno.  None of the usual Danny antics with flashlights and goofing around or dancefloor visits.  He was seemingly having a blast too.  Below I'll leave a couple of the tracks he played.. though sadly not the one I really want to have to share with you.  The one he came on the mic and introduced as "just a little something I've been working on in the studio. Its not really ready yet..".  From the opening haunting cello, everyone on the floor recognized it. Danny was playing Eleanor Rigby by the Beatles.  A mix that will surely never ever see the light of day as a release because of who the original artist is, but let me just say that with Ableton and Logic, you too, can remix the Beatles. One of those dancefloor moments I won't ever forget, and I've had that damn song stuck in there for a week now.

We all know how great Maceo Plex is so its no shocker when I'm out and I hear something I'm diggin', that when I shazam it there is a good chance it will come up as Maceo Plex.  The guy is prolifically releasing great tracks at an alarming rate.

Maceo Plex - Stimulation (Original Mix)

It felt like he was playing this song for about 15 minutes. which he probably was... its a 10 minute long track anyway, and theres a certain bit that begins a bit after 6 mins that he was looping. I turned to Cam and said... this sound suspiciously like Heartbreak (Make me a dancer)  by the Freemasons.  If you have ever been within 20 feet of me in a club when that song has come on I apologize for likely striking you with exuberance.  Anyhoo, this sounded familiar.  It doesn't actually sound ANYTHING like heartbreak, for the record. But around the 6 minute mark something about that beat even now sober listening to it does remind me of Heartbreak a lil bit. Its a very old song which is likely why it sounded familiar..

Shiloh - Cafe Del Mariachi (Nick Warren Remix)

oh, How Sweet It Is indeed!

So as a young house music addict, Mark Farina was definitely one of my go to sources for funky beats.  Back before shazaam and all that I'd literally have pages in notebooks with song lyrics written down so I could spend hours scouring the interwebs looking for the songs and trying to hear the stuff I had heard out in the comfort of my shoebox sized, first apartment.  Well here I go strolling through my iTunes and I find a set from a festival in 1998 called How Sweet It Is, with an over one hour mix from Mr. Farina.  This set has been on literally EVERY computer I have owned in the past 15 years... thats a lot of hard drives. Anyhoo, near the end this song comes on.... and I have a realization. I should harness the power of my smart phone and find out what this track is that has been bugging me for 15 years. I knew the artist, and the name... but I had never been able to find a remix of it. That is until now.

An oldie but a goodie..

Smoke City - Mr. Gorgeous (and Miss Curvaceous) (Mood II Swing Vocal Mix)

Guestation

Guest post!
Josh here, a good friend of Rob's, especially in the musical arena. As he's mentioned in past posts, we've had a music swappage ritual that's been going on for quite some time. In fact, shortly after Rob and I barely started hanging out (it must be 10 years ago now) we headed out to a party weekend at a friend's spot a couple hours north of Toronto and he presented me with a mix he'd put together for me based on what bits he'd gleaned from my taste in choons.  Pretty spot on with the added bonus of many new sounds I hadn't yet been introduced to.  So I returned the favour...and so it began. It's moved from CDs and memory sticks to Dropbox and Rob's music blog...the medium for sharing keeps changing but in this instance the medium isn't the message, the music is.

So clearly I'm a fan of Rob's blog and happy he can share the gems he finds with anyone else who arrives at this corner of the net.  But since this has become his de facto method of continuing to share music with me I can get a little impatient when it's not regularly updated.  And so was the case a couple months ago upon which I sent him a friendly reminder that it was due time to post some something new.  He's a busy bee and doesn't always have the time to organize his plentiful new music and words into a post.  I get it - but it pissed me off and it prompted me to tell him 'if you don't, I'll post it for you dammit'.  Well, Roberto thought this sounded superb and so the idea of a moonboots guest post was born.

It's taken a while for this idea to turn into a post...a while to make the time and let a few tracks and ideas gestate into Moonboots' first guest post, but here it is.


Secret Places - El Mundo & Satori
This track makes me realize how closely tied together music and memories are...very similar to smell.  Songs and albums can transport us to a very specific time in our lives and reference an emotion.  Secret Places reminds me of not one, but three distinct moments...the first being my initial listen in the middle of an Audiofly podcast while I was out on a cross-city walk with my camera. It's deep, pitched-down march-like rhythm paired with an echoed layer of brass (trombone, I say) was pretty unique... it was the soundtrack to my urban exploration that day.  Second: playing it for Rob while driving down St. Clair Avenue with Rob a few days later to a similar reaction.  And third: at a party hosted by our friend Cameron a couple years later when we were searching for a good early morning track and all Rob could muster was "oh, I know, the track you played...from a set...with some horns...you know how it goes: bah, bah, bah..." Funny enough, I immediately knew exactly which one he meant but neither Sahzam nor Soundhound were able to find the name of it. So that morning I tried to figure out what set it was in the middle of in the depth of my iTunes and finally, proudly, found it.  I stumbled upon that same set a couple weeks ago and Shazam was finally able to tag it. I was happy.
Movin' On - Mario Basanov feat. Monica Liu
I've been a fan of Mario Basanov's ever since I stumbled his double album 'Changed' over a year ago produced with regular collaborator Vidis.  This Lithuanian duo have since been putting out some of the best in electronic music.  They have a knack for maintaining a strong electronic sensibility in the backing track and choosing a great melody and vocalist that often pulls the whole product a different direction which makes it more interesting and song-like.  They also collaborate with a huge variety of amazing guest vocalists, all of which have their own very distinct style.  I love that I never know what to expect from these releases... like Movin' On's nice stripped down base of sounds with Monica Liu's sharp vocal.

Graveyard Tan (Version Two) - Konrad Black, Art Department
I first heard this track on the dancefloor at Stereol this past spring.  It's a dark and twisted stomper that Tiga also played at Footwork a few weeks back as well.  It's a good bridge track, able to move a party from one vibe to another.  I was nice to hear it on both occasions.