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)