And into the third month...

Having made it into our third month with subscribers growing on a daily basis and the hits still coming in I would just like to thank everyone for reading the blog and long may it continue.

On the music front I'm posting what some may describe pure nonsense and quite possible they could be right but there is something compelling at the heart of these tracks from Mr Oizo. Either that or the fumes from the painting and decorating have finally gone to my head.

The truth be told, I love the fact that someone out there has made music like this and then had it released and that's why it's being posted.

A toast; to the art of noise and nonsense, from Captain Beefheart to Lou Reed and MMM (contractual obligations obliged)...

Haydn's on the next two posts - see you in three days...

Mr Oizo - (ee)
Mr Oizo - Vagiclean 2

The Scroggins and a guy called Leroy...

God bless ESG - an awesome band and influential across so many genres. Probably one of my favorite musical scenes must be New York in the early eighties and these guys were pivotal. Sampled beyond belief (to the point where they released a live album called 'Sample Credits Don't Pay Our Bills') and produced by the reverb lovin' Martin Hannett, 'Moody (Spaced Out)' has got to be an all time classic.



ESG - Moody (Spaced Out)
ESG - Come Away

Tags: ESG
Tags: music
Tags: mp3

Normal service is resumed

It appears that Tom is having a few technical difficulties so I thought I'd treat you to some more Stevie talkbox action.

Electra - Jibaro

Norma Jean Bell - I'm the Baddest Bitch [Moodymann Mix]

Common - Voices Inside My Head

Peter Brown - We Are People Too

Access Denied

Due to on going technical issues and the decorating of the upstairs of my house, my computer is still dismantled, making it hard to get tunes up here for you all.

I will have something up by Monday once I get back to work - promise.


Until then Disco Delicious have been added to our links - check out our friends down under when you get a chance.

(Cheers Andy!)

Dennis Parker - Like an Eagle

Kashmere Stage Band - Zero Point

Voyage - Point Zero

Kim English - Learn 2 Luv [Mood II Swing Club Mix]

Montana - The Toys Come to Life

Holidays, Hidden Folders and Hard Drives

With my feet back in England and the responsibility of blogging weighing heavy on my shoulders after a stint away I find myself faced with my music hard drive virtually melted on my return.

This poses a number of problems - the worst of it being how do I get my music off my iPod and onto my computer to get it back onto my iPod again (if anyone has had to do this regardless of all the freeware out there it's still an an arse to do.)

The answer? The network at work! As I am currently in a copying frenzy I have to admit that there isn't really a theme to this post and the first two tracks to appear on the network were getting posted as a means to save Haydn from a blogging U-tube addiction that has caught on in my absence. 

On that note a double act remix from Prins Thomas and Lindstrom of a personal favorite artist The Juan McLean plus Herbie reworked by Jeremy Ellis.

The Juan McLean - Tito's Way (Lindstrom and Prins Thomas Remix)
Herbie Hancock - Chameleon (Jeremy Ellis Remix)

Tags: Prins Thomas
Tags: Lindstrom
Tags: Herbie Hancock
Tags: The Juan McLean

Lasse Gjertsen - Amateur

Melissa Manchester - Bad Weather

Black Sheep - Strobelite Honey

Zazu - Captain Starlight

Escort vs The Muppet Show

Astonishing!

Paul McCartney - Temporary Secretary

Escort - Starlight

Randy Pie - Winter Song

Sahara All Stars Band Jos - Enjoy Yourself

A helping hand

Isley Brothers - Get Into Something

Kabbala - Ashewo Ara

Talking Heads - Mind [Alternate Version]

Material - Reduction

Fun with Stevie on Sesame Street

Quando Quango - Love Tempo (Mark Kamins Remix)

Prince - Sexy Dancer

Munich Machine - Space Warrior

XTC - Cairo

Can you guess the other three?

Marvin Gaye - Ego Trippin' Out

Carol Williams - Can't Get Away From Your Love [10" Promo Dub] (Ray 'Pinky' Velazquez not Larry Levan, sorry!)

The Dance - Do Dada

Rafael Cameron - Boogie's Gonna Get You [12" Instrumental Mix]

It's called "getting down"

Sheila E - A Love Bizarre

Alhaji K. Frimpong - Kyenkyen Bi Adi Mawu

Stevie Wonder - As If You Read My Mind

The Clash - The Cool Out

Wild combination

Dean Meredith and Andy Meecham have been moving dancefloors for almost two decades under their various noms de plume - including Big Two Hundred, Emperor Machine, Sir Drew and, famously, Bizarre Inc. Under their Chicken Lips guise they have been responsible for a slew of fantastic releases which often contain a devastating mixture of electro, dub, disco and rock.

Bell X1 - Flame [Chicken Lips Mix]

Robbie Williams - Rudebox [Chicken Lips Malfunction Dub]

Playgroup - Number One [Chicken Lips Dub]

Chicken Lips - He Not In [Greg Wilson Edit]

Mixed with Love Pt 1

Walter Gibbons was THE Don.

DJ, producer and remixer extraordinaire Walter was one of the chosen few who really understood how to move a dancefloor - it was in his DNA. Although the tracks that he worked with often ranged in quality he would always cut out the cheese or, at the very least, push it to the back of the mix whilst bringing the rhythm section and horns/strings to the fore.

Here are four fine examples of his work including a rare Gladys Knight remix where the bass is introduced after what seems like an age, a sparse and rather trebly remix of Betty LaVette's "Doin' the Best That I Can" and my personal favourite his Arts and Crafts remix.

Betty LaVette - Doin' the Best That I Can (Walter Gibbons Remix)

Gladys Knight - It's a Better Than Good Time (Walter Gibbons Remix)

Arts and Crafts - I've Been Searchin' (Walter Gibbons Mix)

Arthur Russell - Let's Go Swimming (Walter Gibbons Remix)

I don't wanna dance

Christmas 1982 - I was given my first record - a crisp 7" of Eddy Grant's "I Don't Want to Dance" single on ICE with an a capella version on the b-side. Happy days.

Eddy Grant must be one of the most under-rated producers of all time, he had his first number one in 1968 (The Equals "Baby Come Back") and over the next twenty years went on to produce some awesome tracks both solo and with Symarip/Pyramids, Frontline Orchestra and The Coach House Rhythm Section.

Often politically charged and always innovative - this is my chance to give the man the respect he deserves.

The Coach House Rhythm Section - Timewarp

Derek Harriot - Black Skinned Blue-Eyed Boys

Frontline Orchestra - Don't Turn Your Back On Me (Removed on request)

Eddy Grant - My Turn to Love You

From one Sylvester to another

I had a bit of an obsession with Sly & The Family Stone when I was 16, I found an old album in my parent's vinyl collection and was instantly captivated by the feel-good vibes, the horns and, most of all, the basslines.

I've picked three Family Stone originals and a cover of an early Abaco Dream song to showcase Sly's amazing grasp of funk, rock and psychedelia as well as the mark he has indelibly left on Hip-Hop.

Sly & The Family Stone - Crossword Puzzle

Sly & The Family Stone - Trip to Your Heart

Sly & The Family Stone - My Gorilla Is My Butler [Instrumental]

The Chairmen of the Board - Life and Death in G&A (Part 1)

Do you wanna funk?

Sylvester's "Over and Over " is a stone-cold classic and probably would be in my all time top 10 - if it didn't change every five minutes!

Sylvester, born Sylvester James, is probably best known for being a disco diva and latterly "The Queen of Hi-NRG", however, he made some amazing grooves especially those with synth supremo Patrick Cowley and his backing singers Two Tons of Fun.

Sylvester - I Need Somebody to Love

Sylvester - Give It Up (Don't Make Me Wait)

Sylvester - Over and Over

Annual Leave Pending...

This will be my last post for a while as I am off on holiday for a few weeks so I will leave you in the capable hands of Haydn, NuYourican Soul and Q-Tip - a shoe in for one of my favorite tracks of all time...

I Am The Black Gold of the Sun (MAW mix with Q Tip) - NuYourican Soul

A little bit of this - a little bit of that...

Three tracks tonight - quality disco from Esther Williams - one of our talented and certainly not ugly artists with a history of tracks in R&B, Jazz and Gospel. An excellent squelchy bass, cosmic disco track from The Emperor Machine and something I stumbled across from John Peel's Fabric Live 07 compilation which made me crack a smile a the top of the M62. Soukous guitar at it's best from a 12" released in 1989. My first experience of African Rumba no less...

Maloko - In the Midnight Hour

The Emperor Machine - Seka Wants Your Vcs3

Esther Williams - Last Night Changed It All

When worlds collide

I have only one recommendation to make today and that is to turn the volume up and the lights down.

Steve Miller Band - Macho City

Hell yeah!

Save me Jebus!

In a struggle to get a selection of decent tunes on the blog tonight I left myself in the hands of the iPod shuffle fate. Luckily, as always, fate delivered the goods and providence prevails.

Your Friday tunes are as follows - a Larry Levan favorite from David Joseph 'You Can't Hide' - a modulation freak out on every synth in the tune plus Todd Terje's remix of Fox n Wolf's  'Claws against Knifes' complete with dub hi-hat intro.

Enjoy your Friday night....

David Joseph - You Can't Hide

Fox n Wolf - Claws Against Knifes (Todd Terje Remix)

Tags: David Joseph
Tags: Fox n Wolf
Tags: mp3
Tags: music

The missing tracks...

Here are the missing tracks from two fays ago - a An Ed Banger effort from Sebastian on 'I Still Remember', a  remix for the B-side 'Tulips' and 'Banquet' taken from The Silent Alarm remixed album from Boyz Noize.

I Still Remember (Sebastian Remix)
Tulips (Minotaur Shock Mix)
Banquet (Boyz Noize Vox Mix)
Tags: Bloc Party
Tags: Sebastian
Tags: music
Tags: mp3

Dance Moderno

Sergio Mendes isn't just known for his forays into easy and uneasy listening, he also dabbled in R&B and disco. Here's three from the late-seventies/early-eighties...

Sergio Mendes and Brasil '88 - I'll Tell You

Sergio Mendes and the New Brasil '77 - Mozambique

Sergio Mendes and the New Brasil '77 - The Real Thing

Voices, voices everywhere...

First of all for some unknown reason I can't get the other tracks up onto the site tonight so it's a single post I'm afraid.

Over the weekend I found out, in my usually belated fashion that a Weekend In The City is a truly great album. Thank god.

In all honesty the 'Silent Alarm' past me by until 12 months later when I really got into it and the same was happening again with the second album. It takes a very close listen in my opinion  - certainly not as obvious as first set of tunes yet still retaining that angular, dance tinge edge. probably the best band in Britain.

Erol providing a different take on She's Hearing Voices...

She's Hearing Voices (Erol Alkan Calling Your Dub)

Tags: Bloc Party
Tags: Erol Alkan
Tags: music
Tags: mp3

Dancing in Wider Circles

Holger Czukay was the bassist from everybody's favourite krautrockers Can. A former music teacher who studied under Stockhausen, Czukay is famed for his leftfield excursions which often had dancefloor leanings. After leaving Can in 1977, he went on to forge a successful solo career during which he also hooked up with other likeminded artists like Eurhythmics, Jah Wobble and David Sylvian. He is also known to be accomplished with the old 'disco scissors'.

Can - Vitamin C

Jah Wobble, The Edge, Holger Czukay and Ben Mandelson - Snake Charmer [Francois Kevorkian Snake Dub]

Holger Czukay - Cool in the Pool

Can - Aspectacle

Now get the hell out of New York...

After being badgered by his old Soundman James Murphy to start making music again since a long and arduous period of drug abuse (whilst playing with Six Finger Satellite), McLean bought a sampler and starting playing with his drum machine again. Free from New York he got straight, got signed to DFA, resurrected by finding a sound that had a place in modern music (after never really being understood or accepted  when grunge was king) and breaking a promise to himself that his first musical experience would be his last, he's now producing some awesome tracks.

Great percussion in the DFA vein - check out the following...

Give Me Every Little Thing (X-press 2 Remix)
AD2003

Tags: music
Tags: mp3
Tags: Juan McLean

Afrobeat: Yoruba Funk

I watched Forest Whittaker's fantastic perfomance as Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland today and it has prompted me to get some sounds of Africa onto Ugly Talented.

Fela Kuti was at the vanguard of this sound and is an obvious choice but I've chosen a track from his Africa 70 drummer, Tony Allen, purely because I was so excited to hear it during the film. I really, really wanted to put Fela's and Roy Ayers' "2000 Blacks Got To Be Free" up but I'm going to put that aside for another day.

Instead we've got three more African heavyweights in the form of Manu Dibango, Babatunde Olatunji and Buari.

Tony Allen - Afro Disco Beat

Manu Dibango - African Battle

Babatunde Olatunji - Soul Makossa

Buari - Advice from Father