Bye Spicy Mud

Hot damn, someone please tell me who did the original of this! Amazing tune, what you might call a country disco narrative from down south, right up there with Penicillin Penny. Plenty of dancefloor sleaze with some legit harmonica, crooning lead guitar, funky keys and bluesy bass - and I'm pretty sure every member of the band was wearing some kind of hat. So addictive. Gimmie some spottage! Cheers Skylevel.

Skylevel - Missus Hudu [buy]

Reliable. Dependable. Assured. Solid. Guaranteed. You can NEVER go wrong with Super Value, it's just impossible. Their 15th Special Edits record and by now you really don't need to think about it. It's a simple four-step method: pull out money, take record home, play record for people, become globally loved and respected DJ. If you owned nothing but the Super Value catalogue you would still have a LOT of friends.

LTJ - Get Cha [buy]

Digging this version of Apache by Visioneers. Sticking with the Incredible Bongo Band vibe, it's all big brass, geeetars and percussion. In fact it's quite similar, just lacking that sorta hip-hop-ish element - instead it's more of a live-on-stage kinda vibe. A bit more gentle I guess. Change is always good! The B-side 'Shaft In Africa' is rockin too.

Visioneers - Apache [buy]

This Psychemagik mix for Test Pressing is easily the best new mix I've heard so far this year. On par with Time To Noodle, the cruisy intergalactic psychedelic vibes flow like a river of rainbows. Extra props for ending with Dire Straits. Absolutely essential.

Psychemagik - Celestial Love

G'night.

Four & More!

Yikes, this old blog just turned 4 years old the other day. Thanks to those of you who've stuck around, it's been swell fun. I might do a bit of a celebratory Delishcast next week but for now I've got the very best birthday gift of all - the latest Black Cow record. Four releases in (coincidence? I think NOT) and it's been made even more clear that, for me, it's the best edits label currently in existence. The B-side on this one is an absolute monster... Massive party vibes and some of the most ridiculous bass shredding you'll encounter. Where they find this shit I have no idea, but I'd do anything to move there and dig full time. I am in HEAVEN.

Black Cow - Rotation No. 5 [buy]

I think now that this 'ere blog is getting older and wiser (nah probs senile) I'd like to make things a bit more broad and cover some of the other sounds in my life of which there are plenty. Ever since hearing Forest Flower by Charles Lloyd when I was 16 I've been so keen to find more psychedelic jazz that reaches those heights. I picked up this Lloyd album 'Geeta' a couple of months ago, which seems like it's been massively overlooked in his discography, and it's such a gem. Such cool instrumentalist credits too: "Charles Lloyd - Soprano Flute, Alto Flute, Tenor Saxophone, Transcending Sonship in Rhythm, Sound & Color." Anyway check out this beautiful journey through classic rock and free jazz, hopefully it might excite a few of youuuuuuuuu

Charles Lloyd - Geeta Suite

One of the things I really hate about digital music is how quickly new tunes get lost in the abyss of a clogged up iTunes. I've been doing some risky all-shuffle action lately hoping to uncover some stuff I've forgotten about and it's been pretty successful. This Dennis Jr. track from early last year is something I'm really stoked to have found again. A brilliant fusion between deep dubbed out electronic dance music and sporadic noodling jazz improvisation. With the late Dennis Otone cutting loose on the alto over a progressive dance backing with a really deep vibe that steadily heads deeper and darker (even flirting with acid at the end!), this is just such an awesome mix of perfectly balanced flavours. Really superb stuff this! And well worth wading through all the shit on my hard drive for.

Dennis Jr feat. Dennis Otone - Daytime Dream pt. 1 & 2 [buy]

And just cos it's my party and I'll do whatever the fuck I want thank you very much:

Amadeo - Memories

Thanks again dear friends, got lots and lots of love for you all! xx

Funny Joke

How good are the Swedish House Mafia hey?

But enough silliness, let's get down to business. The most recent Redux release by White Elephant is doing it for me big time at the moment, especially the Mark E remix - although I'd recommend listening to it in the context of the original, it makes it that much more special. A beautiful acoustic foot-tapper with all sorts of gorgeous synths injecting colourful melodies and lofty pads for bedding. There's a cheese element but it's subtle and tasteful, just a little bit of brie added to a fruit platter. Definitely record of the month here.

White Elephant - Sir John (Mark E Remix) [buy]

Haven't heard of Boohgaloo Zoo before but I'm plenty impressed by this fun release on Love Monk. I Got is a bit of a heads-down electro disco thing that's super funky and features a really nice arrangement. Not at all aggressive, but a little dark and Halloweenish. The keys in particular, which pop up a couple of times for a bit of a feature, really grab me. So do the restrained and thoughtfully placed acid lines. It's nice listening to dance music that's clearly been arranged with care and patience. The A2 on this record is great too, groovy and a tad strange which is tops. The remixes by Mugwump and Aardvarck on the flip are yet to really grab me but we'll see.

Boohgaloo Zoo - I Got [buy]

I've been waiting patiently for my new Black Cow record to arrive to do this post and after 2.5 weeks it's still not here which is fairly rubbish. So instead I've had to dig into the vaults to rediscover something nice, and I can gladly say I've done just that. I really love this whole record that came out on Is It Balearic? a couple of years ago but it was always the Smith & Mudd flip side I played, I was always a bit neglectful of the Coyote side. This Nhessingtons remix is just superb, very reminiscent of a Lindstrom odyssey that flows beautifully through cruisy Balearic vibes. The original is great too - the whole record is. Very happy it's back in my repertoire!

Coyote - Ayahuasca (The Nhessingtons Remix) [buy]

More good records on the way, stay tuned :)