Five tracks vol. 7

Got nothing but good vibes music to share this week since it's spring and I like the sun. Also, a PSA: I've made a YouTube playlist for everything that's being added here, so if you want to skip the bullshit and just listen to songs, give this thingy a follow why don't you:

OK here are some freshies. 

Tata Vega - I've Got My Second Wind feat. G.C. Cameron



Heard Theo Parrish play what I assume is his own fast, loopy edit of this some years ago and hooo boy it's a good one. Full to the brim with gorgeous vocals from both Tata and Motown dude G.C. Cameron, it's smooth beautiful disco from the top shelf. No idea if Theo's edit was actually released, but you can hear it on his gobsmackingly good final set from Plastic People.


Eon - We'll Go On



Oh goody, it's big, fast, bright, emotional soul from your boys Eon. I so often find myself humming this catchy number to myself, it's just a beaut of a melody. Weirdly these fellas did just the two albums and they're both self-titled - guess they were either super into the name or didn't have much imagination. But they're good boys and this is a great song.


TC James and The Fist O Funk Orchestra - Bumpsie's Whipping Cream (Tom Savarese Remix)



I've never quite understood the niche sector of disco folks who seem to be obsessed with featuring a woman moaning to climax in a song, but that aspect aside this is a fucking belter of a tune. When the bothersome sex noises finally peak and the sax jizzes everywhere it's an absolute dance floor melter. Found this on a comp called The Men In The Glass Booth which has some other quality OG disco re-edits from the likes of Walter Gibbons, Jim Burgess and Francois K, it's worth checking!


Little River Band - It's A Long Way There



Yes hello it's Aussie AOR legends Little River Band. Yes the one that John Farnham was in for a while but not at this point in the mid-70s when they recorded surely their best song, It's A Long Way There. Yes it's got to be up there with the best AOR jams of that era, with great Crosby Stills & Nash-style harmonies, big Doobie Brothers Long Train Runnin' energy and an indulgent amount of classic rock guitar soloing. Yessss I like it.


Michael Franks - When The Cookie Jar Is Empty



I don't like picking just one Michael Franks track to share because he has so much magnificent music in his discography, but oh well. He's an interesting fellow - his lyrics usually have this novelty silliness to them yet the music is pure class. It's smooth loungeroom jazz with a perfect '70s chiller aesthetic that makes excellent background music but shouldn't be discounted as foreground music because he's just really fucking good. Anyway, here's one of the many that I like.

THANKS.

Five tracks vol. 6: oddballs

Had a couple of stranger bits I felt like sharing this week and I figured I'd dump all the outsider weirdos into one place. I love strange records by unusual people who have completely their own sound and vision, and they usually come with really interesting stories attached. Anyways, here are a few of those things. 

Ronald Langestraat - I'm Ready For Dancing



I really quite adore the first Ronald Langestraat album that South Of North unearthed and reissued a few years back. Supposedly the Amsterdammer was getting weary of the "high brow" jazz scene in the early '80s and did the LPs as a bit of a personal space jazz project, playing every instrument and self-recording in his living room. This track is one of my faves from the record - it's a little jazz, a little leftfield disco, a little weirdo lounge, wrapped up in an endearingly primitive package.


Vito Ricci - I'm At That Party Right Now



Dunno how I ended up uncovering this one but it vividly transports me back to the first time I went to London in 2015 or something and it was on heavy rotation at the RA office. It's from a Music From Memory retrospective of New York weirdo Vito Ricci's mid-80s releases, and it's somehow completely mesmerising to me. It's astonishingly lo-fi outsider boogie that's addictively groovy in a way that doesn't quite make sense to me.


Tonetta - A Really Big Cock



Of all places I heard this played on FBi Radio while I was driving and it floored me, quickly sending me into a years-long fascination with the now-73-year-old Canadian sex-freak enigma that is Tonetta. There's just too much to begin to explain, but if you haven't gone down the Tonetta rabbit hole, I can't recommend it enough. In any case, this is a song about his big dick that happens to be deviantly funky and remains one of my favourites.


Human Egg - Feeling On My Mind



This is not a weird song but, as a whole package, the self-titled 1978 Human Egg album is remarkably diverse and downright WEIRD. I picked up the reissue on Favorite in 2010 after hearing this chunky low-tempo strutter and was quite bamboozled. There's other funky stuff like this, including the uptempo jazz workout 'Love Like This' that flicks between space disco and Head Hunters-grade fusion, and then there's some totally off the wall shit like 'Onomatopoeia'. But all in all, a very special record.


Osamu Shoji - Airport in South Islands (Waffles Edit)



Ok this is totally splitting from the formula because it's a reworking that hardly resembles the original, but my blog my rules. Osamu Shoji's 1979 cosmic synth album Night Flight is a real oddball beauty. This edit on the anonymous Waffles label, which I wouldn't make any connection to the original if it wasn't listed on the Discogs page, is squelchy, low-tempo electronic funk that's sure to impress anyone you play it for.

Back with regular programming next week 🫡