A Pineapple

Well the weather this week has been shit but last week building up to a 34°C day on Monday has had me slipping into a universe where there is only Moodymann. I can't think of any better music in the world to listen to while driving around on a belting hot day than some of KDJ's jazzy grooves. Not so much the techno 12s, but the albums just DO IT when the sun is out. 'People' is surely one of the juiciest jams in existence, with gorgeous sax baking away and Rhodes noodling about on top of a sickeningly slick groove. The other track - from the first Private Collection 12" - is just good fun with even more of Kenny's legendary personality bleeding through than usual. Sorry for the bullshit quality mp3. If you haven't immersed yourself in Moody's catalogue then you're missing out on some of the best experiences in music. Spark up somewhere warm and soak it up.

Moodymann - People [buy]

Kenny Dixon Jr. - Untitled [buy]

Found another top Soulphiction track tucked away in the dark abyss of my iTunes library from some time in 2008. Stripped back simplicity is the vibe and it works just fine. Just a few layers of repetitive bass plucking and some DIY handyman percussion holds the whole house together and the result is nice and sturdy. Not much more to say really, it's fundamentally a good track.

Soulphiction - Prison Song [buy]

Well since Modular are giving this away for free I guess every man and his blog will be sharing it on the information superhighway. But that's ok, the meeting of DJ Harvey and Canyons is worth jumping into the web 2.0 orgy to celebrate. I wouldn't have a clue how to classify it, it's a bit of a muddle of funk, acid, 90s house, disco and some weird filter shit, almost like a mini DJ mix with some strange record combinations and very busy hands. In a way it's exactly the kind of offspring I can imagine Canyons and Harv having, totally all over the shop but made to work perfectly by musical minds working on the next level. Full marks for the Galleon Trade remix too, this is a really great package! Although it doesn't look like it'll be released on 12" which is pretty bogus. PS the Canyons album is out today, give it a streamy stream!

Canyons - See Blind Through (DJ Harvey Remix)

Also check out this wonderfully fun set via RBMA Radio with Space Dimension Controller spinning back to back with Braiden. Happy days!

ADNOISLKFNOI*#IUR)WFENLS#)OIW CKE)R(@#JIKEW)ROIN BYE

Disco Delicious' Top 10 Delicacies of 2010

Man this is always so tricky boiling 12 months down to 10 tracks. It's taken longer than I anticipated to put this all together so just pretend it was posted a week ago back when it was that distant year we've all forgotten about now, 2010. Massive THANKS to everyone who still reads this lil' blog of mine and hope you all had a super duper silly season. Will get stuck into 2011 very soon but for now here are the things that really tickled me in the last 12 months. Hope you enjoy!

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#10 Justus Köhncke - Stilove4music 025

In a recent interview Harvey said that to him "techno and disco [are] just the same but using different instruments. It's just a natural progression." I reckon that's a really nice perspective and, whether or not you agree with him, this philosophy seems to be deeply embedded in Justus Köhncke's music. This Stilove4music record he did earlier in the year featuring 3 drastic reworkings of classic Chic tracks had me pretty torn at first. I had a different opinion after each listen - sometimes I adored it, sometimes I thought it was boring rubbish. I guess it's a lot to do with context: play this record in the right place at the right time and it's devastatingly good. When the disco and techno edges collide it all makes perfect sense.

Justus Köhncke - Now Phreeq [buy]

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#9 Hudson People - Trip To Your Mind (LTJ Re-Edit)

LTJ has had a fantastic year, releasing some of the most consistently great edits of 2010. For me this Hudson People edit was up there in contention for disco edit of the year. LTJ's edits are so tasteful, so restrained and mature, and his selections are just superb. Whilst the original track is a severely groovy number with gorgeous vocals and a funky rhythm section, it's truly taken to the next level with the simple addition of a thumping kick drum, some careful EQing to really get the horns blasting, and thoughtful restructuring to turn it into an absolute club bomb. The breakdown turns even the most stubborn punters into dancefloor puppets being manhandled by this stellar jam.

Hudson People - Trip To Your Mind (LTJ Edit) [buy]

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#8 Midnight Savari + Death Strobe Records

OK OK, I really don't want to toot my own horn here - hence the low chart position - but running a record label has been soo much fun and I absolutely adore the music we've released so far. If I wasn't worried about getting web-slapped this would be up at #1 because it's easily been the best + most fun thing about this year. Domeyko/Gonzalez managed to conjur up a ridiculous EP for us that's as captivating and awe-inspiring as it is brain-mushing and disorientating. Midnight Savari's 'Pinisi' EP is a properly superb club record that moves from maritime balearic disco to 808-laden 80s electro to space cruising synth grooves. It just feels so awesome to be holding the finished record! Hope it's been enjoyed by you lot as much as it has by us.

Midnight Savari - Pinisi [buy]

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#7 Max Essa - Uptown Vibration

What a fucking jam! This release by Max Essa on Is It Balearic? is a real winner from every angle - and I'm not even going to have time to mention the 20-minute slo-mo atmos-balearic journey on the A-side. Uptown Vibration is kinda laid back and dubby but at the same time a real pumper that grooves hard and deep. The chubby bass balances perfectly with the shapely pads and crispy piano line. Hang out for the slap-tastic bridge and the strutting guitar that follows and you've got a real winner. I've been playing this one way too much, it's completely danceable in just about any situation.

Max Essa - Uptown Vibration [buy]

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#6 Pilooski - AAA

There's been a bit of sadness this year with the RVNG of the NRDS 12" series finishing up and Moxie edits saying goodbye to the record business. Easily two of the best names in obscure disco edits of the past few years, fingers crossed some labels will step up and fill those oversized shoes. Pilooski's offering as the final NRDS release is a real thing of beauty - a quaint journey through a psychedelic soundscape which swirls and swells and continues to descend into a beautiful strangeness that's quite haunting and has an understated kind of sinister vibe buried deep in the song. It's not a record that suits all (or even many) occasions but when you're in the right mood it's a stunner.

Pilooski - AAA [buy]

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#5 Trickski - Pill Collins

Ohhh man this Trickski tune is a real masterpiece of deep. It builds and swells and rises with subtlety, and so does your anticipation. You know something big is coming and it makes you go crazy. In that sense it's a little like Sebastian Tellier's La Ritournelle - the build seems to go on for an eternity, then it bursts like a balloon filled with paint and everything in instantly drenched in colour and it's a massive injection of euphoria, then you've got the rest of the track to groove and let that brief moment sink in. If you don't get what I mean then it's probably the worst musical comparison ever. Just reaching the little sliver of Phil Collins' vocal feels like such a dazzling achievement and the final 3 minutes is spent in a state of 50% elation 50% relaxation. And if all of that sounds like total bullshit, it's still a fucking great dance track.

Trickski - Pill Collins [buy]

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#4 Harvey's Doc Severinsen Edits

It was so exciting to see Harvey returning to edits this year after a decade of leaving them behind. What's even more exciting is just how much effort was put into the production of this record by Pacific Beach Recording Company. It seems like the mastering of the edits was equally as important as the edits themselves. The result is an obscenely beautiful high-fidelity 12" with a couple of mind blowing tracks skilfully cut up and reworked by THE disco edits master. Whether you're a DJ or just someone who loves to whack on a great sounding record at home, this is easily one of the most essential releases of the year. My rip is a bit crap, buy it and see for yourself.

Doc Severinsen - Be With You (DJ Harvey Edit) [buy]

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#3 Black Cow Edits

These Black Cow 7"s have been such a joy to stumble across this year. As far as I can tell they're done by some dudes from the Jazzy Sport crew, aside from that they're super mysterious and that's the way I like it. It's the perfect thing to do - guys who run a specialist record store, and therefore have worked up pretty supreme digging powers, doing some rocking edits of the tastiest and rarest gems they can uncover. I haven't been able to track down any of the originals but man they sound unbelievable. This track for example mixes strange sounding dense electronic drums, a soul party chant, fluttering flute-synth melodies and a dangerous huge acid line noodling through the middle. It's incredible! Like I said, simply joyous records.

Black Cow - PMMF [buy]

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#2 Nicolas Jaar - A Time For Us

Probably one of the most predictable entries and rightly so. Young Nicolas Jaar has impressed zillions of electronic music lovers this year, particularly with this song. It starts so innocently with lightly coloured synths and a cruisy sounding party and you're lulled into a false sense of being led into a summery pop song. Something about the mesmerising ketamine vocals, the thickly textured bass and the dark druggy atmosphere suck you in so deep that you're suddenly heavily sedated and moulding around the song like jelly. When I first heard this track I was in a puddle on the floor by the end, my muscles and bones somehow disintegrating. And he's 20. Talented prick...

Nicolas Jaar - A Time For Us [buy]

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#1 Tornado Wallace - Tornado Never Dies

The number one spot was extremely easy for me to pick this year. This tune, and the whole EP that it's from, is absolutely supreme. It's far from just another disco edit - this is a stunning transformation of an already great track by Peter Jacques Band into a funky deep house disco monstrosity that grooves so agonisingly hard I'm surprised I haven't shattered a few teeth in the hundreds of listens I've given it since its release. It's as uplifting and euphoric as dance music comes with zero cheese factor. And it's by an Aussie, no less! Mr Tornado Wallace aka Lewis Day has had a pretty massive year with a string of beefy remixes and a couple of fab releases on Delusions of Grandeur but nothing in the past 12 months can touch his godlike Sleazy Beats record. If you can still find a copy of this anywhere it's worth selling a limb for. Otherwise the label is releasing a CD in the next month or two so keep an eye out!

Tornado Wallace - Tornado Never Dies

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I don't have the effort to proofread any of this so if I've used the word gem too much or got my facts completely wrong don't get too agro :)

I'd love to hear what your favourite things of 2010 were, feel free to comment away with your thoughts! I'll probably do a podcast with a bunch of things I couldn't squeeze in so if there's stuff you want to slap me for not including just hang tight, it might show up real soon. Thanks for another awesome year, much love to all! xxx

In The Flesh

This historics box set especially assembled for RVNG is blowing my mind. I'll just do an extremely brief summary since I would wank on about this for aeons. 10 tracks over 3 records remixed by the likes of Jackpot, Leo Zero, Allez-Allez, Andrew Allsgood, Low Motion Disco, SirBilly, Pink Stallone and MORE. Housed in a beautiful cardboard enclosure with each 12" being wrapped individually in mammoth 32" x 24" posters. The amount of love that has gone into this release is staggering. Read the full story on the RVNG website and snatch up one of the 50 in existence! Musically the package is a lot darker than I'd expected from seeing these names, and there have been a few really pleasant surprises. This is the holy grail for lovers of physical media.

historics - City to City (Pink Stallone High By Foot Remix) [buy]

Another beautiful package is this first release on Pacific Beach Recording Company with a couple of amazing Harvey edits of Doc Severinsen tracks. Heavyweight vinyl, amazingly well engineered, lovely packaging and groovy-as-fuck music. This track has strut written all over it. Can't wait to hear what's next on this label!

Doc Severinsen - Be With You (DJ Harvey Edit) [buy]

I've had this Meco Star Wars record for ages which has been a prized posession ever since seeing Stacey Hedger bust out a blistering trumpet solo over the top of the A-side. For some reason though I only listened to the other side for the first time last week. It's pretty cool! If you can get past the tedious marching drum breaks that interrupt every couple of minutes it's a pretty hot jam. Who wants to do the edit?

Meco - Other Galactic Funk

Parties parties parties. Next Sunday we're doing another Death Strobe weekend-end at Bondi Social which will be super fab - details to come. This Saturday hit up Adult Disco at The Civic (as usual) and have a goooood time.

Joyeux Anniversaire!

At long last the postman has been kind and the new wax is flowing again. This little blog turned 3 years old a couple of weeks ago and I think these tunes are worthy of a bit of a celebration post. So far these Black Cow 45s have scored a big 2 out of 2. So vintage yet so fresh. The A-side on the second release, O.P. Connection, is a dense party-funk jam with noodling bass and an over-excited horns section. These will continue to sell out seriously quickly so be alert like the grasshopper.

Black Cow - O.P. Connection [buy]

Long awaited edit on Golf Channel, as first heard on Justin Vandervolgen's incredible Try To Find Me Vol. 2 mix CD. TBD (Justin and Lee Douglas) are for me one of the most exciting duos going around at the moment. This track in particular drives me crazy, especially the second half where the electronics take hold and the dancing gets serious. Although the latest DJ Nature 12s honestly haven't really appealed to me, Golf Channel is still around the top of my list for labels that make me froth and this is a perfect example of why. DJs: this is a must have weapon.

Note: As requested I've replaced this with a Youtube link. Listen listen listen then BUY BUY BUY. Way too fucking good.

Try To Find Me - Get To My Baby (TBD Extension) [buy]

I LOVE YOU DANNY WANG, FO REAL. This new bootleg of an unearthed symphonic disco classic is just exceptional. Despite a bit of looping/extending towards the end, this is supposedly pretty much the original tune. If anybody could ID the original artist I'd be thrilled! Straight up this is one of my favourite records of the year so far. The B-side is a slow ballroom disco number which apparently comes from a 70s German TV show? To me it has a really cheesy Chinese string ballad vibe to it. An ID on that would be great too! This is so so so essential!

Danny the Dancer presents Oto Gelb - Love Tragedy In Verona [buy]

Really digging the direction Jacques Renault is taking at the moment - this latest edits record of his for On The Prowl is full of classic pumping house tunage. This track, which happens to be my favourite on the record, really isn't at all a good indicator of what else is on here... In The Middle Of The Night is a lovely, semi-mellow, soulful number that is certainly a few notches lower on the pump scale than the other three songs. This too will sell out in a flash if it hasn't already. Get hunting!

Jacques Renault - In The Middle Of The Night [buy]

Finally, after listening to Harvey's essential mix for probably the 300 millionth time yesterday, then chucking on some of the individual tracks afterwards, I decided I just can't listen to Dear Limmertz (by Azymuth) without immediately hearing Don Blackman's 'Heart's Desite' straight afterwards. Ever since hearing the two songs back to back I find it impossible to separate them. So here is the very partnership that makes me weak at the knees, the two simply sticky taped together as is done in the mix. I suppose it's nothing more than the way the hot-as-fuck basslines from each song compliment each other, but it drives me crazy. Enjoy!

Azymuth & Don Blackman - Limmertz's Desire

Thanks for reading and keeping this thing alive another year! The next 12 months promise to be pretty amazing: more more more great records, some actual output on our record label, and probably a fortnightly DD podcast starting very soon. Stay cooooooooool!! xx

Blow By Blow

Sorry folkies, been a bit sick this past week and severely lacking motivation. Going to blast through this so at least everyone gets some music. This Phil Collins edit/remix/bootleg by Osunlade from 2007 is just perfect. He adds a gentle tribal feel with some lovely earthy drums and percussive synths whilst really drawing out the vocals with lofty pads and distant guitar. Fantastic instrumental section just past half way! Sorry for the crappy rip, my copy always skips so this is the best I could find.

Osunlade - In The Air Tonight (Yoruba Soul Vox)

This 12" by Stromba, 'Giddy Up', is just nice and simple and cool and hip and stuff. To my ear it's got a little bit of a DFA vibe going on with the disco rock drums and the pushy presence of the bass. Not much to say about this, just a very solid record.

Stromba - Giddy Down

I've been listening to this Golden Tiger Tales compilation a lot in the past week, put together by Paradise Lost crew member Mikey Miutante. It's full of local tunes, generally a bit more in the downtempo department, showcasing a wide variety of lush and alluring sounds coming out of the cracks of Sydney. They've printed 99 lovely looking CDs which will be snapped up quick so if you dig this stuff I recommend hitting up their Bandcamp page. Very interesting release.

Out in the Sticks - Dog Got My Wah Wah [buy]

I have to announce my piss-pants excitement about Harvey travelling to Australia in May - and not only that, Garth is coming with him AND they'll be playing a Picnic show in Sydney. Life can't get much better than this, what a boner sensation! Here are some Harvey essentials for anyone unlucky enough to not be a Harvey fanatic, including his ultimately legendary and absolutely crucial Essential Mix; one from the Black Cock archives; a dope Avalanches extension; and one of my all time favourite edits which I'm reposting just because it's so totally wonderful: Joyous. Can you tell I'm fucking stoked?

DJ Harvey - Shine On

The Avalanches - Electricity (Harvey's Nightclub Re-Edit)

Pleasure - Joyous (DJ Harvey Re-Edit)

DJ Harvey - Essential Mix, 31 May 1998

Picnic are also hosting Pete Herbert in the usual St Peters warehouse this Sunday afternoon. Get on it.

A Flower of Unknown Colour

Sorry about the delayyy, brain has been fried. Dear me.

No clue how I missed this a couple of months ago, I'm horrified i could let ANY In Flagranti track slip past me. This remix of The Glass is just fantastic, nothing less than what I would expect. 20,000 different rhythms bouncing around, hypnotic forever-unresolving chords that keep reeling you in, this is extreme dance material. Play it loud loud loud. Cover the furniture in bubble wrap first.

The Glass - Wanna Be Dancin (In Flagranti Remix) [buy]

A couple of classic edits from a couple of true masters: Theo Parrish and DJ Harvey. Fuck, these are as groovy as you could possibly ask for. My only general complaint about this era of edits is, in my mind, they tend to drag on a little bit. That said, they're still streets ahead of most that are being done 5, 10 or 15 years on. Smooth ultra-hip breaksy jazz funk from Harv'; big bold disco anthem from Theo's Ugly Edits series. Genius!

The Dells - Get On Down (Theo Parrish Re-Edit)

DJ Harvey - Joyous

Just realised I haven't posted this before when I was sure I had. Well, this Light Sounds Dark edits record is a special one to say the least. Amongst some obscure disco cuts, this is my favourite - a cute laid back number with some adorable chirpy vocals and wandering flute. Certainly the most 'normal' of the bunch, the other stuff on this 12 is much more adventurous and out-there. If you can hunt it down it's well worth owning!

Sarr Band - Double Action (Light Sounds Dark Edit) [buy]

Promise I'll be good and post another by the end of the week. In other news, a Disco Delish night is definitely in the works for Sydney so stay alert.

Gone In 4 Seconds

Gotta be quick, too busy having a good time nup north. The Les Edits Du Golem records have some pretty snazzy material on them. Some big misses, but some even bigger hits. This is one of my faves, slow classic boofy locomotive disco. Totally worth getting your hands on the records, there are some real gems in here.

Les Edits Du Golem - Chico [buy]

Runaway and Mugwump packaged in a song - I like it. A lot. Deep grooving dark house, this one is a heavy mover.

Mugwump - Tellakian Circles (Runaway Remix) [buy]

Thanks to my friend Rolfski for turning me onto this one. Incredibly cool twisted nu disco, it grooves ridiculously hard. Obscenely. Impossibly. Every time I listen to this it multiplies in awesomeness, it's so good getting wrapped up tightly in its beautiful sounds and funky rhythms. Absolute winner, Luke Vibert.

Luke Vibert - Disco Nasty [buy]

Great tunes from an old Harvey Sarcastic Disco mix which I've been thrashing for a month or so. Not sure why but I feel quite certain I've known these tracks for a long time. Wouldn't have a clue where though. They've got 'classic' written alllll over them. Vast difference in tempo but both dreamy and chilling in their own ways.

Double - Woman of the World (Long Instrumental Version)

Claudja Barry - Love For the Sake of Love (Extended Version)

OK BYE.

Hallelujah!

It's a great day! At last I'm uncapped, AND I found 2 tracks I've been frothing over for EVER which, prior to this afternoon, I haven't known the track names or artists. Big big thanks to an anonymous caller for sorting out the first one which featured in Paul T's Beats In Space mix. Turns out the track is a remix by his partner in crime, Harvey. Both are the mad scientists behind Harvey Sarcastic Disco. The original track by Tommy Guerrero is also a beauty and well worth checking out - I'd never heard his music before but it sounds divine. Enjoy :)

Tommy Guerrero - Archaic Days (Harvey Remix)

The other was another tune I heard on a Beats In Space podcast, this time from In Flagranti's visit in 08. It's the first tune that's played before anything happens and again there was no tracklisting. Feel like a complete tool now finding out it's actually an In Flagranti track from one of the Codek 'Sounds Superb' records - not to be confused with the edits album which IF put out in January this year. Anyway here's the track I was looking for plus another from the edits album which I just lurrrve. Can't wait to see Alex and Sasha next weekend after We Love Sounds at The Cross!

In Flagranti - Low Dose Virility

In Flagranti - Mini Sell

I'm going to leave it there because these incredible tracks are worth 100 times their weight in kilobytes. YUM YUM YUMMO.