Um ein paar Stücke erweiterte Neuauflage des Albums von 1995, welches seinerzeit half die Renaissance von Easy Listening und Trash-Soundtracks anzukurbeln, während der man so manchen Musikinteressierten mit Hugo Strasser-Platten unter dem Arm über den Flohmarkt pirschen sah. Natürlich gibt es nach wie vor in diesem Feld zwischen Käseigel-Tanzparty, Dinnerjackett, Library-Musik, B-Movie-Scores und genuinen Autoren der leichten Unterhaltung unzählige Perlen des Genres zu ergattern, aber das Thema hatte sich irgendwann ausgehypt und man beschränkte sich wieder auf übergroße Genies wie Bacharach. Ob das jetzt noch mal funktioniert, ist fraglich. In Verbindung mit den Nackedei-Vampiretten in den Filmen Jess Francos ist das einfach schöner als isoliert von dem ganzen Unsinn. Zwar hat Ennio Morricone einige seiner schönsten Soundtracks für Softpornos geschrieben, aber dies ist wenig mehr als Beschallung für das Unterbewusstsein. Für Anhänger puristischer Funktionalität (und säuischer Covergestaltung).
Master C&J, alias Carl Bias und Jesse Jones, haben den Test der Zeit oft besser überstanden als ihre Weggefährten der Chicago-House-Frühphase, weil sie sich bereits rechtzeitig nicht vollends auf Jack-Parolen, Handclap-Orgien und Cheapo-Synthies geworfen haben. Ihnen gelang regelmäßig etwa genau die goldene Mitte zwischen Kenny Jammin Jason und Larry Heard, also ein früher, dunkel gefärbter Deep House-Entwurf mit genügend Drive und Bass zum Tanzen. Ihre Trumpfkarte war aber die Verbindung ihrer zeitlos schönen Grooves mit der ungewöhnlichen Stimme und Street-Credibility von Liz Torres, zu ihrer Blütezeit eine echt eigentümliche Diva, deutlich mehr Pavement als Penthouse, die selbstbewusst ihren Claim zwischen Geschlechterrollen-Problematik, Straßenrealität, drogigem Club-Hedonismus und vor allem viel zupackendem Sex absteckte. Leider setzte sich bald danach für lange Zeit flächendeckend das Diven-Modell von etwa Kym Mazelle durch, La Torres ist seit den frühen 90ern völlig verschollen und geistert nur noch regelmäßig als Zitat irgendwo zwischen LFO, Beltram und Dub-House durch die Maschinen. Auch wenn diese Musik in Liebhaberkreisen immer noch sehr verehrt wird, eine Retrospektive war längst überfällig. Hier ist sie also, in ihrer ganzen sleazigen Pracht, still playing mind games.
A guy asked me if I could provide a guest mix for his show Jackin’ Planets at a Berlin radio station called shouted.fm. Sadly I forgot his name, but he asked me very politely and I liked both the name of his show and the name of the station, so I agreed. To be honest I might have been in the mood to record a mix of some old school techno faves, and I just jumped to the occasion. Anyway, here is the result.
LFO- Freeze Constant Ritual – Hard Way To Come Paperclip People – Jerry Lewis (Mayday Mix) Mark Imperial – I Can Feel The Music (Chicago Street Mix) Eddie Flashin’ Fowlkes – Liquid Disaster Gemini – Festival Cybersonik – Revelation 928 Adolfo – Do I (Ivan Iaccobucci 4 A.M. Mix) Psyance – Andromeda’s Dance Laurent X – Drowning In A Sea Of House KC Flightt – Planet E (Acid Drop Mix) Chrome – My Reflection Prince – The Future (Remix) Octave One – Black On Black Yazoo – Bring Your Love Down (Didn’t I) N.Y. House ‘N’ Authority – Fort Green House Metro – Straphanger Urban Tribe – Eastward (Forme Remix) Model 500 – Pick Up The Flow ABC – The Greatest Love Of All (Mayday Mix)
Schon bei ihren ersten Veröffentlichungen zur goldenen Ära des Samplings gab es neben den Hits diesen Anflug des halbgaren Sammelsuriums, doch diese Rückmeldung ist in der Originalversion wirklich schauderhaft. ‚Politischer’ Agit-Prop-Rap mit Wummerbeats und Jon Spencer an der Schweißgitarre, das will so unbedingt rocken und dabei noch die korrekte Message haben, dass peinlich berührt sein ansatzlos in pures Fremdschämen übergeht. Trevor Jackson als Underdog, Solid Groove, DJ Kentaro und die Qemists versuchen es zwischen Entschlackung, Tanzflächenoptimierung, Turntablism-Kinkerlitzchen und Jump Up, doch aus dem Bruckheimer will einfach kein Autorenkino werden. Immer noch zuviel dumpfer Bratz drin.
Passend zur Mark Stewart-Retrospektive auf Soul Jazz gibt es jetzt diese Werkschau von LeBlanc, ebenfalls Mitglied der Maffia, Tackhead, On-U-Sound und vormals Sugar Hill Gang. Zudem war er als Schlagzeuger, Programmierer oder Produzent an beeindruckend zahlreichen Veröffentlichungen beteiligt, das reicht von Mick Jagger bis Miles Davis. Entsprechend sind auf diesem Album kein Groove der nicht zupackt und kein Beat der nicht knallt. Alles ist supertight. Diese ganze monolithische Wucht zwischen Industrial, Dub, No Wave und Hip Hop ist wirklich einnehmend, auch die menschliche Stimme in Form von Agitprop-Schnipseln, Melle Mel und vor allem Bim Sherman fügt sich ansatzlos in die Gesamtfunktionalität. Gelegentlich ist das fast schon zu bolzig und in den Wummerfunk schleichen sich ein paar Rockismen zuviel ein, aber insgesamt kann das immer noch sehr gut dem standhalten, was man aktuell unter der Verbindung von knalligen Breakbeats, urbaner Funkiness und einer Botschaft versteht. Sample-Musik dieser Bauart wirkt natürlich nicht mehr so futuristisch wie in den 80ern, hat aber auch über den Prototypen-Status hinaus genug Relevanz.
If you had your formative years in terms of music in the late 70s and early 80s, of course you cannot shake off Synthpop. I gladly never tried. Do not look for deep crate digging results here, this is just me revisiting turning on the radio and feeling blessed to hear someting like this. Pop perfection.
Human League – Life On Your Own Malcolm McLaren – Madam Butterfly Pet Shop Boys – Love Comes Quickly The Blow Monkeys – Digging Your Scene The Art Of Noise – Beat Box (Diversion One Excerpt) Matia Bazar – Ti Sento Animotion – I Engineer Blancmange – Living On The Ceiling Yello – Lost Again Eurythmics – Love Is A Stranger Depeche Mode – Enjoy The Silence It’s Immaterial – Space Kate Bush – Experiment IV Virna Lindt – Whistle Wind Roxy Music – Same Old Scene A.R. Kane – Love From Outer Space The The – Uncertain Smile
If there was one music missing in those Berlin days it was disco. Meaning disco in nearly all its forms. It was just not happening, anywhere. I was among a few people like Daniel Wang, Hunee, Nomad, Benji DF or Emil Doesn’t Drive trying to change that. We set up nights in small clubs, parks, warehouses, temporary and private spaces. It did not matter. All that mattered was that we could try to fill this void, and actually we achieved that. This mix is a good example for how this burgeoning scene was approaching the topic. Sets were not specialized in certain disco styles yet, you just played what you felt playing and threw anything into a big pot and stirred it
Dexys Midnight Runners – T.S.O.P. Tracie Young – Invitation Adele Bertei – Build Me A Bridge Angela Parisi – Wherever Forever Propaganda – Frozen Faces M + M – Song In My Head (Dub Mix) Modern Romance – Nothing Ever Goes The Way You Plan 400 Blows – Breakdown (Re-Interpreted) Konk – Machina Jam Raul Orellana – The Real Wild House (Wild Passion Mix) Chris Rea – On The Beach (Summer ’88) It’s Immaterial – The Sweet Life Yello – Vicious Games (Vicious Remix) Miharu Koshi – Ryugujo No Koibito Peter Jacques Band – Fly Like The Wind The Manhattan Transfer – Twilight Zone/Twilight Tone Roxy Music – Angel Eyes Herbie Mann – Etagui (Instrumental) Elbow Bones & The Racketeers – You Got Me High
It seems unfair to me that italo disco/house is in its approximately 10th revival now, for example, yet hip house never really came back. I absolutely loved it right from the start and I will never stop fighting for its full rehabilitation. When it entered the club soundtrack it was so much fun. House in the late 80s was still not the global phenomeon it was to be. It still felt like a continuation of disco, and acid house came about as a vital booster, but it still had the traits of a fad, however important and popular it was. But anyone has to admit, the idea to combine a fresh club sound like house with the promising commercial potential of another popular sound like hip hop totally made sense. Ok, not many hip house records had lyrics that exceeded mere dancefloor imperatives, nor had they really skilled rappers. But it could have been better, it was just not given enough time to develop. Anyway, here are some personal hip house favourites. They (still) kick!
De La Soul – Say No Go King Bee – Back By Dope Demand Roxanne Shanté – Go On Girl TDP – Ladies (Let’s Go) Unique 3 – Musical Melody Sugar Bear – Don’t Scandalize Mine Simon Harris – Another Monsterjam Tyree Featuring JMD – Move Your Body Mr. Lee – Get Busy 2 Houss People – Baby Wants To Move You Double Trouble & Rebel MC – Just Keep Rockin’ DJ Mink – Hey! Hey! Can U Relate The Minutemen – OK Allright Jungle Brothers – I’ll House You 2 In A Room – Wiggle It Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock – Get On The Dancefloor Doug Lazy – H.O.U.S.E. Tyree – House Music Is My Life Fast Eddie – Hip House KC Flightt – Planet E Shadows J – Hip This House K.A. Posse – Dig This
Let me give you some context here. In 2004 I was located in Berlin for one year. I made my master at university in my hometown before my move, where I was studying German and English/American literature, and I had a focus on movie history. I arrived in Berlin trying to get a hook in film journalism, but apart from writing movie reviews for de:bug magazine it never really took off. Some friends from back home were working for de:bug, and since I was looking for a job they asked if I wanted join in. First I was an editor for their extensive section of reviews, then I started writing my own. I also made friends with other fine and interesting people, and I started to enjoy the Berlin clubs more and more also. In short, I was back in nightlife again. When I moved to Berlin I was ready to stop DJing, and now due to new DJ friends like Hunee, Stefan Goldmann or Gerd Janson I was persuaded and motivated to pick it up again. One of the regular nights that I really enjoyed and went to often was Inner City, a house night Dixon set up at the Weekend club. You have to understand that at that time house music in a more traditional sense was pretty much dead in Berlin, and Inner City put it back on the map. There was a common feeling of resurgence among regular guests like me, and slowly something evolved from it. The most prominent sign was the label Innervisions by Dixon and Âme. The sound of the label was actually a tad too slick for me, but it felt good to be part of something that was gaining momentum and had impact potential. In 2005 Dixon asked me if I could contribute a guest mix for the Innervisions label website, and I recorded this mix for the purpose. In hindsight I already knew that their career would take off soon, and it would have been wiser to do a mix that highlighted my capabilities as a club DJ, but my timing throughout my years as a DJ was mostly more determined by what I was just in the mood for than by what would most likely pay off well (later several of my booking agents were quite desperate about my urge to keep my freedom to do what I felt I should do rather than develop a signature sound that was easier to sell), so I wasted the opportunity and just mixed some personal downtempo and house faves. Is it balearic? I’d say yes, somehow, but who cares.
This mix contains some very deep techno gems, most of them from Detroit. It contains an example of a thing I still do when playing out: mixing several versions of one track into a whole. In this case Sueno Latino, a tune that I should have tired of ages ago, but never did. It is not entirely unlikely that I had an sudden impulse to do this and wrap all the other tracks contained around it.
Phortune – Unity Da Posse – In The Life House 2 House – Boom Sueno Latino – Sueno Latino Sueno Latino – Sueno Latino Paperclip People – Remake Uno Chez Damier – Help Myself E Dancer – Feel The Mood R Tyme – R Theme M5003MB – The Cosmic Courier Infra Red – The Verge Millsart – Humana Model 500 – Mind Changes Fallout – The Morning After Ron Trent – Altered States
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