The Druffalo Hit Squad boldly went to wild places, persuaded a ridiculously famous high class DJ to contribute, emanated lysergically to the roots of lysergic, came out of the shadows and looked to the light, lived the pop life to a 4/4 beat, had a three hour tempo downer, went holiday reminiscing, went sailing, said yeah forever, kept waiting for it to come in a double feature stylee, were all drama, were humbly militant, made goth balearic, took eclecticism to the sewer, said that vocals matter, kissed the duke goodbye, called for last orders twice, shed a tear for Levi, danced the art school dance forever, cooked up a storm, gentrified the hood, raved Canada, raved UK, proposed a toast, made an urgent call, continued the mission to save hip hop, raved New York, cut some beards, cut some more beards, went down, went up, heard Frankie say “horny”, raved Detroit, raved Continental Europe, hailed BB one time, hailed BB two time, lit the lighter, raved Chicago, went a bridge too far.
Bangles – Eternal Flame Cube – Concert Boy Joe Jackson – Steppin’ Out Robert Palmer – Johnny And Mary Men Without Hats – I Got The Message Devo – That’s Good Toyah – Echo Beach Fehlfarben – Agenten In Raucherkinos Dislocation Dance – With A Reason Martha And The Muffins – Danseparc Shock – Dynamo Beat The Wirtschaftswunder – Junge Leute Lene Lovich – Lucky Number Yello – Pinball Cha Cha It’s Immaterial – Ed’s Funky Diner It’s Immaterial – Ed’s Funky Diner Freur – Doot Doot The Lotus Eaters – The First Picture Of You Matia Bazar – Elettrochoc Ennio Morricone – Metti, Una Sera A Cena Godley & Crème – Under Your Thumb Real Life – Catch Me I’m Falling Kamille – Days Of Pearly Spencer Au Pairs – Headache Electric Chairs – J’attends Les Marines Kim Fowley – Searching For A Human In Tight Blue Jeans Devo – Going Under Heaven 17 – Excerpts From Diary Of A Contender Pat Benatar – Love Is A Battlefield Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft – Als wär’s das letzte Mal The Woodentops – Last Time
This is a mix for all you big-heads out there who think disco music is lower than the irrelevant musical gibberish and tired platitudes that you try to impress your parents with…
We’re The Druffalo Hit Squad, we’re much cleverer than you and this is Druffmix 49.
Nick Heyward – When It Started To Begin Blue Rondo A La Turk – Klactoveesedstein David Byrne – Big Business Family 5 – Traumvers Yello – Base For Alec Human League – The Sound Of The Crowd Die Krupps – Goldfinger Soft Cell – Bedsitter Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark – Enola Gay Spoons – Nova Heart Hilary – Kinetic Human League – Dance Like A Star Vicious Pink – 8:15 To Nowhere Heaven 17 – We Live So Fast Electric Light Orchestra – Yours Truly 2095 Yello – Alan Rankine – The World Begins To Look Her Age Wilson Pickett – Groove City Lipps Inc. – Choir Practice Cut Glass – Without Your Love Richie – Trying It On Peter Jacques Band – Fly With The Wind Dislocation Dance – Show Me Spandau Ballet – Only When You Leave Mari Wilson – Let’s Make This Last The Associates – Take Me To The Girl Comateens – The Late Mistake The Christians – Forgotten Town Suicide – Dream Baby Dream
Im Gespräch mit Klaus Stockhausen über “Party Boys” von Foxy (1980).
Wie bist Du auf „Party Boys“ gekommen? Beim Plattenkaufen für DJ-Gigs? Du hattest ja 1980 schon mit Auflegen angefangen, als die Platte rauskam.
Die Platte ist, denke ich, von 1979, aber es war wohl 1980. Angefangen habe ich drei Jahre vorher. Ehrlich gesagt war ich in Amsterdam in einem Plattenladen, Rhythm Import, und es war der Nachfolger von „Get Off“, und „Get Off“ ging relativ gut ab. Ich habe in drei Clubs gearbeitet zu dieser Zeit. Donnerstags/Freitags in Frankfurt in so einem Armee-Schwuchtelladen, der hieß No Name. Da waren nur stationierte Soldaten, sehr amerikanisch. Samstag/Sonntag Coconut in Köln, und Montag in Amsterdam im Flora Palace, was hundert Jahre später zum It-Club wurde. Und du hattest drei verschiedene Musikrichtungen. In Köln war es diese Hi-NRG-Nummer mit sonntags Schwuchtel-Tea-Dance, Poppers etc., bei den Amis hattest du funky to Disco, und Amsterdam war britisch angehaucht. Diese Fusion war ganz gut.
Wie hat sich denn das Britische in der Musik in Amsterdam manifestiert?
Es war soulig, Hi-NRG, aber später auch so etwas wie Loose Ends. Es waren Elemente von Rare Groove drin. Und bei „Party Boys“ fand ich einfach diesen Hook so toll, der eben wesentlich eleganter war als zum Beispiel „Cruisin’ The Streets“ von der Boystown Gang. Eigentlich könnte man diese beiden Platten übereinander legen, es funktioniert perfekt. Und diese schrägen Stimmen. Ich mag Stimmen gerne, und wenn sie slightly off sind, mag ich sie noch viel viel lieber. Read the rest of this entry »
In discussion with Eric D. Clark on “Atmosphere” by Funkadelic (1975).
How were you initiated to the Funkadelic world?
That’s rather hard to say; I believe I first heard Funkadelic… early 70’s? Seems as though I remember hearing “Maggot Brain” as my introduction to their music? And it would most probably have been at a party; maybe a cousin’s house or on a military base at a function? Don’t really know. However I seem to remember that piece first: I certainly had no idea what or who it was? At the time I thought the label art was somehow the band’s responsibility, therefore I would buy records according to the artwork; if I was at a friend’s house and they had something I liked I would go to the record store, usually with my father, and look for the same artwork and buy the record (we’re talking 7″ singles here). Needless to say it was often not what I was looking for. However, rarely did I return anything! This is how I ended up finding out about Led Zeppelin at age 5 or 6. I was looking for Rare Earth. When I finally witnessed Funkadelic’s artwork first-hand it cemented my high regard for their overall “thang”!
Was it a part of your childhood and youth in California?
There was a very strong and rich musical culture in our house. Every morning before school we were allowed to listen to music (no TV, only on Saturday mornings) that we selected from an extensive record collection procurred over previous decades and life in Kansas, Philadelphia, St. Louis and Poplar Bluff Missouri, Osaka, and wherever else our parents had been on their journeys with the military. This included 78 rpm shellac discs and 7″ children’s records recorded at 16 rpm. Father always loved Jazz and has an extensive collection of Blue Note recordings from the label’s inception until around 1970 something. Errol Garner was a big favourite, Booker T. & the MG’s. I did not really get into Jazz though until much later, though I liked Errol Garner! The rest was boring to me then. “Shotgun” and “Green Onions” I liked a lot but until this day I can’t stand James Brown for example?! Only one song that I can’t remember the title of, from around 1958. Mother was into Gospel and female vocal performers such as Morgana King, Dinah Washington, Mahalia Jackson, Dakota Stanton, Aretha of course, also some guys like Major Lance and Joe Simon both of whom I still love today. This collection still exists, excerpts of which you can hear in a set I uploaded to soundcloud.com/eric-d-clark under the moniker “The OZ Effect”. When I’d go looking for what I liked and tried to share it with them it was not met well. They tried to form me with classical which I found to be very little of a challenge, especially as I could trick the teachers by learning pieces twice or even three times as fast by listening to them on vinyl (my component stereo system was right on top of the piano next to my father’s AKAI reel-to-reel, which he bought in Osaka three years before I was born and I adopted; when I am at our house in Sacramento I still use this machine!). Funkadelic were strictly off-limits (very enticing) but I kept the records anyway, even though they were considered to be devil music by Mom and Dad. I was still under ten? Read the rest of this entry »
In discussion with Hardrock Striker on “I’m A Cult Hero” (1989).
Do you have a past acquainted with this music? Is this the compilation that nailed down musical preferences you already had, or did you have a different background and were you just looking for something in that direction?
This is clearly the music I was listening to as a kid. Back then, my biggest dream was to be in a rock’n’roll band, no way I wanted to become a DJ (“what a joke I could have thought”) as this meant nothing to me, imagine playing guitar and being on stage screaming in front of a crazy crowd or mixing records, even a monkey could do it! Obviously, it’s only when I started DJing that I understood the power of it and realized my immaturity.
I chose this compilation because even if it looks like a pure rock record, many of the bands inside are using electronic, though I had no clue about it while I was listening to them. I discovered house in Los Angeles in the late 90’s, I went there to form a heavy rock band but I ended up going out with some friends who were doing house, especially Peter Black who introduced me to Doc Martin, the Wax connection, DJ Harvey. We started being friends, speaking about art, music and I discovered that he was also into New Order, Front 242, Ministry, Echo and the Bunnymen, Joy Division and that he was doing house too, so I thought this music finally wasn’t that bad! I started digging, to sum it up, New Order leads me to italo, italo to chicago, chicago to techno. We did a record company called Parisonic / Square Roots where I was doing reissues (already in 2003) of obscure stuff such as It Ain’t Chicago’s “Ride The Rhythm”, Mickey Oliver “In-Ten-Si-t”, Ralphi Rosario “In The Night” etc. I educated myself through the records I was putting out.
“I’m A Cult Hero” is a bootleg compilation with 80’s dark synth pop music, originally released in 1989. Why do you think such a record was released at a time when acid house ruled the clubs? Was this a reminder to what was going on a few years before, or even a counter-reaction to what followed? What might have been the motivation of the label to do this record?
I think that even if house and acid were blowing up at that time, dark synth-pop and minimal wave were still huge. Remember in 1989, Depeche Mode was also on the verge of getting the biggest rock stars in the world with the 101 Rose Bowl concert and the release of one of the best trio of singles of the 80’s: “Strangelove”, “Behind The Wheel” (Mmmh, the Shep Pettibone Mix!) and “Personal Jesus” which was a combination of rock guitars and electronic so it makes totally sense.
The motivation of these guys was primarily cash I guess but I honestly think they did an amazing job! There are two categories of bootleggers: the creative ones and the thieves, I guess they belong to the first one. Read the rest of this entry »
Die Sound-, Konzept-, und Stilideen der klassischen Post-Punk-Zeit, auf unzählige Veröffentlichungen auf Klein- und Großlabels verteilt, bilden einen solchen Riesenwust von Referenzpotential, dass die nachfolgenden Generationen mit der Aufarbeitung kaum hinterherkommen. Diese Bemühungen gehen schon seit den 90ern voran, und immer noch gibt es neue Aspekte, die es aufzugreifen lohnt. Erst konzentrierte man sich bei Electroclash auf die eher übergreifenden Hits, Mode, und Performance, dann folgten die Spezialisten und gruben bis in die entlegensten Winkel nach Vergessenem, Unveröffentlichtem, und möglichen Wiederveröffentlichungen. Und nun geht Techno allerorten zu seinen alternativen Wurzeln zurück, und man beruft sich eher auf Throbbing Gristle denn auf Kraftwerk, grieseliges Grau statt knalliges Neon, Haltung statt Pose, Konzept-Elitismus statt Pop-Gegenentwurf. Bevor man sich in diesen ganzen Verhältnismäßigkeiten verheddert, kann man aber auch einfach auf die Flying Lizards zurückgreifen, die auf einem Album eigentlich alles anticken, was die Musik in diesem Kontext so großartig macht: respektlose Pop-Dekonstruktionen etwa, möglichst desinteressiert von einer blasierten New Wave-Schönheit interpretiert (“Money”, “Summertime Blues”), Tschingderassabumm-Speed-Opern (Mandelay Song), zweckentfremdeter Rock ‘n’ Roll-Klassizimus (“TV”), verqueres Songwritertum (“Her Story”, “The Window”) oder Dub-Labortests (man beachte die brilliante Abfolge “The Flood”, “Trouble”, Events During Flood”). Man kann David Cunningham nicht wirklich einen unterschätzten Künstler nennen, aber was er hier mit u. a. Steve Beresford, David Toop, Vivien Goldman, Deborah Evans und Mitgliedern der Pop Group und This Heat verantaltet, ist wirklich außergewöhnlich. Das Nachfolgealbum “Fourth Wall” ist nicht so zerstreut, aber ähnlich genial, und ist eine merkwürdige, aber gern genommene Samplequelle für Detroit Techno (z. B. “Steam Away”). Das dritte Album “Top Ten” erschöpfte sich etwas in der Idee der gelangweilten Schepper-Coverversionen, auf den B-Seiten der Single-Auskoppelungen “Sex Machine” und “Dizzy Miss Lizzie” tummeln sich aber sehr bemerkenswerte und einflussreiche Proto-Techno-Wildheiten (“Flesh And Steel”, Gyrostatics”). Cunningham ist natürlich sowieso ein überragender Produzent von Palais Schaumburg, General Strike, This Heat bis Wayne/Jayne County & The Electic Chairs, anerkannter Avantgarde-Haudegen und, ich vermute mal vermutlich unfair, derjenige, der Michael Nymans Musik u .a. für Peter Greenaway zur Erträglichkeit dirigiert hat. Und dank Staubgold zum ersten Mal auf Vinyl im Erscheinen begriffen ist “The Secret Dub Life Of The Flying Lizards”, eine Sammlung von Dub-Aufnahmen von 1978, mit Jah Lloyd auf Jamaika aufgenommen. Ich finde das braucht man alles, wenn nicht mehr.
The Flying Lizards – The Flying Lizards (Virgin, 1980).
We don’t care where we go When we’re with you When we cry You don’t laugh ‘Cause you know us
We’re in you You’re in us We’re in you You’re in us ‘Cause you gave us the love Love that we never had Yes, you gave us the love Love that we never had
You and us don’t pretend We make love We can’t feel anymore than we’re singing
We’re in you You’re in us We’re in you You’re with us ‘Cause you gave us the love Love that we never had You gave us the love Love that we never had
Come so far where you think of last fall You can die but remain you and us We’re in you You’re in us We’re in you You’re with us ‘Cause you gave us the love Love that we never had Yes, you gave us the love Love that we never had You gave us the love Love that we never had
We don’t care where we go When we’re with you
Liza Minnelli – Rent Fine Young Cannibals – Johnny Come Home Talk Talk – Talk Talk Fashion – Mutant Mix Mechanik Vicious Pink – Spooky Vanity 6 – Make-Up Heart – Barracuda The Bollock Brothers – Save Our Souls Garcons – French Boy Blue Rondo A La Turk – Heavens Are Crying Associates – Those First Impressions Samba Soul – I’m In You Phyllis Nelson – Don’t Stop The Train Jimmy Ruffin – I’m Gonna Love Your Forever The Isley Brothers – It’s A Disco Night Edwin Starr – Twenty-Five Miles La Flavour – Mandolay The B-52’s – Roam Alphaville – Forever Young Sparks – Madonna China Crisis – Some People I Know To Lead Fantastic Lives The Church – Under The Milky Way Echo & The Bunnymen – Silver The Parachute Men – If I Could Wear Your Jacket…? The Velvet Underground – The Gift The Bollock Brothers – The Gift -2
Nobody would probably expect anything else than deep emotional music on a label run by Robert Owens, but what Mark Rogers of Hollywood Beyond fame comes up with on the sublime “Twilight For Some”, is even more. Despite the gentle tone of the music and the understated vocal delivery, not too many vocal house tracks are as touching this. The lyrics are very melancholic, offering little relief to the troubled people they address, and the music is a companion that stresses rather than distracts. Everytime I listen to this, and the track fades out to a loop of the words “identity, identity, identity…”, I can’t help wishing this experience would last much longer, and more often than not, I put the needle right back to beginning.
Cabaret Voltaire “Searchin” [Parlophone]
A track lifted from the album “Groovy, Laidback and Nasty” from 1990, that most of the fans and critics of the UK electronic pioneers dismissed as mere attempt to cash in on the increasingly fertile house sound. Worse than that, nobody was really willing to accept Cabaret Voltaire venturing into musical terrain that was nothing else than pure pop, with one of post punk’s most recognizable voices crooning blissful melodies with uplifting messages, and one of post punk’s most adventurous experimentalists gladly supplying the according tunes and harmonies. But Cabaret Voltaire enlisted Marshall Jefferson at the time of full creative swing for the production, and he made this song his very own, even bringing in Paris Brightledge, on of Chicago’s most wonderful voices, for the background vocals. So this might be not the most original Cabaret Voltaire record, but they had proven their merits enough before and after, and I am really thankful that they took the chance of doing this album. Maybe imagine this track not being sung by Stephen Mallinder, but Brightledge all alone for instance, and not being by Cabaret Voltaire, but by Marshall Jefferson, and house’s history books would treat it like a bona fide classic. I at least do, no matter what constellation.
Shades Of Rhythm “Exorcist” [ZTT]
Shades Of Rhythm were better known for their rave anthems, filled to the brim with crowd noises, joyful diva vocals and plenty of pianos. And while there is nothing really wrong with that (but admitted, on many occasions it IS really wrong), they were also capable of doing something completely different. “Exorcist” is a pitch dark beast that establishes a really intense mood on nothing more than the basis of a break beat in moderate tempo and a plethora of sinister sequences that seem to spiral into the ether. This still makes any room go boom.
I-F “Energy Vampire” [Disko B]
Now that the UK bass elite is embracing an electro tinge to their latest dubplate, it is maybe a good time to drop a reminder for the Dutchman who already seemingly could look well into the future when he released a series of relentless and uncompromising classics in the past. The moody stop-and-go groove of “Energy Vampire” would not look out of place on a post-dubstep production of 2010, yet it already appeared on I-F’s album “Fucking Consumer” in 1998. Things go in circles, as they say, and the robots shall have the last laugh. And if sometime the italo disco groundwork will seep through the bassbins of the younger bass generation as well (there are already hints that this is not as improbable as it sounds), there is a good chance that I-F will be involved in something else entirely, and equally influential.
Cybersonik “Technarchy” [Plus 8 Records]
At a time when they had no interest in minimalism, conceptualism or fine wines, Daniel Bell, John Acquaviva and Richie Hawtin released “Technarchy” in 1990, the year their imprint Plus 8 came into being, and properly illustrated that techno could embrace the sound heritage of the pioneering industrial artists, acid house, and the emerging Detroit sound at the same time. The devastating result hinted at the hoovers, cornfields, and love parades to come but back then nobody would have predicted all that. What this record confirmed, however, was that there was a potential for all that. From the introducing metal beats, building a harsh yet funky groove, to the 303 squelches, and then, of course, to one of the most bone-crushing bass breakdowns in the history of club music. Most DJs playing the record at the time when it came out even emphasized the experience by turning up the bass even louder when the kick drum came to a halt and just the bassline was rummaging around in the intestines of the floor, but then again it was already doing its work untouched by any mixing antics. In any case whoever heard the track unprepared and for the first time in a club, would possibly never ever forget it. I certainly did not.
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