Big Ship Crowd

New video I just did on FADER.com with the ladies from TNT and Laden and Chino from Big Ship. Things to watch coming from Big Ship Productions and Stephen “Di Genius” McGregor.

Konshens, “This Means Money”

Everytime I hear, “Konshens representing” on a mixtape I tune in a little closer to hear what the JA native has to give us after his single “Winner” –on heavy circulation last summer throughout the islands and beyond. His video “This Means Money” is comedy and Konshens in scrubs. Don’t hate it. Matter of fact, most things coming from Head Concussion these days are worth watching.

FreeBlood Mix

I’m a little late on this but Pretty Titty always puts together a good mix for all the dancy folk and this one feature’s awesome sounds with Brooklyn’s very own FREE BLOOD. Get it here.

Playlist:
1.EDDIE KENDRICKS- “My People…Hold On”
This is the title track off Kendricks’ best post-Temptations solo album (other tracks include “Girl You Need A Change Of Mind” and “Date In The Rain”). Pretty much a flawless soul record of the era incorporating romance, sweat, radicalism, psychedelic-ism and just a hint of ruffled-cuff shmaltz. This track in particular resonated with me in the weeks leading up to President Obama’s victory….yessssss!

2.HERMAN’S ROCKET-”Disco Woman”
A strange gem (of many) found in the basement of Brooklyn’s legendary vinyl graveyard The Thing. The flipside is also entitled “Disco Woman” though it sounds like a much more straightforward cosmic funk endeavor with great Labelle-esque vocals. I imagine this track was a playful attempt at cashing in on space alien mania surrounding “E.T.” and “Star Wars”….and hey, there’s a theremin in the corner of the studio. Why don’t we use that for something?

3.KID CREOLE & THE COCONUTS-”Adnaloy”
Yes, it’s backwards! At least most of it is another Coconuts track called “Yolanda” flip and scrambled, with Kid throwing fresh (forwardly) vocals on top. Total NYC downtown 80’s mayhem ensues! Guaranteed dance floor clearer!

4.ADRIANO CELENTANOS-”Prisencolinensinainciusol” (Greg Wilson edit)
This is a mysterious track that I had little insight into until I looked it up on the Picadilly Records site. Apparently Mr. Celentanos is Italian, though I’m convinced he and his minions are chanting in some kind of Cockney/Esperanto/Pig Latin dialect of their own invention. I love the mix of drone and hoe-down pushing it to the outer limits of what could be called disco.

5.LITTLE WALTER-”Mellow Down Easy”
The hoe-down drone continues…Little Walter (now being touted as the Tupac of his day) reminds the sweating, grinding, bopping speakeasy patrons to keep it copacetic before somebody gets hurt. Then he whips them into a life-threatening frenzy with his serrated harmonica.

6.THE DIRTBOMBS-”Kung Fu”
Former Gorie, Mick Collins leads his new band through this appropriately fuzzed-out/dubbed-out version of the Curtis Mayfield single (another movie cash-in from the days of “Enter The Dragon” and “Black Belt Jones”??). This is from their album “Ultraglide In Black” on which they do raw garage covers of classic R & B songs from the 60’s and 70’s. Finally, an effective marriage of snot and soul….

7.CLOUD-”Learn To Fly”
I’m not sure about the original artist on this one, but it was part of the re-edit series by Cloud. Sounds like Heart slipping into a bathtub full of absinthe with Norman Whitfield.

8.WIGHT LIGHT ORCHESTRA-”Chaos & Consciousness”
Max Brennan’s return from spiritual upheaval/enlightenment on the mountain. Great for those who enjoy meditation background music with lots of popping bass, or conversely or house party hedonists who need a time out.

9.FREDDIE MAS-”Detail Of A Detail”
NYC’s unsung hero. A one-man tornado of rhythm, sweetness, bodily harm and good taste. A staple of my life pretty much since I moved to the city and a continual inspiration. He is threatening to discontinue the Freddie Mas franchise in favor of new, out-outer musical mindfucks. This track is a relatively subdued FM, tamed by the calculating hand of Champion Soul. I secretly want to keep Mr. Mas alive so more people can catch up to what I’ve been raving about for years.

10.UNKNOWN ARTIST-”Robotwerke” (Futurist Edit)
A nice warm buzzing feeling permeates this track amidst all the pounding robotic coldness. Proof that electronics can breathe, or at least wheeze.

11.CAMEO-”I Just Want To Be”
My stereo was acting weird while I made this mix and transformed this track into a stripped-down mono version, reducing it to mostly drums and vocals. I wanted to end the mix on an up note and this song typifies the fun style of funk I call “peanut butter”. Lots of bouncing bass, tickling guitars, goofy voices and an implicit wetness to the proceedings. There is some tie-in with the post-election euphoria and Obama’s willingness to “be [the American people’s] honeybee if you want [him] to be”, but I haven’t quite put my finger on it.

Flagrant Fowl Mix

dudes

The the mix master dudes over at Flagrant Fowl have linked up– haha, literally!– with the interweb dudes over at Self-Titled Magazine to make a sweet little mix for all us snap, crack, and pop lovers. These guys make awesome sounds awesomer by remixing Lezzie music into tap dancing summer jams. You’ll see what I’m saying once you download it. I pasted the track list for you below but you have to go here to give love.

And Skooby’s thoughts on every selection…

Bot’ Ox, “Tragedy Symphony”
The production from this dynamic duo (Cosmo Vitelli and Julien Biffraz) is topnotch. I love the long siren synth-n-blips intro that builds up into some serious slo-mo heat. I guess being Parisian helps when you’re singing lyrics like this—I would just sound like a contrived dirtbag, but these dudes nail it perfectly. Mais oui!

Suicide, “Ghost Rider (Pocketknife’s Torn Bowery Blazer Remix)”
This remix is from the second EP (2007’s Tougher Than Featherz) that Cole and I put out a few years back. I love how direct Suicide was. I remember Alan Vega saying in an interview that he and Martin Rev were just making blues when someone told him they were “avant-garde.” We actually found some deadstock of this EP in the Flagrant archives so the usual spots are carrying this again for those who missed it the first time around.

Telepathe, “Sinister Militia (TMJ!!! Mix)”
I gotta rep for Brooklyn a bit. It seems like dudeskis are always the ones that get to bang on shit and make “smart art” music, but these girls are flipping that. The band is coming from a lot of musical angles and that combo is making some nice pop shapes.

Wooden Wand and the Vanishing Voice, “I Am the One and He Is the Caretaker of My Heart (Pocketknife Remix)”
This remix will be out on the Canyon Dancing 2: Plateau Party EP. I love me some weird beard tunes and I take great delight in reworking songs like this one. You can play this jam at a pagan homecoming dance or maybe even a wizard’s retirement party.

Bostro Pesopeo, “Falls (Hercules & Love Affair Remix)”
I love a good remix that involves two artists/groups that I dig. It’s like killing two birds with one stone since I get to blab about one artist reworking the other in the same sentence. Cole turned me onto Bostro’s tunes and it was cool to see H&LA remixing one of his tracks with some old school acid lines and house drums.

Youth, “Dark Moons”
Youth is a dude out of Brisbane, Australia, that’s been making some down under disco tracks with great production ability. Cole got in touch with him after hearing some of his remixes and he sent along some originals that we’re going to release later this year.

RCMP, “Ibiza PA (Cousin Cole Remix)”
Cousin hooked up this remix for RCMP who are a new italo disco duo (comprised of DJ Apt One of the Philadelphyinz and Relative Q outta Pittsburgh). Their EP is coming out on Flamin’ Hotz Records in the next month or so. Be sure to check out the mustachioed tunes!

Arthur Russell, “Treehouse (Lil Tony Rework)”
This is one of three recent “interpretations” of classic Arthur tracks that just came out on the Electric Minds label. I was going to put one of the others on the mix, but Cole had me listen to this one again and I understood why he liked Lil Tony’s the most. It’s minimal, but it’s got a driving emotional quality to it.

Kanye West, “Love Lockdown (Cousin Cole Remix)”
Kanye surprised everyone last year with 808s! He continues to be an interesting pop figure and I do check his blog on the regular (at least the Internet is infinite enough to keep up with his ego!). It was great that ‘Ye made the stems accessible for fiddling around with; Cole did a great job flipping the entire feeling of the song into a disco burner. This remix is out on our current EP.

Lykke Li, “Breaking It Up (Pocketknife’s Loosefoot Remix)”
This remix is on the flipside of our latest EP. It was commissioned by Lykke Li’s label, but they didn’t want to release it, so we went the white label route. I’m glad to see it getting some shine in other people’s playlists. I think this is one of my favourite remixes that I’ve worked on. The children’s choir makes it almost impossible not to sing along with.

Neil Young “My My Hey Hey (Cousin Cole’s Into the Blue Remix)”
A Tambourine Dream highlight for me! Our honorary third Flagrant member, C-Bassix, played some thick upright bass on this track (and my Lykke Li remix as well). I recently was chatting with Pilooski and he said that this version “sends him up to the clouds.” Nice one, Cole!

Will Oldham, “The Same Love That Makes Me Laugh (Cousin Cole Remix) Demo”
A new remix from CC that will be on Tambourine Dream 2. Cole and I are both fans of Will Oldham and his various guises. He may make a double appearance on TD2 since I’ve got a Bonnie Prince Billy remix that’s almost done.

Mock & Toof, “Brown Bred”
The Death From Abroad family is solid. Mock & Toof are making some great records and I particularly like the light acid lines, swoosh synths, and live drums in this track. I’m definitely going to be following these Londoners’ releases.

Mi Ami, “Version (Pocketknife Edit)”
Another Canyon Dancing 2 alert! When I first heard Mi Ami, it was another one of their songs and I immediately checked out their catalogue to see if there was potential for a rework. The combination of instruments in the band is pretty straightforward (drums, bass, guitar), but these dudes make some great things happen.

Black Cock, “Get Ready (Three Card Monte’s Slight Refondle)”
A classic Black Cock edit that was given a slight reworking by one of our new artists. This edit has got a dark hypnotic quality to it and was a great track to segue from the new school dub freakout of Mi Ami back into disco territory. There’s a reason why the BC edits are so famous—they’re good!

Real Ones, “Outlaw (Prins Thomas Desert Discomiks)”
I don’t know much about this band except that they’re Norwegian, but it doesn’t really matter because Prins Thomas’ “miks” is a dark burner. He pares down most of the elements from the original and rides the kick/snare combo with a dark synth line to great effect.

In Flagranti, “Scala Disco”
This edit has got to be one of my new favourites to play out. I like to call these kind of jams “stompers” since they’ve got blues guitars, slinky bass and a steady drum stomp. You can’t go wrong with Bohannon as your source material!

Three Card Monte, “Molotov”
Another stomper! TCM contacted us awhile back to check out his edits and we were feeling his work, so we’re gonna put out an EP of his material. The Flagrant Fowl family grows!

This Heat, “Sleep (Pocketknife’s Out Cold Remix) Demo”
Another track that will most likely be on Canyon Dancing 2. I gave this seminal band a little extra bump for the club and it’s a good weirdo art rock lullaby to end the night with.

Sandy Kim

finalssuckass by Sandy

finalssuckass14 by Sandy

Photographer Sandy Kim is one of my favorites because she makes images that are weird/hilarious/bloody. Every week I check LoveBryan to see if she has any new posts and as of late she’s been doing some reflective imaging shots that are awesome because each one is titled finalssuckass– they do. They were probably taken from some sort of apple pipe slash Polaroid sheet thingy that she made and rigged with electrical tape while not studying for her finals. This girl is the best graphic designer I’ve ever seen with a camera.