Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Adventures In Disco


i was contacted recently by andrew morrison (aka Adventures In Disco) who gave me a link to his mixes. he wanted me to listen to "we live in slow motion" but i ended up listening to the lot. my favourite is "into the night". i get sent things from time to time but will only tell you about them if i like them myself. i was impressed enough to ask him a few questions before posting a link. dance music can be quite faceless so i like to know a bit about the people who are actually getting out there and making a difference. he didn't send a picture so i imagine he's either very ugly or very handsome (and modest about it). i started by asking him why his mixes are so short, how old he is and (in true "smash hits" style) what his favourite colour is.

"my mixes are a bit on the short side but I figured people would be more likely to listen if they were 30-40 minutes rather than an hour or more. I'm going to start doing longer mixes now that I'm getting a bit more of a following. I'm 29 and I've been DJing for about eight years, mixing various genres, mainly for my own amusement. Then about two years ago I heard the Aeroplane remix of Grace Jones and that got me hooked on all things disco. Since then I've started taking my DJing a bit more seriously and at the end of 2009 I came up with Adventures In Disco and started putting together mixes and posting them on Soundcloud.

I've only had a couple of gigs so far but I'm hopefully going to be doing a lot more over the next few months. I've not done any edits yet as I've been concentrating on getting mixes out but it's definitely something that I want to get involved with. I've already got a couple of tracks ear-marked, just need to find the time to do it! Previously I was mixing with vinyl but I've started using a Tonium Pacemaker now, which seems to annoys some of the purists but it's just so much easier having all my music at the touch of a button. My favourite colour is blue and my favourite tune at the moment is Mark E - You (Full Vocal Mix)."

check out andrew's mixes here. he's also on myspace. for a full tracklist click on the mix title at either site.

Monday, August 23, 2010

"now boy, that is a chicken"


juno had a sale recently, and i got the entire black cock back catalogue which (i think) juno re-pressed in 2009. there have been bootlegs of this edit series but these are official re-releases. it is a sort of grey area though because the originals and re-presses are themselves unofficial. anyway, each title was £1.40 and i'd have been foolish not to get the lot. other people thought the same too, as all 7 records were the best sellers that week. they put the price back up a couple of days later so i'm afraid you've missed out. the original pressings came out in the 90's and in recent years have sold for more than a few quid. anything with a harvey connection can get some people hysterical and cause others to think "so what?". i make no apologies for buying these records because they were a bargain and they're bloody good.

Thursday, August 19, 2010

"it's alright..."


this record is more than alright, it's fucking ace! house music is alive and well at smackhead towers. this is another reissue from clone classic cuts who deserve big props for putting out rare stuff and paying the original artist (bootleggers take note). if you click on the link you'll see the vocal version is available too, but thankfully the b-side on this copy is a 2010 update by steve summers (who i've never heard of before) who gives us a proper sleazyjackinacid mix. the original was only ever on a white label, but now you have a chance to own it.

"third time lucky"


i've already bought this tune twice (in re-edited form) on the z records "back street brit funk" comp that came out a couple of months ago. if you follow this blog you'll know what i'm talking about. if it's your first time here just scroll back a few posts. this is a remastered reissue on the dutch kindred spirits label. it's the first in a series of 12"s they'll be releasing of deep disco and boogie rarities. the b-side is razzmatazz "set it out" which is dope as well. original copies of the china burton track go for a small fortune but keep looking, because someone on djhistory found one in a chazzer not long ago for 10p! the record sleeve artwork is beautiful and harks back to the disco bags of days gone by. one fella who's got a hand in all this is zaf who (i think) used to work in a 2nd hand record shop with sean p. what those two don't know about disco and boogie ain't worth knowing. anyway, this is another (allegedly) limited release so get it or regret it.

Thursday, August 12, 2010

"the first booth was like a space helmet..."


djhistory.com have a new book out. loads of interviews with djs from the past and present. if you pre-ordered from the site you'll have received a free cd of the francis grasso interview which is interspersed with some of francis' fave records. it's £16.95 with free p&p in the u.k. (or £5 postage r.o.w.). on sale everywhere from august 30th.

Monday, August 9, 2010

"i'm looking...for some loving"


at least that's what i think he sings. he being harvey. after a whistle stop tour of japan and europe he releases his new locussolus record through international feel. "tan sedan" contains those lyrics (which are the only lyrics). some people aren't into it...yet. believe me when i tell you it's a grower. the flip side is "throwdown" where harvey sings over a chilled b******c style track with guitars'n'stuff. both tunes are killers and will be played by me long after this weeks edits/re-edits/bootlegs have been forgotten about. there's also "throwdown (bass & beats)", which is only available on the digital release. the vinyl is out on september 20th (digital some weeks later) with the usual high quality pressing and artwork. get those pre-orders in now!