Actually, this appeared in my "Sun In My Morning" comp and was the impetus in putting the thing together. I picked this up over on Bumrocks back in the middle of May and it just seemed like the perfect summer record. And I still do. It's 26 years old and its slow motion disco makes the hairs on my neck stand up. Got to love that piano riff, those strings and even the cheeky synth riff that gives a passing nod to "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy"...
Danny Krivit just lets the track groove away at it's own pace. It's a fantastic edit that is in no hurry whatsoever.
The funny thing is, I'd never heard it before and then a couple of weeks back I was on my decks and discovered the vocal version of the track on an album compiled by the legend that is Francois Kevorkian... And even then, I didn't want to play it incase it tarnished my love for this instrumental.
I actually only played the vocal version whilst typing this up, and I can report that it is great.
The curse and joys of having a big record collection...
Ok, now onto the ones that didn't make it. But keeping in that disco mode...
Here early 90's soulsters, D'Influence, do a number on Shola's '97 R&B hit "You're The One I Love". And what a job they do too. Taking the infamous Paradise Garage DJ Larry Levan's classic remix of Gwen Guthrie's "Seventh Heaven" as the base, they then work Shola Ama's vocals around it.
Absolutely stunning. It's always a sunny day when you get to hear that "Seventh Heaven" Sly & Robbie rhythm...
Another disco reworking. This time "Let's Lovedance Tonight" by Gary's Gang gets the instrumental edit treatment from Block 16 member Ray Mang. Don't get me wrong, the original is great, but to just have the track breezing along with that repetative melody (you may recognise it as it was sampled by Soulsearcher on their 1998 house track "Can't Get Enough") is pure bliss.
Balearic classic time. Back in the day this was a big end of night anthem for Alfredo at Amnesia and for Rampling back at Shoom. Again, great as the original is, you want to hear what House god Frankie Knuckles has done to it...
It's almost an instrumetal take on it, but it's been toughened up big time and made to sound really trippy by echoing off the pianos and Chaka's vocals whenever they appear.
The sun makes an appearance and I go digging for tunes to compliment it.
I would have dug out my summer comp I made up back in December of last year to see me through a summer down under, but it's already made a brief appearance on The Pipe and, to be honest, I'm kind of fed up hearing it.
So at the weekend, I dived back into my records...
The resulting compilation (not a mix) is below.
Nothing fancy or clever, just some good tunes for days like these.
So wrap your aural receptors around this, go for a walk, or a drive, buy yourself a cone and enjoy...
// St. Etienne - Sun In My Morning / Zimbala - To The Bass / Josh Martinez - Time Alone / The Cure - Pictures Of You (Extended Dub Mix) / Calexico - Quattro (Gotan Project Remix) / Sunburst Band - Far Beyond / Rene & Angela - I Love You More (Mr K's Instrumental Edit) / Calm feat. Spiritual African Nova - Aesthetics Of The Simple Chords / Soul II Soul - Happiness (Dub) / Roy Davis Jr. - Michael / Organic Audio - Always The Sun / Subtle - FKO (Console Remix) / Brian Briggs - Aeo (Parts 1 & 2) //
Feel free to leave a comment about this in The Pipe section of the forum.
After getting over the shock that the infamous Rockstar Games decided to ditch their brand of the old ultra-violence in favour of Table Tennis, the next shock coming was the tracklisting...
Not that I would have had any fears over a Rockstar Games soundtrack, as they have proven time and time again to get it right. It was just the fact that they had licensed so many Techno and Tech House tracks.
Techno and Table Tennis?
The disappointment did come when I discovered that you only heard brief snippets of the tracks on the menus or when you managed to get a decent rally going - the house lights dim and the music seeps through the atmosphere, adding to the intensity, only for you to fluff a shot under the pressure - Why put in all those tracks when you don't get enough time to enjoy them?
My disappointment turned to joy when I discovered that once you started to unlock other places to play in the game, especially the more intimate Room settings, you got to hear these deep slices of music in their entirety.
Hoorah!
Anyway, it's a devilishly addictive game and the music is superb. Nuff said.
Words like "genius" and "innovator" are never far away when Derrick May's name gets mentioned. I tried not to use them, but it's very difficult. The guy deserves them. I won't bore you if you don't know about him, but I will mention the fact that he, along with two friends, Juan Atkins and Kevin Saunderson, changed dance music forever. They were the pioneers of Detroit Techno.
This tune is not that far off from being 20 years old now and shows that the blueprint he and his cohorts drew up back then is still far from old. At a time when people labelled dance music as being emotionless, he proved them all wrong...
More Detroit stylings. And the credentials are equally as good on this one. Released on Detroit Techno legend Mad Mike Banks' Submerge label, Los Hermanos are made up of various members of the notorious Underground Resistance group. "Resurrection" is from their excellent 2004 album "On Another Level", a great collection of deep, funky, techy grooves that the compilers of the game must have loved as they plundered it twice... Their "Birth Of 3000" track also appears on the soundtrack.
Ah, a repost. I had this one up on The Pipe back in April of last year. Go here if you want to know what I said about it...
Alex Smoke is signed to Soma Recordings, a Glasgow label that have been keeping the Techno spirit alive in all its forms for over 15 tears now. Again the compilers must love the label as tracks by Envoy and Vector Lovers appear in the game too.
