Here is a recording of The Warm Sounds Live show on Pirate Revival net radio from Tuesday evening, 2hrs of randomly selecting tunes and putting them in the mix. The Warm Sounds Show is still in its infancy and has been running for little over 6 months, it is very organic, and requires no pre-planning or programming, just simply selecting tunes that spring to mind at the time and play what is being felt. It is completely live, so warts and all are included, no rewind or retakes (for those that need to know the hardware used… 2 x SL1210’s, 2 x Pioneer CDJ’s & a Mixer). The show goes out live on Pirate Revival every other Tuesday evening between 6pm-8pm GMT, and is just intended as bit of fun by playing good music to friends and music lovers. It is not “old Skool” centric, in truth playing the same 88-93 records over and over again for the last decade has become a little tiresome so this show explores other musical interests, although a nod to a much loved and influential era of my life can be felt and heard…..apologies in advanced for the lack of mic skills.

There is no tracklisting, but the following were played to give you a flavour

Stereo Mc’s

Fleetwood Mac – You make loving fun (Trail Mix)

Djum Djum – Difference

Thompson Twins – Long beach Culture

America – Horse with no name (Todd Terje edit)

Social Disco Club – Portuguese Revenge

Tuccillo – Panorama

6th Borough Project – Cadillac

Elektra – Feels Good

Rob – Make it fast – Make it slow (Gerd Edit)

Marius – Disco Drummer

Iggy Pop – Night Clubbing

St Etienne – Only Love will break your heart

Motorcycle Boy – Motorcycle Theme – Fabrizio Mammarella Edit

Rockets – On the road again (The Noodleman’s Edit)

Fashion – David Bowie (Hawk re-edit)

Dennis Parker – Like an Eagle (The Noodleman’s deep rework) 320

Open your ears

Download – Warm Sound Show Live – 24th November 2009

There, did that get your attention? Just wanted to make sure you’re getting as hyped up as I am about my free house party show with my band and Comandante Zero on Saturday December 19th, 9pm at a secret location that you must email me at talktojccassis AT gmail DOT com to receive, or you can just check out the facebook invite I’ll send out.

This show is going to be really great, and I’m hoping for a great turnout. It’s free, it’s fun, there’ll be music and beer and snacks and a great NYC apartment–what more could you ask for?? Plus, finally finally finally, it’s on a SATURDAY NIGHT! No more of this Wednesday/Thursday BS. We are playing real nights now!

Check out my music here as always, and Comandante Zero’s amazing electro-funk here.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Durante el año hemos tenido gratas sorpresas como lo son: The XX, Passion Pit, Atlas Sound, aunque estos ya tienen un rato tocando, pero bueno ya me había tardado en hablar de Neon Indian, la verdad es que es una grata sorpresa, creo que es mi banda nueva favorita de este año, digo mínimo de las mencionadas y es que tengo un problema no he tenido mucho tiempo para poder escuchar discos pero este desde que lo escuche me encanto.

Bueno lo primero y poco que se sabía de Neon Indian es que eran dos personas las involucradas en el proyecto, eran anónimos y aparte de esto uno era de Austin, Texas y el otro de Brooklyn, New York. Iniciaron lanzando dos canciones en la red,  ”Should’ve Taken Acid with You” and “6699 (I Don’t Know if You Know)” subiéndolas a blogs y con esta mecánica se fueron abriendo oportunidad así como ganar popularidad, para el verano de este año lanzaron “Deadbeat Summer” y “Terminally Chill”con la misma mecánica de las canciones anteriores, después de esto por fin dieron a conocer el nombre de las personas que estaban detrás de Neon Indian, Alan Palomo, formador de la banda Ghosthustler y del proyecto electrónico VEGA. Alicia Scardetta que es la encargada de los visuales de la banda, ellos se conocieron y trabajaron juntos en la revista de literatura de su universidad, Palomo escribió “Should’ve Taken Acid with You” que habla sobre su amistad.

Para el 13 de octubre lanzaron su LP Psychic Chasms, y “Deadbeat Summer” se convirtió en su sencillo, que por cierto esta canción trae un sample de Todd Rundgren con su canción “Izzat Love”.

Neon Indian se podría definir como un sonido electrónico vintage, esta muy bien acoplado, por momentos nos trasportamos a la década de los 80, es un electrónico con mezcla de pop, sonidos a base de 8 bits, con sintetizadores que crean ondas hipnóticas y te llevan por lugares ya olvidados o nunca conocidos, por momentos parece electro-funk, melodías un poco melancólicas, la verdad no quiero etiquetar a esta banda, prefiero que ustedes juzguen su sonido y vean que les parece esta banda que sin duda será de las bandas a seguir por su ingenio y creatividad que van desde su sonido hasta la manera de darse a conocer.

Taken from Jean-Jacques Perrey’s album Moog Indigo, the French synth master tore up the early 70’s funk sound with this genius cut of Electro-Funk excellence. Yes, we all know it as the sample from “Just to Get A Rep” by Gangstarr but is it not in another league. The guys did well to only “borrow” parts. The full track is too large for anyone but Perrey to contain…

From Discogs
Jean-Jacques Perrey was born in France in 1929. He was studying medecine in Paris when he met George Jenny, inventor of the Ondioline. Quitting medical school, Perrey travelled through Europe demonstrating this keyboard ancestor of the modern synth.
After moving to New York he befriended Robert Moog and became one of the first Moog musicians, creating “far out electronic entertainment”. In 1965 Perrey met Gershon Kingsley, a former accomplice to John Cage. Together, using Ondioline and Perrey’s loops, they created two albums for Vanguard: The In Sound From Way Out (1966) and Kaleidoscopic Vibrations (1967). Perrey & Kingsley collaborated on sound design for radio and television advertising. Perrey returned to France, composing for television, scoring for ballet and continuing medical research into therapeutic sounds for insomniacs.

Various Artists Strictly Breaks Vol.11

The Tramps – Rubberband
The Meters – Oh, Calcutta!
Shirley Brown – Diamonds Are Forever
Jerry Butler – No Money Down
Supertramp – Crime Of The Century
Toshoyuki Honda – Thunder Kiss
Johnny Guitar Watson – Lovin’ You
ANV Boney M – Sonny
Gong – Mandrake
Main Ingredient – Let Me Prove My Love
Frank Poureel – Diamonds Are Forever
John Scott – Tearaway
Naked Truth – Best Of Both Worlds
Mandrill – Movement IV

http://www.easy-share.com/1908481219/Strictly_Breaks_Vol.11.zip

Various Artists Strictly Breaks Vol.10

Detroit Emeralds – You’re Getting A Little Too Smart
Michael Quatro – Stripper
Paul Butterfield I Don’t Wanna Go
Dorothy Ashby – Cause I Need It
Ripple – It Sure Is Funky
John Kasandra – Down Home Up’s
Unknown Artist – Under The Cherry Moon
Bernard Wright – Hoboclabotribin
Donald Byrd – Dominoes
Dr. John – Right Place, Wrong Time
The Fatback Band – How To Dance
Idris Muhammad – Crab Apple

http://www.easy-share.com/1908481252/Strictly_Breaks_Vol.10_.zip

Various Artists Strictly Breaks Vol.9

Claudja Barry – Love For The Sake Of Love
David McCullan – The Edge
Jose Feliciano – Esto Es El Guaganco
Duran Duran – Notorious
G Nash – Chicago
Al Wilson – My Song
Lionel Bart – Anything
Se Si Bon – Cher Chel La Femme
Kool & The Gang – N.T.
The J.B.’s – Monoaurail
Joe Thomas – Polarizer
Barry De Vorzon – Nadia’s Theme

http://www.easy-share.com/1908481208/Strictly_Breaks_Vol.9_.zip

Various Artists Strictly Breaks Vol.8

Hi Jack – Enoch Light
Pigs Go Home – Ronald Stein
I Wanna Stay – Barry White
Blow Your Head – The J.B.’s
The Fox – Don Randi
The Morning Song – Les McCann
Vibrations – Buster Williams
The Rub – George & Gwen McCrae
Psycho – Bernard Herrmann
Love Till Tomorrow – Pablo Today
Down Home Girl – The Coasters
Big Bad John – Big John Hamilton

http://www.easy-share.com/1908481210/Strictly_Breaks_Vol.8_.zip

Various Artists Strictly Breaks Vol.7

Don’t Ask Me – Ramon Morris
Midnight Groove – Love Unlimited Orchestra
Weak At The Knees – Steve Arrington
Don’t Let It Go To Your Head – Jean Carn
Darling, Darling Baby – Steve Kahn
Life Is Just A Moment Pt. 2 – Roy Ayers
It’s The Hard Knock Life – Annie Soundtrack
Somethings Got To Give – Afro Cuban Band
Come In Out Of The Rain – Parliament
It’s Time To Break Down – The Supremes
Under The Influence Of Love – Love Unlimited
My Hero Is A Gun – Diana Ross

http://www.easy-share.com/1908481253/Strictly_Breaks_Vol.7_.zip

Various Artists Strictly Breaks Vol.6

A Little Bit Of Love – Brenda Russell
Light My Fire – Tammi Lynn
New Beginning – Dexter Wansel
Moses Theme – Thom Bell
On Your Face – Earth, Wind & Fire
Viellir – Jacques Brel
Rolling Stone – The Troggs
Once In A Lifetime – Talking Heads
I’ve Got Nothing To Lose But The Blues – Gwen McCrae
Free And Easy – The Dells
I’m Your Mechanicle Man – Jerry Butler
There Was A Time – The Deefelice Trio
Black Cream – Harold Wheeler

http://www.easy-share.com/1908474925/Strictly_Breaks_Vol.6_.zip

Various Artists Strictly Breaks Vol.5

Right On For The Darkness – Curtis Mayfield
Call Me, Come Back Home – Cecil Holmes
Love And Happiness – Al Green
Drowning In The Sea Of Love – Joe Simon
Everything Good To You – B.T. Express
Groovin’ – Willie Mitchell
Transformation – Nona Hendrix
Going The Distance – Bill Conti
Reach For It – Geroge Duke
My Flame – Bobby Caldwell
Django – Cal Tjader
Too High – Stevie Wonder
Turn Off The Lights – Larry Young
Action Speaks Louder Than Words – Choclate Milk

http://www.easy-share.com/1908474926/Strictly_Breaks_Vol.5.zip

Various Artists Strictly Breaks Vol.4

Shamboozie – Bob James
I Got The Blues – Labi Siffire
Sign Song – Buddy Baker
E.T. Boogie – Extra T’s
Vallarta – Les McVann
I Can’t Stand The Rain – Ann Peebles
The World Is A Place – Rhythm
American Fruit, African Roots – Zulema
Ready Or Not – Delfonics
Pastures- Ahmad Jamal
Little Lady Maria – Ohio Players
Tripping Out – Curtis Mayfield
Lovely Is Today – Eddie Harris
Born To Be Blue – Jack Bruce
Danube Incident – Lalo Schifrin
Strolling – Brother Jack McDuff

http://www.easy-share.com/1908473995/Strictly_Breaks_Vol.4_.zip

Various Artists Strictly Breaks Vol.3

Sweet Green Fields – Seals & Crofts
I Did It For Love – Love Unlimited
I Put A Spell On You – Screamin’ Jay Hawkins
Killers Lullaby – Barry White
I Hear Music In The Streets – Unlimited Touch
Just Kissed My Baby – The Meters
Black Cow – Steely Dan
Hollywood Swinging – Kool & The Gang
She’s A Bad Mama Jama – Carl Carlton
I’m Coming Out – Diana Ross
The Body Rock – The Treacherous Three
I’ll Never Grow Old – The Charmells
I Want To Do Something Freaky To You – Leon Haywood
Little Green Apples – Monk Higgins

http://www.easy-share.com/1908473999/Strictly_Breaks_Vol.3_.zip

Various Artists Strictly Breaks Vol.2

Summer Breeze – Main Ingredient
Adventures In The Land Of Music – Dynasty
My Jamaican Guy – Grace Jones
Enchanted Lady – Milt Jackson
Free Soul – John Klemmer
Unwind Yourself – Marva Whitney
The Mighty Quinn – Ramsey Lewis
EVA – Moog Indigo
Fun – Brick
Funky Worm – Ohio Players
Night Love – Jeff Lorber
Searching – Roy Ayers

http://www.easy-share.com/1908474017/Strictly_Breaks_Vol.2.zip

Various Artists Strictly Breaks Vol.1

The Long Wait – Hawaii Five-O TV Soundtrack
You Can’t Turn Me Away – Sylvia Striplin
The Smile – David Axelrod
Rain Dance – Jeff Lorbert
Morning – Cal Tjader
Summer In The City – Quincy Jones
Garden Of Peace – Lonnie Listen Smith
I’m Afraid The Masquerade Is Over – David Porter
Mask – Shellie Mann
Get Out My Life Woman – Joe Williams
In The Mood – Tyron Davis

http://www.easy-share.com/1908473526/Strictly_Breaks_Vol.1_.zip

This past week was a busy one with two big shows. The first, at R Bar, was my first show with my live band in four months, so it was great to get everyone back together and rock the house. Problem was, the house was pretty small. I was glad to have a few new faces there, and everyone enjoyed the show, but the problem is, when your show is late on a weeknight with a $10 cover charge and your friends are either broke and available or have some money because they’re working past 10pm on a weeknight, that doesn’t make for a big audience. That will be my last weeknight, high-cover-charge gig for the forseeable future. I wish these small venues and bookers would be more flexible about door charges because they really hurt draws for small bands/artists just starting out. Thank god there are some venues that will do shows with no cover where you can pass a tip jar so the musicians still get paid. That makes more sense to me since the venue makes more money off the bar than anything else, and more people in the venue means more money for the bar! Oh well, at least some venue owners understand that. The other option we have is to do gigs at house parties and other spaces where we can control the audience’s experience. So, to that end, our next show will be Saturday, December 19th at a friend’s loft in SoHo, which means no door charge, prime timeslot, free drinks, food, relaxed atmosphere, and good times. Plus we’ll be playing with the amazing Comandante Zero, an excellent electro-funk band out of Brooklyn who are friends of mine, so there’ll be not one but two awesome shows in one spot! I’m really looking forward to that show. If it’s still hard to get a good crowd at a free show on a weekend night with six weeks advance notice, then, to be honest, I’m not really sure what I need to do, haha.

"I don't care what you think, gonna flip my hair and sip my drink!"

Everybody's Crazy in New York

Me post-show

The show on Saturday in Central Park had a much better draw because it was Central Park on a beautiful Saturday afternoon, with a mammoth sound system. I had so much fun! I’ve always wanted to perform at the Bandshell and indeed it was a great time. I had a guest spot between house music DJ’s as part of Art for Progress’ Sunset Jam in Central Park, and sang “Anything You Want,” “Dance Dance Dance,” and “Everybody’s Crazy in New York.” Now, if you frequent the Bandshell area of the park, you know the regular crazy people who are always there, and they were there in full force! There’s the guy with the green ‘fro wearing brightly colored women’s clothes with a poodle and a parrot that he dyes crazy colors who skips around as people frantically take his photograph, and then there’s the old guy who either leaps and spins in circles continuously for about ten minutes at a time and never gets tired, or he stands in one spot and shakes his chest up and down as if he were an old, male, crazy Shakira in sweatpants. It’s a sight to see. I go to that area of Central Park all the time and I’ve seen those guys a lot, so it was pretty surreal to have them dancing to my music as I performed it. And it went absolutely perfectly with “Everybody’s Crazy in New York,” LOLOLOLOL. I wrote that song because it’s true, and they’re the perfect evidence of it!

Posin' with a parrot on my head

Breakin' it down NYC style. That parrot has a great sense of balance.

The show was also great because a lot of little kids were there who really liked my music, and it always makes me happy when kids like my music. One little girl came right up to the stage and watched my set and would wave back to me and smile when I waved to her. Then later, she was like “I really liked your songs,” and SANG “Everybody’s Crazy in New York” BACK TO ME! SO CUTE AND AMAZING! Then this tween boy asked me for a hug and to have a dance-off, and this group of tween girls really liked my stuff as well. And another tween girl came up to me and was like “Did you go to Spence?” I swear, I cannot go anywhere or do anything outside without a Spence girl coming up to me! They’re everywhere! And I’d never know it if I weren’t always doing weird things outside! One lady asked if I’d come sing at her Christmas party. Not Christmas songs, my music. Everybody’s crazy in New York…

Me and my new favorite little fan! (in the pink jacket)

...and from her perspective!

One thing that drives me crazy is that no matter how much people like your music and want to take your info to look you up online after a show, people are SO hesitant to sign up for the mailing list, which everyone in the indie music world says is the one thing you HAVE to get people to do. I totally get it because even when I’ve gotten on people’s email lists, I often don’t have time or desire to read the emails, I’ve never bought their music, and I’ve never been to their shows, and I often don’t get on the email list in the first place because of all that. But it’s just hard to have people say they love your music or your show and then decline to ever hear about your shows in the future. You just have to hope they’ll remember to look you up later, which is where getting a song stuck in their heads comes in. But that’s why it’s ALL about getting publicity. If I were getting publicity and people were seeing my name over and over again, they’d start looking me up and having a context in which to think of me. When I hear of something once, I forget about it, but if I keep hearing about it, eventually I check it out. So I’m excited to start pushing for publicity once the album’s done so I can see if it helps the way I hope/think it will.

In New York City we dance to house music.

In New York City we dance to house music with babies and crazy people.

See you at that show on December 19th!

Follow me on Twitter at twitter.com/jccassis

All photos by Berette Macaulay except the fourth, ninth and tenth, which are by Kenny Bae. Thank you Berette and Kenny and Art for Progress!

01. Afrika Bambaataa -  Electro Funk Express.mp3
02. Midnight Star -  Electricity (Radio Edit).mp3
03. Grandmaster Flash & The Fourious Five -  Scorpio.mp3
04. Cybotron -  Clear.mp3
05. Freestyle -  Don’t Stop The Rock (Original Version).mp3
06. Sugarhill Gang -  Rapper’s Delight (Ben Liebrand Mix).mp3
07. The 2 Live Crew -  Me So Horny.mp3
08. Newtronic -  Let’s Dance (Radio Mix).mp3
09. Street Mob -  The Breakdancer.mp3
10. G.Flash , Melle Mell & The Fourious Five -  Beat Street.mp3

http://hotfile.com/dl/16186515/71d315e/Electro_Funk_a_By_Nrg-Fanatic.rar.html
http://hotfile.com/dl/16186596/dbf9c69/Electro_Funk_b_By_Nrg-Fanatic.rar.html

Electro funk from Helsinki:

Imatran Voima -commando-  live at St Petersburg 2008

Release Date: Jan 1999
Label: BBE
Quality: Mp3/192 kbs

http://hotfile.com/dl/16821858/972bebe/Funk_Spectrum_-_Real_Funk_for_Real_People.zip.html

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Here’s a pretty dope mix I scavenged off the internet… I’m not quite sure who mixed this, pretty sure it wasn’t Paul Hardcastle, but it’s slammin’ none the less. Hope you enjoy!

UPDATE: This mix was mixed by Xed, check his myspace out here.

Tracklist:
00:00 The Wizard – part 1
02:32 Central Park
04:30 Sound Chaser
07:26 Panic
09:22 Daybreak (First Light)
11:35 Fly by Night
13:49 Gulity f. Kevin Henry
16:02 Just For Money (breakers mix)
18:48 Forest Fire
22:50 You’re The One For Me f. Kevin Henry
24:43 Pappa’s Gotta Brand New Pig Bag (remix)
27:52 Foolin’ Yourself f. Kevin Henry
31:00 19 (instrumental)
34:32 Dark Star
37:08 Loitering With Intent
39:14 Back In Time
42:07 Rain Forest
45:19 Asylum (It’s Weird)
47:51 King Tut (US remix)
51:19 Eat Your Heart Out f. Kevin Henry
54:37 The Wizard – part 2
57:42 Rainforest – part 2
59:36 A.M. (First Light)
61:53 Hard As Hell
65:03 Over And Over

Click Link Below to Download Rapidshare:
Xed – Paul Hardcastle Electro Funk Megamix

Year:2007
Label: Vide Records

Electro-Funk is undoubtedly the most misunderstood of all UK Dance genres, yet probably the most vital with regards to its overall influence. Central to the confusion is the term itself, which during 82/83 (before it was shortened to Electro) was specific to the UK. From a US perspective this music would come under a variety of headings (including Hip-Hop, Dance, Disco, Electric Boogie and Freestyle), arriving on import here in the UK mainly on New York labels like West End, Prelude, Sugarhill, Emergency, Profile, Tommy Boy, Streetwise, plus numerous others. Just as Northern Soul was a British term for a style (or group of styles) of American black music, so was Electro-Funk, and, like Northern, the roots of the scene are planted firmly in the North-West of England.

Although this has been documented in a number of books and publications down the years, often with a fair degree of insight, the subject is rarely approached with any true depth and attention to detail, the information all in fragments. Perhaps the main reason that Electro-Funk remains a mystery to so many people is because its audience was predominantly black at a time when cutting-edge black music (and black culture in general) was very much marginalized in the UK, and as a result essentially underground. To keep up to date with what was happening on the British black music scene in 82/83 you’d have had to have been a reader of a specialist publication like Blues & Soul or Black Echoes.

In the UK scheme of things Electro-Funk eventually took over from Jazz-Funk as the dominant force on the club scene, but not without major controversy and upheaval. The purists regarded electronic or electric (as they called it) with total contempt, rejecting its validity on the grounds that it was, in their opinion, not real music due to its technological nature (although Marvin Gaye’s “Sexual Healing” would put paid to that theory). However, as time went on and audience tastes began to change, even the most hostile DJs were forced to play at least some Electro-Funk. Despite all the resistance, the movement slowly but surely began to gain momentum, sweeping down from the North, through the Midlands and eventually into London and the South.

The reason the Electro scene took so long to fully establish itself in the capital was down to the stranglehold the all-powerful Soul Mafia DJs held on the Southern scene. The Soul Mafia, with big names like Chris Hill, Robbie Vincent, Froggy, Jeff Young and Pete Tong, continued to concentrate on Jazz-Funk and Soul grooves (later referred to as “80s Groove”). It wouldn’t be until ‘84 that their virtual monopoly of the clubs, radio, and the black music press began to erode as a new order of music replaced the old, laying the foundations not only for Hip-Hop, but also the subsequent UK Techno and House scenes.

As has often been said, Electro is the missing link of Dance music. All roads lead back to New York where the level of musical innovation and experimentation throughout the early 80s period was quite staggering. It wasn’t one narrow style that never strayed from within the confides of an even narrower BPM range, Electro-Funk was anything goes! The diversity of records released during this period was what made it so magical, you never knew what was coming next. The tempo of these tracks ranged from under 100bpm to over 130, covering an entire rhythmic spectrum along the way.

There was no set template for this new Dance direction, it just went wherever it went and took you grooving along with it. It was all about stretching the boundaries that had begun to stifle black music, and its influences lay not only with German Technopop wizards Kraftwerk, the acknowledged forefathers of pure Electro, plus British Futurist acts like the Human League and Gary Numan, but also with a number of pioneering black musicians. Major artists like Miles Davis, Sly Stone, Herbie Hancock, Stevie Wonder, legendary producer Norman Whitfield and, of course, George Clinton and his P Funk brigade, would all play their part in shaping this new sound via their innovative use of electronic instruments during the 70s (and as early as the late 60s in Miles Davis’ case). Once the next generation of black musicians finally got their hands on the available technology it was bound to lead to a musical revolution as they ripped up the rule book with their twisted Funk.

Before Afrika Bambaataa & The Soul Sonic Force’s seminal Electro classic, “Planet Rock” (Tommy Boy) exploded on the scene in May 82, there had already been a handful of releases in the previous months that would help define this new genre. D Train’s “You’re The One For Me” (Prelude), which was massive during late 81, would set the tone, paving the way for “Time” by Stone (West End), “Feels Good” by Electra (Emergency) and two significant Eric Matthew / Darryl Payne productions, Sinnamon’s “Thanks To You” (Becket) and, once again courtesy of Prelude, “On A Journey (I Sing The Funk Electric)” by Electrik Funk (the term Electro-Funk originally deriving from this track, “electric-funk” being amended to Electro-Funk following the arrival of Shock’s “Electrophonic Phunk” on the Californian Fantasy label in June).

However, the most significant of all the early releases was “Don’t Make Me Wait” by the Peech Boys (West End), for this was no longer hinting at a new direction, it was unmistakably the real deal. An extreme chunk of vinyl moulded by Paradise Garage DJ Larry Levan, “Don’t Make Me Wait” would quickly become a cult-classic, and eventually even manage to scrape into the top 50 of the British Pop chart, purely on the back of underground support (as would a number of subsequent Electro-Funk releases).

As the first British DJ to fully embrace this new wave of black music, I came in for a lot of personal criticism. Having already become an established name on the Jazz-Funk scene I was seen as a heretic for playing these soulless records, especially those that were regarded as the more blatant ones (for example, the dreaded “Planet Rock” and the rest of the Tommy Boys stuff, Warp 9 “Nunk” (Prism), Extra T’s “ET Boogie” (Sunnyview), Man Parrish “Hip Hop, Be Bop (Don’t Stop)” (Importe/12), and Italian Zanza 12″, “Dirty Talk” by Klien & MBO).

I generally opted for the Dub or instrumental versions, mixing them in alongside the more orthodox Funk, Soul and Jazz-Funk releases of the time at my weekly residencies, Legend in Manchester and Wigan Pier, where the scene first took root. These venues, both state-of-the-art US styled clubs, would become central to the movement throughout the 82-84 period, attracting people from all over the country. The music would also gain further exposure via my regular mixes for Manchester’s Piccadilly Radio (beginning in May 82), and in August 83 I’d introduce Electro to a new audience, when I became the first Dance resident at the Haçienda club.

Electro-Funk’s legacy is huge. It announced the computer age and seduced a generation with its drum machines, synthesizers and its sequencers, its rap, cut and scratch, its breaking and popping, its Dub mixes, its bonus beats and its innovative use of samples. Made to be mixed it inspired a new breed of British DJs to cut the chat and match the beats. Now legendary names like Grandmaster Flash, Tee Scott, Tony Humphries, Larry Levan, François Kevorkian, Shep Pettibone, John ‘Jellybean’ Benitez and Double Dee & Steinski became role-models for tuned-in DJs and would-be remixers, whilst pioneers of the new digital sampling technology, including New York producer Arthur Baker and his collaborator John Robie, British producer Trevor Horn (via “Buffalo Gals”) and, of course, the Herbie Hancock / Bill Laswell combination, with their Grammy winning “Rockit” (Columbia), not only revolutionized black music but instigated a whole new approach to popular music in general.

Electro-Funk was the channel that finally brought the Hip-Hop movement, and all its various creative components, firmly into the UK mainstream, helping to spread its message throughout Europe and beyond. To all intents and purposes Electro-Funk pre-dates Hip-Hop in a British context, the term not coming into common use here until much later. We were more or less clueless when it came to Hip-Hop until late 82, when Charisma Records in the UK unleashed Malcolm McLaren & The World’s Famous Supreme Team’s “Buffalo Gals” video, which came as something of a culture-shock to say least, bringing the full force of NYC street-style out of The Bronx and into our living rooms, and inspiring a carnival of breakdancing in cities and towns throughout Britain during the summer of 83. Eventually we’d learn of its origins with Kool DJ Herc, spinning his famous merry-go-round of breaks for the b boys. Before this, most people had presumed that the break in breakdancing referred to the damage you might do to your bones if you got the move wrong!

Although the media gradually latched onto this new dance craze, the scene that surrounded it wouldn’t receive any serious attention here in the UK until 1984. This followed the runaway success of the Street Sounds “Electro” compilations (Volume 1 released in October 83), which would take the music to a much wider audience, and result in The Face announcing “Electro – The Beat That Won’t Be Beaten” across its entire front page in May 84, a full two years on from the US release of “Planet Rock”.

This substantial delay in recognition went a long way towards obscuring Electro-Funk’s essential role in kick-starting the 80s dance boom, with many UK club historians bypassing the pivotal early 80s period and mistakenly citing Detroit Techno as the trigger. Even the track that gave birth to Techno, the Juan Atkins / Rick Davies 12″ “Clear” by Cybotron (Fantasy), was regarded as an Electro classic here in 83, way before the Techno scene began to take shape, and would feature on the first Street Sounds “Crucial Electro” compilation the following year.

Little mention is ever made of the fact that its remixer, Jose ‘Animal’ Diaz, was immersed in NY Electro, with previous mix credits including “We Are The Jonzun Crew” for Tommy Boy, and “Hip Hop Be Bop (Don’t Stop)”, which gained a new lease of life following his much sought-after limited edition mix for Disconet (the DJ Only format affiliated to Sugarscoop).

Electro’s star burnt very brightly, initially on the underground and eventually with the club masses. In 1984 the London scene took off in a big way, both in the clubs and on the radio, with the emergence of DJs like Herbie from Mastermind (who mixed the Street Sounds albums), Paul Anderson, Tim Westwood and Mike Allen confirming a radical shift in power on the capital’s black music scene. With the substantial weight of London behind it, the Electro movement quickly went overground enticing an ever-increasing number of switched-on white kids in its on-going search for the perfect beat.

With a significant proportion of the British youth, regardless of colour, now grounded in Hip-Hop culture, the new UK Dance era was well and truly under way and it wouldn’t be long before musicians and DJs here began to create their own hybrid styles, most notably in Bristol where Electro was fused with the Reggae vibes of Dub and Lovers Rock, to bring about a unique flavour that would later be known as Trip-Hop. By the end of the decade cities like Manchester and London had become major players on the now global Dance scene, with the UK a veritable hotbed of creativity both in the clubs and the recording studios.

Electro-Funk was the prototype, and Hip-Hop, Techno, House, Jungle, Trip-Hop, Drum & Bass, UK Garage, plus countless other Dance derivatives, all owe their debts to its undoubted influence. Without it’s inspiration, it’s unlikely that British acts such as Coldcut, 808 State, A Guy Called Gerald, Soul To Soul, Massive Attack, The Prodigy, William Orbit, Goldie, the Chemical Brothers, Underworld and Fatboy Slim, to name but a few, would have emerged. When all’s said and done, Electro-Funk (or Electro or whatever people choose to call it) was the catalyst, the mutant strain that bridged the British Jazz-Funk underground to the Acid-House mainstream, Until this fact is fully recognized the UK Dance jigsaw will remain incomplete and confused, with countless clubbers, twenty years on, having no idea of the true roots of the music they’re dancing to.

Greg Wilson, November 2003.

El surgimiento de bandas y músicos independientes afanados por fusionar la música electrónica con ritmos como techno, rock, electro funk y hip hop, ha logrado que las nuevas melodías compuestas por sonidos electrónicos predominen entre los géneros más escuchados en la cultura musical moderna.

Según manifiesta Ricardo Fernandez, la música electrónica es, con relación a la música en general, un nuevo género que ha sabido adaptarse a los grandes avances tecnológicos en materia interactiva y multimedia, y gracias a recursos de comunicación como Internet, los nuevos compositores de música electrónica pueden intercambiar programas de música, sonidos, efectos e ideas con otros que quieran ampliar su galería musical.

Aunque la música electrónica es efervescente y está en constante proceso de expansión, Ricardo Fernandez considera que en el futuro éste término desaparezca, una vez que tanto la tecnología electrónica como la informática estén plenamente integradas en el mundo del músico y compositor y pueda ser considerada no como un subgénero, sino como parte de la música en su propia esencia.

A Rich Cason production. A nice high quality rip at 320kbps can be found at DJ B.Cause’s Diamonds in the Dust blog, with some interesting information about Rich I wasn’t aware of regarding who he played with in the past. Dyke & the Blazers! They of the classic  Funky Broadway.

BodytonicLive 16 – Culoe De Song

We know DJ T. for many things, his no-nonsense mixing skills, albums like 2004’s Boogie Playground, and his long-standing affiliation to Berlin’s Get Physical imprint among them. His influences, however, don’t stop with minimal, 4/4 beats, and according to recent press, there was a time when the man born Thomas Koch’s musical tastes revolved more around rap than techno. Hell, we even got him to make us an exclusive mix of some meaningful tracks in his career to prove that. At just under an hour, Koch’s mix takes us on an electro-funk trip through some of the most important tracks of his life.

01 Afrika Bambaataa & John Lydon – World Destruction (Intro)
02 Mantronix – Jamming on the Groove
03 Mantronix – Needle to the Groove
04 Timezone – The Wildstyle
05 West Street Mob – Break Dancin’ Electric Boogie
06 Man Parrish Feat. Freeze Force – Boogie Down (Bronx)
07 Man Parrish Feat. Freeze Force – Boogie Down (Dub)
08 The Jonzun Crew – Pack Jam
09 Cybotron Feat. Juan Atkins – Clear
10 Afrika Bambaataa & The Soul Sonic Force – Planet Rock (Westbam Remix)
11 Afrika Bambaataa & The Soul Sonic Force – Planet Rock (Instrumental)
12 Planet Patrol – Play at Your Own Risk (Bootleg Acapella)
13 Planet Patrol – Play at Your Own Risk (Vocal)
14 J.J. Fad – Supersonic (Due to the Demand Remix)
15 J.J. Fad – Supersonic (Vocal Mix)
16 The X-Men – Revenge Of The X-Men (Instrumental)
17 Imperial Brothers – We Come to Dub
18 Dynamix II – Just Give The DJ A Break (Remix)
19 Model 500 – No Ufo’s
20 Eqyptian Lover – Eqypt, Eqypt

Emberünket remélem senkinek sem kell bemutatni… jó-jó… égjenek a letöltési szálak!

ööö… igen majd alkalomadtán előkerítem és fenn lesz az egy is!

1. Railing
2. Brown Paper Bag
3. New Forms
4. Let’s Get It On
5. Trust Me
6. Digital
7. Matter Of Fact
8. Heroes
9. Share The Fall
10. Heart To Heart
11. Less Is More
12. Down
13. Hi Potent
14. Don’t Hold Back
15. Beatbox
16. Encore
17. Destination

Katt!!!

I’ve been wanting to do a countdown featuring songs about songs (you know, songs about music, dancing, and/or a certain genre).  I have my 10 songs, but even as I post Number 10, I’m not sure about the order.  So, this one will form as I go.  I normally have my list ready to go before I start.  MY TOP 10 is a music video countdown, but with some songs (maybe one in particular) occuring before the MTV era, I will  have to improvise and pull something from Dailymotion or YouTube.  Here goes.

10. Cameo “Word Up!”

Cameo was that eccentric group that had the electro-funk thing going on.  “Word Up!” is their infectious signature song that gets your @$$ on the dance floor like it’s supposed to. With new wave synthesizers, jazzy flourishes, and funk all up in your face, it’s hard to forget.  It imprints on your dancing bones’ memory and stays there until the next time you hear it and you’re involuntarily moving your body once again.  Do your dance, indeed.

Vidám, könnyed akusztikus elektro muzsikájukat japán, spanyol, orosz nyelvekkel fűszerezik az úriemberek, halandzsa cucc… csak ajánlani tudom!

Katt!!!

És egy kis kiegészítés… bár csak EP…

Katt!!!

Jöjjön ismét egy kis lágy szellőben kabriózás a nyolcvanas évek vegaszában!

Boogie baby!

01. Smash & Grab
02. Man Of Constant Sorrow
03. Put Your Hands Up!!!
04. Ruby’s Revenge
05. Husky
06. Echo
07. The Earth Shakes
08. Matador
09. Soul Bossanova
10. Music Makers
11. Wet Your Beak
12. Love Power
13. The Adventures Of Cut Man (Bonus Track)

Katt!!!

http://www.myspace.com/thatssocasemo

An electro funk mix that will have you wringing out your T shirt in no time. This mix is a combination of some older tracks, some new ones and some downright ANTHEMs.

Download HOT SWEAT now.