Happy Halloween! Here's some ear-candy to celebrate, an update on John Carpenter's classic theme from the film that gave new meaning to "The Boogeyman."
The third installment in the Halloween series has absolutely no relation to the rest of the films, which means no Michael Myers. I've never even seen it, but I have to believe it's god-awful. Redeeming factor: John Carpenter stayed on to do the music (and produce, of course), and turned out a theme on par with his original, though composed entirely with synthesizers to give it a feel of its own.
Here's some bonus John Carpenter. Actually, The Thing was scored by the legendary Ennio Morricone, marking one of the few instances where Carpenter outsourced the musical duties on one of his films.
This is the other Mary Jane Girls song for rap fans. The Mary Jane Girls song being, of course All Nite Long, which was sampled by Mary J. Blige, Big Daddy Kane, Redman, LL and Jay-Z among others. But In My House was a Billboard R&B #1 in '85 and is def the fucking jam. Doesn't get played out nearly enough if you ask me- and that's why I'm posting the shit.
The best part of the Mary Jane Girls is easily the fact that they are Rick James' girl group (a counter to Vanity 6?), and each member of the band adopted a Rick-esque girlie persona. JoJo was the "female Rick James," Maxi was a dominatrix, et cetera. I think there was a Valley Girl too. I dunno.
Needless to say, pretty much everything Rick every wrote and produced, all the way on down to Eddie Murphy's Party All the Time was monsterous, even if the act singing the song, as in Eddie's case, was subpar. I don't care who you are or what you do, you need more Rick in your life.
For my inaugural contribution to DBJ I figured I'd stay true to form and offer up two interesting tracks that were discovered on the cheap. One was found for a dollar and the other for one Euro, respectively. The first is an odd Electronic Disco single (with some Italo flourishes) out of Baltimore, MD circa 1983. Not much is known of Kym, as "Give Me The Dance" was her only release, however more is known of the label on which her track appeared - Award Records. Home to early Electronic artist David Astri, Award released "Dancing Digits" which has become a highly sought after 12" due to years of support from the likes of DJ Harvey and Daniel Wang. I personally prefer the mysterious K-Y-M's single over Mr. Astri's, but I'll be posting "Dancing Digits" next week for you to decide for yourself. In the meantime check out the insanity of analog synths that is "Give Me The Dance" (Dance Mix).
The above photo is of the infamous Bobby Orlando. Love him or hate him, dude (seemingly unintentionally) wrote and produced some great Italo/Euro Disco records for artists like the Flirts ("Passion"), the NY Models ("Love On Video"), Roni Griffith ("Spys") Divine ("Native Love") and the Pet Shop Boys (original version of "West End Girls") to name a few. The track I've posted here is by the group Dosio circa 1983 and is a cover of the song "Dancin." Originally released in 1979, "Dancin" is Bobby Orlando's first credited production and was sung by one Ted Foster. The original version is a drab slice of cookie cutter Disco and doesn't even hint at Bobby O's promising future. Dosio, however, rescue this song with some prime era Italo arpeggiated bass lines, analog synths and whispered vocals. I found this single in Berlin last Spring for one Euro at a flea market. The same vendor sold me original copies of "End Title (Blade Runner)" by Hypnosis, "Ultimate Warlord" by the Immortals, and "Fear" by Easy Going for a grand total of 15 Euro... I miss Berlin.
Today we are going to talk about Stuart's remix of "It's Automatic", a track by Zoot Woman. On the single, the remix is credited to Stuart's Paper Faces alias. This track seriously kills floors any time I play it; it really doesn't matter if it's an "indie" crowd or a house crowd - the tune works for both and probably even an elderly Bingo Hall crowd. It's that funky, that catchy and that good. I even caught your man Apt One trainspotting this one at the last Robotique.
Of course the "It's Automatic" single is scarce these days and Wall Of Sound has yet to make a digi-version available, so here you go.
Halloween is my favorite holiday, and every year I'm disappointed by how few horror movies are on TV in the month of October. And the ones they do show - I mean, Jesus, Piñata: Survival Island? So here's me coping with two more of my favorite things: electronic music and zombies.
Disco Undead was a UK-only release on Device Recordings out of Manchester (the label appears to have since gone under, as its website is no longer active). The concept: reinterpretations of classic horror movie themes by modern producers. It came out in 2004, but it's basically an Italo disco compilation for the most part (with authentic-sounding production), and the songs themselves are bonafied classics.
Zombi 2 is not in fact the sequel to Zombi - the title Dawn of the Dead was released with in Italy - but was so named by director Lucio Fulci to establish a connection between the two films. It worked; Fulci became an overnight sensation in Europe, and Zombi 2 became the first movie to feature a zombie fighting a shark underwater.
A go-go band covering a robo band! Although the A side is vocoded, I selected the instrumental because I think flows better. I know my copy is pretty rocked, but this needs to be heard by the masses (yes, the masses all religiously check Dollar Bin Jams!).
Despite being six years away from landing on the moon, this 1963 song not only presupposes the possibility of interplanetary travel, but also that Martian culture was nearly identical to that of pre-Beatles America (i.e. bobby socks, poodle skirts, and high school hops). Talk about visionary! Well, the story doesn't end there. The band that concocted this extraterrestrial jam was also a pioneer of electronic music.
Ten years before Bob Moog invented the voltage controlled synthesizer, The Ran-Dells were manipulating sine waves and splicing tape by hand. Note the sci-fi B-movie blast-off effect at the beginning. Then take in the Doo-wop chorus. If not for the so-called "novelty" content of this song (Don't count me among the naysayers. I watched the X-Files. I want to believe! ) this song might be remembered alongside other vocal group classics. After all, Martian Hop did earn a gold record.
Greetings, Billy from Robotique checking in for a minute. First off, a big fat shout to the other Jammers; it's an honor to hang tough with you all in the virtual world.
Now down to the gritty.
I missed Alan Braxe and DJ Falcon when they recently came through New York City. Though French house has moved from the funky disco-influenced filter madness of ten years ago to the electro-influenced big-breakbeat sound of the Ed Banger crew, most of the original DJs and producers are still involved (Daft Punk anyone?).
Braxe was an integral part of the early days and although his style has adapted a bit to the harder electrified beats of the contemporary scene, you can still go back and find those earlier funky gems in his catalog. For those who are not in the know,Braxe got his start in the mid-90's and he broke along with Da Punk's Thomas Bangalter and another cat named Benjamin Diamond as Stardust when the trio produced the anthemic and timeless "Music Sounds Better With You". Since then Braxe has worked closely with bassist Fred Falke and has remixed everyone from Justice to Bjork.
Though the majority of his tunes are still widely available, there are some bootlegs that are credited to him. One such tune is "Funk Bitch On Tha Bass". There is essentially no information on this track at all around the net and I've never seen a vinyl copy, though white labels may exist. It is a funky house workout with the obligatory sped-up female vocal lick, filters and choppy edits; definitely an artifact of late 90's French dance music. If you find more info on the track, let me know. In the meantime, grab a croissant, some freedom fries and get greasy.
Shawn asked me to hop on this here internets musical hayride, and I'll be providing some nice vinyl rips of the rap, disco, soul and electro persuasions as well as mixes and edits that I've done.... So here goes!
I'll start by laying some of my own shit on ya. Here are a couple of remixes that Skinny Friedman and I churned out the last few weeks:
This is a remix of the Steelers' longtime fight song. The original is a terrible song, but we thought this was a fun track for the hometown heads. I plan to drop this on the Brillo Box in a month or so.
Hail Social contacted us about working on their remix album for their recent release Modern Love and Death. We obliged, but we're not holding out too much hope for this track actually making it on the EP coming out on Flamin Hotz records considering the insane talent on the remix album: Cosmo Baker, Eli Escobar, Pink Skull, Sta and more... damn!
Here's a mysterious post-punk record I picked up at Avalanche Records on Cockburn Street in Edinburgh. Nobody at the shop knew anything about it and there wasn't a listening station, so I took a chance and it paid off. The best source of information I could find on the band is actually a webpage in their bassist/vocalist's online resume. There is are some other songs and a brief history if you're interested. Though he says they called it quits in 1980, this one is from '81. Here's the entire 12":
I'm no DJ, like some of the other good folks posting on this blog, but I do know a slammin' beat when I hear one. It may not surprise you that the band behind this monstrosity is German, but you will be surprised to know that it's from 1968... at least until the sitars come in. But hey, who cares if a little patchouli wafts onto the dance floor?
Little info--let alone an LP still in print--exists about Motherhood. But thanks to the compilation Kraut! Demons! Kraut! we can still enjoy their literally groundbreaking (blast the base if you want to know what I mean) psychedelic rock.
With my inaugural post on Dollar Bin Jams I wanted to kick things off right, in the true spirit of For-Nerds-By-Nerds that this blog was founded upon. That being said, what could be more nerd-core than Krautrock, the Dungeons & Dragons of music?
And I'll start by cheating a bit. This first band, Magical Ring, isn't German at all; they're French, which I suppose makes them the direct opposite of German. Still, this track from their 1977 release Light Flight/More and More is a creeping psychedelic guitar workout that definitely wears a Krautrock influence on its sleeve. Plus, I thought it would sound great as a kind of overture to the rest of this post.
There's next to nothing about Magical Ring on the interweb, but I did find a copy of the record on sale for $266, so grab this like Paris in 1940.
One of the most mythical bands off all time, Faust is nonetheless distinguished for being one of the first signed to rebel billionaire Richard Branson's Virgin Records. Between their breakup in 1975 and their reunion in 1990 the whereabouts of the group remain unknown. "It's A Rainy Day, Sunshine Girl" is the lead track off their sophomore release, So Far, and sounds something like a deconstructed '70s pop song, albeit a little more repetitive.
Cluster was probably the most innovative group in German space rock, also known as kosmische, and featured guest artists from Neu!'s Michael Rother to Brian Eno. 1974's Zuckerzeit was a departure, in that it came down from outer space in favor of a sound approaching electronic pop, which narrowly predated Kraftwerk's Autobahn.
This would be in the opening credits to Werner Herzog's adaptation of Pulp Fiction.
Back into the cosmos. I don't know what else to say about this except "freaking epic." And eerie, good Halloween mood music if that's your thing. My girlfriend loves Tangerine Dream but doesn't much care for electronic dance music. Figure that one out. This is a 320kbps CD rip, and it's almost 18 minutes long, so serious nerds only.
In the 1980s, Harald Grosskopf was the drummer for Ash Ra Tempel, the other big kosmische band and the primary vehicle for Manuel Göttsching (whose landmark E2-E4 I would absolutely love to post in its righteous entirety, pending a discussion with my colleagues on possible legal ramifications). Grosskopf also pursued a decent solo career in his own right, expanding on Ash Ra's flirtation with New Age; here's a less cheesy example from his 1980 LP, Synthesist. For Echoes, I'm John Diliberto.
Harmonia was a veritable Krautrock supergroup, comprised of key players in the scene, and was arguably an ideal representation of its signature motorik chug. Brian Eno called them "the world's most important rock group" and would later collaborate in several sessions. Although Kraftwerk would ultimately become the most widely influential band of that era, Harmonia is often considered the flagship Krautrock band, a perfect encapsulation of its time and place. This track is off their 1974 debut, Musik von Harmonia.
We've come full circle here because I'm cheating again. Davey Jones isn't German, but he moved to Berlin in the late 1970s to produce a trilogy of groundbreaking, Krautfluenced albums with help from, you guessed it, fellow ex-pat Brian Eno. Heroes was the middle child of the three, released 30 years ago this month in fact (see, I knew what I was doing). The title track is still my all-time favorite Bowie song. Amazing guitar solo from Robert Fripp, great use of oscillators, but Bowie's vocal is unreal. The lyric about a couple embracing against the backdrop of the Berlin Wall, defying that symbol of overwhelming oppression with such a visceral display of emotion, chokes me up every time. Critic Ned Raggett put it best: "Not even ending up as a Microsoft commercial theme could quench the sheer power and beauty of 'Heroes.'"
Retro digital percussion jam! According to Discogs, this was their only single. Midi Dub is the only keeper, although I also posted a bonus beat for the producers. I actually did get this for a $1 to boot.
Last night's Hurrah was amazing! Domonic was rockin minimal to a packed dancefloor - everything is headed in the right direction!
-Shawn
1. Mystery Jets - Crosswords 2. Digitalism - I Want I Want 3. Architecture in Helsinki - Heart It Races (Pink Skull Remix) 4. CSS - A La La (BFF Remix) 5. Klaxons - Gravitys Rainbow (Soulwax Remix) 6. Grizz Le Beast - Adidas Creeps 7. Claude Von Stroke - The Whistler 8. Shackleton featuring Jackson Del Rey - Next to Nothing (Guillaume & The Coutu Dumonts Remix) 9. Impedance - Tainted Love (Tainted Dub Mix) 10. Daft Punk - Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger (Cutso Special Blend) 11. Peter Dragontail - Kids From Above 12. Love Is All - Make Out Fall Out Make Up (Cousin Cole Edit)
The birth of a new institution! Dollar Bin Jams that is. This seems like an appropriately geeky way to kick off our site. An early example of using the studio as an instrument. If you're into torment and bloodshed, read the story of The Tornadoes at All Music Guide.
Here's some bonus John Carpenter. Actually, The Thing was scored by the legendary Ennio Morricone, marking one of the few instances where Carpenter outsourced the musical duties on one of his films.
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