01
- intro (theo parrish - levels)
02
- andres - can't shake it
03
- leston paul - everyday life
04
- little kirk - ghetto people broke version
05
- vijay benedict - zindigi miri dance dance (olefonken edit)
06
- sonya spence - let love flow on
07
- milton - mizik nou
08
- jimmy cliff - higher and deeper love
09
- patrice rushen - remind me
10
- the system - almost grown
11
- talking heads - this must be the place (naive melody)
12
- skit (jeff floyd - don't leave me)
13
- chronixx – majesty
14
- barry biggs - no sleep last night
15
- wally badarou - chief inspector (vine street)
16
- ponzu island - super koto
17
- senyaka - don't judge me bad
18
- color me badd - i wanna sex you up
19
- cos mes - slow jam #2
20
- BONUS TRACK & OUTRO - marlene dietrich - wenn ich mir 'was
wunschen durfte
I hope everybody out
there is good. It's
been quite a while. To be precise two years. Unfortunately, that
seems to be my fashion. A
lot has been going on lately. Not enough to have an excuse of not
updating my blog though. ''Mellow (Wenn ich mir 'was wünschen
dürfte)'' is a mix I made for my sister. She asked me for a new
compilation of music she could play at work, for breakfast or on a
lazy Sunday...
After a little intro
Can't Shake It from Andres a.k.a. DJ Dez sets the vibe for this
mixtape: Feeling Summer! ''Can't Shake It'' is the perfect sound for
a convertible ride, any time and part of the city, preferably summer.
Andres, as someone commented on discogs,
''is standing on the boundary of deep house, funk, downtempo boogie
and hip hop. He occasionally wanders off from the intersection to any
side of the country, only to return to the border lands again.'' On
track #3 we have Everyday
Life by Leston Paul, a ''Trini Balearic proto-house jam'' - as
quoted by Invisible City Editions. I think fell in love with this
song when I first heard it a few years ago on a Red Light Radio mix
by Tako. ''Everyday Life'' really shows off the full force of Leston
Paul's musicianship. Playing all of the instruments himself, he leads
us on a journey, starting with a classic 80’s bass, and drum
machines that lay the foundation for a particularly spectacular
steelpan jam. Originally released on the album Keys
To The City, ''Everyday Life'' can also be found on the Light
Sounds Dark bootleg (!?) release from 2015, alongside a few more
nice rare tracks. On track #4 we have the b-side/version of Little
Kirk's Ghetto
People Broke, another song which I first got introduced to via
Tako's above mentioned Red Light Radio mix (check out Resident
Advisor's brilliant feature Playing
Favourites: Tako Reyenga for more ''peeks inside the record
collection of one of Europe's foremost diggers''). You can find the
original of ''Ghetto People Broke Version'' on Little Kirk's '85
album Ghetto People Broke - as well as on a not so recent anymore
French repress
of this impossible to find digi showcase LP. Killer! Little Kirk, the
older Brother of Beenie
Man, released a whole heap of amazing digital tunes in the mid-
to late 80ies before becoming a soulful almost R&B styled crooner
singing Gospel. I am really feeling those 80ies early 90ies b-side
and ''instrumental'' cuts
-
the synths, the minimalism or even ambientness,
the
insistent pulse of drum and bass, scattered and shuffling percussion,
the sparness, a certain rawness and sometimes shards of vocals - and
all the time being uncompromisingly electronic. And these
riddims
have swing & bump. Some Detroit Techno/House & or even Acid
House tunes spring to mind. I am STILL working on a compilation of
some of my favourite deegeetal
(digital)
riddim ''versions'' and b-sides. More
Reggae on track #6: Sonya Spence's Let
Love Flow On. Ace Jamaican soul stepper and Boogie jam with some
x-tra feel good vibes. And bass. Mellow bubbling bass. This song has
been rocking quite a few dj sets and dancefloors in the last few
years. Get it in superb sound quality on Jeremy Underground's
BEAUTYful Beauty
compilation. On track #8 we have yet another Reggae
song: Jimmy
Cliff's Higher
And Deeper Love. But just like Sonya Spence's ''Let Love Flow
On'' - not everything Reggae is Reggae.
Higher And Deeper Love is a... R&B tingled Lovers Rock jam.
Released on Jimmy Cliff's own Cliff
Sounds and Films label. On track #15 we've got
Chief
Inspector by Wally Badarou. Inspector
Norse by Terje. ''Chief Inspector'' by Wally Badarou. Two
inspector songs with an undeniable connection. Pure eargasm.
Both songs. Or as someone on youtube put it: ''I paused my porn to
listen to this, but I didn't stop masturbating''... ''Chief
Inspector'' never fails to bring smiles to people's faces. I chose
the Vine Street mix
to highlight Island Records's Paul 'Groucho' Smykle, who can usually
be found engineering/remixing Island Record's 12inch mixes - the
tracks with the greatest dancefloor power. CLASSIC Moog bass,
Linndrum with extra added percussion. Check out the percussion solo
that begins around 2:36. Worth the price of admission alone. Paul
'Groucho' Smykle seems to be something of a mysterious character. I
don't think I have ever seen a photo of Groucho. But I remember him
for a lot of deeper than deep Island Records 12inch mixes and
remixes. Sophisticated mixes that were different, more nuanced imho,
than a lot of the others that seem to get much more credit. Check
this
interesting interview with him on Red Bull Music Academy -
as well as this little write-up
and mix
by Test Pressing's Dr Rob. Great stuff! Beside being a skilled audio
engineer, Groucho also designed album covers. Check here,
here,
here
and here
for some of his album cover artworks. One last track which deserves
some special mention is track #17, Don't
Judge Me Bad from Senyaka,
which just got released on a nice 12inch on Rush
Hour. ''Don't Judge Me Bad" is a 1987 upbeat yet melancholic
soulful disco/house groover that draws influence from boogie, AOR
rock and jazz-funk. Over a driving 4×4 drum machine beat, the
chugging staccato guitar and tender synth chords lay a gentle bed for
Senyaka’s heart-felt vocal. Pure Summer vibes! I just got the
12inch in the mail - and I should probably get another copy before I
wear this one out. Really love it - and really love what Antal (check
out Resident Advisor's The
art of DJing: Antal) and the Rush Hour connection from Amsterdam
are doing. They have been on fire lately. Also watch out for the
fortcoming Rush Hour compilation Various
- Pantsula! The rise of electronic dance music in South Africa.
What am I supposed to say?! An album ''full of late 80s South African
dance floor winners only''... Each song a bomb! ''Selected by DJ
Okapi (the man behind the great Afro-Synth
blog) and Antal, the compilation holds tracks by Jivaro,
The Hard
Workers, Ayobayo
Band, S.Y.B.
& many more. This is the sharp electronic music that fuelled the
local Pantsula dances during the 80s and 90s. A must have for fans of
Bubblegum and Kwaito music. TOP TIP! Read the rest of review here...
Now
hit the DL button before it gets deaded & don't forget to leave a
comment if you enjoy this compilation. Hopefully I will be back with
another mix in a few weeks.
Enjoy!
DubMe
P.S.: ''Wenn ich mir 'was wünschen
dürfte'' is German and can roughly be translated as ''If I'm allowed
a wish'' in English.
