Spaceship boogie music – Italo mix

Italo disco was the world’s first kind of totally electronic dance music, and emerged in the late 70s and early 80s in Europe. It has a space-age, robot funk sort of sound built up from synths and early drum machines, and often makes fantastic use of vocoders. I first came across Italo when I listened to I-F’s “Mixed up in the Hague” mix, which is a superbly crafted mix of Italo classics and old school electro. At first I couldn’t tell whether I was listening to something 25 years old or something brand new off the Clone label (right click here to download this mix from the Robotdj.net site), and it really blew me away! Especially tracks like Lectric Workers “Robot is systematic” and Mr Flagio “Take a chance”.

Favourites among this mix are “Be thankful for what you’ve got” by Craig Peyton (1983) and “Dance Boy Dance” by Alexander Robotnick (1984), but it’s all good robot disco goodness. Thanks to Pussy Milneaux for introducing me to a lot of the great tunes here too, like “When I let you down” and “Firelight”. Park the spaceship in orbit, teleport over some friends and turn up the hyperstereo..

72 mins. 192 kbps MP3 (99MB).

Click here to download

Tracklist
1. Bad passion – Steel Mind
2. Perfect High – Peppermint Lounge
3. Be thankful for what you’ve got – Craig Peyton
4. Stranger In A Strange Land – N.O.I.A.
5. The Voice of Q (Instrumental) – Q
6. Ikeya-Seki – Kano
7. Void vision – Cyber people
8. When I let you down – M & G
9. Feels Good (Carrots & Beets) – Electra
10. Girls On Me – Amin Peck
11. Take A Chance – Mr Flagio
12. Run away – International music system
13. Firelight – Ghecko
14. Love in motion – 1000 Ohm
15. E=MC2 – Giorgio Moroder
16. Problemes D’Amour (Midnight version) – Alexander Robotnick
17. Catch (Disco Devil Remix) – Sun La Shan
18. Dance Boy Dance – Alexander Robotnick
19. Magic Fly – Kebekelektrik

Linkage
For some genuine italo goodness and to get you boogie-ing around your living room..

Intergalactic FM
http://intergalacticfm.com/

Mister Italo
http://misteritalo.blogspot.com/

Beat Electric
http://beatelectric.blogspot.com/

Italo Deviance
http://space-boogie.blogspot.com/

Next Italo party coming up at The Drome in Second Life on Thu 29th Oct, with guest DJs Frederick Heberle and GW Starsider.. Full details on the Fresh Static website.

Flyer by Mikayla Basevi

The Century opening party

On Saturday 10th Oct I played at the opening party for Jimi Cheng’s new club The Century in Second Life. The club is a compact chrome and glass box on the top floor of a tower block with a distinct lean to it, so the dancefloor falls away to one corner! For the opening set, Jimi asked for “warm and sweaty house or techno” so I did my best to pull out some of the warmest basslines and sweatiest grooves I could find! As usual there’s a mix of old and new here. DJ Assassin’s “Face amongst the crowd” is a favourite old house track with a dark and steppin’ flavour. Then there’s lots of newer stuff from Motor City Drum Ensemble, Fred Everything and Scope, while the pick of the bunch for me has to be the playful, upbeat  funkiness of “Last Train Out” by Dave Barker.

Thanks again to Jimi for the invitiation to play and congrats for getting the new club up and running. Big thanks also to everyone who came along and made it a great night!

Photos on the deep house music Flickr feed, click here to view.

Click here for a direct link to The Century in Second Life.

120 mins. 192 kbps MP3 (164 MB)

Click here to download

Tracklist
1. Raw Cuts 1 – Motor City Drum Ensemble
2. Without – Fred Everything
3. Night Reeds – Scope 
4. Tonight – Fred Everything, Olivier Desmet
5. Soul Light – OFS Remix – Oriental Funk Stew
6. Sigh Of Relief – Brett Johnson
7. Vice – Eloi Brunelle
8. Tava – Office Gossip
9. I Forgot You feat. Clyde – Fred Everything remix – Atjazz
10. The Hangover – Office Gossip Remix – Vincenzo
11. Night Shift – Nacho Marco 89 Remix – Sebastian Davidson, Ferdy, Edwin Mulder
12. Stargazer – Eric Kupper, K Scope
13. Vehemence Of Silence – MCDE Remix – Andre Lodemann
14. Divine Being – Tony Lionni
15. Face amongst the crowd – Intellidred mix – DJ Assassin 
16. Down For It feat. Diz – Fred Everything remix – Latenight Society
17. Like I Want To – Fred Everything remix – Lisa Shaw
18. Right Right – Kinky Movement
19. Last Train Out – Dave Barker
20. 5 A.M. – Ian Pooley
21. I Heart Bougie – Ken’s Flip No Flop Mix – Ken From East Coast Boogiemen
22. Wonkypiano – Hiro

Defending the underground: Interview with Denard Henry and Jana Clemen

Denard Henry and Jana Clemen are dj/producers from opposite sides of the Atlantic who joined forces to develop a fusion of techno, ebm, electro and industrial dance music. Their Sonic Warriors United (SWU) project is a group of producers and djs who are actively exploring and deploying this fusion, and features artists such as Marita Schreck, C-Dex, Floppy and Reade Truth. Their recent tour of Germany and the US included shows at Tresor, Berlin, and the Sommerstart Festival.

Originally from New Jersey in the USA but now based in Germany, Denard Henry aka Sonic Architect is a dj/producer of vivid, textural electronica and techno. The broad and heady range of influences he pours into his music blend into evocative dancefloor slices of alternative electronic worlds and he has released music on labels such as Broque, Monoid and Feis, as well as his own Cipher Records. His DJ and live acts have taken him to many many clubs around Europe and the US, including Ultraschall and SO36 in Germany, plus Limelight and Save the Robots in New York.

Jana Clemen aka Abstract Soul is dj/producer from Germany and has released music on labels such as Hybrid, Planet Rhythm and Phont, as well as her own label Convex Productions. Jana’s music follows many lines, taking minimal techno to an industrial scale and shaking irresistible grooves out of warped electro and house. She has djed extensively around Europe, with appearances at Tresor, Neue Heimat and Ultraschall in Germany, the Loft in Lausanne, and many other clubs around France, Poland, Sweden and elsewhere.

Olaf Quintessa met up with Denard and Jana in Second Life to talk about their roots in electronic music, the SWU project, djing in the virtual world, and parties in the year 2109.

Read the full article on the Fresh Static website .. click here

 

Live at the Zaza opening party

On Thursday 13 August I was very happy to play at the opening party of a new deep house club in Second Life called Zaza, which is owned and run by the artist Yvonne Bourgoin. The club has a warm and friendly vibe about it and I had a great time playing there. Thanks to everyone who came along and made it a great party! 

There’s a mixture of classic old deep house and some newer techy deep amongst this set, but as always my mantra remains the same: The music’s gotta work on the imagination and take you somewhere, or be so rump-shakingly funky that no imagination is necessary! MidiDropMusic’s “Do Me Something” is a recent favourite amongst this set, while “Maximum Voyage” and “Keep Sexy” are jazzy old classics I’ve never stopped loving. For some rump-shaking action just check out ”Domesticated feat. Derrick Carter” and see if your ass doesn’t wiggle!

Thanks again to Yvonne for inviting me over! Listen out for news of upcoming parties at Zaza on the SL grapevine and go check it out

112 mins. 192kbps MP3 (153 MB).

Click here to download

Tracklist
1. Radial – Manuel Tur
2. Sun’s Departure – Manoo Remix – P’taah
3. Do Me Something – MidiDropMusic
4. A New Life – Manoo, Francois A
5. Domesticated feat. Derrick Carter – Home & Garden
6. What I Got feat. Tim Fuller – Ian Pooley
7. Keep sexy – Car Bomb
8. I Love Deep – Timewriter Remix – Budai, Vic
9. Clear Sky – Manoo & Francois A Remix (Charles Webster Re-Edit) – Kayot
10. The Fugitive – Sei A Mix – Justin Martin
11. Organism – Eric Kupper, K Scope
12. Simply Yes feat. Alexander East – Shur-I-Kan
13. Maximum Voyage – Julius Papp
14. Streamin – Andreas Bender
15. Celebrate – MidiDropMusic Remix – Manuel De La Mare, Matteo Matt
16. Dedication – The Timewriter
17. All Over The World feat. Terra Deva – CW Dub – Furry Phreaks
18. Seedz – Moodymanc
19. Give It Up – The Blacklight Society
20. A Day In December – Manoo, Francois A
21. House Music Is Controllable Desire You Can Own – Terre Thaemlitz, DJ Sprinkles