December 2009 Records Round Up!

While it seems every blog out there is busy finishing up the year end with ‘best of’ lists galore, I’ve decided there’s just too many damn sick records still coming to do that just yet! With that said, here are a few highlights of what I’ve picked up in the last few weeks…

Alternative Car Park - Joey Negro Edits

This 12’’ popped out of nowhere recently and is rocking my life. Apparently it’s been released on UK house label ‘Better Days’ which hasn’t put anything out since the early 90’s? Whoever is responsible for releasing this monster though deserves some serious props. Four edits by the genius behind the Sunshine Band , Mr. Joey Negro… A-1 ‘All Aboard the Funk Train’ is a peak-time disco bomb with a funky-as-hell bass-line and exalting diva vocals instructing the crowd to “get on the funk train”. Meanwhile ‘Jack Your Sorry White Ass’ is pure 80s Chicago mechanical bliss- sounding like a rare dub mix of an undiscovered DJ International or Traxx record. While two tracks of this caliber would normally be enough to get me excited about a 12’’, the B-side on this is just as lethal! ‘Please Don’t Leave me Joanna’ may or may not be a Fela Kuti edit (!?) but it definitely delivers a hearty Afro-bop shuffle. Rounding out the pack is the quite hilarious ‘All Over My Leg’ which is an edit of Loose Joint’s classic ‘Is it all over my face?’ but using a cockney-accented vocal repeating the line “Is it all over my leg? Spilt my drink dancing…” Overall four ridiculously dope edits to spice up the dance floor…

http://www.discogs.com/Alternative-Car-Park-All-Aboard-The-Funky-Train/release/2051294

Kyle Hall – The Dirty Thouz

Picking up in similar territory explored by his previous release with his buddies as Bsmnt City Anymle Kontrol, this 12’’ sees Kyle continue to mine the fertile territory at the crossroads of classic house, dilla-style instrumental hip hop and 80’s funk. While every track here is certainly ‘interesting’ and worth multiple spins, the real winner for me is ‘luv 4 kmfh’ which is a down-tempo house jam that briefly seems to capture the elusive sci-fi vibe of classic Detroit releases by Mayday and Kenny Larkin. However, Kyle adds some spacey, improvised keys to create something totally original. By now it should be obvious this kid is going places: all three records on his Wild Oats imprint have been absolute must-haves in my opinion. While I hate to pile on the praise and hype, in this case it’s well deserved! Kyle really has his own unique sound… something which takes other producers years and years to get to. Anyways, I am starting to get the feeling that some of Kyle’s more abstract and laid back jams (such as ‘B Eatn’ Gritz’ or ‘Lax Adrenaline’ here) might work better in an album format… I might be asking for too much but a fully realized LP by Kyle would probably be very, very sick!

http://www.discogs.com/Kyle-Hall-The-Dirty-Thouz/release/2033991

Shimmy Sham Sham !

I heard about this record through RA’s very nice interview with the Mole. While reading through that I noticed the guy was picking out several of the same records that I was feeling at the moment, so I decided to check some of his other selections. Turns out it was a great idea as they were all very strong tunes! The highlight of the pack though was this boot-leg edit of Fela Kuti and Banbarra by Guillaume Coutu Dumont. Delivering a contemporary tech-house track while preserving the original Afro feel and instrumentation of the base material, this is quite a gem. It’s a bit of a shame that this couldn’t see a wider release and promotion as it’s surely one of the best edits / rearrangements of the year. I haven't been a big fan of what Guillaume has put out in the past year but I was really impressed with his live show... I hope he continues to pursue this kind of direction even further!

http://www.discogs.com/Guillaume-the-Coutu-Dumonts-Shimmy-Sham-Sham/release/1903199

Shake – Arise + Trus’Me Remix

Having been unable to secure a copy of Shake’s ‘Levitate Venice’ EP stateside, I was very happy to get my hands on this re-press of the classic ‘Arise’. A Detroit techno piece that feels like it builds forever, this track has a strong feeling of melancholy which is bound to put a large crowd in a heads-down, introspective shuffle. Trus’Me continues to prove he’s one of the best young producers in the game at the moment with his remix on the B-side. Adding menacing, dark tones and a shuffling drum pattern, he delivers a worthy remix of a classic that will slot in comfortably into any house or techno set. Overall it’s nice to see these types of collaborations similar to what Basic Soul Unit did with Arnold Jarvis a few months back: new producers paying tribute to their heroes through creative remixing. I hope to see more of these types of reissues in 2010!

http://www.discogs.com/Anthony-Shake-Shakir-Arise/master/193328

Next up on the must-buy list… the new Marcello Napoletano album and hopefully a copy of the limited edition DJ Harvey remix of House of House’s epic ‘Rushing to Paradise’. Also, I have been thinking of whether to finally get the new Three Chairs album? I have been hesitant to do so thus far as the samples of the CD aren’t blowing me away? Any thoughts? Might still choose to hold out for vinyl if it turns out to be as ridiculously sick as the first one... Finally, I must say that I'm quite excited about A-Trak's collaboration with Armand Van Helden as Duck Sauce. Yes 'aNYway' maybe "commercial shit"(?!) but its funky as hell and a solid throwback to late 90's disco-house... I'm definitely in agreement with the Dope Jams dudes on this one...