New Mix by Dr. Sleep

DrIslandFever-LateOctober2010 by drsleep

A Classic is a Classic

Thanks to my friend Claire for putting this on a cd for me 6 years ago. I've worn that cd out many moons ago, but, still know the tracklist by heart.

I think I prefer Buddy's version to the original Allman Brothers version.

Buddy Miles - Midnight Rider

Greg Allman - Midnight Rider

Creep

DJ/Producer Lauren Flax has a new electronic music project with fellow Brooklynite, Lauren Dillard, called Creep. They're releasing music on the awesome label Tri Angle Records which also happens to be home to the amazing San Francisco artist, oOoOO (I've also heard they're going to release Denver-based Pictureplane?! Stevie has never sounded so good, watch).

If the video below is indicative of the rest of the project, count me in. Witch house? Haunted house? What is this? Who knows, but, it sounds good (or, if you NEED to know what it is, Pitchfork takes a stab at defining this movement here). Also, Romy, vocalist from the xx, is being tapped for upcoming material, such as the song Days, found on this Deadboy mix. I am really looking forward to the rest of the material, and, hopefully a tour that includes SF.

Hot Shit - Creep


Jessica King - Creep


I also wanted to mention that the Tri Angle label also put together this amazing Lindsay Lohan mixtape, with artists reinterpreting some of Lindsay's songs. Their description:

Tri Angle Presents: Let Me Shine For You

Inspired in part by Lindsay Lohan’s grotesquely fascinating black hole existence and in part by my unwavering belief in the power of pop music as an artform, I saw an opportunity to create something interesting with her music, and decided to ask some friends to reinterpret some of Lindsay’s songs. “Tri Angle Records Presents: Let Me Shine for You” is the result. Even though we are all fond of Lindsay in our own ways, there is no FREE LINDSAY agenda here. We all love pop music and this is merely an experiment. All of our intentions are very sincere.

Download here.

New Mix

I recorded a mix in preparation for the Dirty Talk party on Saturday night. It's an hour of house, nu & classic disco, plus a Herbie Hancock track for good measure.

Listen & download.

DrDirtyTalk-October2010 by drsleep

Tracklist:
stand on the word - joubert singers (larry levan mix)
is the word - ron basejam
won't let go - hot toddy
trouble is a friend - lenka (eli escobar disco mix)
dr. burner - tiger & woods
i am dead - juri hulkkonen (hercules & love affair mix)
acid burn - beatmasters
tipologia - gui borotto (stickroth & ercolino remix)
erucu mast - jermaine jackson (ac re-edit)
stay the night - billy ocean
it's better than a good time - gladys knight (walter gibbons mix)
tell everybody - herbie hancock
sun sun sun - jakki (walter gibbons mix)
any time is right - archie bell (dj apt one mix)
put your body in it - stephanie mills (gigamesh mix)
our love - donna summer
reckless with your love - azari & iii
beam me up - midnight magic (jacques renault mix)
lost in music - gay marvine

Diamond Rings

Who's cute? The boy (John O'Regan) pictured above, that's who! Diamond Rings appears to be Canadian, has released a few 7-inches and a 12-inch, got a Pitchfork review, is in a band called the D'Urbervilles, and, will be touring this Fall in support of his full-length debut landing on October 26th. That's about all I know, and, that's about all there is to find on his website and Myspace page. I literally just heard the song, Something Else, on Rcrd Lbl this morning and loved it so much I did a little research, which brought me to the live version of the song (YouTube below), and then the GOLDMINE. The videos below are the cutest things in the world! Waify effeminate boy playing basketball in a sequins tank with a diamond stitched on the front? Dancing in leggings? Makeup? Wearing a football uniform? CUTE! Who are you? Nobody knows!

The music is great, too. Simple and catchy with a butch head nod to New Wave and early electronic music.

You can download two great tracks, Something Else and All Yr Songs, via Pitchfork here, then watch the GAYMAZING videos below!

Diamond Rings - Show Me Your Stuff (or, as I am going to call it, GAY JOCK JAMS!!!!)



Diamond Rings - All Yr Songs


Diamond Rings - Something Else (Live)

1999

At the tail end of the '90s, I was obsessed with ye olde stalwarts of the indie world, Stereolab (RIP Mary), Yo La Tengo, The Sea and Cake, Tortoise, Trans Am, and Sonic Youth. I used to trudge through the snow to the record store 5 blocks from my apartment in Minneapolis and promptly spend all of my money on indie rock CD's (this was a departure from the mid-90s when I used to trudge through the snow to the record store and spend all of my money on bad house and trance CD's).

I heard Eureka by the amazing and multi-talented Sonic Youth collaborator, Jim O'Rourke, playing in the record store one day and instantly fell in love. It was warm and interesting, poppy with a lot of texture. It became the soundtrack to my life for several months. Two highlights of Eureka that I still can't get enough of are the first track, Women of the World, clocking in at over 8 minutes with only one lyrical stanza, a repetition of the phrase, "Women of the world take over, cuz if you don't the world will come to an end, it won't take long." The other track I love is the cover of Burt Bacharach's Something Big. The female backing vocals absolutely make this song and although it stays pretty close to the original, it still has Jim's stamp on it.

When I listen to the album now, it brings me right back to that time: moderately depressed and spending every evening after work lying on the floor of my one-room apartment smoking Marlboro Reds listening to my new musical purchases (and, yes, this could be a glimpse back into any year of my life, but, the Marlboro Reds are unique to this time period).

And, how about that album cover above, eh??

Jim O'Rourke - Women of the World


Jim O'Rourke - Something Big

A Party

I'm helping throw this party in San Francisco on October 9th and am so excited! The space is awesome, the other dj's are amazing, and, being a part of it is really pushing me in ways I wanted to be creatively pushed. In other words, I'm terrified and nervous, but, if I wasn't, I would be worried about myself.

Adonis - No Way Back

Perfume Genius

I just discovered Perfume Genius this morning as I muddled my way through the daily YouTube k-hole, looking for new music and Corgi videos. Perfume Genius is Mike Hadreas from Seattle, a kid in his 20s dealing with a "life of darkness," according to the Matador site. It sounds like he's had more crap to deal with than a lot of us, and it's no small feat to put your pain out into the world via your art. I'm glad he found a creative outlet to express himself and share his stories.

Musically, I like the way the songs are put together on his debut album, Learning (released in June). The lyrics are sad, but, also sparse and not overdone or overly dramatic. The music is also sparse, sometimes just piano, or, just strings with occasional harmonizing. The songs almost seem like vignettes and not entirely finished pieces, but, it somehow works. Like peering through tiny windows into someone's private life, and, then they draw the curtains. It's very pretty stuff, with no small debt to Iron & Wine and Cat Power.

It's probably no small coincidence, but, this morning I was also reading about the 5 teen suicides that have happened in the Anoka-Hennepin County School District in Minnesota this past year. 4 of the suicides were directly related to antigay harassment and bullying. The climate of intolerance in that school district is horrifying. Kids have no school policy protection, and, in one case, teachers were in on the bullying and their punishment is a mere unpaid leave. It's disgusting.

I guess this ties into the music of Perfume Genius in that I wish all of those kids who took their own lives had found an outlet for their pain and known about the community that awaits them, and, known that there are people out there to talk to (the Trevor Project, for example) and will accept them and love them for exactly who they are. For me, personally, once I found my 2 friends in college who were gay, I was unstoppable. Sure, it was really hard and I was still depressed and hated my school, but, I had a little team and it was us against the world. I learned coping skills for the horrible crap life threw at me and I had people to talk to who could identify with what I was going through. I realize sometimes none of this is enough and the last thing people want to hear is life will get better in 4 years when they leave high school. But, the rest of us who have been through similar situations can at least try to reach out, share stories, be mentors, and, try to make a difference for these kids who are in so much pain. They deserved so much more.

I'm glad Perfume Genius made it to the other side, and, I hope he feels like life is slowly getting better one song at a time.

Perfume Genius - Mr. Peterson


Perfume Genius - No Problem


Perfume Genius - Gay Angels

Folsom Weekend, San Francisco

It's the Folsom Street Fair this weekend in San Francisco, and, every bear and fetishist in the Lower 48 will be converging on a several-block radius wearing assless chaps and little else. As long as I can remember, no matter what the weather has been like for the weeks leading up to the festival, inevitably Folsom Weekend will be hotter than blazes. It appears this weekend is no exception. This makes for a lot of sweaty leather daddies and furries getting flogged by red-hot paddles. I'm not really interested in the street fair anymore, but, there are a few amazing music events in the evening to coincide with the debauchery.

On Saturday, the LEGENDARY Bob Mould performs at Slim's as part of The Blowoff, his electronic/dj duo (in case you didn't know, after Husker Du and Sugar, he released solo albums - and still does - but, then also got really into electronic music. And, bears. In case you didn't know Part II, Bob went to Macalaster in St. Paul, where every cool person I've ever known from MN went). I saw him spin at Homo-A-Gogo in 2006(?) and it was amazing. And, it was techno. Like ecstacy glo stick techno. I danced for hours! Here's hoping The Blowoff will be cut from the same cloth, but, I don't exactly know what to expect - besides the bears.

On Sunday, a new club in the Mission District, Public Works, will be hosting a 9-hr dance party called The House of Black Leather curated by the brilliant local SF dance party, Honey Soundsystem, and headlined by Horse Meat Disco. HORSE MEAT DISCO is the UK's best disco party. I am REALLY excited.

To get in the mood for Horse Meat, I've been listening to podcasts from the "electronic music bears" (believe it). They've been posting mixes from the various dj's that will be performing over the course of the evening. Here's the Horse Meat episode. The rest of the podcasts are here .

Honey Soundsystem made a promo video for the event on Sunday:

HOUSE OF BLACK LEATHER :: FOLSOM AFTERPARTY 2010 :: 9/26 SAN FRANCISCO from Honey Soundsystem on Vimeo.

Take Two of These and Call Me in the Morning

I LOVE the classic, "Shame, Shame, Shame" by Shirley & Company. The man in the video below is clearly on drugs. I think I should just have a blog dedicated to hilarious YouTube videos because this is VISUAL GOLD. Coke? Poppers? Speed? Any guesses? According to the YouTube comments, the guy in the video is not the original singer, so, maybe he is nervous and snorted various things to get over it (this was pre Rescue Remedy, after all).

I would also like to comment on the male vocal style in this song and how it's basically yelling - not singing. It works, but, can be tad bit jarring. It reminds me of Alicia Keys and how she can't hit those high notes and just yells 'em out. You just go ahead and listen to her songs - "LET'S HEAR IT FOR NEWWWW YORRRRRRK" - and get back to me. From where I'm sitting, that is called yelling.

Shame, Shame, Shame gets cut off before the end, so, I've included the entire version below.


Full version of this song with no visuals. Unfortunately.

Coldwave

I have a bone to pick. Was anyone going to tell me about coldwave? No? You were just going to let me live my life without knowing an entire genre of music existed? You were just going to watch as I blindly mingled at soirees, dj'd at clubs, even slept peacefully at night - all without knowing any of this. Well, you know what? You guys suck! Did you know coldwave is French and started in the late 70s? Well, I didn't! My street cred has vanished.

At any rate, I am nicer than you and in case anyone else was living in a cave, I'm going to share a music video by Kas Product, a FRENCH electronic duo formed in 1980, and part of this elusive coldwave movement. How is this whole thing different than "electronic protopunk", i.e, bands like Suicide? I don't know!

All of the links from this post are from Wikipedia, because that's where people go when they know absolutely zilcho about the topic they are writing about, and, want an introduction. How's that for some humble pie!

Kas Product - Never Come Back

Rise All Ye Walk Dancers

We all know the Biggie sample from this tune by Herb Alpert, but, can we just vibe out on the whole jam for a minute? It is sooo smooooooth! Plus, this video is HILARIOUS. I would also like to point out that in my extensive research on the topic, this is one of the first music videos IN HISTORY to feature "walk-dancing." I love "walk-dancing" and although it is more fun to watch people do it in a club (on their way to the dancefloor, leaving the dancefloor, approaching someone else on the dancefloor), it is also a treat to see on THE BEACH.

Soy Como Soy

A friend turned me onto this song by Viennese electronic producers, Mokossa & Megablast (featuring vocals by the amazing Cleydys Villalon), and, I haven't been able to stop listening to it since. It's also a real dancefloor pleaser. It got people acting realllllll tribal when I played it out.


Watch the video:




Makossa & Megablast - Soy Como Soy

Another amazing song by Cledys & Makossa/Megablast:

Soul Clap

I first heard about the Boston-based dj/production duo, Soul Clap, from their AMAZING edit of Fleetwood Mac's "Dreams." I'm a HUGE Mac fan, and, besides providing us with probably the ONLY non-cheesy Mac edit/remix EVER, the track is actually really nice to listen to and I, for one, would love to dance to it (but I'll dance to almost anything, read below). The MIND-BLOWING part of this edit comes in at around the 5:25 mark. Basically, the music slowly fades and we are left with ONLY thunder and rain sounds for 15-20 seconds. There are no beats, there is no instrumentation, only thunder and rain! Like you're outside in nature! What? It's like you're anywhere but California and you got stuck in a storm with Stevie Nicks. I am not kidding! When I first heard it, it was very late at night and I had my headphones on, and, I literally got the chills. WHO DOES THAT?! Two guys with vision (and some balls), that's who.

Now...with all of that said, will I play this in a club? I DON'T KNOW!! I have the vinyl and it comes with me anytime I dj, but, then there it sits in the bag because I'm scared. Wouldn't you be?? What will people do when they hear thunder and rain for 20 seconds with no beat!? Would it be like they're eating at the Rainforest Cafe at the Mall of America? Will they get mad? Excited? Confused? Will it invite interpretive rain dances? I just don't know. I can only control my own reaction to things, obviously, and, all I'm saying is, if someone played this and I was dancing, I would either faint, cry, or do some seriousssss nature stomp. I think Stevie would be proud.

Anyway, someday I will either hear it played out or play it myself, but, in the meantime, please listen with headphones.

Soul Clap - Dreams Edit

Below is another favorite, re-contextualizing Stevie Wonder's "Love Light in Flight," one of Stevie's best songs of the 80s (not to mention it's from the riveting film, "The Woman in Red").

Soul Clap - Love Light Edit

PS, Soul Clap has a ton of other amazing music, edits of Aaliyah, Chris Isaak's "Wicked Game," Marvin, and on and on. Buy their music!

Always Dancing

I've had a dancefloor addiction since my early 20's when I started going to gay clubs in Minneapolis. My friends and I had a rotation of several nightclubs we would hit up on any given weekend, and, although the players were different (or were they...), the music was largely the same (verrry deep house and cheesy diva "homohouse," as I like to call it). I would dance for hours along with the shirtless men. I had no worries, and no intentions, other than to dance. I didn't meet people, I didn't drink (lie), I didn't do drugs, I just danced. How pragmatic and Lutheran of me. And, although my taste in dance music has changed and evolved over the years, my love for getting sweaty and losing myself on the floor has not.

When I'm feeling particularly old and like I've wasted my life, I like to think about what would've happened had I tried djing at a much younger age. With my suspect taste in music at the time, I would've LOVED djing at the local gay clubs. They would've had to drag me out of there, ranting about trance, waving my glo sticks around like a fool. Had I stayed on that path, I would currently have frosted tips, wear lipstick, and play music at White Parties in Miami and Palm Springs. It's never too late, I guess.

On that (frosted) tip, I've got a few songs to share that I've really been into the past month. The Hot Toddy jam is new, and is from the UK producer's debut album, on Om's sister label, Smoke & Mirrors. It is so niiiice and synthy with a hook that sounds very familiar (read: a slower Daft Punk). The other tune is from half of Rub-n-Tug, Dr. Dunks, and it's a Dolly edit, which is GENIUS. He highlights the bass, brings out the dance jam elements, and trims the fat from the original. I love it!!

Are we over disco edits yet? I sure hope not because I love them and want my fellow Norwegian, Todd Terje, to still have a job, so, please dj's and dancers, support your local disco edits!

Hot Toddy - Won't Let Go
Dr. Dunks - No P's

And, here's the Dolly original performed "live" on Solid Gold in 1983. I love Dolly, and, Dolly doing a disco-esque number? So cute! I particularly love the line "leave us alone tonight, if things don't work out right, he's all yours." Ha. Better keep your hands off my...

DJ Bobby Viteritti & The Trocadero Transfer

San Francisco's Trocadero Transfer was THE city's disco venue in the 70s and 80s. It was of the caliber of the large New York disco clubs (Studio 54, Paradise Garage), but, because it was in SF, it had a more bohemian "anything goes" vibe (maybe less coke, more poppers and shrooms?) with a choreographed light show to add to the journey. The venue and its cast of characters shaped gay dance culture in SF and across the country. Icons like Sylvester, Cheryl Lynn & Martha Wash performed at "The Troc" and the stories of what went down on a typical weekend night are legendary. As with any successful nightclub, The Troc had its share of successful dj's, and, I've become enamored with one in particular, Bobby Viteritti. Viteritti was an East Coast transplant who could mix his way through a 5-hr set so seamlessly, you couldn't tell when one song ends and the next one begins. Viteritti has talked in interviews about how he would start a song in the middle, play it til the end, maybe go to a new track then start the old track from the beginning just to mess with the crowd, to throw off their expectation of what was coming next. He was also known for using rotary knobs instead of faders, and, considering the mastery of his mixes and the equipment he was working with completely blows my mind.

I've tried in vain to find mp3's or cds of Viteritti's mixes, and, it looks like his website is under construction with promises of samples in the near future. In the meantime, the following blogs have posted his work: Discoworkout posted this absolutely mind-blowing 1st hour of a 5-hour 1979 Trocadero set; and, one of my favorite blogs, Beat Electric, posted this 1980 set.

If you love dance music or disco, gay culture, or San Francisco history, check out all you can on Viteritti.

**9/18/10 UPDATE: I JUST FOUND SOME DISCO MIX GOooooOOOLD! BAM!

Gigamesh

One of my favorite producers and remixers of the past few years is Minneapolis (soon to be Miami)-based Gigamesh. Gigamesh is a man of many synths blessed with a golden ear, and, he can turn any tune into a gorgeous stomper brimming with warm analog and chunky bass. He is part of the remix group, Discotech, which has released some of my personal most-played-in-a-dj-set edits and remixes of the past few years (Radiohead, The Police, The Stones, Foo Fighters, Zep, M.I.A., to name a few). He is also in the electro group, Senor Stereo, which released their debut ep on Slow Roast Records (also home to DJ Craze and Kill the Noise). Lately, he might be most well-known for producing Mike Posner's hit, Cooler than Me. If you've heard the Gigamesh version and the one Posner originally started with, you will believe what I'm saying about the Gigamesh magic touch. One of my favorite Gigamesh remixes, however, is of the Minneapolis band, Estate, and you can download it via Rcrd Lbl: Write to Make.

To commemorate his move from the land of ice and snow to the land of flamingos and thongs, Gigamesh just released a 14-song mixtape called Moving Cities featuring an excellent selection of disco, electro, hip hop, and, even some Gigamesh originals that were previously unreleased. My favorites from the mix are Jacques Renault's remix of Midnight Magic's Beam Me Up, Azari & III's remix of the Voltage dazzler, One Night, and of course a Gigamesh remix of Marching Band's, Another Day.

Download the mixtape here.

Also, the Midnight Magic remix is so good, I just have to share:

Tommie Sunshine Tackles Urban Sprawl with the Arcade Fire

The new Arcade Fire album, The Suburbs, just came out and I haven't given it proper attention yet, other than the iTunes snippets. I HAVE listened (and listened and listened) to Tommie Sunshine's disco remix of one of the stand-out tracks, Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains), and, he absolutely nailed it. It's a gorgeous epic with pulsating disco beats that tie the laces of your favorite dancin' shoes, and, might even buy you a drink if you bat your eyelashes. If you're a real music person, I also recommend listening to this in headphones. On his Soundcloud page, Sunshine says he "heard the disco in it" and I can't think of a better way to put it. There IS disco in the original song, and, Sunshine coaxes it out of its dark hole for everyone to hear. What I like about the original song is it doesn't sound like an Arcade Fire tune - it's straight-up electro, and, God bless 'em for it! What Sunshine did with his remix, however, absolutely floors me. It's soooo beautiful. And, that bass? Come on. Sunshine proves once again he is the true master of midi and he remade this song into something all his own, and, in my opinion, it surpasses the sound of the original.

Download Tommie Sunshine's remix FOR FREE here.

UPDATE: Tommie gave us a little shout out on his soundcloud page. i can die now.

I'd be remiss not to mention Lissie, the midwestern-born, California-living singer-songwriter who is probably one of the better musical discoveries I've had over the past year. Generally, my tolerance for humdrum folk went out the window years ago, but occasionally an artist will come along and put a new twist on an old standard in such a brilliant way that you can't help but wake up and take notice. That's Lissie in a nutshell.

Part Neko Case, part Stevie Nicks, part something-completely-her-own, Lissie's debut album Catching A Tiger runs the gamut from contemplative ballads to swinging gospel to rock 'n' roll and back 'round again with lots of stops inbetween.

I first heard of her about five or six months ago when the lovely Clare Bowditch (more on her later!) posted a link to Lissie's cover of Lady Gaga's 'Bad Romance'. Immediately intrigued, I clicked through to another song, and fell head over heels in love with a song called 'When I'm Alone':



In addition to having an extremely strong and versatile voice, Lissie also manages to bring out the essence of what music should feel like with straightforward (yet still poetic) lyrics. Her songs often meander off into what amounts to an abbreviated jam session, but instead of distracting the listener, they pull you in and expand the tracks into something meaningful and satisfying.

She's signed to Columbia Records UK, which means she's been spending a lot of time touring in Europe and not nearly enough over here in the states. Still -- grab her album when it hits US stores on August 17.

BUY: Lissie - Catching A Tiger

EPIC SWELTER

In a word, the Summer Mixtape by Jazzy Jeff & Mick Boogie is epic. It's got every rnb, hip hop, and soul summer jam you EVER wanted to hear, brought to life by two legends. It's like you hired two of the best dj's in hip hop to play records at your backyard bbq and they actually showed up! Summer has officially arrived, now where is my strawberry lemonade?