Church

I have been reliably informed that 2 Bears are Joe Goddard from Hot Chip and Raf Rundell. They have produced a few 12" singles for Southern Fried, however this absolute belter of a track is released on Bitches Brew and has been remixed by Darkstarr Diskotek (Ashley Beedle & Collen Murphy) into a gospel and afrobeat tinged balearic classic.

But why the hell wasn't this released during the summer, not now when the sun and heat are just a distant memory?


  2 Bears Church DarkStarr Remix by DarkStarr

It's Friday . . Let's Dance

I'm going to stick with the Balearic thing with today's track, something that I can't believe that I had not ever heard before I came across the 12" single a couple of years ago in a second hand record shop.

Eclipse by Lemon Interupt is one of those tracks which will transport you to where it is always warm during the day, rain is something you get somewhere else and where the sunsets are a thing of sheer beauty each and every night. It is also a track with rather breathless seductively spoken female vocals a la Fallen or Come Alive which personally I'm a sucker for.

The track was released as a double a - side with Big Mouth on the other side in 1992 and this is why it's so puzzling that I hadn't heard it until recently as I bought nearly everything on Junior Boys Own at that time. The only thing that I can think is that I was skint at the time and didn't really like Big Mouth that much, which really was my loss.

After buying it and being totally blown away by it I started thinking "how many other great tracks have I missed out on" but checked myself quite quickly as thinking that way would lead pretty quickly to madness.

And on that note . . .

Have a good weekend people

Lemon Interupt - Eclipse

Estelle

I'm still in a rather summery mood even though the sky up here is back to default grey.

Here is a rather splendid piece of laid back house (?) from A Man Called Adam which will transport you to sunnier climes this Sunday.

A Man Called Adam - Estelle

It's Friday . . Let's Dance

Well the proletariat have had their day off in Lanark and with nothing more than empty wallets, sore heads and trashed clothes to show for it in a lot of cases. Still plenty of over time for the council workers clearing up the mess and the Police who spent the day turning a blind eye to under age girls and boys walking about blatantly drinking Buckfast and cheap cider.

But it's Friday and these things are of no concern to you.

This week still finds me with the urge to be dancing in a field all night somewhere and what better a soundtrack to the rising of the sun than this Balearic classic from 1989 which got to number 27 in the UK charts. The sample which was also used to great effect by Orbital on the glorious Belfast a year or so later and also to advertise muesli is O Euchari by Hildegard Von Bingen performed by Emily Van Evera. The version posted is Danny Rampling's Love Is . . .  mix from the remix twelve.

Have a good weekend people.

The Beloved - The Sun Rising ( Love Is . . . remix)

The Woodentops

The Woodentops were a band from Northampton formed in the early 80's who mixed acoustic guitars with driving beats to create indie dance a good few years before that term became fashionable with the NME. Their first album Giant, is an absolute gem and every self respecting 80's indie fan should own a copy, they went on to produce another more leftfield/experimental album Wooden Cops On The Horizon which is not without its moments but is not a patch on the debut. They later found a following amongst the Balearic crowd after Why from the second album was picked up by the djs in Ibiza.

The band were famed for their frenetic live performances an example of which can be found on the Live Hypno Beat album. I eventually got a chance to see them in 2007 when they reformed and fulfilled a long standing promise (20 years) to perform in Glasgow after the original gig was cancelled in 1987 due to in fighting within the band. I attended the gig with my mate and his 2 older brothers, who had tickets for that cancelled gig. The band were absolutely electric with Rolo McGinity giving it his all to a depressingly less than half full King Tut's.

The track posted here is the 12" mix of Good Thing which I picked up in Barcelona on my honeymoon, another story for another day maybe.

The Woodentops - Good Thing (12" mix)