It's Friday . . . Let's Dance

By the end of 1993 dark forces were congregation and starting to take over the dance floors of clubs all round the UK.  Previous men of good character started to find themselves drawn into this vile phenemnon.  Many a night around this time would be ruined by some protagonist of these dark arts, introducing into the middle of a perfectly good evening . . .  the Breakdown,  you could hear it coming all the way but were powerless to stop it  bang, bang, bang and then maybe some strings knicked off of a Hooked on Classics album or just a crappy little melody. You would then find yourself in a haze of BO due to almost the whole crowd standing there arms aloft worshipping one of the minor deities of TRANCE being either oh so clever or up his own arse depending on your point of view.

Horrible, horrible, horrible.

The stuff would become extremely popular and make superstar DJs out of the likes of Oakenfold, Sasha & Digweed and Warren. If I had my way I would have them up in court on charges of Crimes Against Music with the likes of Knopfler and Cowell but that's just me and my blinkered views on music.

Here is a track that I dug out a few weeks ago intending to post as I remembered it as a throbbing Progressive House track, however when I ripped it and listened to it a few times I think that it closer to Trance than is comfortable to these ears, although still not without merit.

Have a good weekend people.

Opal - The Snake

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance

Technology, don't you just love it until it fucks up.

My work laptop decided it no longer wanted to connect to the Internet yesterday and due to my reliance on web based systems I'm as much good as a man short. So today I will be tidying up my office and feeling guilty about doing next to nothing, as my laptop gets couriered to Luton to either be rebuilt or scrapped.

But back to the music. Hardcore Uproar is on of those tracks that you heard everywhere in 1990, a Rave anthem before the term had even been used to label certain dance tracks.

The track was written and pressed on white label with the sole aim of being played at the Hacienda. it duly got flogged to death in the club and was picked up by Pete Tong owned FFRR and given a full release.

The bassline and melody are built around a sample from John Carpenter's The End Theme from Assault on Precinct 13. The tune also begins with the famous "More powerful than you can possibly imagine" Alec Guinness sample from Star Wars.

Have a good weekend people.

Together - Hardcore Uproar

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance

Back to 1987 today, well it was actually released in 1986 but it came to my attention the following year, for what has to be one of, if not the best sounds to come out of that period of early House Music.

Move Your body for me is synonymous with Saturday nights spent in the Sloe Club in the RGIT Union in Aberdeen getting off my face and trying to dance to this new wonderful music. It was the tune that was hammered each and every weekend for god knows how long.

Jefferson would go on to produce some of the best records coming out of Chicago for the likes of Ce Ce Rogers, Ten City etc. But for me nothing can beat this track with it's simple piano loop and repetitive vocals from Curtis McLean. There is something about it that just makes you want to get up and make a twat of yourself on the dance floor.

"Lost in house music is where I want to be" - indeed.

Have a good weekend people

Marshall Jefferson - Move Your Body (House Music Anthem)

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance

By Christ, that was a quick week. I most certainly have over indulged in food, alcohol not so much, although I did manage to arse a bottle of Foxdenton 48% London Gin and very nice it was too.

This Friday sees us back to 1993 and a bit of Gospel tinged House courtesy of the 50 strong Sounds of Blackness with a little smattering of the genius that was Sasha before he disappeared up his own arse. I apologise for the crackles but this was played quite a bit and I think that 1993 was not a very good year for quality vinyl as a lot of the 12" singles I have from then sound worse than they should do.

Have a good weekend people.

The Sounds of Blackness - I'm Going All The Way (Sasha's Chuff Chuff mix)

It's The Friday Before Christmas . . . Let's Dance

We'll that's that then. The closure of the Edinburgh office, a bit ironic that on Radio 4 last night there was a programme detailing how Scotland was leading the way with clinical trials in the UK and today the last presence by a Pharma Company in Scotland closes their Research office and not with a bang but with a miserable, barely discernible fart. I am, to say the least at a bit of a low ebb.

But enough of my woes it's the Friday before Christmas and by this time BC I would already be showered, dressed and down the local having the first of many and embarking upon a night which would inevitably end with a few jigs and then a kebab on the way home. Whereas tonight I will be fretting over Christmas lunch and trying to make Delia's "Famous Chocolate Torte". How times have changed.

No serious dub step or progressive house tonight just the sampletastic delights of the KLF and their guest, the daughter of Sissie Houston.

Have a great weekend people

The JAMS - Whitney Houston Joins The Jams

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance

Today's piece of vinyl was one of those records you picked up having not heard but everybody else had been raving about or in this case raving to. When I eventually got around to listening to it I was more than a little disappointed.

Forty Miles is built around a looped piano sample from Jimi Polo's Better Days and was originally released on Inner Rhythm in 1991. I have posted the instrumental version as the vocals on the other side add nothing to the track and are in truth awful.

Have a good weekend people.

Congress - 40 Miles

Friday Night Pass

It is nearly as rare as meeting a fellow blogger down in the smoke for a few pints and sorting out the whole of pop music but it has happened, me and my mate have finally been able to obtain Friday night passes at the same time.

In honour of the occasion it has been necessary to move Sturdy Girl from the sidelines to her rightful place on a Friday night.

Sorry that the tune has been used before, but I have surprisingly  few beer related songs on my hard drive. I do have a good one I am keeping under wraps for late next month.

N.W.A. - 8 Ball

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance

I've had a week in Scotland for a change, no stupid o'clock flight's, long train journeys or value depreciating car journeys. Would like to say that I'm all the better for it but I feel as if I've been slacking somehow.

Today's track comes from 1993, contains a sample from a Primal Scream song and was released on the Bosting label and that is about all I know about it. You can go look it up on the internet if you're so inclined but my association with Mother begins and ends here.

Have a good weekend people.

Mother - All Funked Up (Mother's Pride mix)

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance

I don't know about you but I'm in the mood for some uplifting house music, courtesy of Strictly Rhthym.

I am not ashamed to admit that I cried the first time I heard this, granted I was full of more than just emotion that night but still.

Have a good weekend people.

South Street Player - (Who?) Keeps Changing Your Mind

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance

I apologise most profusely for this being a re-post. Haven't really got my shit together this week and the track that I intended posting today hasn't been ripped from the vinyl yet. So those of you who still have the vaguest interest in this series will just have to do with this piece recycled from February 2009.

Have a good weekend people.

Today we go back to 1993 and an acid trance stormer from the Rising High Collective.
Rising High Collective was one of the many monikers of sadly departed Casper Pound and the vocalist Plavka. He also ran a label called Rising High Records which was responsible for some ground breaking techno and early ambient works by MixMaster Morris and Air Liquide. But Pound's main love was techno and the faster the breakbeats the better.

Fever Called Love is quite soulful and the BPMs not too fast. The version here is the 1993 remix by Hardfloor a German duo who invariably turn the 303 up to eleven in order to get their distinctive squelchy sound.
Enjoy


Rising High Collective - Fever Called Love (Hardfloor mix)

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance

It's still Friday, barely, but better late than never. Quick post tonight as just back from Belfast.

When the sounds are as good as they are on this tune, who needs long winded words about things being timeless, classic ground breaking even. All of these words and a shit load more apply to Brian Dougan and Gary Cobain and the music they have and continue to produce under their various guises and Papua New Guinea is only one of the many high points in their career.

The track posted has Weatherall turn an absolute classic into a lost in space type epic journey.

Have a good weekend people.

The Future Sound Of London - Papua New Guinea (Andrew Weatherall mix)

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance

From the outset the label title said it all "Soma Quality Recordings".

If anybody can find me another independant label as ground breaking and with such consistently high quality over the past twenty years (Warp is a given) I would like to know.

Prior to the release of SOMA-1, Slam were already know as the best dj double act this side of the border starting with their Black Market nights at Fury Murrys then their Atlantis nights at the Sub Club and one offs at the Barrowlands and Strathy Park. The year after they launched Soma records saw them take up occupation of  the Arches in Glasgow which produced some of the best nights that I have ever been to with guest spots from the cream of the world wide djing fraternity.

But coming back to the music, the term "classic" is bandied about far too much these days not least by me but I think that this is a bona fide classic. When thought of now through the haze of too many years, you think that it is very much of it's time but back in 1991 Slam were well ahead of the pack when they released Eterna.

Have a good weekend people.

Slam - Eterna

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance

If I were asked to pick my favourite time period in modern dance music, it would be a tough decision but I think that the period from 1991 to the end of 1993 and the genre of Progressive House would win out.  The sounds emanating from labels like Guerilla, Cowboy and Hard Hands. and from producers David Holmes, Andrew Weatherall, William Orbit and a whole host of others who produced one of belters of tracks, were in my opinion the best things that ever happened in dance music.

One of the main factors which endeared this type of dance to me as opposed to the breakbeat or Rave stuff synonymous with this time was the length and depth of the tracks. Most progressive house tracks, like progressive rock I suppose clocked in at over seven minutes and for me the longer the better, ten to 11 minutes was just about the right time for me to get totally immersed in the sounds.

Journalist and musician Kris Needs was another who got caught up in the progressive house vibe producing some great 12" singles released on the Sabres of Paradise, Hard Hands and latterly Deconstruction label with vocalist Wonder Schneider under the monikers of Secret Knowledge and Delta Lady.

Posted is the first Delta Lady single released in 1993 on Hard Hands.

Have a good weekend people.

Delta Lady - Anything You Want (The Delta Belter Vocal Symphony)

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance

Back to 1992 for a bit of Garage, House, Tribal House? Whatever you want to call it . The mix of the track posted is by Slam but not the kind of tune that you would naturally associate with the Glasgow producers, what with the gosple style vocals and the almost JBO baseline. If I didn't know better I would have said that this was a Farley/Heller mix from around this time.

The track was released on the Stress label with mixes by Brothers In Rhythm which are not bad but not nearly as good as the Slam one.

Have a good weekend people.

Voices of 6th Avenue - Call Him Up (Slam mix)

It's Friday . . Let's Dance

A few weeks ago for the second time I posted the John Talabot remix of Shelter by The xx and moaned about the fact that it had only been released on a limited pressing of 300 in Japan! Well after a couple of weeks of checking Discogs and eBay to see if any copies would surface but alas to no avail so Friday night  couple of weeks back after just the right amount of gin I decided to contact the label in Japan and see if they had any copies left. They did and before I could talk myself out of it I bought a copy .

After just under a week the record arrived and has been a constant on the turntable ever since. Not only is the version of Shelter a belter but Greg Wilson's mix of Night Time is equally as good and is now taking over as my favourite mix of any xx tune.

Have a good weekend people.

The xx - Night Time

It's Friday . . Let's Dance

I don't know if it's the return of the sunshine but I have a yearning to be standing in a field in the middle of nowhere listening to some old school break beat emanating from humongous speakers, which is kind of strange because I never really got into the breakbeat/hardcore scene although I did take a shine to some of the tunes, such as Trip To The Moon by Acen,  SL2's On A Ragga Tip and Far Out by Sonz of a Loop Da Loop Era.

Another track that I bought in 1992 and played quite frequently was Don't Go by Awesome 3. The track has a great breakbeat, a catchy piano hook and extremely simple lyrics to remember when you are out your tree, what's not to love?

Have a good weekend people.

Awesome 3 - Don't Go

It's Friday . . Let's Dance

When I heard at the tail end of last year that Jamie xx was to remix Gil Scott-Heron's last album, I was quite excited at the prospect as I love The xx  and the stuff that Jamie xx had been remixing, even that Florence and The Machine cover of You've Got The Love a tune that in my opinion should not be fucked about with but he did a good job. I was also a little intrigued as I was not sure if Scott-Heron's stuff lent itself to being re-done in a dub-step style.

When The album came I put it on with not really knowing what to expect. I had received the free download of NY Is Killing Me when I ordered the vinyl and had loved it but didn't know if the rest would be in a similar vein or not. I needn't have been worried the pairing of the two has been a truly inspired move and the vinyl has taken up residence on my turntable only being usurped every now and then by Shackleton's recent brace of twelves on Honest Jon's, more of which next week.

Last week saw the release of one of the many highlights of the album. I'll Take Care Of You  as a single. The track in it's original form has a kind of laid back house, dare I say Balearic vibe to it, the flip side ups up the beats and turn the track into what I think is a dance floor friendly belter of a track.

Gil Scott-Heron & Jamie xx - I'll Take Care Of You (Special DJ Version)

Have a good weekend people.

Brass Monkey Anyone?

I think that you may be relived to hear that this will probably be the last in the series of drink related Friday posts.

So to finish with do we have a sophisticated cocktail or a fine wine?  No in true ATKT stylee we have a pretty scummy, cheap and nasty concoction of malt liquor and orange juice which the Beastie Boys rapped about on their debut album. We folk from Lanarkshire are always ahead of the game when it comes to drink as I had a mate called Mil who used to put Kia-Ora in his Tennents Super long before we had even heard of the Brooklyn trio.

Have a good weekend people.

The Beastie Boys - Brass Monkey

It's Friday . . Let's Dance

1994 this week and another sub genre of the every splintering music that I call dance music ie anything from about 1985 onwards, Tribal House.

Love and Happiness was absolutely fucking huge, everywhere you went in 1994 this track could be heard. Uplifting, spiritual house music didn't get much better than this well apart from (Who?) Keeps Changing Your Mind.

Written by India and Louie Vega, produced by Vega and Kenny Dope Gonzalez and originally released on Strictly Rhythmin the States and Cooltempo over here. The version posted comes from the remix 12" and was tinkered with by x-press 2 in a Junior Boys Own stylee.


River Ocean featuring India - Love And Happiness (Yemaya Ochun) Junior Boys Own Super Dub

Whiskey In The Jar

It was inevitable that this would eventually be posted in the Friday night tipple section.

I'm not a big fan of Irish Whiskey, I prefer the subtle,  smoother peaty Islay malts or even Black Bottle but I would still sooner have it than the American stuff.

I don't think that Gary Moore played on this but tonight I will raise a glass and play Parisienne Walkways to one of the finest guitarists it has been my pleasure to see play live, albeit a long time ago. Go easy Gary.

Have a good weekend people

Thin Lizzy - Whiskey In The Jar (Peel Session)