Advance Diskotek

I know that I have been posting alot of work by Prins Thomas lately, however he's just been on a tear with great remixes lately. It's safe to say he must lock himself into a studio for 6 months straight without food and water, and then walk out with all these great new mixes. Maybe not. However he has been one of the most active remixer's the past couple years and especially here in '07. Here is another great remix, this time of Justus Kohncke's "Advance". On this new 12-inch single put out by Kompakt, there is also a solid Prins Thomas version of "Elan" which you can find over at 20 Jazz Funk Greats. Definately one of the best singles of '07. I find myself saying that alot lately when comes to a Prins Thomas production.

Justus Kohncke - Advance (Prins Thomas Remix)

Norwegian Disc Jocky

I recently picked a new EP from Norway's Diskjokke entitled Heft & Plunder. This debut record from Diskjokke (aka Joachim Dyrdahl) is being released by Get Physical sublabel Kindisch Records. This record includes five tracks that tend to blur the lines between disco, house, and techno, while supplying that nice Norwegian sound that seems to be constantly growing. Diskjokke hooks up with Vinny Villbass for the leading track "Meksibobo", which starts off slow, however by the end the song gets you moving with a rhythm thats reminiscent of classic Chicago house. This is definately a solid debut from another fine talent from Norway. I definately reccommend picking up this record. There is also another fine unreleased track from Diskjokke over at 24: Hours that you should definately check out.

Diskjokke - Meksibobo

Workin' the Polo

I recently discovered this fairly new remix from Hector Works' founders Nick Chacona and Anthony Mansfield this week. This re-edit of Greenskeepers' "Polo Club" was released back in December off of OM Records in a two part 12-inch vinyl series which also included remixes from The Rapture, and Tommie Sunshine. This dance heavy electro gem is definately the ingredient to keep the dancefloor moving at 1:30 in the morning. I also reccommend checking out other works from the guys over at Hector Works. You can't go wrong with either Chacona and Mansfield when it comes to quality output.

Greenskeepers - Polo Club (Nick Chacona & Anthony Mansfield Remix)

All Night Marathon in SF

This Friday, Beat Freeze Records recording artist' Future Force will be performing at the Mezzanine in San Francisco this Friday, March 23rd. They will have the great oppurtunity to open the show for Berlin's "Tech-house" duo Booka Shade. Future Force which includes myself, TJ Gorton and Noah Clark(who guest appeared on the new !!! album), will be performing both Future Force songs and a few of my solo songs that I've written for an upcoming release entitled Jane Fonda, which will hit DJ/Vinyl record stores everywhere on April 2nd. Don't miss this all night dance party in the SF, it's very rare that Booka Shade makes it out to play on the West Coast. You can get your tickets for this amazing show by going here. See you in the city!

TJ Gorton - All Night Marathon

Force of Three

The Japanese duo of DJ Kent and KZA, under the name of Force of Nature released one of the best full-length album's of last year in III. This CD-only release saw much of it's material released on vinyl through three 12-inch singles, Black Moon, Sequencer, and the soon to be released To The Brain. All three records are amazing, with Prins Thomas adding a solid remix to the third single. These releases that came off of Mule Musiq and Libyus Music showcased a different sound that we previously heard on Force of Nature's earlier releases off of Exceptional. In my opinion they went from a more basic club House sound to a more cosmic space-disco sound. I have definately enjoyed the slight transformation, and I'm definately looking forward to the release of the To The Brain 12-inch.

Force of Nature - To The Brain
Force of Nature - Transmute

Walking In The Rain

This past week while diggin' through hundreds of records at my neighborhood vinyl store, I came across a label I wasn't familiar with, Music For Dreams. What caught my eye from this Danish label was Frontera's 12-inch single of Nature, which featured a remix by the always amazing Reverso 68. What's interesting about this record, is Frontera is another aliase for Pete Herbert and Phil Mison, which makes up Reverso 68. So essentially, their remixing their own song, Genius. After listening to this solid single, I found myself interested in more of what this downtempo label has to offer. I think in the coming days I will be venturing out to that same record store to listen to more of Music For Dreams 12-inches. If you a fan of Reverso 68, Rune Lindbaek, Lindstrom, etc. I would recommend checking them out.

Frontera-Nature (Reverso 68 remix)
Frontera-Rouge

Bring Back the Diskomiks

The disco prince himself, Prins Thomas, has been keeping himself extremely busy as of late. It seems like everytime I go to look for records at Phonica, Juno, or Piccadilly I see that Norweigen producer has released a new remix. Just this year alone he has re-edited tracks by Bebel Gilberto, Lee Jones, Justus Kohncke, Tony Sylvester, Crue-L Grand Orchestra, and an upcoming remix of Force of Nature's "To The Brain". This kind of production output is definately breaking my penny bank, however I can't complain because every remix continues to amaze me. I'm sure after a few listen to some of these remixes you'll be scrambling to get your hands on anything this guy even breathes on. Enough Said.

Bebel Gilberto-Bring Back The Love(Prins Thomas Remix)
Bebel Gilberto-Bring Back The Love(Prins Thomas Dub mix)
Crue-L Grand Orchestra- Psycho Piano(Prins Thomas Diskomiks)

Roxy Delight

In the later stages of 2006, Roxy Music released a bunch of new remixes of some of their old songs. Some of these remixes found their way onto the Remix #01 and Remix #01 12-inches. Some of the songs included Booka Shade & M.A.N.D.Y's take on "The Thrill Of It All", Tiefschwarz's edit of "Rain Rain Rain", and The Glimmer's remix of "Same Old Scene". One song that didn't make it onto those releases, however might see the light of day somewhere else (Hopefully), is Lindstrom & Prins Thomas's edit of Roxy Music's "Avalon". This downtempo edit really captures some nice atmospheric elements of the orginal, including a smooth jazz track through-out the song. Not being the biggest Roxy Music fan, I have to really give the two Oslo producers their due for taking an orginal version of a song and really making it their own. Let's hope that we see it on vinyl sometime here in '07.

Roxy Music - Avalon(lindstrom & prins thomas remix)
(Download Requested to be removed by EMI)

We Like Moroder

This past year Jupiter Black payed tribute to one of their all time favorite producers, Giorgio Moroder with their 12-inch single We Like Moroder which saw a release off of Clone Records. Now this debut single from John Jupiter & Michael Black gets a much deserving remix from Divider, and Starcluster. These remixes definately take the song from good to really good. The Divider remix appered on Clone's Recloned CD, however the 12-inch remix single should be released soon.

And why not throw in some Moroder tracks while I'm at it:

Jupiter Black - We Like Moroder (Divider remix)
Giorgio Moroder - I Wanna Funk With You Tonight
Giorgio Moroder - Utopia (Todd Terje Edit)

Getting Around To It

Tracey Thorn has definately started the year off right. Everything But The Girl's front woman released one of the hottest singles of '07 in "It's All True" (see Escorting Tracey), which got the much deserved remix treatment from Escort, Martin Buttrich, and Kris Menace. Along with the new single she just released her new solo album entitled Out of the Woods, which is a little hit-and-miss with me, however I will give a few more listens before calling the jury out on it. However, the standout track in my opinion is the Arthur Russell cover of "Get Around To It". This already amazing-amazing song get's some nice treatment from Thorn, which includes a nasty bass-line and a great horn outro. Hopefully this song will bring some mainsteam attention to the much deserved, Arthur Russell.

Tracey Thorn - Get Around To It
Tracey Thorn - It's All True (Kris Menace Remix)

Italo Visitors

A song that I haven't been able to get out of my head lately is the 1985 italo disco gem "Visitors" by the italian synth group Koto. Conducted and arranged by Anfrando Maiola and produced by Stefano Cundari, Koto wrote instrumental synth-driven italo dance music and orginally released their music on Memory Records which was eventually bought out by the German record label ZYX. At times they can be hit-and-miss with me, as of many of the italo groups from the 80's however if you love the sound of "Visitors", I would reccommend checking out a couple of their other tracks that I find myself listening to in "Japanese War Game" and "Jabdah".

Koto - Visitors

Another Life, Another Lover

If your talking about "Italo Disco", then one of the groups you have to be talking about is Kano, which had to be one of the true pioneers of this genre. They released many dancefloor disco gems including "I'm Ready" and It's A War" in 1980 off of Emergency Records. Their self-titled LP that was also released that year has to be considered one of the greatest, if not the greatest italo album's of all time. In 1983, Kano blessed us "italo lovers" with Another Life, which was released off of Full Time Records. The self-titled track even saw a little national attention by being released as a single through Epic. This LP might not be as good as the self-titled that proceeded three years earlier, however it definitely complimented and further planted Kano as one of the best and most influential groups of their era.

Kano - Another Life
Kano - I Need Love

Cool Ranch

New York's Brennan Green had a busy year in '06 releasing four amazing records off of four different labels. These releases included 900 LB Man off of Jet Set, Pluto's Retreat off of Bear Funk, Modal Record's released Cool Ranch, and most notably Little Ease which was released off of his own label Chinatown Records. Now we can't ignore the brilliance of the much talked about, and most popular of these releases, Little Ease, especially with the amazing Lindstrom & Prins Thomas re-edit on the B-side. However after listening to his other 12-inches, you can't ignore the brilliance of those records as well. Pluto's Retreat supplies the disco club gem with re-edits from Optimus (which includes Pete Herbert from Reverso 68 most notably) , while Cool Ranch is, well, exactly that - "A Cool Downtempo track" that supplies all the "Nu Disco" you need for your dance party. My favorite track from Cool Ranch has to be "Bunko", which is a 10-minute safari through a tropical galaxy. Time to retreat.

Brennan Green - Bunko

A Bright New Life

One of the best releases of 2007, so far, has to be the brand new 12-inch release from Brooklyn, NY's Disco outfit Escort. This group has already blessed us with two great singles in Starlight, and Love in Indigo b/w Karawane, now they might have just released their finest piece of work so far. This new amazing single entitled, A Bright New Life is another solid disco anthem which features powerful lead vocals by Zena Kitt, a horn section led by Jon Natchez, strings by Caleb Burhans, and absolutely massive drums and percussion by Ernesto Abreau, Chauncey Yearwood, and Ben Herson. "A Bright New Life" gets a much deserved re-edit from Environ's finest, Morgan Geist. The B-side concludes with a cinematic late-night disco driven stopper, "All That She Is". When I found this 12-inch in my local record store, I definatelly new I did my good deed for the day. One of this year's best.

Escort - A Bright New Life (Morgan Geist Edit)
Escort - A Bright New Life (Dub Edit)