Ghetto Jungle

Let's start the week off with another funky cosmic jazz gem titled "Ghetto Jungle" from Carlos Garnett. This track was featured on the Panamanian-American jazz saxophonist's rare 1975 album Let This Melody Ring On, which I have already featured once before on this blog a few month's back (See Let This Melody Ring On). Like much of Garnett's recordings, this composition nicely blends together elements of funky soul jazz and spiritual jazz. Just one of the many solid tracks from this superb record. Enjoy!

Carlos Garnett - Ghetto Jungle

Disco Powerplay

This Spring, the cosmic UK collective, know as Soft Rocks, has released a new album worth of reworked balearic gems. The album version of this release is in CD format, however the group has released a sampler of the album, featuring a couple of the highlights from the album on twelve-inch. One of those highlights includes my favorite track from the album in the funky cosmic gem "Danz Boy Danz". Other great tracks from the album include "Whore Your Love", "Pen 15 Club", "South African Cut & Shut", "Is It All Over My Library" and many others. When it comes to cosmic balearic re-edits, there is probably nobody doing it better than Soft Rocks, reworking rare songs that span a wide range of genres while adding their own tongue-in-cheek personality to thew mix. I highly recommend checking out this new album and the single, as it's easily one of this year's best and most unique releases. Enjoy!

Soft Rocks - Danz Boy Danz



To purchase Soft Rocks' new album and 12" single Click Here.

Space Talk

I think I'm going to keep it a bit chill today with the downtempo funky gem "Space Talk" by Asha Puthli. This slow groovin' cosmic track is featured on Asha's superb 1976 album The Devil is Loose. For those that haven't checked out Asha's releases, I highly recommend doing so, as she released a number of great cosmic-flavored records during the seventies. Enjoy!

Asha Puthli - Space Talk

All that is Cosmic: Kurt Hauenstein

Shortly after we have lost one the greatest disco singers in Loleatta Holloway, we have now unfortunately lost another great artist in Kurt Hauenstein. Kurt, who passed away on March 20th due to a cardiac disease, founded the Austrian band Supermax, who throughout the late seventies put out some of the best cosmic disco records that have ever been released. Some of amazing cosmic gems written by the group included "Lovemachine", "Musicexpress", "Dance, Dance, Dance", "Push Push (Sexy Chocolate Girl)", "Don't Stop The Music", "Fly With Me", "It Ain't Easy" and many others. On top of working with his band Supermax, Kurt also helped write and produce Bamboo's superb 1979 self-titled album, which included the classic disco cut "Spaceship Crashing". When it comes to seventies era cosmic disco, nobody did it better or was more influential than Kurt Hauenstein. He will surely be missed.

Supermax - Musicexpress



Supermax - Watch Out South Africa, Here We Come



Supermax - Push, Push (Sexy Chocolate Girl)

Cosmic Afro Fusion

Here is another amazing cosmic gem from Eko's (aka Eko Roosevelt Louis) much hard-to-find album Kilimandjaro My Home. This funky track, titled "Manyaka", tends to fall slightly under the radar due to the high praise the title track to the mid-seventies album generally receives (SEE Kilimandjaro My Home). That being said, "Manyaka" certainly stands on it's own, blending together Eko's electric piano-driven jazz grooves with funky Afro-cosmic rhythmns. Even though there is no deny the brilliance of the album's title track, "Manyaka" is an amazing gem that deserves the some worthy praise. Enjoy!

Eko - Manyaka

Nightmoves

One of my favorite releases of last year was Space Ranger's cosmic disco twelve-inch single "Nightmoves". This futuristic nu disco gem was one of the many solid singles this German group, which is made up of Felix Stecher , Florian Pflueger , Severino Spadavecchia, released during this past year in preparation for their upcoming debut full-length effort off of the Madrid-based label Lovemonk, which will come out later this year. The song has a nice dancefloor friendly groove supplied with some superb vocals from Captain K that at times is very reminiscent of an early DFA records-sounding track (and that's a good thing). The single features solid remixes by both Blacklodge and Pional, as well as an instrumental and acapella version of the track. On a side note, you have to also love the record sleeves artwork, which portrays a life size image of an astronauts head. With all of that being said, Space Ranger rounded out what turned out to be a very busy year, with a well produced cosmic dancefloor gem.

Space Ranger - Nightmoves

Sexy Chocolate Girl

Here is another one of my favorite tracks by Kurt Hauenstein's cosmic disco group Supermax in "Push, Push (Sexy Chocolate Girl)". This track was featured on the band's 1978 self-titled album, which features a number of other great tracks including "Dance, Dance, Dance", "Watch Out South Africa, Here We Come", and "Don't Stop The Music" to name just a few. The track "Push, Push (Sexy Chocolate Girl)" is a funky mid-tempo cosmic gem that has plenty of erotic undertones. Overall it's just one of the many great songs written by this classic cosmic group. Enjoy!

Supermax - Push, Push (Sexy Chocolate Girl)

Cosmic Meteor Shower

As time has gone on and as I become more familiar with the group's music, the Finland based group Astro Can Caravan has certainly become one of my favorite modern-day experimental jazz bands. The band recently released a new album, which is currently only in CD format, called Planet Caravan off of Ricky-Tick Records. The funky album brings together elements of Ethio-Jazz, Afro-beat, and cosmic fusion grooves to produce a unique and explosive sound. The album also incorporates all three tracks that were included on the incredible 2009 twelve The Nagual Julian EP which was also released on Ricky-Tick Records, and a few of the songs that were featured on the group's hard-to-find 2005 album 21st Century Drifting Episode. Here is one of my favorite tracks off the new album in "Meteor Shower Gel", which is a good example of how this group continues to experiment and expand their own unique sound. The good news is that according to the Ricky-Tick label website, a vinyl version of the album will also be released sometime in the near future. Until then, enjoy this funky gem!

Astro Can Caravan - Meteor Shower Gel

Music For Dancefloors

Last night on KALX, I played a couple of tracks off one of my favorite compilations in Music For Dancefloors: The Cream Of The Chappell Music Library Sessions. This amazing compilation was released by Strut back in 2001, and features an incredible assortment of music taken from the renowned Chappell Music Library. Focusing on the archives of the sixties and seventies, the compilation brings forth many of the more funky and cosmic tracks from the Chappell's collection including Paul Dupont & His Orchestra's "Rainbow Bridge", Ensemble Rager Roger's "Afro-Beat/ Afro-Syn", Keith Mansfield's "Blockbuster", and Stringtronics' "Safari Park" among many others. As with most decent library music, there is plenty of great percussion breaks and sampling material to go around. Overall, with library music becoming more expensive and harder to find, a compilation series like Music For Dancefloors becomes absolutely essential to any record collection. Here is one of my favorite tracks from this compilation, and a song I'm currently re-editing in Irving Martin & Brian Dee's 1980 cosmic disco gem "Indianapolis 2". Enjoy!

Irving Martin & Brian Dee - Indianapolis 2

Road Rockets

I'm not spending much time in front of the computer today, therefore I thought I would just go ahead and re-post the classic disco gem "On The Road Again" by Rockets. This funky cut was included as the title track to the group's full-length album back in 1978 and was released off of Tom Moulton's excellent label Tom N' Jerry. Moulton is also noted on the record for it's overall mix. Just as the album's artwork might suggest, the song has a bit of an early italo and cosmic disco groove, blended together with the group's overall sci-fi theme. Overall, "On The Road Again" is a classic cosmic disco masterpiece that resulted in the group's most defining song during their long career. Enjoy!

Rockets - On The Road Again

Cosmic Sands

The fourth volume of the Cabana Disco series continues to receive great reviews and press. I've decided to do a re-pressing of the record as the twelve-inch has been selling quickly in many of the record shops. You can still find a few copies at Piccadilly and Phonica. Even as the release of volume four is less than a month old, it's never too early to start planning on the next volume in the series. One of the tracks that I plan on including on the next Cabana Disco record is a re-edit I recently did of Ashra's 1979 cut "Bamboo Sands". This edit is a slight departure from many of the edits that I've included on the past few records, however I've been wanting to do a re-edit of this track, which has a great overall cosmic feel, for quite sometime. For those that might not know, Ashra was a group that cosmic mastermind Manuel Göttsching played in during the late seventies. As always, I would love to hear everyone's feedback. Enjoy!

Ashra - Bamboo Sands (Pat Les Stache Re-Edit)

Prins Thomas Presents Prins Thomas

I recently had a chance to hear the new Prins Thomas full-length album, that is being released this week. With the Oslo native being one of my all-time favorite producers, I've been excited about this album ever since I heard it was in the making. Everything from his own productions and his collaborative work with space-disco mastermind Lindstrom to his brilliant re-edits, mixes, and classic Major Swellings releases, Thomas has been releasing some of the most amazing and cutting-edge music I've heard for the past decade. On his first solo full-length of original works, Thomas continues to set the bar even higher. The record features seven solid tracks that blend his signature cosmic and psychedelic sound with a lot of funky organic grooves. The prescence of live drums and other percussion are very relevant throughout the entire record. Some of my favorite tracks include "Wendy Not Walter", "Orkenvandring", "Nattonsket", and today's featured song "Uggebugg". With this new full-length album, Prins Thomas has not only released one of the best record's of the year, he has produced an absolute masterpeice. There is no doubt in my mind that this one record everyone should own. And with that, sit back and enjoy!

Prins Thomas - Uggebugg

Librae, Solidi, Denarii

With baseball season fast approaching, I find that I'm in a bit of a "left-field" mood today (My far-reaching attempt to make today's featured track relative to the time of year). Therefore I thought I would share the cosmic psychedelic cut "L.S.D. (Librae, Solidi, Denarii)" by The Duke of Burlington. This track, which has to be considered one of the most erotic songs ever written, was released on the group's 1970 self-titled album. I find that the group is mostly known for their funky keys-driven single "Flash", which I also highly enjoy, however the erotic mood that is beautifully crafted on "L.S.D." should not go ignored. With one listen, I'm sure you'll understand that this song was the soundtrack for one thing, and one thing only. Enjoy!

The Duke of Burlington - L.S.D. (Librae, Solidi, Denarii)

Watch Out South Africa, Here We Come

When anybody talks about seventies cosmic disco, it's hard to not bring up the Kurt Hauenstein founded band Supermax. I've been lucky enough to hunt down many of the group's records over the past couple years including their amazing 1977 album Don't Stop The Music This cosmic masterpiece includes many amazing songs including "Dance, Dance, Dance", "Don't Stop The Music", and "Supermax" the song, however the song that has grown on me the most over the past few years is the album cut "Watch Out South Africa, Here We Come". I feel like this track is one of the more looked-over gems released by the group. The song has the typical 'Supermax' cosmic feel, however for some reason I find myself listening to this track a bit more than the others. That being said, I'm sure we all have our personal favorites when it comes to this group, especially since they have so many great tracks. Regardless, here is just one of the many. Enjoy!

Supermax - Watch Out South Africa, Here We Come

Space Fortress

I was excited to see the DFA/Solar Disco release of Altair Nouveau's new twelve-inch single Space Fortress. As many might know, Altair Nouveau, aka Brandon Mitchell, used to be a regular guest deejay at Studio! back when he use to reside in Seattle. After he got me a copy of his self-titled CD, I knew with one listen that it was only a short amount of time before a label like Solardisco or DFA signed him. As I have mention before on this site (see Cosmic Northwest Disco), if your into the more cosmic side of disco and electronic music (ie. Lindstrom, Diskjokke, Peter Visti, Blackbelt Andersen), this is a twelve-inch you must own.

Now Go Buy the Record:
Altair Nouveau - Space Fortress 12" (DFA)
Altair Nouveau - Space Fortress 12" (Solardisco)(incl. Remixes)

Stratus Lovin'

One of the best "nu disco" (or whatever it's called these days) groups, in my opinion, Faze Action, just released a new CD/digital-only album entitled Stratus Energy. This well produced album is a collection of the many amazing twelve-inch releases the group has released over the past 3 years including standout tracks like "Disco Warrior", "Hypnotic", and "Keep It Coming", combined along side some newer album-only cuts which include "I Wanna Dancer", "Starship" and "Danaes' Journey" among others. The only real criticsm that I have concerning this album is that it includes a lot more vocal focused tracks then what I generally am used to hearing from this group. I'm not saying the vocals are bad, I'm just saying I tend to enjoy their instrumental tracks like "Keep It Coming" and "Stratus Energy" a bit more than, say "Hypnotic". Overall, Robin and Simon Lee bless us again with another quality release and one the year's best albums.

Here is an instrumental B-side mix of the one of the album's many excellent singles,"Good Lovin'". ENJOY!

Faze Action - Good Lovin'(Instrumental mix)

Next Disco: Club Nouveau 2

Here is a great new mix that I thought readers of this blog might enjoy from my good friend and former Studio! resident deejay, H.M.A. (aka Cybertramp). Like he states, this mix tends to Take us somewhat backwards and forwards through time, highlighting some of the newer "Nouveau" disco cuts and older rarities. I know he would love to hear some feedback. Enjoy!

H.M.A. (Cybertramp) - Next Disco: Club Nouveau 2

Tracklist
-------------------
1. No Way Back - Black Cock (Black Cock)
2. Stahl Rig - Petite Storm - In Flagranti (RVNG)
3. X-Factor - Patrick Cowley
4. Kuk Av Stål - Blackbelt Anderson
5. The Garden (Greg Wilson Version) - Yolanta Sy
6. Driving On Broadway - Supersonic Lovers
7. How Long - Lipps Inc.
8. My Way Or The Highway - The Beat Brokers
9. Mercurian (Main Mix) - Blackjoy
10. Are You Vegetarian? - Joakim
11. D.I.S.C.O. - Ottowan
12. Oh Missy (Extended) - Woolfy
13. Stairway To Heaven - The Wonder Band
14. My Baby's Baby - Liquid Gold
15. Black Jack - Baciotti
16. Just Take My Body - Rudy
17. Magic Bird Of Fire - Salsoul Orchestra

Balearic Disco Gone Prog

Since the later part of the week has been talking about new "disco" releases (which was generally just coincidental), I can't leave out the return of Lindstrom & Prins Thomas with the amazing cosmic-prog twelve-inch Tirsdagsjam. This record, which consists of two versions of the track, "Tirsdagsjam", is a slight departure from the past few releases from this incredible duo, however in a good and refreshing way. Relying less on programmed electronic synths and more on live drums, driving bass, and a vintage keyboard sound, both tracks have a "live-band" feel to them. It almost sounds like a 1975 prog-rock band that was produced by Daniele Baldelli and Manuel Göttsching putting on a live show in your backyard, which basically sounds like a dream I'm hoping to have at one point in my life. I'm definitely nominating this twelve-inch in the "Best of 2009" category, giving much credit to a duo that continues to re-define themselves and their sound, and hence by doing so, always staying a few feet ahead of the rest. Enjoy!

Lindstrom & Prins Thomas - Tirsdagsjam (lang versjon)

Lovin' the Disco Harmony

At home sick today, so I'm going to keep this short and sweet. Here is a couple of tracks, "Feeling Love" and "Discorgan", from L.E.B. Harmony's 1978 rare disco album "Disco Boogie". It's safe to say that this record was well ahead of it time, setting some of the foundation for the whole "cosmic-nu-disco" sound that artists like Lindstrom, Peter Visti, and the Full Pupp label have perfected so nicely. I find that this record is extremely hard-to-find and can cost a pretty penny. That being said, if you happen to be lucky enough to come across the record and you have some extra cash on hand, then this might be a high priced record that's well worth buying. Enjoy!

L.E.B. Harmony - Feeling Love
L.E.B. Harmony - Discorgan

Cosmic Love Pirate

With Space Truckin' records recently releasing the excellent third twelve-inch in their Galactic Haulage Edits Series, I thought I would post the 1977 original version of Dogs of War's sleazy cosmic gem "Love Pirate". Dogs of War were a Canadian band that nicely blended together gritty 70's rock and cosmic flavoured disco. Their 1977 self-titled LP, which features "Love Pirate", is a cosmic masterpiece with solid cuts like "Future Jungle", "Space Conqueror" "Intergalactic Tactic" among others. The Galactic Haulage Edits pt.3 features a nice re-edit of "Love Pirate", re-ranging the song to make it a bit more dancefloor friendly. Regardless of which route you prefer regarding the re-edit or the original, it's safe to say that Dogs of War successfully produced a unique cosmic sound that makes songs like "Love Pirate" an instant gem.

Dogs of War - Love Pirate