No Tears is back. This time we present special guest Void Republic from Montreal performing a live set of electronic minimal synth dance music. http://voidrepublic.com/
Ed and Brett play New Wave, Cold Wave, Dark Disco.
10pm/Free
Keep Brooklyn Cold
Man, two newsletters aside, we’ve been all quiet on the music front here at YDH2S. I was listening to this killer edit by Iceland’s B.G. Baarregaard (you can tell he RREAALLY loves double letters) and I decided it had been too long. David Joseph’s original was already a boogie monster, but Baarregaard gives it a stuttery new intro for mixing delights and plumps up the rattly percussion until you’ll want to start every party with this tune.
This edit is the tip of the iceberg for B.G. Baarregaard, go check out his Soundcloud for much more. The David Joseph edit is a free download, as are many others. I particularly recommend his original “Feels Like,” which has one of the funkiest basslines I’ve heard in a minute.
/// Brian Blackout
Gene Chandler – “When You’re No. 1 (Magnetic Soul Edit)”
Magnetic Soul is someone I wish I’d come across sooner, given the trove of great boogie and disco he’s got going on his Soundcloud page. This edit of a disco-era tune by Gene Chandler (of “Duke of Earl” fame, no less) is just one shining example of the London-based DJ’s savvy with the digital razor and tape- splicing, looping, cutting and extending classics to elevate anticipation and maximize the danciness. Give this track a like on his Facebook page and you can grab it for free.
– Spoolwork
Sure, the weather is no longer anything you can pretend is like Summer. This new balearic rework by Satin Jackets is a lovely little wistful nod to the departure of warm weather. A ghostly dub version of Aaliyah’s “Rock the Boat” is a perfect way to say goodbye to the ghost of Summer. There’s a free download if you Like the Satin Jackets page on Facebook.
I haven’t posted a good edit in a hot minute, and this one is fantastic. I’m not that familiar with the editor in question, Jolly Mare, but whoever it is, they call Italy home. This mix is a hot and heavy boogie groover, full of a lot of loops, and it’s gratuitous in laying on the killer vocals from Bobby Caldwell’s original thick. Spectacular results. Grab a free download too.
/// Brian Blackout
I’m excited to be unveiling a brand new track today on the blog. Fashions are a new band based here in Brooklyn, and their debut single is catchy as hell. I got to help add to the huge chorus at the end of the song, which includes a children’s choir, so I’m very excited to get to tell folks about this tune.
“Slip Away,” is a bouncy slice of tropical electropop. We tested it out on a dancefloor a couple weeks ago and people started going nuts during the full chorus parts, I think you will too. The song is a free download on Fashions’ Bandcamp, so go grab a copy and start listening now. I warn you, it’ll be stuck in your head all day.
/// Brian Blackout
Love Like This – the Establishment
French Express has been releasing great Balearic-influenced house all Summer, mostly via freely downloadable singles by artists like Isaac Tichauer and Jonas Rathsman. Late last night they dropped this new tune under ace producer Chris Malinchak‘s new moniker the Establishment. Malinchak has been killing it all Summer, and this one has Ibiza 1988 written all over it. He starts with a feel good gallop, adds jaunty pianos and a beautifully chosen sample from the chorus to Exposé’s freestyle anthem Exposed to Love. Took me a little while to place it, but yet it felt so familiar, and so perfectly picked. It’s a nice change of pace from the mid-90s R&B samples that have been done to death recently. Follow the link in the song title for a free download from French Express, you can’t beat that for promotion.
While we’re at it, here’s the track the sample originated from, off of Exposé’s actual official Soundcloud, where you can stream most of their backcatalog. I hope more artists go this route. Plus you can pick up this and a bunch of their other 12” mixes on iTunes.
This week we’re featuring a special guest post by our friend, edit maven Eugene Tambourine.
Log onto SoundCloud and it appears that everyone’s been kung-fu fighting with pre-recorded music these days. It’s no secret that I’m part of the horde. However, my editing experience has helped me navigate that DIY paradise we all know and love. Here are some all-time favorites of mine:
I love how the UK’s Dancin’ Room Only keep the atmospheric parts peaking in the beginning of the tune before the familiar theme begins. The loops are positively housey with just the right amount of effects. This gem has been lurking behind the ‘cloud for the past 2 years.
Combolito’s take on Donald Byrd’s “Love Has Come Around” has the prolific Swede adding a host of extra synths, percussion and rhythm tracks to that plodding piano groove we all know and love. Overdubs can make or break an edit, but the result here is exhilarating. Sadly, the original’s swirling bridge is gone, but the new additions make up for it.
Venice Beach are a couple of Parisian DJs whose star is rising. A lot of folks are excited about their remix work of electro and indie musicians like Metronomy, M83, and Sebastian Tellier, but they also excel at taking classic dance tracks and tweaking them a bit for a modern dancefloor.
Based on their sound, it’s no surprise that these guys are big italo fans, and they’ve made several nice (and freely downloadable) versions of tracks like Mr. Flagio’s “Take a Chance,” Clio’s “Faces,” and a fun stop-start take on B.W.H.’s “Stop.” It was hard to pick just one to blog about, but I was most impressed with their version of Dharma’s “Plastic Doll.”
I’m not all that familiar with the original “Plastic Doll.” Typical of a lot of italo, it deftly combines robotic proto-house rhythms and soaring synthpop histrionics. Throw in some some disaffected, heavily accented vocals that culminate in a keening wail in a killer chorus. Venice Beach begin by housing up the kick drums and snares, loop things a bit, and then really get crazy with running little bits of the original through a lot of echo. The effect is stunning, and the track now nicely bridges between 80s production and modern electropop. It’s also a free download so head over to the Venice Beach soundcloud and pick up a few nice odds and ends.
Dharma – Plastic Doll (Venice Beach Rework)
/// Brian Blackout
Our love will last forever
…pipes the voice out of your headphones. Donna Summer was one of disco’s finest, so the news today that she passed away after battling cancer is awfully sad. I take solace in the fact that her voice, like her love, will last forever. Plus we get to spend some time commiserating her loss on the dancefloor.
Within minutes of hearing about her death, I saw that Soundcloud’s most prolific re-editor, Alkalino, had already posted his tribute, a stripped down take on her tune “Our Love.” Our Love, co-written with Italy’s king of the arpeggiator, Giorgio Moroder, is already pretty bare, but it’s always been a big target for disco edit-heads. I remember Philly’s Billy W. once telling me he’d done the virtually the same edit as I was playing a similar, reverb-ed out treatment at his Robotique party. So this track has a special place for me.
Grab the WAV download from Alkalino’s soundcloud while it’s still up. You ought to follow him as well, he posts a lot of hidden edits for his followers that you can’t get otherwise.
/// Brian Blackout