Wild Bunch -- The music of Massive Attack

Trip-hop is such a crap name for what Massive Attack were doing in the early and mid 90s. There's not a lot that is trippy about what they were doing. It was just good, soulful music that used interesting samples, dark beats and some skunked-out vocals. Everyone had a copy of "Blue Lines". It's still their best album. Their song "Unfinished Sympathy" was remarkable and to this day still features on the top of people's "Best Songs Of All Time" lists. How about this version from Tina Turner?

The Mad Professor produced a remix album of "Protection", their second album. He called it "No Protection" and it was a dubbed reggae mix with possibly the worst album cover in history. It was a good listen, though.

And now we have a mixtape version that combines a lot of the songs that were sampled or covered in their first three albums. This mix comes from DJ Hudson who has a nice little blog with a lot of great listening. It's a lovely mix, especially if you are a fan of Massive Attack. It's a trainspotter's dream. See how many samples you can recognise.

The Music of Massive Attack (1988 - 98)

Download available here

Tracklisting

1. You Know, You Know – Mahvishnu Orchestra (One Love – Blue Lines)
2. Isaac Hayes – Ike’s Mood I (One Love – Blue Lines)
3. So Glad You’re Mine – Al Green (FIve Man Army – Blue Lines)
4. Five Man Army Dub (Five Man Army – Blue Lines)
5. Les McCann – Sometimes I Cry (Teardrop – Mezzanine)
6. James Brown – Never Can Say Goodbye (Better Things – Protection)
7. En Melody – Serge Gainsbourg (Karmacoma [Portishead Experience])
8. Funkadelic – Good Old Music (Safe From Harm – Blue Lines)
9. Led Zeppelin – When The Levee Breaks (Man Next Door – Mezzanine)
10. Quincy Jones – Summer In The City (Exchange – Mezzanine)
11. Man Next Door – John Holt (Man Next Door – Mezzanine)
12. Lowrell – Mellow Mellow (Lately – Blue Lines)
13. Pieces of a Dream (Weather Storm – Protection)
14. Isaac Hayes – Joy (Lately – Blue Lines)
15. Billy Cobham – Stratus (Safe From Harm – Blue Lines)
16. James Brown – The Payback (Protection)
17. Be Thankful (Be Thankful – Blue Lines)
18. Sade – Siempre Hay Esperanza (Be Thankful – Blue Lines)
19. Mambo – Wally Badarou (Daydreaming – Blue Lines)
20. Tom Scott – Sneakin In The Back (Blue Lines)
21. Do the Funky Penguin – Rufus Thomas (Any Love)
22. Blind Alley – The Emotions (Any Love Remix)
23. Funk You Up – The Sequence (Any Love)
24. Daisy Lady (Any Love)
25. Planetary Citizen – Mahvishnu Orchestra (Unfinished Sympathy – Blue Lines)
26. Rock Creek Park – The Blackbyrds (Blue Lines)
27. JJ Johnson – Parade Strutt (Unfinished Sympathy – Blue Lines)
28. Young-Holt Unlimited – Light My Fire (Light My Fire – Protection)
29. Isaac Hayes – Our Day Will Come (Exchange – Mezzanine)

If you want to make your own version of this mixtape then you'll need access to all the songs in their original form. Lucky for you, they made an album for just that purpose and you can find it below.

"Protected -- The Samples of Massive Attack"

Download available here

"The Look" -- Metronomy

And there I was thinking that Gotye was going to have the song of 2011, and then this song sneaks onto my radio only a few days later and changes everything. Just as winter is ending, I find I need a song to shake me out of my hibernation and this year, this was it. Have a listen to the original version down below. The start sounds like you're on the end of Brighton Pier as the carousel is breaking down. From there, it just builds and builds, then collapses onto itself again. But it's those synths. There's your hook, right there. If you're like me, or any of those other commenters below, you'll hit rewind and play it again and again, all spring.

Metronomy - The Look 

And then summer will come along and we'll hear this version of it everywhere. I'm not sure yet what I think about this. Fred Falke is an old House DJ from the turn of the century. If you listened to Soggy Disco Biscuit -- Volume 6, you would have heard his collaboration with Alan Braxe called "Intro" buried in there somewhere. This is not a bad version, and I'm tempted to start playing it. Chances are it's going to be just the thing for summer.

Metronomy - The Look (Fred Falke Remix)

Download available here

"Red Right Hand" -- Nick Cave (Rio Lobotomy Op)

Nick Cave reminds me of a time when I was walking around in second hand suit jackets and drinking Speckled Hen in beer gardens in London. Three months later I found SW1 and Danny Rampling and that all changed forever but I still hold a fondness for the Bad Seeds. How can you not when you watch this performance at Glastonbury?

Have you ever heard Nick Cave in the disco? Ever been stuck somewhere on a dancefloor and a Birthday Party song has come on? Nah, me neither. But I tell you something for free. Try stopping yourself from dancing to this little number.

I was absolutely delighted to find this disco remix by Rio Lobotomy, a couple of disco dudes from Brisbane. It's been around for about twelve months but is coming out on vinyl over the summer. Their remixes are pretty tasty, as well.

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Red Right Hand [ A Rio Lobotomy Op ] by Rio Lobotomy

Download available here

Guilty Pleasures -- scratchandsniff

Scratchandsniff is a guy called Dan from Glasgow. He has quite a good philosophy on disco edits. Take the song and cut and paste it properly. Make it loop, extend the intro, give it a solid outro. Turn a song that is already dancefloor friendly into something that can work in any room. No need for enhanced bass-lines, extra drums. Let the song speak for itself. Keep it true to its original sound and feeling. It's a re-rub, rather than a remix. 

I use his re-rub of Jackie Wilson's "Higher and Higher" all the time when I play. Makes a great last song of the night. Have a listen to that intro and imagine the fun you could have mixing that into Gloria Jones' "Tainted Love". It just makes sense, doesn't it! Music like this makes the loop feature on my CDJs obsolete.

One of my favourite ideas of his is the "Guilty Pleasures" series. We all have them; songs that we're supposed to hate but really love. I can't help playing "Islands in the Stream" at any opportunity. If the room is in the right mood, it can go berserk. 

We were lucky enough to be given a Soggy Disco Biscuit exclusive. It's Scratchandsniff's latest Guilty Pleasure and it's only available to download here. How exciting! I'm only going to keep it live for a limited time. Enjoy!

Hot Chocolate - Everyones A Winner (scratchandsniffs guily pleasure edit) by soggydiscobiscuit

AOR Disco Edits 4 -- DJ Same

DJ Same is a DJ from the UK who plays a lot of disco. He plays a lot of funk, he plays a lot of edits. He plays whatever he likes -- and it's stuff I reckon you'll like, too. This mix comes from a series he's uploaded to Soundcloud called AOR Disco Edits 1-10. This is number 4. It's my favourite out of the whole series and you'll recognise a fair bit of it. Oh, and if you can find his "Back To The Future" mix, then get on it.

AOR Disco Edits 4 by DJ SAME

Ministry of Sound -- The Sessions -- Volume One

Believe it or not, there was a time when those crappy Ministry of Sound albums actually sounded good. To be really honest, there was a time when if you said Ministry of Sound people thought of a nightclub, not a style of music. Too many douchebags come up to me these days when I DJ at those lame staff Christmas parties, asking if I can "play some of that Ministry of Sound" music. It's become synonymous with commercial, radio-friendly, mass-produced, David Guetta created dance music. All those albums sound the same.

But once, they were good. And this was the first one. I bought a copy of this on tape in the early 90s, probably from the nightclub itself. I don't really remember. I reckon I played it every day until Volume 2 came out. It was actually mixed by a DJ, not the new Ableton DJ 5000 software. He got to choose the tracks, not the top 15 from Beatport that month.

Have a listen, I think it still sounds good. Probably not that fresh, but still good.

1     Mother – All Funked Up (Mother's Pride Mix)
2     Brother Love Dubs – Ming's Incredible Disco Machine (Geeeeetaar & Peeeeeanno Mix)
3     Mr. Peach – Let's Dance (Original Peach Mix)
4     Roach Motel – Movin' On (Correct House Mix)
5     Club 69 – Take A Ride (Extended Disco Mix) 
6     Gabrielle – Dreams (Red Underground Mix)
7     The New Dance Republic – Take It To The Top (Epstein's Massive Bongo Mix)  
8     X Press 2 – London X-Press (The Journey Continues)  
9     Shakespears Sister – Black Sky (Dub Extravaganza Part II)
10     The Seven Grand Housing Authority – The Question 
11     Arizona Featuring Zeitia – Slide On The Rhythm
12     Chubby Chunks – Testament One 

Ministry of Sound -- The Sessions -- Volume One

Soggy Disco Biscuit -- Volume 5

This episode, number 5, has been the most popular one by far. Probably something to do with the fact that the AOR Disco blog picked it up and once it gets onto that site, then it just explodes. It's still getting around 150 downloads a day. Oh, and that picture of Darryl Hall? Well, I'll leave it up to you to work out why the AOR site used that shot. 

1. "Lovelight" -- Lewis Taylor
2. "I'm On Fire" -- Bruce Springsteen (Cousin Cole's Bad Desire Mix)
3. "I'm Not Moving" -- Phil Collins (Idjut Boys Edit)
4. "Dance Hall Days" -- Wang Chung (Psychemagik's Leg Warmer Edit)
5. "Time After Time" -- LeSale
6. "Never Gonna Give You Up" -- Rick Astley (Drop Out Orchestra Dub)
7. "The Way It Is" -- Bruce Hornsby
8. "The Boys Of Summer" -- Don Henley (Lord Of The Isles Depth Charge Re-shape)
9. "50 Ways To Leave Your Lover" -- Paul Simon (Pollyn's Re-Edit Remix)
10. "I Cant Go For That" -- Hall & Oates (Pop Out & Play's Re-edit)
11. "Watermelon Man" -- East Harlem Bus Stop

"Faithful" -- World's End Press (dee-limerick mix)

World's End Press are set to become a smash hit. If you saw them at Golden Plains you'll know what I mean. They bring the party. They sound like your little sister found all your old mixtapes from the early 90s and uploaded them onto her Facebook page. They do a brilliant cover of "West End Girls". Think East-17, not Pet Shop Boys. This is a remix I did of their song "Faithful'. It's more of a mash-up, really

Welcome to the discotheque!

I'm going to share with you some music that I love.