Love In C Minor

Celebrating

dbmcnz — Sun, 20 May 2012 17:50:23 +0000

1. A great afternoon helping my boss celebrating her 50th. Garden party in an old North London house FULL of knick knack – in a good way.
2. Yummy home made Indian food from my man, Shiraz, dark chocolate, movie and a big sleep. Saturday nights in are good at times.
3. Brixton Villlage market – one of my favourite London places. Great cafes.

Scritti Politti live and intimate

dbmcnz — Sun, 20 May 2012 17:34:45 +0000

Roberto Rodriguez delivers the deep house album of the year.

dbmcnz — Sat, 19 May 2012 18:03:05 +0000

Roberto Rodriguez has been on my radar for a while now as a house producer to watch and he’s just released his debut album ‘Dawn‘ (buy it). He’s all about the warm, synthy deep house and, as Juno said, nu-disco fusion. I say it’s melodic, warm, sexy soulful music.

I was going to write a track by track review but I’m so immersed in it right now, I’d end up using every adjective in the dictionary, so here’s a couple one review and another. In an age when no one really buys artist album in the dance genre, I hit ‘add to cart’ without even listening. House album of the year hands down.

Check him out on Soundcloud. Here’s a fun (non-album) rework he did of a very familiar 90s dance tune under is Manolo moniker.

R.I.P. Donna Summer

dbmcnz — Thu, 17 May 2012 22:08:03 +0000

Following the most soulful weekend of my life, this week brings the tragic news of the death of Donna Summer. I really don’t know how to describe what I feel when these musical legends pass away. I’ve literally grown up with her music which has bookmarked my teenage years and beyond. A Horse Meat Disco Sunday night is not complete without a Donna song. I saw the tweets and sat there all tingly and sad for some time at my desk. There’s so many classics, in fact looking at her work tonight, there’s little that does’t seem like a classic. Even the Stock Aitken Waterman album sounds good tonight.

The song I’ve posted is possibly lesser known and shows that she wasn’t just about the disco hits. It’s from her 1982 album produced by Quincy Jones, the Billy Strayhorn jazz standard ‘Lush Life.

Day 3 @ Southport

dbmcnz — Mon, 14 May 2012 11:01:41 +0000

Sunday funday arrived too soon but there was plenty to see and experience yet. We were back in the Powerhouse by 2.30 for the brilliant Souldynamic duo – bouncing uplifting house with several vodkas. They handed over to Josh Milan from Blaze who dazzled me with his energy and keyboard skills. Natasha Watts up next followed by the (her phrase) ‘queen of gospel energy’ Dawn Tallman. They got together for a cover of Sounds of Blackness’ “Optimistic” – joyous.
Phil Asher then took us into The Brand New Heavies. They trotted out all the hits – there’s plenty of em. Tight, funky and soulful.
To round of the afternoon at 6pm Karizma again – he whipped the room into a bloody frenzy with classics – Bill Withers ( a massive golden lit every hands in the air moment), Imagination, Space Cowboy. I have even more respect for him now.

Time for bangers and mash and a sleep before the after party. Only 3000 people could stay so it was comfy. Anthony Nicholson dropped some Chicago house but it wasn’t quite the energy we needed. The Dome was going off and we spent an hour or so amongst the crowd. Banging it were. Jan had said we mustn’t miss Atjazz and she was right. His performance and connection with what he was playing were something to behold. He played air guitar, air piano exactly the keys at the right time. I’ve not seen a DJ feel it that much – plus all new music to me. The love and respect in the room was immense. A highlight.

So there you have it. All the hype was matched, and it’s been a defining weekend with the bar lifted for every other gig now. Literally everyone is there for the music, a very educated crowd, everyone danced all the time and had the best time they could.

To wrap up here’s a few random things from the weekend:
The guy with the big Willy Wonka tattoo.
Playing Air triangle a lot.
Taking the piss with air saxophone.
Some crazy Experimental music.
The Dome – the perfect space.
Baby powder on the floor.
People dancing with cups of tea on the dancefloor.
High fives all the time.
Hugs and smiles.
Everyone seems like a friend by day 3.
Forraging for bottled water.
Too much chewing gum.
Stepping on people’s toes a lot.
Sunshine for 3 days.
Chasing geese up the path at 3am.
Kerri Chandler everywhere.
Famous DJs just hanging out at the party and having pics taken.
A record fair.
Sticky floors from spilled drinks.
Forgetting to buy a t shirt (damn).
Bananas – I ate a lot of them.
Talking shit when we’re tired – mostly made up French, Italian and Catalan.
Nom Nom Nom.
Very tired legs.

Day two @ Southport

dbmcnz — Sun, 13 May 2012 18:23:14 +0000

Well, all I can say is wow! Saturday was a late start and we cruised on down to the Pavilion for Jill Scott. Most entertaining was the en masse dancing in the warm up. Jill is a true artist, poet, storyteller and soul diva. Very impressive. A meal and disco nap were in order before the night arrives.

Patrice Rushen and friends were first up for us – she was polished in a jazz funk way – but a little too downbeat for us at midnight. Kenny Dope beckoned an he threw down some classic Masters At Work tunes. Our man Joey Negro followed with what was, for me, the set if the weekend. Vintage early house and garage. LFO, Voodoo Ray- you get the idea. Brilliant.

Danny Krivit was kicking some disco downstairs so we got amongst that until it got a bit much – house was needed and Kerri Chandler was doing his thing in the Powerhouse. Karizma stepped up and let Kerri play keys for a while then they jammed B2B. Sorry Greg Wilson we were hammered and needed a shower and bed. Another top night.

Did someone say Chicago House after party on Sunday? Hell yes.

Southport Day One

dbmcnz — Sat, 12 May 2012 13:20:28 +0000

The soul train

Southport Weekender bound

dbmcnz — Fri, 11 May 2012 09:12:32 +0000

The day has finally come. Way back when I was living in NZ I remember reading on forums and in magazines about the legendary Southport Weekender. The DJ and live line-ups, the community, the love and most of all the music. Years ago I could only dream of going. It was on the other side of the world – the cost of a trip just to Southport was out of the question. But, you never know what life can serve up. I’ve made choices over the last 10+ years that mean I’m here in the UK and about to embark on a journey to a place I dreamed about. That may sound corny but house, disco, soul and dance music is so central to my life it really feels like a pilgrimage.

It’s the 25th anniversary with an incredible line-up. I’ve done a lot of clubbing in recent times so I’ve a broad idea what it might be like, but expectations are high. I hope to hear lots of house classics, plenty of new music and impressive performances. Best of all I’ll be with my amazing partner, great friends and 6500 people who are there only for the love of house and dance. And, after 6 weeks of rain, the sun has come out ready to shine on us for 3 days.

I wondered which track to post that I’d love to hear and I’ve my fingers crossed that Frankie Knuckles may just drop this on us in the wee small hours of Saturday morning. Stone. Cold. Classic.

A mix of some house music

dbmcnz — Mon, 07 May 2012 16:24:38 +0000

Here’s a mix done on a wet grey Sunday afternoon…enjoy.

Tracklisting for those who might wanna seek out some new music:

1. Malcolm McLaren – Call A Wave (Massimino Loppoli Mix)
2. Brendan P – Your Definition
3. Thomass Jackson – Royce
4. Deep & Disco – Get Down Baby
5. Only Children – Down Fever
6. Finnebassen – If You Only Knew
7. Daughters & Sons – Marine (Gino Fratelli Brew)
8. Larse – So Much Fun (Roberto Rodriguez Mix)
9. Lee Foss – Brooklyn In The House
10. Loudery – Getting Away With It (Andromeda Orchestra Mix)
11. Doctor Dru – The Voice of Dru
12. Spirit Catcher – I Can’t Let Go (feat. Illija Rudman)
13. Maceo Plex – Sex Appeal
14. Electronic Youth – I Wish

Time for some Disclosure

dbmcnz — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 21:43:24 +0000

I recently blogged Jessie Ware’s “Runnin”. A contender for single of the year if ever I heard one. On the flip of that is the Disclosure remix which took it in a seriously new direction. Disclosure are brothers Guy and Howard Lawrence from Croydon in South London. Named after a randomly selected word on Guy’s car tax renewal form, they’ve got musical parents and have been making music all their (so far short) lives. Grabbing from grime, house, Motown, soul and UK garage – their sound is all of that and very, very now. I’ve often yearned for the return of the speed garage sound and maybe these two are the ones to break it out again? Check out Flow below. Top stuff.

New EP ‘The Face’ is coming out 4 June and features the gorgeous “Boiling’ ft Sinead Harnett.

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