Things have been quiet around these parts lately, mainly due to a busy summer and writing for Little White Earbuds. But that’s all about to change. I’ve got some pieces looming on the horizon and mixes in the pipeline that are bursting to be heard. So without further ado, first mix is up on Sound Cloud. Full tracklist below, plenty of newer house and techno and a few classics slipped in there that really end up shinning bright.
Demetrio Giannice – Whatididwithmikeswavetoneno5 – Third Ear Mix
Theo Parrish – Space Station
Patrice Scott – Nuonce
Kai Alce – Ooohhh! – Dubbyman Remix
John Daly – Freak Out or Get Out
The Mole People – Break Night
Mike Dehnart – Umlaut 2 – Levon Vincent NY Basement Mix
Marcus Mixx – Without Makeup – Ron Hardy Mix
L’il Louis – I Called U (The Story Continues)
Kingpin Cartel – Float
Ican – Make It Hot
Dan Curtin – Give
Titonton Duvante – Reverse Cowboy Part 1
DJ Q – Cheat
Chez Damier – Can U Feel It – MK Dub
Shed – Well Done – 033472 Edit
Amid the oppressive heat wave and probably when temperatures hit their peak here in Seattle, I got inspired to throw down a slow burn mix to match the weather’s onslaught. It’s hardly my best technical effort but if you felt how hot (103 F) it was in my dj room you might have some compassion for the bumps found within. What you will find is some classic and newer jazzfunk, disco, house, mid-tempo whathaveu that sounds mighty nice for a summer evening soundtrack.
Tracklisting:
Roy Ayers – Everybody Loves
The Sunshine Sunburst Band – Everyday
Frankie Valentine – Zumbi (Isoul8 mix)
Sunshine Jones – Anywhere You Are
Tamiko Jones – Can’t Live Without Your Love
Mach – On and On
Bombers – Don’t Stop the Music
Gaz Nevada – Secret Agent Man (Morgan Geist Sleeping on the Moon edit)
Logic System – Clash Brian Briggs – Aeo (pts 1 & 2)
Walter Jones – I’ll Keep on loving you
Ame – Tonight dub version
Scott Ferguson – I’m in luv with you feat. Phillip J. Hale
IMPS – Almost Live But Definitely Plugged (Move D remix)
Tony Lionni – Protection
Without much fanfare Belgium-based Franco Cangelli has been pumping out great techno and house via his own productions and with the many labels he has been running (Mowar, Nowar and the former Aesthetik imprint he started with DJ Aki) over the past few years. But if you assume that Cangelli is limited to his strengths, think again. He is careful about not getting pigeonholed within a genre and uses his Hybridize series of DJ mixes to prove the point that not all good music comes in neat, easy to use packages, nor should it be re-packaged for consumption that way. The below mix is a strong example of that axiom, flowing from early disco and boogie to Chicago and New York house with aplomb. This, my friends, is what you might call a history lesson. Study up, because class is in session.
Donna Summer – Spring Affair – Basart Records (1976)
Carol Williams – Can’t Get Away (From Your Love) – Vanguard (1981)
Sharon Redd – Beat The Street – Prelude (1982)
Rare Essence – Body Moves – Fantasy (1982)
Ron Richardson – Ooh Wee Baby – TCI Productions (1984)
Royalle Delite – I’ll Be a Freak For You – Skyview Records (1984)
Fatback – Is This The Future – Polygram (1983)
Kevin Toney – Red Tape – Fantasy (1982)
Rockers Revenge feat. Donnie Calvin – Walking On Sunshine – Streetwise (1982)
Jungle Wonz – the Jungle – Trax (1986)
Robert Owens – I’m Strong – Alleviated Records (1987)
Jungle Wonz – Time Marches On – Trax (1987)
House To House feat. Kim Mazelle – Taste My Love – Lower Level Records (1988)
Raze – Break 4 Love – Grove Street Records (1987)
Mike Dearborn – Sexual X-Perience (X-Perience The Dub Mix) – Muzique Records (1990)
Li’l Louis – How I Feel – Dance Mania (1987)
Paul Rutherford – Get Real (Happy House Mix) – Island Records (1988)
MD III – Set me Free – Underground (1988)
Jamie Principle – Baby Wants to Ride – FFRR (1988)
Bam Boo – It’s All In Your Mind – Fourth Floor Records (1987)
Adonis – No Way Back – Trax (1986)
Rodney Bakerr – Crazy track – Rockin’ House Music (1993)
Blake Baxter – Sexuality – Incognito Records (1988)
Ron Trent – Altered States – Djax-Up Beats (1990)
Bobby Konders – Poem – Nu Groove Records (1990)
About 6-8 months ago I turned in a mix for Cez’s JustGoodMusic site. The site he ran featured a monthly mix of a wide spectrum of dance/electronic music varietals, usually from himself, but not without a guest mix now and then. I just happened to get a spot in there and in return I requested a mix from him for Energy Flash. 6-8 months later, Cez has transitioned JustGoodMusic to Pop Your Funk, a new blog style site that retained those on-going mix sessions but also added music writing/reviews, and finally gotten me that mix he promised. Well, what a cracking mix it is. House classics blended smoothly into newer epic tech-house and then back to raw jack tracks. Too many good tunes to pick favorites here, as Cez can always be relied upon to spread the quality music sermon. Definitely worth the wait.
As a follow up to Scott’s recent Flashwerk mix, I returned the favor and recorded a new mix that just went up over at the Trackwerk site. It’s a blend of some newer purchases, a couple promos and some older tracks that ends up in solid techno territory. Another very cool item of note is that it got posted alongside a mix from Nebraska aka Alistair Gibb. If you haven’t checked out Nebraska’s recent releases on Down Low and Rush Hour, please do so immediately: funky music across the board that comes in many shapes and sizes.
Energy Flash is pleased to present a DJ mix from Scott, the prolific and dedicated co-creator of the Trackwerk blog. Scott (along with Carl and Sean) has been holding it down over there for quite some time now and is never in short supply for new deep house and techno mixes that seems to pop up with stunningly consistent regularity (he just dropped 2 mixes on 3/19!). He is known for constantly searching out that perfect beat and is always on the lookout for quality new music. Enjoy this guest mix and check out Trackwerk for plenty more mixes from Scott and his co-horts. To find out more about Scott you can hit up this interview with him here.
I have been resting at home this week, recovering from eye surgery (not Lasik, so still have the glasses). I did manage to cobble together a mix, bearing through squinting eyes and double vision but still holding onto the music coming off these well worn records. It’s a hodge podge collection of tunes but with a definite thread tying them all together, whether it be a relative commonality among most artists or maybe just the fact this was my first vinyl only mix in some time. I was glad to be able to pull out some older tracks I haven’t played in years and some that I had recently bought but not yet played. As you ‘ll be able to tell from the tracklisting, Dan Curtin is back on my radar again. Not so much for recent work but for how fresh his earlier tracks really were. To any of you that missed those tracks, you can find a lot of the Peacefrog releases digitally as well as Delsin having just released a Planetary 12″ last year. I always found Curtin’s tracks so difficult to mix due to how much they change their melodic themes within the space of one track, but it was also a trait that should be admired in terms of taking a brave approach to production and refusing to pump out more cookie-cutter tracks. Unfortunately it’s not an approach he has continued with over the more recent releases. Dan when you coming back with the funk? We miss ya.
Gwen Guthrie – 7th Heaven (Larry Levan mix) (Island)
Gaz Nevada – I.C. Love Affair (ZYX)
Dopplereffekt – Infophysix (Dataphysix Engineering)
Original Rockers – Sexy Selector (Different Drummer)
Kenny Larkin – Northern Light (Buzz/Rush Hour)
7th Plain – Lost (GPR)
The Rahasaan Society – Sunseeker (Solar Complexed 1 Movements) (Skunk)
Dan Curtin – Inner-View (Metamorphic)
D’Kawa – Kurokin (Kodaira)
Dauwd – Sa Ba Ka (Travelling Sounds)
Kai Alcé – Corner Manuvers (Real Soon)
I:Cube – Disco Cubizm (Daft Punk mix) (Versatile)
Norma Jean Bell – Do You Wanna Party? (KDJ mix) (F.C.R.)
The Dells – No Way Back re-edit (white)
Purveyors of Fine Funk – Summer Funk (Peacefrog)
PS. Anyone know anything about this Wesley Rahsaan cat behind the “Sunseeker” record? Label says recorded at Asprilla Studio, Detroit, USA. Never heard another peep from him. Alias of someone else? Dodgy label I know but maybe.
Year-end charts are a bit like the Oscars, top honors seem to correlate most directly to what has most recently been released. And that might just be reflective of dance music’s fickleness–always grabbing for what’s hot now rather than what was deemed a hit 11 months ago–because I doubt labels are hoarding their best tracks for the months of November and December. Looking at my list I have a feeling that I may have fallen prey to the same indictment with a majority of my picks having been purchased over the last few months.
Taking a cue from Cez’s JustGoodMusic site I decided to showcase my top tracks in a mix format to give you all taste of what was highly appreciated here but may not have received a proper spotlight earlier on (at least not in these parts). In gathering up my list I was hard pressed to leave it at just 10 and instead went overboard: a total of 37 tracks clocking in at almost 3 hrs. You can download the full mix on DivShare or individually in 3 parts. So without further ado here is what was burning up the Energy Flash decks in 2008:
Mush – Test 123 (NightVision)
Reggie Dokes – Rain On Me (Philpot)
Omar S – The Further You Look – The Less You See (FXHE)
Tyree Cooper, Red D, Scott Ferguson, Telepaticos – Kitchen People (Morse)
Daniel Mehlhart – Dial M for… (Neuton)
Move D – Sisters & Brothers (Uzuri)
Delano Smith – Synergy (Third Ear)
Franco Cangelli – Innocence In A Jar [Lerosa Remix] (Mowar)
Itokim – Glittering Way (Fine Art)
Andy Vaz – Back To Square One (Yore)
Kyle Hall – One Ribbon (Moods & Grooves)
Lee Jones – As You Like It [Recloose Remix] (Aus)
DJ Bone – Struggle 7 (Subject Detroit)
Subotic – Timeless (NightVision)
Lee Holman – We Hold True (Fine Art)
Heiko Laux – Mirabella (Rejected)
Luka Baumann – Back To Forth (Sect)
Function – Burn (Sandwell District)
Franco Cangelli – Presumably So [Reynold Remix] (Aesthetik)
Beroshima – Horizon [Funk D'Void's Hope Mix] (Soma)
Ican – Pa Mi Gente (Planet E)
Subotika – Supernova (Motech)
Steve Rachmad – Rond (Delsin)
DJ Minx – Jus Make It Deep feat. Diviniti (Women on Wax)
Laurent Garnier – Back To My Roots (Innervisions)
Pied Plat – Ode To Ede (Rush Hour)
Raiders of the Lost Arp – Holidays in Space (Nature)
Nick Hughes – Frogman (Immerse)
Sebbo – Watamu Beach [Moritz Von Oswald Rework] (Desolat)
Ron Trent – Journeyn2u (Future Vision)
Gerald Mitchell – Out The Boat (Reincarnation)
Kenny Larkin – Vibin’ (Planet E)
Matt Chester – Relapsed (Sula Muse)
Orlando Voorn – Yes, We Can (Voorn Kollektiv)
Ryo Shimizu – Finding Place (Logos)
Chymera – Ellipsis (Figure)
Donnacha Costello – It Simply Is (Minimise)
This mix sprung out of nowhere a couple evenings ago. No rhyme or reason, just a 68 minute session that lands wedged somewhere between dubbed out beats to solid techno from a variety of reliable sources. Additionally I’m glad to have been able to finally feature an early favorite of mine by Nuron on the now defunct Likemind label. Only 4 releases to the label’s name but each one a classic. The “Mirage” track I included is one that I keep coming back to: glowing majestic chords, the flanged stomp of steady breakbeats, fluttering stabs of melody, and a whistling synth motif breakdown. One of the many brilliant releases that marked the UK’s thriving “intelligent” techno music scene during the early to mid- ’90s. And while several of the artists/groups that were central to the movement are still active, Nuron aka Nurmad Jusat has all but vanished, leaving us with scant evidence of his existence but what was left is tremendously resonant. Enjoy.
Martyn – Suburbia (Apple Pips)
Shed – Opulence (Substance Remix) (Soloaction)
Peter Dundov – Rain (Music Man)
Santiago Salazar -Santuario (Historia Y Violencia)
I’m proud to announce the first guest mix to Energy Flash offered up by Detroit deep house luminary Scott Ferguson. And not only that, I’m happy to have linked up with the guys over at ISM as a continuation of the same mix posted on their blog. So if you’re stumbling upon it here as a starting point you may want to hop over there and download part 1 from them first and then return and download part 2. Either way you’re in for a real treat of the deepest house I’ve heard in some time. Peep the tracklist below and see for yourself. Thanks and props go out to Scott himself for providing and Tom at ISM for his no nonsense approach to music criticism.
Tracklist:
Great Meditator – Ron Trent – Distance
Rites of Passage – Ron Trent – Perscription
Rites of Passage (beats) – Ron Trent – Perscription
Progressions – Alton Miller – Guidance
Loft Sensations (beats) – Mateo & Matos – Spiritual Life
Those Native Drums – Mateo & Matos – Nite Grooves
The Rhythm (The Kings Dub) – Ron Trent – Abstract Afro Lounge 4
Afro Style – Mateo & Matos – Nervous
I Exist Because Of You (Dixon’s Stripped Down Version) – Henrik Schwarz, Amampondo – I Exist Because Of You Versions
Angola (Carl Craig’s Mix) – Cesaria Evora – White Label
Posted by Kuri 
Posted by Kuri 
Posted by Kuri 
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