Archive for the ‘Kinky Go’ Category

Transcontinental Remixes

Tuesday, December 16th, 2014

I’ve bought so much music the past two weeks I don’t know what to do with it. I mean, besides listen to it. I know I should probably listen to it. But you know what I mean.

Busy times! Apparently Japanese people want to learn English before New Year’s. At least that’s what it feels like, as I am hella busy with work at the moment. There was also an election this past week, so everyone was talking about it.

And when I mean “it” I mean they were talking about the “big erection.” I heard how the “erection is mostly for show” and that “older people mostly care about the erection.”

Pronunciation is important people! Just last week I was trying to teach how to schedule meetings and one of my students kept saying “I have a slut available around 1pm.”

The best is when their English is good enough so I can actually explain what they’re saying, then they get a laugh out of it too. While those kind of mistakes are fun, I do remember that these people can speak English far far better than I can speak Japanese, and that I can make my own pronunciation mistakes as well. For example, last week I was trying to say “you are good looking” in Japanese, but instead I ended up saying “you got a nice pussy.”

So yeah, mistakes happen.

Speaking of mistakes, I wrote about Seven Mary Three and Paw last week.

Björk
Bachelorette (RZA Remix)
Bachelorette (Mark Bell “Blue” Remix)
Bachelorette (Mark Bell “Zip” Remix)
Bachelorette (Mark Bell “Optimism” Remix)
My Snare
I got these mixes from a CD-single/VHS tape box set that I bought for about three bucks. That means that since I arrived in Tokyo I’ve bought CDs, LPs, VHS tapes and even a pair of cassette tapes. I know it’s just a matter of time before I go full dumbass and buy a freaking laserdisc or betamax tape. Sigh. Someone stop me before it’s too late.

Madonna
Bye Bye Baby (N.Y. Hip Hop Mix)
Bye Bye Baby (Madonna’s Night On The Club)
Bye Bye Baby (Tallahasee Pop)
Bye Bye Baby (Rick Does Madonna’s Dub)
I own over 60 Madonna singles now. Japan’s been a great place to find some of her lesser work, like this forgotten single from the Erotica album. I really love the effects they put on Madonna’s vocals for this tune. She sounds like she’s singing through a tin can, but in a cool way. I enjoy the club mix the most, although all the dance beats and effects layered onto it really make the vocals sound out of place.

Yellow Magic Orchestra
Firecracker (Main Mix)
Firecracker (Beats Mix)
Technopolis (The Readymade Darlin’ Of Discotheque Track Dub Version)
Okay, real talk. These remixes aren’t that great. But I was really committed to this “three continents of remixes in one post” idea that it got the better of me. Sorry.

Kinky Go
Gimme The Love (Vocal Version)
Gimme The Love (Instrumental)
Gimme The Love (Radio Version)
Special italo disco request for the Pope. Well, a dude named Pope. Not the pope. At least not yet.

Posted in B-sides, Bjork, Kinky Go, Madonna, remixes, YMO | 2 Comments »

Excellent Dance Songs By Bands You’ve Probably Never Heard Of

Friday, January 17th, 2014

In today’s adventures in Japanese television, I’m watching what I think is a Behind The Music type program about some horrible trauma that a celebrity Japanese fitness instructor went through. I think. It’s just cut together scenes of this woman dancing, then answering the phone, and then crying uncontrollably. But yo, her abs look great.

Tokyo life has been treating me very well for those who are wondering. I have decided to re-work my other site, Mostly-Retro, into a more personal blog that will focus on my life in Japan, so if you’re interested in that part of my life/Japan in general, I would suggest you bookmark that site.

If you like really rad dance tunes, then I suggest you keep reading this site right now.

Dinosaur
Kiss Me Again (Edit)
Kiss Me Again
Dinosaur was one of the many aliases of Arthur Russell, a prolific musician who was involved with the new wave/punk/minimalist/classical/disco scenes in NYC during the late 70s and early 80s. And in case you couldn’t tell from that exceptionally-hyphenated description, he was one multi-talented mofo.

While he didn’t release much during his life (Russell sadly died from AIDS-related compilations in the early 90s) he’s amassed quite the cult following in the years following his death, with several posthumous albums seeing release in the early 2000s.

Strangely enough, however, none of them seem to have either versions of this song, one of the first tracks that Russell commercially released. If they do, they’re long out of print, because I can’t find it anywhere outside of the 12″ single I bought a few years back. Damn shame too, because it’s a magnificent disco tune, a funky upbeat groovy jam that incorporates the best of leftfield disco and the late-70s dance sound that would eventually evolve into 80s house music. It even has a few elements of minimalism and new wave with its repetitive and hypnotic rhythms. I really dig it, a lot more than some of the other stuff by him I’ve sought out. You might want to check out the “Edit” version first though, as the 13-minute extended cut is a lot to take in.

The Fever
Ladyfingers (Krushed Glass Remix)
Glamorous Life
Glamorous Life (Fake Fur Remix)
Glamorous Life (Deepwood Remix)
Also ran NYC post-punk revival act who tried to re-invent themselves with an ambitious second album and failed. Not a bad group though, and they have a few decent songs. Of all the tracks of theirs I’ve heard, however, I love their cover of “Glamorous Life” the most because Shelia E. is the bomb. Expect a repost of remixes of the original version in a few days/weeks.

Kinky Go
Gimme The Love (Vocal Version)
Gimme The Love (Radio Version)
Gimme The Love (Instrumental)
You probably have no idea who Kinky Go is, and yo I’m right there with you. I love his falsetto on this track though. This is totally the best Erasure track Erasure never recorded. Italian disco at its finest (I think he’s Italian, even if he’s not I stand by that claim).

Posted in Arthur Russell, B-sides, Kinky Go, remixes, The Fever | 1 Comment »