Hello Friday, hello friends,
I hope you’ve had a lovely week. This week has been a weird and wonderful one for me. It’s also been a bit more spacious, so I’ve had a bit more time to plan. Hopefully you’ll hear the results.
As always, you know the drill. The first section; the playlist. The second; the rambling notes. The third; the tracklist.
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❤️ If you know anyone who you think would love to receive our letter, please send them here. Every week we grow, but that’s through you spreading the word – thank you ❤️
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Africa, hip-hop, flutes, dub, Michael Jackson, disco, Scandi-disco, ambient, drone… It’s all in this week.
The playlist is… HERE.
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If you find any music that you’d like to share, please add it to our ‘record pool’, here.
This week’s documentary influence is Paris Is Burning. For those that haven’t seen it, please take the time to watch it. It’s about the ballroom scene of New York in the early 80s. (Maybe not the type of ballroom that you’re expecting.) It’s an amazing exploration into an amazing sub-culture that provided life to so much of what we know as modern culture now. Watch here. Thanks to John T for reminding me about it.
Herb Alpert’s Rise appears this week. This is one of those tracks that I could’ve sworn I’d already included. Apparently not. Spot the sample 😃 . Also, have a close listen to Andrew Oldham Orchestra’s track near the end, sounds familiar, right?
There’s also a few reggae and dub tracks that I’ve wanted to include for ages now. I heard the Sabres of Paradise track this week (from Andrew Weatherall) and decided to go gung ho. It works.
To date I’ve tried to avoid including some of the more obvious late disco classics, but this week it felt natural within the context of the playlist. So amongst others, we have Giorgio’s Chase (which arguably informed and influenced almost all modern dance music), Donna Summer’s I Feel Love (which Giorgio made, and pretty much every modern DJ and artist claims as their primary influence), and then a modern take on the sound from Scandi-disco hero Lindstrom (Closing Shot), which was the precursor to Todd Terje’s Inspector Norse. This Balearic space odyssey reminded me of the brilliant short film WHATEVEREST. Watch it, it’s worth every second of your time. Everything that is beautiful and heartbreaking about music encapsulated in a fifteen minute video.
If you follow me on Instagram (or have seen me this week at all) you’ll know how I feel about the new EP / album from Joe Armon-Jones on YAM Records, called Idiom. It is exceptional. For me, it’s the release of the year. It is everything that I love about music. Please listen to the whole album. On a similar jazz tip, the new release from Zara McFarlane is also worth your time too.
Finally, I’d like to mention the Nina Simone track I’ve included this week. Usually when I listen to songs I’m listening to the music, and very rarely the words, but on Four Women it’s difficult to hear anything but the words. It’s a song that came up on my Discover Weekly, and it struck me immediately. It’s so powerful, and right now, prescient.
As always, if you’ve read to here, thanks for indulging me ♥️.
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- Wildflower – Flute Song
- D’Angelo – Water No Get Enemy
- Marvin Gaye – A Funky Space Reincarnation
- Herb Alpert – Rise
- Shuggie Otis – Aht Uh Mi Hed
- Rachel Sweet – It’s So Different Here
- The Sabres of Paradise – Wilmot
- Tricksi – Pill Collins
- The Crusaders – My Lady
- Diggs Duke – The Pinnacle
- Nebraska – Eighty-Eights
- Michael Jackson – Rock With You
- Sister Sledge – He’s The Greatest Dancer
- Orlando Julius – Disco Hi-Life
- Donna Summer – I Feel Love
- Giorgio Morder – Chase
- Lindstrom – Closing Shot
- Four Tet – Scientists
- Joe Armon-Jones – SE Discotheque
- Red Axes – Cooked Bananas
- The Orb (feat Lee Scratch Perry) – Golden Clouds
- Romare – Hey Now (When I Give You All My Lovin’)
- Nina Simone – Four Women
- David Earle Johnson – Sea, Sand, and Sun
- Dorothy Ashby – Soul Vibrations
- Zara McFarlane – All Africa
- Andrew Oldham Orchestra – The Last Time
- Bosaina – New York, April 26th 2013
- Mogwai – 1000 Foot Face
- Cloudkicker – I Admit It Now. I Was Scared.
See you on the dance floor.
Love Will Save the Day.