should i post audio samples??

tim and jacques both mentioned that i should post audio samples of the songs... what do you think? post some comments and we'll see how it goes. if enough of you want audio maybe i'll add audio. but if noone comments, i'll continue as it is. peace in the middle east.

KILLER KUTS #16

I always preffered the 7" version of "Bellhead" over the album version. It was re-recorded a while after the 12" came out. Its much tighter and a little faster, and more "groovy" (what a lame word!!), but definitely has more of a groove. the b-side is a re-recorded version of "Push" that is also a little faster. The story behind this 7" is that there was a local NYC bar with a jukebox and Liquid Liquid wanted their record in the jukebox, so they re-recorded these songs and pressed a few up. Legend has it 150 copies were pressed, and only about 20 have the small hole, since most were punched out for jukeboxes. The catalog # is 99-11EP7, for all you nerds out there.

BUT- this isnt the only Liquid Liquid 7" out there. There is a 7" by the band "Liquid Idiot", which is pre-Liquid Liquid, and is more of a noise record (its not on 99- its self released). Maybe i'll dig it out and scan that shit for you as well.

KILLER KUTS #15

So, Benguin was at my house and he was looking through my shit and he pulls this out and he's like "this is good!" and i was like "yeah, it is, but i have too many records and i lose track of shit".
Well, Ben was right. This shit smokes hard. People tend to label this 'Latin Disco', but to be honest i dont really get it. Granted, Guarare is indeed related to the Guarare Orchestra- the Latin combo that was popular in the 60's and 70's.. But this is pure 100% heavy and hard driving disco! The break in the middle has one hell of a sick bass line. The bass line is HARD, and it goes on for a long time. OK, i hear the Latin influence, but it is definitely more disco to me.

GLASS CANDY / CHROMATICS live in NYC this weekend!!!!

hello NYC:
come out to these shows. we had to add a second show since the first one was pretty much sold out. there is a Brooklyn show and NYC show. go to both, expect 2 different sets. pick up th enew tour cdrs by both bands...

Fri Sept 29 at Don Hills NYC - tim sweeney and mike simonetti djing. $10 almost sold out
Sat Sept 30 at Studio B in Greenpoint (Banker St btwn Calyer and Meserole)- mike simonetti, jdh, and jacques renault djing. $5 to get in!!! cheap door for the punks.


Studio B has a killer soundsystem, btw.

KILLER KUTS #14

Do a Google search on these dudes, its a mile long. I have been on a huge Rinder & Lewis binge lately. Can't get enough of them. They wrote some of the greatest disco songs of the time. Plus, all of their records have a similar cover scheme... Extremely prolific, they recorded under many names: El Coco, Le Pamplemousse, Sweet Potato Pie, Tuxedo Junction, Saint Tropez, In Search Of Orchestra (They wrote for the TV show 'In Search Of')... There was a single from this album (Envy/Lust), but this record deserves to be recognized as a whole. Their sound is smooth and mature, and complicated without seeming so. Their sense of melody was brilliant, and it evokes emotion, something that was missing from most dance music of the day. Although these dudes were from LA, their music is very European, and Italo djs tend to sweat them a lot. Their sound is very "Italo", or "cosmic", or whatever you want to call it. But the music definitely speaks for itself,

KILLER KUTS #13

One of those one-man bands of the early 80s, Snowy Red pretty much defined the minimal synth / cold wave scene based out of Belgium. This particular man, Micky Mike ( aka: Marcel Thiel) was also in one of the first Belgian punk bands Chanisaw - whose single is great as well. Released on Dirty Dance Records, this record is an intense experience. Besides the usual cold-wave tendencies, this particular record sometimes hits the synth-disco territory. But more importantly, its a good record to show off to your friends- because it looks so fucking cool!

Back On My Feet Again

so the back pains have subsided. i actually djed this weekend for 7 hours straight without incident. in the downtime, i realized how amazing glass candy and chromstics new songs are. go to their myspaces and check out their new shit:

myspace.com/glasscandy
myspace.com/chromaticsmusic

KILLER KUTS #12

This is a special "I threw out my back and cant move off the couch" edition. The Kinks are in my top ten all time favorite bands, so i had to add this one. Like pretty much every band of the late 70's, the Kinks had their disco song. Like "I Was Made For Loving You" by Kiss, the Kinks sound absolutely awkward playing a disco song, and that's why this rules so hard! Its pretty rockin' for a disco song, but i like that kind of shit... You can almost hear the Arista executives hanging out in the studio tapping their watches as Ray Davies attempts to become the next Blondie! That, and the fact that I haven't been able to stand upright for the last 4 days.. I wish i could STAND like Superman... Maybe it's the painkillers talking, but this track is killer!

Willie Ninja RIP

Nov 9, 1990

upon cleaning out my shit, i found a box of my old flyers from my club-kid days of the early 1990s. i used to host a party called "Friday Night Feever" at Mars. It was all disco music, and it was weird because there weren t many other disco parties in the city at the time, so it was sort of a novelty. the residents for our party were Dj Duke Of Denmark and Freddy Bastone. Duke is a legend- do a google search. Freddy is still a dj, and pretty high profile with the Euro set. my co-hosts were B-Dave, who was really insane (in a good way), and i believe he ended up being in the movie Kids with all the rest of the people who hung out with us at Mars. Pollyn was a friend of mine from Jersey City, and we used to drive to work together at Mars. The party ended when Mars ended. Towards the end , there was way too much violence for a peaceful disco party, and we all got the fuck out of Mars when people started getting stabbed. If you want to see more fliers, let me know via comment area.

mikes upcoming dj gigs of note:

Saturday Sept 16- Rubulad (with Chris)- email mike@troublemanunlimited.com for info

Friday Sept 22- Lit NYC downstairs 12-4am (you can dance again) http://www.villagevoice.com/nyclife/0635,romano,74306,15.html

Friday Sept 29 - Nite time at Don Hills NYC (Glass Candy/Chromatics gig) w/ Tim Sweeney

KILLER KUTS #11

***guest review by Dan Selzer

I used to hate dance music. I was into weird
industrial and guitar noise bands. Dance music was for
guidos and drunk girls. I bought Renegade Soundwave's
Soundclash because it was weird, electronic and on
Mute. I was playing the songs tacked on the end of the
CD at summer camp and this ridiculous dude from like
Staten Island, or Long Island, was like "I love this,
this song is the shit! I used to dance to it all the
time!" I was all like, "no way dude, this is some
weird underground electronic music, not dance music"
and he responded "whatever dude, they play that shit
at the Tunnel all the time." And that's how I learned
to love dance music. Renegade Soundwave did come out
of some wierd post-punk industrial shit, namely 4ad's
pioneering Rema Rema, and had some great weird
pop/dub/industrial minor-hits, but it was the club
bangers in the late 80s/early 90s they're remembered
for. This one, The Phantom, is rightly regarded as
both a "rave classic" and a major influence on Big
Beat. Well don't hold those things against it. It's
just amazing, dubby, spacey, dance music, all
percussion, synth-bass, subtle samples and the iconic
vocals, which I used to think were saying "Till
doomsday, till doomsday, a neon world;" they weren't.
This 12" features the Phantom, it's remix, the dub of
Space Gladiator and the Phantom Turntable Scratch Mix
which shows where RSW was really coming from...the NYC
school of hip-hop influenced house music. I used to
think all that scratching and editing on the Scratch
Mix was amazing until I heard Todd Terry, namely The
Chase by Royal House, which comprises about 60% of
this mix. This 12" also features RSW's usual bizarre
art, and was dedicated to Chuck Yeager. The Phantom,
It's in there....

contact Dan:
danselzer@yahoo.com

KILLER KUTS #10

This can go in the "weird Salsoul" category along with Megatrone Woman and the awesome Charo record. This appears to be the only Destroyers record, as far as i can tell. At only 3:56, " 'Lectric Love" is way too short. Perhaps that is why Rong did an edit of this track? It needed to be extended-- it ends before it even gets started! Musically, it sounds like disco made by a rock band. There's something about the vocals that remind me of an AM GOLD era song. Nevertheless, it is safe to say that 1977 proved to 'cosmic' year for Destroyers. Everything down to the killer moog solo and spacey vocals (and lack of a cheesy string section) make this record a classic and must own.

links to an old Mike Simonetti mix...

...on Beats in Space last year in October with his cousin Chris Catalyst. Listen to Mike make fun of Madonna, and take dance music WAAAAY to seriously (not!)... Part one is Mike starting with some dancey post punk stuff and then going deep into the oddball foriegn space disco and Italo--- sped up on purpose to show backlash to the cosmic trend that has taken over the world. Part two is Mike and Chris playing electro and bass stuff. Dont forget to turn your bass EQ up nice and high so it blows out your speakers!!!

http://www.beatsinspace.net/audio/2005/oct25/bis102505part1.mp3
http://www.beatsinspace.net/audio/2005/oct25/bis102505part2.mp3

KILLER KUTS #9

Oddball Tuff Gong release here. Junior Tucker couldnt be more than 14 years on this recording. Perhaps they were going for the Michael Jackson market, fusing r&b and disco? Its tough to tell, but what i do know is this record contains some pretty sick tracks. Tracking down decent reggae-disco is pretty tough, but finding reggae-boogie is a whole other animal. The tracks on this record are split between standard reggae and the killer reggae-boogie. The track "Take A Message" is especially insane. But the production is pretty rad in a lo-fi, gritty reggae way. Very soulful music with vocals resembling a slightly older Foster Sylvers in his prime. Sparse arrangement with tinny drums and almost "cosmic" keyboards". Plus Junior's adolescent "crooning" tops it off perfectly. PLUS you get a sort of disco "dub" version of the same song as the next track with the instrumental and a few vocals thrown in! Very odd, and super!!!

KILLER KUTS #8

Very early disco track issued on 45 (???), on yellow vinyl (!!!).... Was this ever released on 12"? Anyone have it on 12", send a picture over and I will post it. Wonderfully lo-fi and very loose NYC disco from 1975 performed by the reggae influenced DISCO DUB BAND. Truly ahead of their time, they blended bass/hi-hat heavy reggae style production, and some funk. A true original blend that would become the norm almost 5 years later when the disco punks take over. This can even pass for an early Dinosaur L demo perhaps??? The instrumental is definitely the better side, where the band gets to 'jam' more. Oh yeah, this is supposed to be a cover of the Isley Brothers classic, but you can barely tell. Most bands would take the signature bass line from the song, but Disco Dub Band makes it their own.

MIKE SIMONETTI djing IN SWEDEN

attn Swedes:
come out and say hello....

*Wed 9/9 - Rollerboys*
Venue: Fredsgatan 12, Stockholm
Hours: 9.00 pm - 4.00 am
Web: www.rollerboys.se
Myspace: www.myspace.com/rollerboys
*
Thurs 10/9 - Caviar*
Venue: Uppåt Framåt, Göteborg
Hours: 9.00 pm - 2.00 am
Web: www.cvr.se
Myspace: www.myspace.com/mycaviar

*Sat 12/9 - Special Peoples Club / Julian Red*
Venue: A-Huset, Copenhagen
Hours: 9.00 pm - 4.00 am
Web: www.specialpeoplesclub.dk/
Myspace: www.myspace.com/specialpeoplesclub

IS IT A MIRAGE????????

Get ready my friends. This is just the beginning... We are inches away from our first vinyl release-- approx 12 inches away.

Myspace - round 2

this is our second go-round with Myspace.. please join us! it is in the infancy stages, but we will add musics from our artists very soon, as well as other infos. keep yr eyes open.

http://www.myspace.com/vivaitalians

SECRET TRACKS RECEIVED

just received some tracks via email for Italians first ever vinyl release. Brilliant new artist we discovered on the west coast. He delivered the goods 100%, to say the least! Your heads are gonna be blown!

layout issues?

so, as you know, i am not a web design savvy guy. i noticed this looks kinda weird on different browsers. it looks good on Firefox, but does the blog look all fucked up on Explorer or other browsers? please leave a cxomment to let me know! thanx./

KILLER KUTS #7

***guest review by Steve Shakewell

Stop scratchin your head. You do not need glasses. Session player
extraodrinare and jazz fusion keyboardist, David Grusin put out a
12" (recorded live in concert from Japan'81)with his NY/LA Dream
Band, which actually was penned by fellow GRP man, Dream bandmate,
guitarist Lee Ritenour. There is a 12" for his original version too,
but the Grusin one is the gem. "Countdown" is pure disco-fied jazz
with a 4/4 beat, and is complimented by both breezy and blazing
guitar, mellow keyboard, along with some filter sound effects, and
whistles throughtout. The actual cowntown (to what exactly?) is
announced via a vocoder/vox box (remember 1983). The 12" has a few
different versions of it, including the special DJ remix which is the
one featured on the upcoming Sharegroove mixCD. For all you yacht
rockers out there, here's your crossover song. For you all completist
discoheads, Herb Powers Jr :) mastered this one.

dj_shakewell@yahoo.com

KILLER KUTS #6

Charme was a session band for RCA Records, and recorded an lp that was as mellow as this song. A young Luther Vandross also appears on the Charme lp, and he sings on "Georgy Porgy" as well. This song encapsulates the polished sound and metropolitan vibe of the 80's. The original was done by Toto in 1978, but this version is definitely smoother and more soulful. (Not to mention it takes me back to being a kid in the 80's and listening to a.m. radio in the car with my parents...) The commercial version had "Georgy Porgy" as the b-side, with the lesser known "Do It for Love" as the a-side. But Georgy Porgy's underground success in the clubs soon turned it a hit on the soul and AOR music charts. Track down the promo only version with the instrumental b-side- it is a killer kut, as they say.

KILLER KUTS #5

This is the 'Benguin Anthem', as i like to call it. Throw "Deep Inside" on and he will be out there pumping his fist like the crazy Italian he is. The dub is also quite special , if you ask me. The other two songs on this ep are your trademark Maters At Work soulful house. "Deep Inside" transcends most house of the early 90's. This is definitely in my top 10 favorite house tracks of all time. Get the bootleg with "Follow Me" on the b-side and get all 'Red Zone-d' out and shit! But dont forget your baggy pants....

KILLER KUTS #4

Special double shot, since i'm going away for the weekend. There is also a 7" and 12" version of this on BMC Records. Good luck with that one mates.... I couldn't find out much about how Sandy Steel decided to record the Delta 5 track (which has become a staple with the "kids" these days). You throw on the Delta 5 version and the kids go nuts. You throw on the Sandy Steel version and the kids go nuts- mainly because these sound so much alike. Steel's version is a little faster, and there is an extended cowbell breakdown in the middle, making it a lot longer than the Delts 5 version. Plus, Steel's vocals are more monotone and 'dark' than the aggro Delta 5 track. And theres a sparse keyboard in there to compliment the flat bass playing. Delta 5's bass playing shreds compared to Steel's mystery band. It's still fun to throw on and show off to the record nerds every now and then. :)

KILLER KUTS #3

I can't do a 'blog' without mentioning my "uncle" Claudio. Besides having the best last name EVER, the man was responsible for a lot of the Italo classics Dan Selzer brought to NY 5 years ago. Vivien Vee is pretty hit or miss when it comes to her actual songs. A lot of them are on the border of cheesy/new wave stuff, but "Alright" is definitely a-ok! Giancarlo Meo produced a lot of stuff with Claudio, and Meo actually helped write this track. Simonetti's productions were always synth-heavy, and this is no different. Vivien's vocals are high in the mix, and full of reverb, and there are prevalent electric guitars- giving the song a punky edge.

KILLER KUTS #2

Larry Levan's remix of 'Dont Tell Me' is one of my all-time favorites of
his. The track usually stands in the shadow of 'Walking Into Sunshine', but
I prefer 'Dont Tell Me'. The vocals dont kick in for a while, so it just
goes on and on with the awesome intro. This 11 minute mix was never released
in the USA. You gotta track down the import that came out in 1981 to get
this proto-boogie version, but its worth it.

KILLER KUTS #1

This has been a favorite of mine for the past few weeks. In NYC its tough to play the slower stuff, even with the 'cosmic' craze that has taken over the internet. The kids still want to hear the more upbeat stuff in the clubs. But i dont give a shit! Cassiano is a Brazilian master, known more for his funk than his disco. The b-side "Central Do Brasil" is definitely funky, and it sounds more like 1974 than 1977. But "Onda" is the standout here with almost 8 minutes of mellow bliss.

Italians No. 1

Italians Do It Better #1 is out now!!! Officially ONE YEAR LATE!! But worth it! The Jacques Renault mix cd. The debut release for the Italians. Professionally spraypainted covers. Professionally mixed tracks. This dude spins around NYC all the time. He has a weekly party every Thursday at Tribeca Grand called 'ISS'. Over 70 minutes of music, 300 made, almost sold out already! Peep the man himself at: http://myspace.com/jacquesrenault

track listing:
- B.W.H. - Livin Up
- One Two Three - Runaway (Instrumental)
- Gino Soccio - Remember
- Trilogy - Not Love (Instrumental)
- The Nick Straker Band - A Little Bit of Jazz
- Lindstrom - er bestemor paa moten
- Tony Cook and The Party People - On The Floor (Rock-It)
- Detroit Grand Pubahs - Big Onion (Joakim "Slap On It" Remix)
- Electric Mind - Zwei (Dub Version)
- Mya & The Mirror - Hesitation
- My Mine - Hypnotic Tango (Instrumental)
- Photocall - Silver Clouds (Hot Version)
- Liz Torres feat Edward Crosby - Can't Get Enough (Dub)
- MU - Paris Hilton
- Matzo & Pauli - Matzo & Pauli Viewlexx EP
- Skatt Bros. - Walk the Night
- Prins Thomas - Diskomiks Rong EP
- Delia Gonzalez & Gavin Russom - Rise (DFA Remix)
- Shirley Lites - Heat You Up (Melt You Down) Melt Down Mix
- Shelley - Give It To Me

This cd is distributed exclusively by TMU. Order at www.troublemanunlimited.com

People Of Earth....

We are here! Italians Do It Better is a new label by friends based in the NYC area. We have tons of killer shit coming out in the future. The debut Italians release is OUT NOW!!! The future will bring you the "Trendy Edits" 12" series with edits by world famous djs/producers. We also plan to continue to bring you mix cds by our friends. And to top it off , we have some high priority projects planned by our west coast affiliate in the PDX. More on all that later... For now, buy the Jacques Renault cd.

IDIB is exclusively distributed by Troubleman Unlimited. Order all our stuff there:
www.troublemanunlimited.com

OR:
Buy our shit at A1 Records in NYC.