Monday, October 30, 2006

Mike's selling his records....

... at the WFMU Record Fair this weekend.

I'll only be selling on Friday (Nov 4), so if you want to buy my doubles and triples- now is the time to do it. Bring shit if you want to trade as well. Bring food (vegetarian). All they have is pizza and that gets old quick.

Sunday, October 22, 2006

Mike's Halloween plans, for those who are interested...

...as Danny Glover said in Lethal Weapon, "I'm Getting too old for this shit..."

-----


Mike Simonetti is djing Halloween weekend twice in one night (god help me):

Friday Oct 27 Mike is djing LIT in NYC from 12-4am- downstairs, and its free---

---and then he will be leaving Lit, jumping in a car, and djing from 4:30- ??? at Rubulad in Brooklyn with Chris Catalyst. Last time we played Rubulad we set a record for the latest they ever stayed open- 10 am. if you want info on the party, check out Jim's website:
http://djsmallchange.com/news.shtml
- do a Google search to find out more about Rubulad.


-----he is then driving to DC on Saturday to DJ Mike and Maya from Double Leopards
wedding on Sunday.

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

this weekend's festivities...

mike simonetti's dj schedule:

this Friday at Lit (downstairs) 12-4am
this Saturday at Rated X @ Luke & Leroy in NYC 11-4am. hosted by Michael T of Motherfucker fame.



--still working out the mp3 thing. to be honest, i am very busy and barely have time to do anything these days. anyone wanna help run a blog?? (no, i'm serious)

Monday, October 02, 2006

MIKE SIMONETTI & TIM SWEENEY....

are djing together this week.
Thursday October 5.
at APT (downstairs) in Manhattan.
419 West 13th Street
10-4am. admission is free.
drink special involving some sort of Rum Punch!!!

www.aptwebsite.com

Saturday, September 30, 2006

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.

Thursday, September 28, 2006

Monday, September 18, 2006

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

Thursday, September 14, 2006

Saturday, September 09, 2006

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

Tuesday, September 05, 2006

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



Friday, September 01, 2006

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

Saturday, August 05, 2006

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

Friday, August 04, 2006

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.

Thursday, August 03, 2006

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

Wednesday, August 02, 2006

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



Friday, July 28, 2006

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.

Thursday, July 20, 2006

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.