bye bye James...

Needless to say, the man was a vital force in
music, and all that stuff. But i was REALLY into
him in college, and i obsessively collected
his records, and all of his side projects... This
was very hard back then, since it was before all
his stuff was reissued. I dare you to try to track
down the Sweet Charles record in 1995! Shit was
HARD! Anyway, In The Jungle Groove is one of the
best funk records ever made, by far. (even though
it isnt a proper studio album)- and its my favorite
record by James Brown. Theres a re-edit of Give It
Up Turn It Loose that is perfect, and the extended
Funky Drummer is on there. So much on one double
album. For a dj, its essential. As a record, its
a classic.

new signing!!!

Italians Do It Better is pleased to anounce
a new addition to the family. Farrah is from
the south and is truly something special. Check
it out, and download her songs:

http://www.myspace.com/FARAHFARAHMUSIC

speaking of the label, our first batch of 12"s
are coming out soon. Mirage, Farah, and maybe a
secret edit or two.

Mike djs on New Years Eve

New Years Eve I'm djing twice in one night:

1. Motherfucker 12:30-3am
2. Rubulad 3:30-9am (with Chris Catalyst)

email me for info or guest list spots and Rubulad info,
since its a secret party. . . . etc.

KILLER KUTS #35

Been busy lately, sorry its been so sparse with
the postings. Produced by London's own Tony
Williams (not the jazz Tony Williams), who was
known more for his reggae as a BBC dj than his
disco. He assembled a bunch of reggae musicians
for a disco studio session and came up with one
hell of a track. Minimal sounds here. The drums
and synth stabs keep this going, and the
familiar bass line, which influenced the
famous Man Friday "Love Honey" bassline. The
a-side has a rap over it, which borrows
from the Dennis Brown "Money In My Pocket".
AND, the rap on this record is known as
the first ever UK rap. (by Bo Kool in 1979).

The instrumental was a staple with all the
djs - from David Mancuso to Larry Levan, who
liked it so much it can be argued he used it
as major influence for the Peech Boys, (and
of course his trubute Love Honey in the mid 80s)
One can even argue that this song may have been
the catalyst for the disco dub, because Levan
loved this song so much, and he has been credited
with the "invention" of the disco dub. A
pretty amazing feat for a record made in isolation
in the UK that was self released and financed!

The song soon leaked into spots like Studio 54,
where it was an all time crowd pleaser.
Very weird for such an odd little song.

KILLER KUTS #34

At least you can sometimes FIND the Moon Maiden record.
This one may be a little more elusive. Not much is known
about this group. Real To Reel records released a few other
12"s as well, but this one is the one you need to get. I was
able to find another Eklips 12", but it was pretty shitty.
The a-side is a heavy funky boogie number with wide open
drum breaks and heavy funk bass. Yet another obscure
disco break 12". The drumming on this song is almost
prog-perfect. REALLY tight drumming, but funky
nevertheless. The a-side is a nice disco boogie number
with hand claps and weird vocals.

KILLER KUTS #33

Special double shot since it's been a while . Moon
Maiden has been a favorite of mine for years, and
I just recently sorta "re-discovered" it. Anyway,
Luv You Madly Orchestra released a concept space
disco record revolving around some Duke Ellington
songs, and they also stuck an original on the a-side
(Rocket Rock)- which also smokes. Kermit Moore
and Stephen James arranged and produced this
futuristic and raw track. Nice and sparse production
topped off with some flanger effects on most of the
instruments makes this a trippy and especially spacey
track. The percussion and vocals are both super
insane, and there are a few points in this song when
everything gets super trippy and spaced out to the
point you can understand whats going on. Moon
Maiden is one of those rare tracks where every
second of the 8:51 on this piece of wax RULES. From
a production standpoint, it was ahead of the times,
and from a musical standpoint it is truly in a league
of its own. Try to get the lp as well. Theres some
really good songs on that thing as well.

Beats In Space thing is up

Sweden was insane. Tim and I had a lot of fun
and Sweden is becoming my favorite country!
Thanx to Piotr and Anton for everything, and
apologies for my hungoverness. you guys rule!

anyway, you can now download and listen to the set
I did on Beats In Space last week. It wasnt up when I
posted it last week. sloppy mixing still intact! oops!


here it is:

Mike's set

Tim's set

heres the playlist (secret tracks indicated by a
blank space if you want to guess!):

1. Gary Wright - Love Is Alive
2. Barbara Mason - Darling Come Back Home
3. Two Tons of Fun - Just Us (12"extended version)
4. Destroyers - 'Lectric Love
5. Bee Gees - You Stepped Into My Life (12"extended version)
6.
7. Ni Kantu En Esperanto
8.
9. Glass Candy - I Always Say Yes
10.
11. The Osmonds "I, I, I"
12. Eddie Kendricks - Goin' Up In Smoke
13. Caress - Love Spell
14.
15. Roundtree - Manhattan Fever
16. Hercules - 7 Ways
17. Virgo - Go Wild Rhythm Trax -
18. Tres Demented - Brainfreeze
19. Roxy Music - Love Is The Drug (Rollo & Sister Bliss Deep Mix)
20. (talkover tracks) Virgo - Go Wild Rhythm Trax

Dec 6 gig for you to go to

Weds DECEMBER 6 2006 in NYC

WE ARE YOUR FRIENDS
mike simonetti and Roc one (of the Bangers) playing at Fontanas.
105 Eldridge street in the basement.
10-4am free.

http://www.myspace.com/we_are_yourfriends

Mike on Beats In Space (again)

Totally forgot to mention this...I just djed on Beats
In Space to promote the little Sweden trip with Tim.
(see dates below)

There was an unfortunate dj 'incident' right after
Eddie Kendricks. Shit happens i guess. Its all
about song selection with this set!

Otherwise, it wasnt too bad. Feel free to criticize
me on my skills on the interactive vivaitalians
blog. Live drummers man... Its a love/hate thing
when it comes to mixing those fuckers sometimes.

I specifically played some blog tracks as well.
You can download the show or listen live at the
link below. Tim held it down though.

http://wnyu.org/
http://www.beatsinspace.net

KILLER KUTS #32

LTG Exchange were a criminally under-appreciated NYC
Latin group, with many many amazing songs. These
are just a few of them.
Corazon is yet another disco classic. Dimitri, Idjut
Boys, Jellybean Benitez, and a zillion more djs have
either comped it, cited it, or simply made it famous.
The song is the epitome of Latin disco funk. It simply
smokes. Its nearly perfect. BUT, if you want a real
killer track, Waterbed is insane. Not as Latin-
influenced as Corazon, Waterbed takes on a more
funky disco style, and at times can sound like a Latin
disco version of the funk band Makossa. The instrumental
is superior because the drums really stand out.

The 12" version of Corazon exists, but is pretty tough to
track down. I dont think there was a 12" of Waterbed.
But, like pretty much EVERY song these days, there was
an edit of these two songs on one handy 12"- but i havent
heard it. Just go on Ebay and get these 45s for cheap-
you wont regret it. Consider this my "bargain of the
month!"

KILLER KUTS #31

Buari's an African heavyweight with many Afrobeat/African
dance records under his belt. Not as prolific as say, Fela-
but prolific nonetheless. Pretty much every track on this
record is great, but "KoKoSi" and "I Am Ready" are the
standouts. "I Am Ready" is a Loft track , and I think it's been
re-edited as well. (But really, what HASN'T been turned
into an edit these days)... The song doesnt need an edit.
Its nearly perfect as it is. Thumping Philly bass line and a
killer synth solo mixed with African chant vocals. Serious
shit man- a straight disco record with African influences.
Not a clunker in the bunch. Also, the lp is easier to find than
the 12" version- which has fetched upwards of $300 in the past.
Anyone got a spare copy???? :(

KILLER KUTS #30

Philly was kilelr last night-- you people know how to throw
down!!! Anyway, I played this song and three people
wanted to know what it was. I just expected everyone
to knew what it was, since it's somewhat of a classic...
So instead of telling people about it, I said "check the
blog"... (Actually, I didnt say that).
Anyway, Rigor Mortis rules. For 1977 this sounds pretty
ahead of the game. Also, yet another track with the
super disco break I love so much these days. It's been
sampled enough to recognize when it's played out.
Fans of "Bounce Rock Skate Roll" should get this one
too.
Also check out "I Just Want To Be" by Cameo. Its another
awesome track you can get pretty easily. Rigor Mortis
is a little more elusive.

MIKE's November DJ GIGS of note

----Friday November 24- Lit in NYC (downstairs)-
Frat Party! You're all invited!

SWEDEN (mini-tour w/ Tim Sweeney)
----Nov 30 2006 *Caviar at Uppat Framat in Gothenburg
----Dec 1 2006 *Inkonst in Malmo
----Dec 2 2006 *Discobell at Spybar Stockholm

Milhouse will be holding it down while I'm gone.

KILLER KUTS #29

There are like 6 records that Jah Wobble released
that all look similar to this one, but this is the only
one you need. The key element is Holger Czukay, who
jammed on this record in his post- Can days for a totally
killer post punk/ disco/ dub/ kraut rock/ ambient
masterpiece. "How Much Are They?" has made the
rounds with djs since its inception, and has been copied
to this day with the newer dub-influenced disco stuff.
Czukay's keyboard hook drives the song behind Jah
Wobbles dubby bass line. The vocals are sorta harsh
and add a punky element to the track, topping it off
perfectly. There seemed to be a trend back then to
make experimental dance music with samples and
chanty chopped vocals with a rhythm box- Eno & Byrne
(My Life in the Bush of Ghosts), Arthur Russell
(5 Minutes), Malcolm McClaren (Buffalo Gals)... The
list goes on and on. But this particular record was
my favorite.

As a added bonus, they dedicate this record to the
memory of Ian Curtis...

Dan Selzer can tell you more on this record. Dan,
feel free to add to this one, since you hipped me to it
3 years ago!

KILLER KUTS #28

Yet another killer find at WFMU. Getting in early
with a dealer badge really pays off! When it comes to
minimal synth stuff, this is considered a Holy Grail
by many, yet shunned by other collectors because
it has a dancey beat and too much melody.
Released in 1982, Pitch was a two piece NYC based
minimal synth group, and this self-released 12" on
their On/Off Records label is one of the more
mysterious NYC bands of the era. They existed within
the whole no wave scene, yet noone I spoke to knew
who they were. Upon further inspection I discovered
one of the principal songwriters, Marc Cantor, is an
internet and computer pioneer. His entire
bio is here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marc_xCanter

But in a nutshell, he pretty much developed the
company known as Macromedia, and was also
responsible for programming the first ever licensed
music for a video game ("Peter Gunn" for Spyhunter).
And, he worked with the first Macintosh computers...
Today he is more known as a pioneer in the blog
world, believe it or nor- with his work in micro-
content publishing.

if you go to his blog:

http://marc.blogs.it/

you can find a link to a download of a track he wrote
in 1981. Totally rad!


This all makes sense when you think of it. He was
making computer music.. speaking of which, the A-side
"What Am I Gonna Do For Fun" is an amazing track.
Dry female vocals over what can only be described as
'cosmic minimal synth'. It can easily pass for something
that is popular today. The record cover is also awesome-
a multi color silkscreen job, which leads me to believe
this was a pretty limited run.
On another note, i am closer to getting this blog sorted
out and putting up music. SO keep an eye out.

KILLER KUTS #27

Part two of my killer scores at the FMU record
convention... When I saw this one i was also like
"what the fuck"?? I have only heard of this one
existing, but never actually seen one. The music
is soulful disco- almost Motown or Philly like.
But John Davis produced both sides, and added
his signature percussion to both sides, and the
result is a monster disco break. The break comes
out of the blue actually- towards the end. The
break sounds very similar to Apache or Scorpio,
so it's definitely a surprise considering the music
is straight soulful disco up until that point. The
a-side ("When Love Is New") is also awesome,
and similar- with a nice disco break. This is
definitely an oddly produced record, and a
nice one for me since i am on this disco breaks
kick these days...

I dj'ed EVR with Roy...

last night I dj'ed my man Roy Dank's radio show on East Village Radio.
Look for his new label featuring a release by Jacques, as well as other
shit. We are doing a "Mystery Mix" mix cd with Roy as well. Anyway,
Mike starts about half way into the show, and attempts to dj without
headphones (he forgot his), but Roy shows up with headphones and
saves the day. You can tell when this happens when the records actually
start to blend together in true "dj" form. Also, good friend Piotr throws
down a few recods as well. Roy is a maniac. Here's the link:

URL for show: http://eastvillageradio.com/modules.php?name=evrshow&ordinal=35
XML for podcast: http://www.eastvillageradio.com/podcasts/1277/35.xml

********************************************************************

KILLER KUTS #26

This will be part one of my FMU record convention scores.
This was on my want list for pretty much EVER. When I
found it for $5 buried between crappy freestyle records I
almost shat myself. For real, those who know this record
and how awesomely rare it is can understand why i freaked
out. Just look at Ebay and it's $200+ pricetag...
First of all, Little Scotty is a blues legend. Somehow Peter
Brown squeezed a 4-song disco 12" out of him. Of all the P&P
related records, this has to be the most fucked up, and
thats saying a lot. (anyone remember Sweet Naomi's
drugged-out off-time rap 12"?) The track everyone will
know is "Shout at the Disco", mainly because it has a
famous breakbeat that all the djs want... But let's
talk about the track "Acid Freak". The title says it all.
Its a total Love-inspired super psyched-out and just insane
song. Pretty heavy acid rock- but the song falls apart at
the end. The drummer suddenly starts to play off-time
right before the song ends. The guitarist tries to catch up
but it doesnt work. Its the most insane thing I have ever
heard. It just makes no sense! Why would Peter Brown
keep the take??? Any sane man would scrap the song
and try again. A total trainwreck, and a total AWESOME
song!

KILLER KUTS #25

If you know me, you know I have a warm spot in my heart
for Daft Punk, so when I found out Daniel Vangarde is the
father of Daft Punk's own Thomas Bangalter, I was pretty
stoked. Its great to know Bangalter has some legitimate
disco history behind him!

Both sides of this record are great. The a-side is "Intersidereal
Message", an uptempo spacey little number with a nice killer
break. But it's the b-side that particularly slays. Starbow was
the team of Kluger and Vangarde, who were part of the Paris
disco scene along with Cerrone, Don Ray, Claude Carrere, Alec
Costandinos, Ralph Benatar (who produced this track...) The
French were definitely down with the 'cosmic' sound early on,
and this track nails it straight on. Plus, it has a nice disco break
beat, something I love as well. Like most AVI releases, the
production is not bass heavy,and it tends to lend itself more
towards orchestration and songwriting instead of making a heavy
sounding record. On headphones, this sounds KILLER though.

Also, Kluger and Vangarde were the principle songwriters for
Ottawan, who had some big hits in Europe- but in America they
remained pretty obscure.

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.