IM STILL HERE!!!

people keep asking me via email if this is still a real blog.

yes it is, im still around. been out of town a lot lately. i have
some mixes for you as well. just got to get around to it.

ill be in canada in a few weeks and after that UK and Italy.
ill get the Canada info up once Alex gets off his ass and gets
me the venue (HINT !) .. . . . .. .

if anyone wants to hook me up with gigs overseas, you can
email me direct rather than go through my booker.
mike@troublemanunlimited.com

its easier that way. but if you'd rather deal with the booker
it is:

www.support-agency.com
(oliver)

coming soon : the first Italians Do It Better releases.
gonna be an awesome year for the label. literally stoked.

part 2 of the mix....

hello
rather than post part 2 of the Motherfucker mix i will
post part 2 of my New Years Eve-ning... After Motherfucker
i djed Rubulad until 10 am... The set was also recorded, and
l'll post it this week hopefully. It is the polar
opposite of the Motherfucker set. Barely any house
or electronic stuff-- i reserved that for Motherfucker
since i was in the 'electronic room', and i thought
it would be nice to do 2 separate sets with different
music.

So all of the people who complained the Motherfucker
set was "too dark"... This will suit you just fine!

Mike's NYE set from Motherfucker:

hello. here are the links to the Motherfucker dj set
from New Years Eve 2006. This is the first half-- about
1:45 (its pretty long). I have part two as well if anyone cares.
Sound quality may be shitty- it was one of those portable
USB recorders plugged into the mixer... (thanks CJ from
Germany for sending this to me!).... by the way, about
an hour into the thing a few girls jumped on stage to
dance and almost knocked everything over, so it sorta
jumped for a second... and, if you have a Stuffit program,
you can reconnect this so it is one long set...


http://www.megaupload.com/?d=Z5SE63DC

I'm Not Gonna Lie...

i've been in and out of town and havent been able
to do shit for the ol' blog, but i will do something
soon. i plan on re-upping the NYE Motherfucker set
as well. blah blah....

Mike Simonetti birthday extravaganza /Carl Craig djs

Mike is celebrating his birthday at Studio B this weekend,
and Carl Craig is djing. essential weekend activity.
very limited guest list spots , so lemme know ASAP.
if not get on the reduced list.

info:


NIGHT TIME presents:
Mike's birthday party!
DEMON DAYS: An official Planet E Selection
with
CARL CRAIG
GAMALL (Demon Days)
+ Special Guest TIM SWEENEY (DFA / BEATS IN SPACE)


FRIDAY JANUARY 19th 2007
@ STUDIO B
259 Banker, Btw. Meserole & Calyer, Brooklyn, New York
http://www.clubstudiob.com

$10 advance/$12 at door
Tickets available at OTHER MUSIC, TICKETWEB, HALCYON
Doors @ 10pm
Artwork: http://www.demon-days.com/ParraDemonDaysJan07TheFoolP.gif
with support from: URGE, XLR8R MAGAZINE & DFA

http://www.demon-days.com
Reduced list ($10) closes Thursday evening at midnight

two new additions to the Italians family

holy shit man. are we STOKED!

firstly, Italians do it Better is ready to go with their first few vinyl
releases. secondly, we added some new groups to the Italians
family.

1. Professor Genius
(myspace.com/professorgenius)
--Jersey City based organic dance music. intense and captivating.


2. Invisible Conga People
(myspace.com/invisiblecongapeople)
--the 2nd track on their myspace is SWEET. these are
demos and will be re-recorded.


these will be out very soon. once we get the ball rolling it
will be impossible to stop. indeed!

ALICE COLTRANE

R.I.P.

shit man they're dropping like flies these days. i have been out of town a lot , so my blogging was very poor. i am still away so i cant give you anything, but when i return i will give you more. some live sets and other shit noone cares about but me.

2007

so with the new year i bring you sound samples. once i get my shit together they will go up . so you can all stop complaining. also, my buddy plugged one of those Ikey things into the mixer at Rubulad and recorded my Nye Years Eve dj set, and i'll post it soon as well. it will only be a snippet because we played from 3-9am that night and he couldnt fit it all on the hard drive...

dont forget James....

attn NYC: expect a James Brown tribute at MOFO and Rubulad. sorry, but it gotta be done... this footage is by far the best thing by James i have ever seen:

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???? :(