ITALIANS DO IT BETTER

Friday, December 21, 2007

Italians on both coasts this New Years Eve

hello
Glass Candy performing this New Years Eve in beautiful
San Francisco at The Knockout CLub for the Donuts party.
Our very good friend Lovefingers is providing the musical
enjoyment. Look out for an Italians collabo with our
man Lovefingers in the future.

Mike is returning to Rubulad on New Years Eve. The
Scandanavian dates are pushed to March due to
scheduling conflicts. For info on the party
shoot me an email thru the blog. Its a secret party and
we dont want to get shut down... You know the deal. I
believe I play from 3am onwards. Last NYE was a blur
but I remember at 11 am someone brought me a bagel as
I was djing..

This will be our last dispatch of 2007.We have tons of
stuff happening on 2008, so check back here often! A
warm thanks to all of you who have supported our new
venture that is IDIB. We would be nothing without you!
But seriously, we really appreciate it! Look out for
the official Italians website to launch in early 2008
as well. And of course, more music! Tiedye and Invisible
Conga People 12"s will ring in the new year.

oh yeah... GLASS CANDY "Miss Broadway" 12" repressing will
be available on Jan 1, 2008!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Saturday, December 15, 2007

Mikes PS1 set PT 1 is finally up

hello. My early PS1 set is up. This is the
set before party/drunk mode. SO all you
record dudes can get your kicks!

PS1
scroll down to Mike Simonetti PT 1

Monday, December 10, 2007

old GLASS CANDY RECORDS unearthed!

hi. our distributor found some older out of print Glass
Candy records in their warehouse and we got them back
to sell in our store. we only have about 15 of each,
so jump on them fast if you want them. the records are:

Glass Candy 'I Always Say Yes' 12" - this is officially
out of print. We only pressed 1000 of these. Italians
may be repressing this in the future but it will have
different art and maybe even some different tunes.
so if you need this bad boy- grab it!!! This is the
Troubleman pressing. order it at the link below, and
scroll down a little. its towards the middle:

I ALWAYS SAY YES 12"Glass Candy 'Excitebike' 7"- an older Glass Candy 7" from the
period right before they went 100% electronic. These songs are
amazing though. they were doing balaeric disco punk years
before anyone else was. I remember people complaining
these songs were "too slow"! Boy how times have changed.
This is one of my favorite GC 7"s personally. The art is
great as well. order it at the link below, and
scroll down a little. its towards the middle:

EXCITEBIKE 7""
-these may not be up in the TMU store until tonight,
so check back later if they arent available yet. We are
waiting on our web dude to get home from his day job!

Sunday, December 09, 2007

djhistory.com mystery mix up now

hello
did a mix for djhistory.com.

DOWNLOAD IT HERE
this mix is called "Mike's (near) Death Mix".
it was recorded a day after being sent home from
the hospital after having a near death asthma attack.
so apologies if the mix seems a little wonky at times. i was
tripping pretty hard on steroids and xanax! killer times.

PS: yes i know you can hear me cueing sometimes. yes i was
high, what do you expect? i dont even remember making
this mix. i was literally tripping.

Friday, December 07, 2007

MIAMI THIS WEEKEND!

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

Tuesday, December 04, 2007

Italians @ Art Basel Miami this weekend

hello. Glass Candy is playing Art Basel Miami
this weekend, and Mike is djing the afterparty
as well, in case you are out there hanging out
with Hulk Hogan...

Friday December, 7 2007 Glass Candy LIVE at STUDIO A
Miami as part of Art Basel. 10pm doors.

Friday December 7th @ Art basel Miami. 1am-ish. - its
the Glass Candy/Italians Art Basel party at PS14 -
28 NE 14th st Miami. Mike Simonetti on the wheels
of steel.

more infos tomorrow...

Monday, November 26, 2007

SEATTLE / PORTLAND / MIAMI

I'll be playing in Portland, Seattle, and Miami this week
and the following week...
I hope to see you all there.

Friday Dec 7th @ Art basel Miami. - its the Glass Candy/
Italians Art Basel party at PS14 - 28 NE 14th st Miami.

Heres Portland and Seattle:

Friday, November 23, 2007

LOVEFINGERS edit 12" !! (we got em!)

hi. we are helping out our friend Andrew Lovefingers
and we are selling copies of his brand new edit 12"
released on RVNG. You may remember RVNG, as they
released Mike's dj debut on cd (under crazy Rhythms
along with his pal Dan Selzer).. You may also know
Lovefingers from his dj slot at the Italians Do It
better PS1 show this summer, where he played a killer
set of obscure cosmic afternoon delights. Anyway, this
12" is very limited and we only have a few copies
available- so grab it before it dissapears! Also, the
Glass Candy "Beatbox" cd, Farah 12" and Italians t-shirts
are quickly selling- almost sold out forever. so HURRY!!!
Dont miss out like you did on the Professor genius 12"!!

BUY IT HEREComing up early 2008 is Invisible Conga People 12" and
Tiedye 12" and Mirage 12". very stoked. Also repressings
of the Miss Broadway and Shining Violence 12"s due to
overwhelming demand!!! (thanks for the support, BTW!)

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

t-shirts are back in!!!

Hi. As a Thanksgiving gift to you all we finally
got more Italians shirts in for you- AND we added size
LARGE as well!!! So hurry up before these dissapear!

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

RUBULAD this weekend

hi. im djing Rubulad on Friday November 16. Rubulad
is located in Brooklyn at a semi-secret location
because we are trying to avoid the pigs. If you
want info email me and ill hook you up with the
info. Im djing with my man Chris (of Aerosol Burns
partner fame) and we are playing from 2am on.
Last time we played we got raided by the cops , which
was unfortunate. But the last few parties went off
without a hitch, so... Get there around 5am, thats
when it starts to get good. ALSO, Bruno from the
Homosexuals is playing. so you GOTTA come.

Sunday, November 11, 2007

track of the day

Saturday, November 10, 2007

ODD STUFF!

HOT STUFF!

Thursday, November 08, 2007

cool blog alert

everyone asks us when will we put up song samples.
well, we're too lazy/busy for that, so instead go
to

this cool blog

Wednesday, November 07, 2007

GLASS CANDY "Beat Box" cd & ITALIANS t-shirts!!!

Here we have some new releases for your ears and skins. We
offer to you the latest Glass Candy tour cd entitled "Beat
Box". This is not an official cd, but a limited tour cd that
we made specifically for their current US tour. We only have
small handful of these, so please order now!!! There are
9 songs that are exclusive to this cd.

Also, we finally made more Italians t-shirts for you. The
shirts are printed on American Apparel shirts. The shirts
are light grey with dark grey ink. We only have size SMALL
and MEDIUMS now. But we are making other sizes next week.
Show your Italian(s) pride!

ORDER HERE

Tuesday, November 06, 2007

...ON BEING A MAN

Mike djing at 205 Club again...

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Mike's PS1 mix - part 2 is up

hello
pt 2 of my PS1 mix is up. i think pt 1 is coming up
soon as well... a true party set since it was a party
and all.
while your at it, Lovefingers set is
up there. you really need to hear it. its AWESOME.

here you go

Monday, October 29, 2007

MIKE dj set from Shortbus radio show

hello
i djed on the Shortbus show thanks to Will, then hung out to
shoot the shit with Duane Harriot as well. Killer times. Also,
in case you are wondering, the Hot Chocolate song towards the end
is currently my favorite song, so expect to hear it every time i
dj. a little advanced warning... I go through phases with that
song, but its safe to say its at the top currently. literally.

stream the radio show

download via sendspace

Mike starts about halfway through, right after Professor Genius
and before Glass Candy. But listen to the whole thing, its all
good.

ARTIST SONG LABEL
grackle jungle (legowelt rmx) strange life
fire, body, &ice liberation il discotto
S and S wasting time unreleased
new order 5-8-6 strange fruit
file 13 taste so goo profile
mantronix scream sleeping bag
the hasbeens ain't the same as before
peter jaques band fly with the wind prelude
LF 1984 unreleased
mandre iles dans l'espace motown
space art watch it IF
nacho patrol futuristic abbaba unreleased
326 just like heaven muzique
professor genius la grotta italians do it better

MIKE SIMONETTI plays stuff
glass candy check myspace to find out
some mysterious Swedish edit courtesy of TIEDYE
paul simpson connection treat me easy street
north end kind of life west end
chuck davis orchestra spirit of sunshine west end
chromatics hands in the dark italians do it better
funk masters love money siamese
hot chocolate i just love what you're doing infinity
MYSTERY African Disco TRACK #1
MYSTERY African Disco TRACK #2
MYSTERY HOUSE TRACK #1
MYSTERY HOUSE TRACK #2

guess the songs and get a sandwich.

THIS WEEKEND

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Please welcome TIEDYE to the Italians Family

Hello. Italians Do It Better is proud to welcome the
band TIEDYE to the family. TIEDYE is from Gothenburg
Sweden, and are not just a bunch of dudes with expensive
computer programs playing dance music. They are an actual
band that play live musics. Italians are releasing a 12"
by TIEDYE in early 2008 entitled "Nothing" , which is a
cover of the Metallica song "Nothing Else Matters".
Trust me, the song RULES. We were blown out of seats
when we heard this song. We may stream it soon for all
of you to hear.

In other news, the Professor Genius and Farah 12"s are
almost sold out. We have a small amount left so order
them fast! We repressed the Glass Candy and Chromatics
12"s because the demand was so high. Thanks for the
support!

Coming soon: I-talians on I-tunes.

Friday, October 26, 2007

New Jersey & Chloe

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Mikes dj gigs of note

HEAR YE HEAR YE!!!!
all info shall be updated if i remember to update it, etc.
upcoming gig with Ashy Larry is just a rumor, BTW.

---------------

October 29 (Monday) - East Village Radio on Shortbus radio programme 12-2 pm (archived online)

October 31 (Wednesday)- Motherfucker Halloween party @ Rebel NYC

November 3 (Saturday)- Glasslands Brooklyn @ "A Disco Special" party with tons of people

November 13 (Tuesday) - 205 Club Manhattan w/ Jacques and crew

November 30 (Friday)- Portland w/ Glass Candy

November 31 (Saturday)- Seattle w/ Glass Candy

December 14 (Friday)- Berlin

December 15 (Saturday)- Berlin

December 28 - Jan 1 New Years Eve in Scandanavia and surrounding territories

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

MIKE djing on Halloween night

hello i'll be playing on Halloween night at
MOTHERFUCKER in NYC at the club REBEL located
at 251 W 30th street. please come? if you
need a guest list spot hit me up (it will be
expensive to get in).

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

CHROMATICS Nite Drive cd OUT NOW!!!!

CHROMATICS "Nite Drive" cd OUT NOW!!!!

ORDER IT HERE
this cd is brilliant!!!

read what Pitchfork said about it

Friday, October 12, 2007

Mike djs in Sweden this weekend

Mike Simonetti djing in Sweden this weekend.

*** Friday October 19 - Stockholm @ China Theatre
*** Saturday October 20 - Gothenburg @ Styrbord Babord
@ Main Deck. w/ Anton from Tiedye! www.styrbordbabord.se

If you know me , you know how much i rave about
Sweden being one of the best places on the planet,
and if you've been there you know what i mean.

so why not get a flight out and come hang!

ALSO, soon we will have news of a new Italians
signing (speaking of Sweden) !!!

ill be giving away Italians t-shirts just
like I did in the UK!

Also Im djing MOTHERFUCKER on Halloween.

www.motherfuckernyc.com

Tuesday, October 02, 2007

CHROMATICS "In The City" 12" OUT NOW

OUT NOW!!!

Chromatics "In The City" 12" OUT NOW!!!!

ORDER IT HERE

We also updated out bundle options so you can order
all the Italians stuff at once and save some $$$$.

Side One:
1. In The City (extended version) 7:17
2. In The City (zombie vocal) 2:47

Side Two
1. In The Headlites (extended version) 8:57
2. I'm On Fire (crosstown) 4:07

Thursday, September 27, 2007

Mike djs in the UK this weekend

I will be djing in the UK this weekend, please
come down and say hello!!!!

Friday October 5
London @ OurDisco
http://www.ourdisco.com/

Saturday October 6
Nottingham @ Liars Club
http://www.liarsclub.co.uk/

coming to Berlin, Sweden, Australia, Seattle, Portland, LA,
San Francisco very soon! Anyone wanna book me (mike simonetti)
or any Italians artists please email me and we will set you up
with our booker.

mike@troublemanunlimited.com

KILLEr

coming soon is Chromatics In The City 12" and Chromatics
Nite Drive cd.

Thursday, September 13, 2007

FIRST BATCH OF ITALIANS 12"s - READY TO GO!!!

hello. sorry its been a while, been VERY busy. The first
three IDIB 12"s are ready to order. you can order them

HERE

for the time being until the IDIB website is up,
which will be shortly. Take advantage of our "bundle"
options in the STORE, where you can order the three
singles and save a few bucks, or order the singles and
the After Dark cd and save a few bucks! These singles
are ltd to 1000 each, and we are pretty sure we wont be
repressing them (unless the demand is REALLY high).
Also, out distributor, Revolver will have them for
the stores out there. In a few weeks we will have the
Chromatics Nite Drive cd for sale, and a few weeks
after that we will have the Chromatics In The City 12"
ready to go. AND finally, we are printing some shirts
as well, and will have them ready to go in about 2 weeks.
The shirts will rule your world!!!

The releases:

Glass Candy "Miss Broadway" 12"

Side A: Main Version (7:07)
Side B: Instrumental (7:07)
After Dark (7:13)

Farah "Law Of Life" 12"

Side A: Main Version (8:11)
Side B: Midnite Remix (8:05)
Instrumental (8:11)

Professor Genius "La Grotta" 12"

Side A: La Grotta (6:31)
Side B: Hot Dice (5:43)
Across The Spree (6:04)

Friday, September 07, 2007

AFTER DARK officially in stores!

hello
the street date for the AFTER DARK compilation just passed,
so it is finally in stores all throughout the world!!!

Wednesday, September 05, 2007

PS1 stream up

hello. PS1 just posted the Italians afternoon party we
hosted in August. Scroll down and there's a few links. one
has the live Glass Candy set one has the Lovefingers dj set
(which was KILLER btw) , and another has a small part of Mike's
set. Mike played for like 2 and a half hours and i think the
second half goes up soon. Mike became a trance dj that
warm summer afternoon!

note: you can also access other stuff from this summer, such
as the Invisible Conga People live show from the DFA showcase.
Italians are releasing their debut 12" in a few months! And
our pal Tim Sweeney also has a nice one up there as well!

ps1

Friday, August 31, 2007

did another mix

hello. sorry for the sporadic posts. been super busy. been listening
to the mp3 torrent of the Cedric The Entertainer "Taking You Higher".
shits FUNNY! track that shit down! anyway, i did a mix for
allez-allez.co.uk. check it out. im stoked on it. its my "Summer
2007" mix. hot summer songs for your global warming needs.

peep it here:

Balaeric Sabbath

been doing a lot of mixes for a lot of different people.

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

205 club

BASSMENT BANGERS @ 205 CLUB

Special Guest 9/20: MIKE SIMONETTI

205 Chrystie St. (Corner of Stanton St.)
Lower East Side, NYC 10002
21+ NO COVER

Monday, August 20, 2007

new mixes coming / dj gigz

hello. been very busy, and in and out of town sporadically.
have a few new mixes up on various websites , and once i
get the Ok i will link them. the ps1 set will be up in a few
days as well.
will be playing 205 club in nyc in a few weeks , as well as
London, Ireland and possible Berlin - schedule permitting.
so yeah sorry for the lack of infos. . . .

Friday, August 03, 2007

AFTER DARK cd repressed!

yikes! we weren't expecting such a huge response
to the AFTER DARK cd. we initially pressed 100 for
Glass Candy's tour as a promo thing, but it really
took off- thanks to Pitchfork.. ANYWAY, our sister
label Troubleman has them in their store.
order

TMU STORE

it is in the NON TMU section

Thursday, August 02, 2007

Mike's WFMU dj set

hello. heres a link to the WFMU appearance. i drove 5
minutes to play records on Jim's radio show. Let me
preface this by alerting you to a few trainwrecks in
this particular mix. Its tough to dj with 45's some
times... but im not afraid to show my weaknesses...
you only live once, as they say.
:)
anyway, the link is below... i start about 1:03 into
the show, and go until the 2:15 mark- then we bullshit
on the radio for a while, which is always weird, yet
funny.

go for it

Thursday, July 26, 2007

UPCOMING EVENTS TO TAKE NOTICE OF (pt 2)

Mike Simonetti will be djing in the immediate future, and
GLASS CANDY will be on the east coast playing shows!!! :

Wednesday July 25 on WFMU on the Small Change variety hour. 2-5am.

Friday August 3rd at Rubulad in Brooklyn from 2:30-6am
(email me for infos)

Friday August 10 at Studio B in Brooklyn (Glass Candy playing as well)

Saturday August 11 at PS1 Warmup in LI City, Queens , with
Glass Candy. (part of the Italians Do It Better "coming out party".)
Lovefingers is our special guest. check the site:
http://www.ps1.org/ps1_site/content/view/274/102/

Saturday August 11 - PS1 / GLASS CANDY AFTERPARTY at Union Pool in Brooklyn. with your DJs, Mike Simonetti and special guest Johnny from Glass Candy as well. midnight-4am. FREE.

Saturday August 18th - Mike Simonetti djing at Union Pool Brooklyn 10-4.

also keep your ears peeled for a secret glass candy show in
brooklyn as part of Andrew Porters bday celebration with yrs
truly on the wheels of steel. the party will be happening on
a roof in industrial Greenpoint. email me if
you wanna come. shhhhh. dont tell noone.

Monday, July 23, 2007

KILLER KUTS #38

Santana's classic lineup comes full circle at
Woodstock. THey totally obliterate 300,000
people while jamming Soul Sacrifice.
Everyone cites then 19 year old Michael Shrieve's
infamous drum solo as a high point of the
performance. Indeed , the guy can shred.
The entire song just blows open doors.
Santana was a road heavy band, and it shows. They
are simply superior musicians. In the movie,
Sly And The Family Stone plays immediately after
Santana, and as much as i like Sly Stone, theres
just no comparingthe two. Its just that good.

Check out Santana shredding up Ed Sullivan in 1969.
A KILLER medley of Persuasion and Jingo. HEAVY. Hard
to think this was 1969.

..and a good live version

KILLER KUTS #37

This record flew under the radar when it was released,
and soon after it was released Buckingham and Nicks
joined Fleetwood Mac, and the rest is history- as they
say. The record was pretty much forgotten, and to this
day hasn't even seen a cd release. But who cares about
cds anyway- its a dying medium...
The track FROZEN LOVE is my current favorite. The build-up
RULES.

so to this day it remains unavailable. You can track down
the vinyl if you look hard enough. I suggest you do.

you can download the record

here

Sunday, July 15, 2007

Roma O' Morte

back from Africa- i mean Italy. Its nice to visit
the motherland. Hung out with Mirage in his deluxe
studio on the resort island of Sardinia. We drank wine
and ate cheeses until the night turned into day.
Its hard to understand what he is saying thru his
vocoder, but after a few drinks it was all good.

SO did American Apparel copy the Italian Appeal
logo? The mystery continues!

mike's dj gigs /vinyl release news coming soon.
also, due to overwhelming demand we are pressing
the After Dark cd professional style for stores.
More on that soon. BUT if you order from us
direct you can get the special hand made version,
which is much cooler, and VERY limited. the test
pressings are here, and we expect vinyl in 2 weeks.

Friday, July 06, 2007

Portland, Italy

Portland was great. you all missed out on a great show.
chromatics really stepped up their game. The new lineup
is 100% solid. glass candy killed as usual. especially the
Supernature cover. are live disco covers the new "edit"???
off to Italy to hang out with Mirage for a week. i got an
excellent gig at the foot of the Spanish Steps. cant wait!

Will be back to update the blog in about 10 days so keep your ears
peeled. New Italians 12"s test pressings are expected to
arrive while i'm gone. i will be djing throughout the summer.
maybe i'll post the dates if i can remember them... but
at this juncture all i care about is fixing the leak in my
roof and getting the dogs fed.

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

KILLER KUTS #36

been into this record lately. viva Brazil!

Monday, June 25, 2007

another link to Mike's mix

hi
apparently this is faster than megaupload:

http://www.zshare.net/download/24215036cbadec/

got a few people writing in with tracks, but
you are still missing a lot of them!

Saturday, June 23, 2007

MIke Simonetti djing in Portland/Italian night

hello. come out to Portland with me this coming
weekend... but more importantly it is a show
featuring two of Italians brightest stars!

Thursday, June 21, 2007

im back

hi. sorry its been so long.. here's a new mix i did for a magazine.
its a Megaupload link. copy the address below and it will ask
you to type 3 letters in for verification. its about 75 minutes
long. anyone who can guess the songs will get a prize!

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=XRFNR6DO

i'll be in Portland next weekend djing and i'm setting up an
Italians Do It Better showcase at PS1 this summer with
Glass Candy and yours truly on the dj duties.

got tons of other shit lined up but im too lazy.

oh YEAH! the first batch of Itaians Do It Better 12" releases
are ready to "drop" in a few weeks!:

Chromatics "Shining Violence"
Glass Candy "Miss Broadway"
Professor Genius "La Grotta"
Farah "Law Of Life"

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

some dj gigs of note

hello
yours truly playing records:

03/23/2007 12:00 AM - Mike Simonetti dj-ing

Lit NYC
Lit, New York
US
Cost: free
Description: Mike Simonetti djs: 12-4 am downstairs

March, 30 2007 at Mike Simonetti dj-ing
Rubulad (Brooklyn), Rubulad (Brooklyn), New York
Cost :
please send me a PM for info on this party,

as it is an "outlaw" type party and we cannot

advertise it (and the pigs keep coming). im djing

from 2-7 A.M. all by myself, my partner Chris is

out of town.

04/06/2007 11:00 PM - Mike Simonetti dj-ing
POUSSEZ! POUSSEZ! party @ Zoobizarre Montreal, Canada Cost: N/A Description: at Zoobizarre, 6388 St-Hubert, Montreal www.zoobizarre.org myspace.com/zoobizarre

04/07/2007 11:00 PM - Mike Simonetti dj-ing	[Edit] [Cancel]
SEVENTH HEAVEN @ White Orchid (Basement) Toronto, Canada Cost: cheap Description: 812 Dundas St W IN THE BASEMENT

05/16/2007 11:00 PM - Mike Simonetti dj-ing
Hurrah! @ Upatairs at Sals Philadelphia, Pennsylvania US Cost: N/A Description: 12th and Walnut Philly.

06/29/2007 10:00 PM - Glass Candy / Chromatics / Mike Simonetti dj-ing
Nightclubing party at Holocene Portland, US Cost: N/A Description: with glass candy and chromatics!

06/30/2007 11:00 PM - Glass Candy/ Chromatics/ Mike Simonetti dj-ing
more info soon L.A., California US Cost: N/A Description: with glass candy / chromatcs

Sunday, March 18, 2007

MYSPACE round 3

here we go again. yet another try at the myspace. join us.

http://www.myspace.com/italiansdoitbetterrecords

Sunday, March 11, 2007

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.

Wednesday, February 07, 2007

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!

Monday, February 05, 2007

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

Friday, February 02, 2007

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....

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

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!

Sunday, January 14, 2007

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.

Wednesday, January 03, 2007

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...

Friday, December 29, 2006

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:

Wednesday, December 27, 2006

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.

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

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.

Tuesday, December 19, 2006

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.

Saturday, December 09, 2006

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.

Tuesday, December 05, 2006

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

Monday, December 04, 2006

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

Wednesday, November 29, 2006

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

Sunday, November 26, 2006

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!"

Thursday, November 23, 2006

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???? :(

Friday, November 17, 2006

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.

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

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!

Monday, November 13, 2006

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.

Friday, November 10, 2006

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...

Thursday, November 09, 2006

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

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

Tuesday, November 07, 2006

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!