This is some killer live FUNK shite from Brooklyn based FUNK crew The Pimps of Joytime.
I would love to see these cats playing a summer time shows in Australia sometime soon, if this clip is anything to go by the shows would be off the chain! so hopefully someone like NICHE is already working on it.
Thanks to Niche Productions, The Basement hosted a night of great live soul music from Adelaide band The Transatlantics on the 21st of August, later to boogie down to the disco sounds of Kon, one half of Brooklyn based highly esteemed internationally renowned vinyl connoisseurs Kon and Amir.
Adelaide 8 piece The Transatlantics
The night began with live music from the 10 piece band The Transatlantics who are essentially an 8 piece band. Visually, you would expect a thunderous sound with two guitarists, bass player, drummer, trumpeter, trombonist, a baritone saxophonist, vocalist and two backup singers. To my surprise, their sound was incredibly tight and powerful in a self contained manner. It wasn’t about ostentatious solo’s or belting out tunes, rather the finer details, accents and the subtle call-and-responses that could have easily been dismissed as repetitive nuances. I couldn’t help but be transported into a different epoch – the late 50’s and 60’s. Their sound not only transported me to a different era, but it was like soaking in southern American heat (I used to live in Texas), waiting for the cool change of breeze, when all you could do was play by the river till late in the evening without a damn care – youthful bliss . In other words, their dynamic sound makes you feel carefree!
No doubt you’ll be hearing more of this band leading into summer festivals. Keep a good ear out for them!
And then there was Kon…
The night follwed by a DJ set from Kon of legendary duo Kon and Amir. Kon’s musical background is deep, knowledgable in multiple genres, with vast expertise in the world of vinyl ‘diggin’ and production. Some claim his DJ sets are an historical musical journey from beginning to present, seamless and rare. It was good to see a crowd had remained to hear Kon’s set albiet increasingly drunk the crowd came to be and not what I had expected Kon’s crowd to attract. Kon started on shakey ground that evening playing tracks to a room full of music lovers set to hear the DJ play rare disco boogie/soul tracks, instead with difficulty mixing one track into the other, he started off with electro hip hop, to radio disco bangers, dropping tracks that you wouldn’t expect a man with such musical depth and knowledge to drop.
My eyebrows were slightly raised at his musical selection, nonetheless as the night advanced, so did his musical crate and skills. Let’s just say it was a smart move on my part to espouse patience and stay past 1am. It did take him a while to warm up to the crowd, dropping classic tracks like “Candy Girl” by New Edition, De La Soul’s ‘Me, Myself and I’, Michael Jackson, Four Tops’ “Reach Out”, then flawlessly beat juggling a number of times throughout his set, scratching in between tracks, then finally sticking to rare ghetto disco, to soul and african boogie.
He eased into his role as the boucing musical conductor, orchestrating an unrivalled disco boogie set with a dash of rare soul. This was what I had been waiting for – the commanding conductor. His known reputation as a fierce crate diggin’ aficionado was well put to the test with grooves that took us all to – yet again, another era. That evening proved that music can make you travel through time. I felt I had traveled through 4 decades of music to come back on the other end in of the present time scale, only wanting more of the nostalgia.
Music was better back then. With the help of DJ’s and producers such as Kon, it’s longevity will remain in the hands of those who have an insatiable hunger to protect it’s genre from becoming extinct, protecting it by means of playing the genre out to the masses, travelling oceans, hand-to-hand, fibre optics and cables to keep the genre alive.
Definitely worth the wait….
“Off Track Vol III ” by Kon and Amir is out now through BBE records.
Click play below to give it a listen or find it on mixcloud.
Kon interview press image.
JembeMusicFriday January 15
@ Melt (12 Kellet St Kings Cross)
Nickodemus (Turntables On The Hudson & Wonderwheel NYC)
Karsten John (Vinyl Vibes Ger)
Huwston (Knowfool)
James Locksmith
Grant Naylor on percussion
Info:
Mixes:
After 3 years of specialist music services, unique events, album launches, soundsystems, and now also a resourceful blog. The independent JembeMusic is turning a big 3 years old. Celebrating in style, we have two special globe trotters coming to the party. From Brooklyn NYC, legendary DJ Nickodemus returns to the heat of the Australian summer for his “Sun People” tour (how appropriate).
Come along, dance and enjoy a unique intimate show, bringing his funk, soul, hip hop, house, disco, and global beats signature, together with the eclectic dancefloor jazz selector, direct from Germany’s Vinyl Vibes party and label, Karsten John. Also spinning, are music addicts and pushers, James Locksmith and Huwston and we have one of Australia’s most sought after percussionists, Grant Naylor hitting the skins (no pun intended). This is a birthday party that everyone is invited to and certainly one not to be missed!
Limited capacity, $15 on the door, no presales!
Doors open 10pm, close 5am, no lockout
12 Kellet St Kings Cross http://www.meltbar.com.au
info@jembemusic.net
“Gimme the Sunshine” by Sunshipp
Radio 2SER (107.3) Saturday, 9th January, 2010
Flight Over the Hudson with Nickodemus
Download Here
Facebook fan page Here & previous show podcasts/tracklisting Here
St Peters Sydney
Info/links: Check out Facebook event or Resident Advisor for ticket details & more information
Mixtape: LoveFingers Australian Promo (Download)
LOVEFINGERS (NYC)
psychedelic. warehouse. disco. party. could four words be any sweeter? after the Sydney festival first night blow-out, picnic’s here to save you with some serious fun times in our inner city warehouse, just 10 minutes away from martin place.
special guest LOVEFINGERS (blackdisco/ny) – hipster hero and crate digger, party rocker and all round awesome bro – has flown over especially and is doing a 3hr set for us. he’s the lock of the week for picnic – solid jams on blackdisco, just signed to modular and is a favourite of dj harvey and rub n tug and garth and metro area and loads of others.
he also runs that little website: lovefingers.org. it’s a bit special.
getting down to business are our local jocks, THE LOIN BROTHERS, alongside everyone’s favourite PERFECT SNATCH, STEELE BONUS and picnic head honchos/all round party animals KALI and VIVI, and your host MC GAFF E.
tickets are $15 presale and no more than $20 on the door.
full picnic turbosound system installed on the night!
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Andrew Hogge aka Lovefingers needs little introduction amongst the global disco elite, his world famous lovefingers.org has had a undeniable impact, on the burgeoning eclectic dance scene of today and has enabled him to bring his eccentric taste and unique DJ style on tours throughout the US, Europe, Asia, and Australia.
A Los Angeles native, Andrew and collaborator Nitedog have been hosting the standalone monthly event Blackdisco Social Club since 2001 which have included guests like LCD Soundsystem, Prins Thomas, Rub’n’Tug and many more before heading off to New York where he resides today. Lovefingers and Nitedog, also founded the top notch disco re-edit label Blackdisco well know for its discerning tastes, Black Disco releases have found there way into the bags of top jocks like Harvey, James Murphy and their debut 12″ was recognized as #2 in Phonica’s Top 10 Disco of 2008 as well as Tim Sweeney’s Best of 2008 Beats in Space.
Lovefingers’ left-field sensibilities have also led him into the art world including performances at PS1 MoMA’s Summer Warm-Up, Doug Aitken’s Sleepwalkers exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art, sculptor Eduardo Sarabia’s Salon Aleman installation at the 2008 Whitney Biennial, avant-garde designer Henrik Vibskov and fashion icon Diane Pernet. Keep an eye and ear out for new projects dropping this year, The Stallions a production duo with long time cohort and DJ partner Lee Douglas and singer Findlay Brown and the kick off of Loverfingers own original imprint ESP Inst.
Love Fingers Interview
blackmail.com.au
Chances are you already know about the Lovefingers website, quite possibly the best site at the moment for downloading rare unearthed music from the past 30-40 years. What you probably don’t know is that the man behind the site, Andrew Hogge, is one of the most friendly and laid back guys going around. A native Californian who currently resides in Brooklyn, he’ll probably tell you himself that he’s lazy. However he still manages to hold down a full time job and at the same time run two record labels, update his website with daily ‘fingertracks’ and mixes, work on his own music as one half of production duo The Stallions, party with the energy of an 18 year old, and tour the world djing. Recently he even became a father. Steele Bonus caught up with Lovefingers a month outside of his second trip down under.
Steele Bonus: Tell us about your origins in music. How did you come about collecting records and djing?
Andrew Lovefingers: I grew up in a musical home, mum was a music teacher and we played and sang together from as far back as I can remember. I started playing drums when I was seven or eight. It was pretty cool, after I first set up the kit my mum jumped on and dropped some beats, I couldn’t believe it! As for records, the first was a huge box of my dad’s 45s, mostly Beatles and Beach Boys. My first purchased records were probably Run DMC and Zeppelin. I got into metal, punk and hardcore later and started compulsively collecting 7″s which led to everything else.
SB: Did you ever play in bands? Do you miss jamming with a band?
AL: Yeah a handful of punk bands in high school, and later some stoner rock bands, no need to name any of them… but I guess the last band I played in was Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti. Yeah I haven’t had a drum kit for a while, I need one badly!
SB: So you’ve been working on a bunch of tracks lately with Lee Douglas. You guys also travel and dj together a fair bit. How did this partnership come about?
AL: We actually grew up in the same area and hung around the same punk kids, and have always had a lot of mutual friends. Funny now we also live a block from each other. I dunno, we just started hanging out a lot and listening to records all the time. So it was just inevitable that we started laying down tracks. I was asked by Findlay Brown to remix a song for his new album, so it was our first real project after a lot of talk. Then Findlay was really happy with the remix and his label asked us to produce some original material for him in the studio, and it ended up being a super great collaboration. Now we’re remixing a handful more artists and working on an album together. And since it seemed like we had to make up a name we are calling ourselves The Stallions.
SB: You made the move from LA to NYC a couple of years back. Did the music scene in NYC influence this decision? Do you think the music/club scene in NYC is all it’s cracked up to be? Are there any djs, bands or producers in NYC that you think the rest of the world needs to know about?
AL: I’ve always loved NYC but moving there had nothing to do with music. It was more work related really. But I’m a million times happier with the music scene in NYC than LA. I grew up in LA and it was just time for a change. Not to talk bad on LA, it’s a great place, and full of great people (despite the reputation). The music scene in NYC has always been amazing, but it’s by no means some disco-laden wonderland. There is a small pool of djs and record freaks and we all go to each other’s parties. It’s actually a super tough place to play in right now, money is low and people are jaded, but we still have fun. Underground parties are always where it’s at. I can’t really think of anything new in New York that people need to know about, TBD is the jam and also my buddy Speculator has a new label called Willy T… his release for Hunee is dope.
SB: Djing has taken you to play gigs at plenty of different locations around the globe. Any of them stand out as being the most memorable? Any crazy stories you feel like sharing?AL: I love Turkey. I went to this little beach town in southern Turkey this summer and it was just amazing. Girls dancing in the knee high water under a full moon til the sun rose. Yeah of course when you are out all night weird things and people are involved but no real standouts. It’s all a blur. Just really awesome to meet such cool people and real music freaks all over the place! Stallions just played a fantastic gig last night in Stockholm and we’re on to Berlin tomorrow. Later in the week we’re over to Serbia to play in Belgrade, that’s really got me excited!
SB: Lets talk about your site. I have heard that you are going to stop once you reach 1000 tracks. It’s currently up there in the nine hundreds right? There mustn’t be long to go. What will happen when you hit 1000?
AL: Yeah maybe 30 something more to go. Not sure what will happen at 1000 but I’ve been trying to figure out a way to make it a radio station. Not sure. It’s really a long mix, and a lot of tracks are totally specific to the time they were posted, but if you listen to the catalogue in its entirety it’s the best, so I might just make it stream. I wish there was a way to package the 1000 song mix but it would end up being a ridiculously large box set.
SB: I think lots of people are going to miss the updates. Especially after recently similar ‘track of the day’ type sites Bumrocks and Dream Chimney have shut down. Do you think it is a bit of an end of an era?
AL: Let’s just say that these specific sites you mentioned are the cream. I feel like Bumrocks, Dream Chimney and my site have accomplished something pretty cool, but honestly they’re kinda the only ones I pay attention to. The point is to promote great music and artists and get their music out there, but not to replace the actual records. That’s why the files are not high bit rate, its just to sample and then you need to go out to the record store, or at least the online record store. There is too much at your fingertips these days and it’s really overwhelming. So easy to get lost in the computer and its much better to get in, get out and get on with your day.
SB: Any plans to follow on with a different project? Or are you just looking forward to a break?
AL: Yes my new project is my new son Jaspar! I can’t think of anything more rewarding than listening and playing music with him. He’s got his favourites already, and he’s only a month old!
SB: There’s been a lot of hype, mostly taking place on the internet, about a resurgence in ‘cosmic disco’ music. Have you noticed much of a change in the popularity for this kind of music over the last few years in regards to the interest in your djing and your site?
AL: Meh, buzz words I guess. I mean the sub-genre thing is quite boring to me. It’s like when people put mixed styles of music together it’s all of a sudden “cosmic”. That’s not at all what I think of as cosmic. It’s a vibe not a genre. Unless I guess you’re referring to Baldelli’s classic jams from that era, which I really love, but mixing it all up is the way I like it and I’d never consider anything I do cosmic.
SB: So you are coming down under for the new year and some of January right? It’s been a long time coming and almost didn’t happen. Are you excited? Where are you playing?
AL: Yeah man I’m super stoked! Playing at The Toff on New Years Eve and at the Picnic party in Sydney the next week… a handful of other parties as well, I’ll post ‘em all on my site soon. Will be super cool to hang out with all you guys again, and especially to get a second shot at summer!
SB: What sort of stuff can audiences here expect to hear you play?
AL: Disco, house, sleazy rock jams, maybe some chanting monks and snake charming music? I got a bunch of new things too.
SB: So tell us about this new label you are starting up, the ESP Institute. What sort of stuff are you going to be putting out? Did you start it with a certain kind of music or certain acts in mind to release? How will it be different from your other label Blackdisco?
AL: Blackdisco is just about servicing djs and the dancefloor, it’s all edits and rework of songs for that specific use. ESP Institute is new music. Totally open minded beautiful sounds. Lots of great things from friends in Japan as well. My wife and I have also started a children’s clothing label under the ESP Institute called ESPno.1… Other things will follow and hopefully a boutique one day.
SB: Run us through some of the releases you’ve got coming up on the two labels.
AL: For Blackdisco, I will do another edit 12″ at some point but things that are for sure are a 12″ from Thriftcotheque (Eddie Ruscha of Laughing Light Of Plenty) and a 12″ from Justin Vandervolgen (TBD, Try and Find Me). The debut release from ESP Institute is Journey To The Centre Of The Sun by Sombrero Galaxy (which is two good buddies Tako and Jonny Nash) with a remix on the b-side by The Stallions. It’s out end of January. After that is a release by Chee Shimizu of Discosession. A super deep promo mix CD will be out first and probably free with the first shipped 12″s. The rest will be sold and the profits will all go to benefit music programs for children. The artwork for ESP is also going to be great, Mario Hugo is doing the whole package and he’s an amazing NYC artist.
SB: On your Blackdisco label you recently put out an edit by a guy from Brisbane – Julien Love. Julien is a very talented guy, but is still relatively unknown around these parts. How did it come about that you ended up putting out his music?
AL: A friend of mine played me his edit of The Jacksons and I just had to contact him to let it come out on Blackdisco. He’s sent me heaps of super fantastic edits and hopefully we’ll do another 12″ soon. He’s a great dude and everyone should fly him over for parties. Also check his music videos on Youtube, total dopeness.
SB: Thanks man, one more question, now that you have the responsibility of being a dad do you think you’ll slow down on going out partying till the wee hours of the morning?
AL: Everything is OK in moderation.Lovefingers plays at Melbourne’s the Toff In Town on December 31 amongst other shows.
Connect With Soul Of Sydney
We have double passes available to anyone who emails us here at (soulofsydney@gmail.com) asking for them
Event Details: Friday 16 October 11:30pm @ Oxford Art Factory (38 Oxford St Sydney)
Feat: Pase Rock (Spank Rock),+ Dangerous Dan, Tha Fizz, Mirror Mirror,Mik Menace,Cassettezz
Tickets: $16 @ Moshtix Info : E-mail : anita@onthefly.com.au Phone: (02) 9211-1610
Facebook: Event Link
SOUL OF SYDNEY: Feel-Good FUNK SOUL DISCO & beyond. 