Like any sane person, I’m a huge fan of the Numero Group. They are currently working on a compilation of music from Ebirac Records. Ebirac was a Chicago label that released music by Chicago’s Puerto Rican community. Salsa, merengue, ranchero, you name it, they released it. While working on that compilation, Numero unearthed a cache of Ebirac deadstock LPs and 45s. They decided to give their fans an “unparalleled chance to preview a Numero project in process, digging simultaneously with us through this massive treasure trove of Chicago-by-way-of-Puerto Rico Salsa, Latin funk, Guaguanco, Guajira, Merengue, Bolero, and Rumba.”
Even though I don’t know jack about Puerto Rican music, I picked up the complete set: 4 LPs and 13 45s. After spending some time with it, I picked out some of my favorites and made this mix. Consider it a taster for the rich meal that Numero will give you when they release the Ebirac compilation. These tracks are crude vinyl rips, the Numero compilation will be remasters taken from the original tapes.
Ebirac Dead Stock Mix (direct download)
Numero doesn’t want me spilling the beans on Ebirac, which I completely understand, so the mix has been taken down. If you want to hear this fire, buy the compilation when it’s released.
Tracklisting:
Under the Sun Orchestra – “Under the Sun”
Orquesta la Solucion – “La Guerra” from Mi Barrio se Quemo
La Justicia Orquesta – “Plazos Traicioneros” from Salsa con Nostalgia
Manuel y Sus Estrellas Combo – “El Duro”
Orquesta la Solucion – “Te Quiero (I Love You) pt. 2″ from Desde mi Barrio en Chicago
Nuñez and Juventude Tipica 78 – “Mi Unica Ilusion”
Orquesta la Solucion – “A Bailar son Montuno”
Orquesta la Union – “Solitario”
Orquesta la Solucion – “Ay, Si, Si” from “Mi Barrio es Fuego” le Cantamos con Todo Nuestro Corazon
I’m trying to solve a mystery. A mystery involving 80s Italodisco and underground gay cinema. Which is the best kind of mystery, of course.
Italians Do It Better, which is my favorite label at the moment, just put out a new 12″: “Robots are Un-American” by Solange. They described in their store as:
While digging for rare italo disco vinyls in the archives of a now defunct radio station, a friend of Bottin’s found this reel dated 1984. All we could find on the internet are traces of a mysterious promo pressing (that’s where we got all the credits from) on legendary IL DISCOTTO label. The track seems to have been recorded at Green House, a former recording studio in Padova, Italy – the same city as the radio station’s where it was found! We asked Bottin to make a remix that we put on the B side and the rest is history, literally. Ltd to 750 copies and will not be repressed!
The song knocks hard, so I started looking around for more info about it. Googling for “Solange” mostly just brings up information about Solange Knowles, Beyonce’s sister. Googling for “Robots are Un-American” mostly brings up stores selling the IDIB 12″. But I did find a torrent titled “SOLANGE – ROBOTS ARE UN-AMERICAN – 1984 italo disco – Discotto – cruisin’ – RARE vinyl rip mp3″, but nobody was seeding it. Then I found this video:
It’s wicked awesome, but I wasn’t sure if it was made for the original single or for IDIB’s reissue of the single. It looks retro rather than authenticity 80s. The star’s clothes are a big giveaway. Also, the director is listed as Today Versitile, which has no google hits, and the label is listed as Giallo Records. Giallo, huh? Not Italians Do it Better or Il Discotto?
I then notice the video was posted by Todd Verow. I google that, and find out he’s a famous underground gay filmmaker. He has a new movie coming out called The Boy with the Sun in His Eyes that is described as:
Kevin’s (Josh Ubaldi) funeral rockets John (Tim Swain) into the orbit of the flamboyant Solange (Mahogany Reynolds), a b-movie actress/one hit wonder best known in Europe for her roles in 80′s Italian horror movies.
Movies with loosely translated titles like Rabid!, Rat Attack and The Ghoul School.
Solange was Kevin’s muse. Kevin was Solange’s confidant. Her mysterious, glamorous lifestyle is the stuff of legend to John via Kevin’s prior conversations, emails and wild phone calls. After Kevin’s suicide, John is eager to escape into her world.
Seemingly on a whim, she invites John to accompany her to Europe as her Boy Friday. She’s going to work on her guerilla foodie tv pilot “The Un-Tourist Guide.” John accepts the challenge. He’s been in a cubicle temping rut for a few years, and with the death of Kevin he figures he hasn’t got much more to lose. Oops.
As John follows her into heady whirlwind romances with cute French pop stars and deadly (but hot!) Milanese model managers, they barely survive murderous performance artists in Paris and fatal gourmet food poisonings in Italy. John begins to realize that Solange’s world is far more complex and dangerous than he could possibly have imagined. Her chosen lifestyle abounds with trips, tricks, and traps.
And John’s the bait.
The actress playing Solange is the same woman as the star of the video. And there is a line about her “one-hit wonder from back in the 80s”, “Robots are Un-American”. The website for the movie also mentions original music by William Bottin, who remixed the track on the b-side of the IDIB 12″.
I’m pretty sure IDIB is frontin’. This ain’t rare unreleased italo disco. This a new cut by Bottin that is being released as a throwback to fit in with the marketing of The Boy with the Sun in His Eyes. Or just for fun. The song is still ultra-fire, though.
Creepy John Thomas – Down In The Bottom (0:00)
Ram Jam – Black Betty (4:53)
Black Sabbath – Supernaut (8:42)
Death – Keep on Knockin’ (12:50)
ZZ Top – Legs (12″ Metal Mix) (14:09)
Yardbirds – Lost Woman (21:56)
Nazareth – Razamanaz (25:06)
Ace Frehley – New York Groove (28:30)
Lynyrd Skynyrd – Gimme Three Steps (31:19)
Judas Priest – Living After Midnight (35:19)
Blackfoot – Bummed Out (38:31)
I recently watched Eastbound and Down. This mix is what I imagine would be playing during a big party down at Shaboom’s. Some of the songs would actually be played at bars like that; some of them would only be played at bars like that in heaven.
About a week and a half ago, I got an email from my friend Justin. It said “So, my friend Hank was in town this last few days and he, Sam and I made mix tapes full of songs to be played “when getting out of a car with a shotgun”. One can only assume how the shotgun will be used. I thought you might be interested in adding to the list of mixes. I’ll give you ours when you’re done.”
What popped in my head was an image of a man holding a shotgun stepping out of a car with a shotgun in slow motion while the wind whips his tie to the side. So I decided to put together a mix of music that sounded like a soundtrack to a Tarantino film. It starts off all funky and gory, but gets really weird and awkward near the end.
Getting Out of a Car with a Shotgun
Quiet Village – Circus of Horror
Okay Temiz – Denizalti Rüzgarlan
Ananda Shankar – Dancing Drums
Los Chikichaka – Musica Mulata
Soul Creations – Funky Jive Part II
Juaneco Y Su Combo – Mi Robaron Mi Runa Mula
Kazi Arindam – Mere Liye Too Bani
Wallias Band – Muziqawi Silt
Sidney Pinchback & The Schille – Soul Strokes
Greek Fountains – An Experimented Terror
Czerwone Gitary – Coda
5 million years ago, I did a avant-garde/experimental music radio show on KXUA called Ugly Music for Beautiful People (a name I liked so much, I’ve reused it for this blog). For a while, I podcasted the show and it gained a decently sized following. This was fairly early in the history of the podcast, and I was putting out 2 hour long shows. At that point in time, there weren’t many other dudes uploading 2 hour long shows filled with crazy new music on a weekly basis. So I filled a niche. Ever since I stopped doing it, I get the occasional email or blog post asking if I’ll ever start the show up again.
Well, today, this dude named Little Chris took it up a notch. He does a podcast devoted to music from the Midlands area of the UK. And he recently recorded a podcast that was inspired by the type of music I played on Ugly Music for Beautiful People. He even gives me a shoutout.
Back in January, I started watching David Lynch’s avant-garde soap opera Twin Peaks. The first season of it was incredible, some of the best TV I’ve ever seen. The second season started off strong, but fell off. The music of the show made a particularly strong impact on me, so I decided to make a DJ mix that used music from Angelo Badalamenti’s score as well as music that I thought shared thematic and stylistic similarities with Twin Peaks.
That Gum You Like is Going to Come Back in Style
Angelo Badalamenti – Twin Peaks Theme
Nico – Janitor of Lunacy
Black Devil – “H” Friend
Burial – Archangel
Arthur Russell – You Have Did the Right Thing When You Put That Skylight In
Angelo Badalamenti – Dance of the Dream Man
The Walker Brothers – Fat Mama Kick
Grace Jones – Warm Leatherette
The Knife – Silent Shout
Angelo Badalmenti – Audrey’s Dance
Farah – Dancing Girls [Suite 304 Demo]
Can – Thief
Blonde Redhead – The Dress
Angelo Badalamenti – Laura Palmer’s Theme
Here’s a brand new mix for y’all. It’s based on a set list that I used when I DJed at an art reception at (Scene) Metrospace. There ain’t no party like an art reception party because an art reception party has wine, cheese and melon.
This is also the first mix I’m posting under my new DJ name, DJ Triple Rambo. Please adjust the mp3 tags of all of my previous mixes that you have downloaded. kthnxbye.
Wine, Cheese & Melon
1. Tel Aviv – Renewal
2. Dominque Leone – Clairevoyage: A Medley performed by The 16th Rebels of Mung
3. Glass Candy – Computer Love
4. The Marvellettes – Please Mr. Postman
5. Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons – Beggin’ (Pilooski Re-Edit)
6. The Field – Over the Ice
7. The Field Mice – Missing the Moon
8. Buckingham Nicks – Frozen Love
9. Mathew Leutwyler – Jovencitas
10. Fuck Buttons – Bright Tomorrow
11. LCD Soundsystem – Freak Out/Starry Eyes
Here are two disc length compilations of my favorite singles of 2007 and tracks from my favorite albums of 2007. Both are in reverse order and there as many songs as I could fit on a CD length mix. My full top 50 lists are below.
Top 50 Singles
50. Miranda Lambert – Gunpowder and Lead
49. Bone Thugs-n-Harmony – Wind Blow
48. Klaxons – Golden Skans
47. Chromeo – Tenderoni
46. Robyn – Handle Me
45. Amerie – Take Control
44. Young Jeezy ft. R. Kelly – Go Getta
43. Bonnie “Prince” Billy – Strange Form of Life
42. Los Campesinos! – You! Me! Dancing!
41. R. Kelly ft. Usher – Same Girl
40. Klaxons – It’s Not Over Yet
39. RóisÃn Murphy – Let Me Know
38. Petey Pablo – Get Me Out of Jail
37. M.I.A. – Paper Planes
36. Tay Zonday – Chocolate Rain
35. The Arcade Fire – No Cars Go
34. Caribou – She’s the One
33. Hot Chip – My Piano
32. Wes Fif – Haterz Everywhere
31. Chromeo – Fancy Footwork
30. Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings – 100 Days, 100 Nights
29. Art Brut – Direct Hit
28. Dan Deacon – The Crystal Cat
27. Los Campesinos! – The International Tweexcore Underground
26. The Cool Kids – 88
25. M.I.A. – Jimmy
24. Jens Lekman – Friday Night at the Drive-In Bingo
23. Justin Timberlake – LoveStoned
22. The Arcade Fire – Keep the Car Running
21. Panda Bear – Take Pills
20. Grinderman – No Pussy Blues
19. Glass Candy – I Always Say Yes
18. Justin Timberlake – What Goes Around…Comes Around
17. Mistah F.A.B. – Ghost Ride It
16. Rihanna – Don’t Stop the Music
15. Blonde Redhead – 23
14. Teki Latex ft. Lio – Les Matins de Paris
13. Chromatics – In the City
12. LCD Soundsystem – Someone Great
11. Candie Payne – I Wish I Could Have Loved You More
10. Justice – D.A.N.C.E.
9. The National – Mistaken for Strangers
8. Fuck Buttons – Bright Tomorrow
7. UGK feat. OutKast – Int’l Players Anthem (I Choose You)
6. LCD Soundsystem – All My Friends
5. Snoop Dogg – Sensual Seduction
4. Fucked Up – Year of the Pig
3. Caribou – Melody Day
2. R. Kelly ft. T.I. & T-Pain – I’m a Flirt (Remix)
1. Rihanna – Umbrella
Top 50 Albums
50. Black Dice – Load Blown
49. The Black Lips – Good Bad Not Evil
48. Six Organs of Admittance – Shelter From the Ash
47. Neurosis – Given to the Rising
46. Justice – â€
45. Eric Copeland – Hermaphrodite
44. Soft Circle – Full Bloom
43. Grinderman – Grinderman
42. The Besnard Lakes – The Besnard Lakes Are the Dark Horse
41. Arcade Fire – Neon Bible
40. Tord Gustavsen Trio – Being There
39. Future of the Left – Curses
38. Holy Fuck – LP
37. Lucky Soul – The Great Unwanted
36. Chromatics – Night Drive
35. Ghostface Killah – Big Doe Rehab
34. Art Brut – It’s a Bit Complicated
33. Minsk – The Ritual Fires of Abandonment
32. Handsome Furs – Plague Park
31. Bishop Allen – The Broken String
30. Circle – Katapult
29. Charalambides – Likeness
28. Big Business – Here Come the Waterworks
27. Meg Baird – Dear Companion
26. The Field – From Here We Go to Sublime
25. Thurston Moore – Trees Outside the Academy
24. Boris with Michio Kurihara – Rainbow
23. Magik Markers – Boss
22. Eric Malmberg – Verklighet & Beat
21. Death Ambient – Drunken Forest
20. Dr. Dog – We All Belong
19. LCD Soundsystem – Sound of Silver
18. Of Montreal – Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?
17. Aa – gAame
16. White Rainbow – Prism of Eternal Now
15. Animal Collective – Strawberry Jam
14. Robert Wyatt – Comicopera
13. Scout Niblett – This Fool Can Die Now
12. Voice of the Seven Woods – Voice of the Seven Woods
11. Wolves in the Throne Room – Two Hunters
10. Caribou – Andorra
9. Olof Arnalds – Vid Og Vid
8. Tel Aviv- Underwaters
7. Marissa Nadler – Songs III: Bird on the Water
6. Radiohead – In Rainbows
5. Von Spar – Von Spar
4. Deerhunter – Cryptograms
3. The National – Boxer
2. Panda Bear – Person Pitch
1. Jens Lekman – Night Falls Over Kortedala
I DJed last Thursday at the end of the year party of the MSU Graduate Employee Union, of which I am a member. Here’s a nice little 30 minute DJ mix I just put together that is based on the set I did that night. It’s pretty smooth. So smooth, I call it International Seduction. While my last mix was done with vinyl, this one was done on my computer with Mixxx, the same way I do it live. Also, if there any DJs out there, I welcome any tips on my beatmatching/transitions.
Tracklisting:
Chromatics – In the City
Kate Bush – Running Up That Hill
Teki Latex feat. Lio – Les matins des Paris
Snoop Dogg – Sensual Seduction
Goblin – Tenebre
LCD Soundsystem – All My Friends
Jiang Xiao Qing – Kokorogokoro Doutei
I'm Ed. I live in East Lansing, MI. I post things. I mostly post DJ mixes that I make, but if you want to send me something just send me an email.
Things posted here that weren't made by me or my friends will normally be taken down within two weeks. Please comment if you download; I love feedback! And, of course, support the artists, when you can. Go to shows, buy music (especially vinyl!), let bands stay at your house when they play the local dive in your hometown, give them breakfast or beer, makeouts or mediocre handjobs. Share the love.
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