We haven’t posted about a throw back group in a while and Gichy Dan’s Beachwood No. 9 has a really interesting back story.  I couldn’t write it better myself…

“Back in 1976 August Darnell first rose to notoriety as bass player, vocalist and lyricist for « Dr. Buzzard’s Original Savannah Band », one of disco’s most unusual ensembles. The brainchild of August’s brother Stony Browder Jr., and featuring the vocals of Cory Daye, the vibes work of « Sugar Coated » Andy Hernandez and the jungle drums of Mickey Sevilla, Dr. Buzzard’s Original Savannah Band was one of the most singular groups ever to cross-over pop. Sounding like a ’40s big band with a more modern beat, the band went gold with their first album, including the mighty hit, « Cherchez La Femme ». By 1979, Darnell swiftly became ZE Records’ in-house producer-ringmaster, helming brilliant productions at the all-night sessions at Blank Tapes which threw together disparate friends, freaks and musicians in different combinations. « Gichy Dan’s Beachwood #9 » was one of the first side-projects of Darnell.

August, about to leave his older brother Stony Browder’s Dr Buzzard’s Original Savannah Band through frustration at his restrictive bassist-songwriter role. The story goes that Darnell had written a number of tunes that Savannah Band wound up not using, so he called his pal Ronnie Rogers to put together a band featuring the talents of Frank « Pago Pago » aka « Gichy Dan » Passalaqua and vocalist Lourdes Cotto along with a huge roster of musicians whose names would adorn many Darnell-produced album covers in years to come. Silken-voiced Staten Island crooner Gichy Dan, aka Frank Passalacqua, took his name from Beachwood # 9, an old rock ‘n roll number from the 1950s. « We would concoct this romance thing, then make up some profound story, » as Coati Mundi says. Gichy Dan was baby-faced, sweetly dispositioned and everyone adored him. Adriana says, « Gichy Dan would have been a new Johnny Mathis, if he hadn’t prematurely died of AIDS. » For August, « Gichy Dan was the precursor to Kid Creole and the Coconuts; had I known it, he would have been Kid Creole.” (read more)

Gichy Dan’s Beachwood No. 9 – Cowboys & Gangsters

Gichy Dan’s Beachwood No. 9 – On A Day Like Today (Todd Terje ‘Friendly Children’ Edit)

POLIÇA (pronounced Poelisa) is a Minneapolis-based four piece band that recently came together when Channy Leaneagh and Ryan Olson (from Gayngs) started collaborating on tour and in the studio.  I’ve seen a bunch of buzz on the social networks, blogs, WVUM, industry sites and friends in other cities have called me just to tell me how awesome their live shows are. Funny thing is they really haven’t been around for too long, but all the attention is well deserved!  According to Rolling Stone Bon Iver even publicly announced that they’re the best band he’s ever heard – whoa. I really dislike auto tune but these guys pull it off really well, good stuff.

POLIÇA – The Maker

POLIÇA – Form

BUY GIVE YOU THE GHOST ALBUM

Bird freak here checking in… I’m glad Cage & Aviary’s new album MIGRATION finally came out a couple of weeks ago and it’s as good as expected. I’m inclined to used the words: disco, spacey, and haunted when describing the overall vibe of the album. Some of the tracks might even be tributes to disco papi’s Giorgio M and Todd T according to the titles. Anyway, this is a good one and totally worth the purchase.

OFFICIAL:

Part man, part machine, part cockatiel, Cage & Aviary take flights of fancy whenever they can. Jamie Paton is a DJ, a one-finger keyboardist, and a pot-tickler. Nigel of Bermondsey is a musician, South London’s finest oscillator, and a dedicated dabbler. Together they are winners of the cosmic lottery.

Having put out releases to much acclaim on the ltd editions that are Dissident Distribution, Cage & Aviary have since spread their wings with releases on DFA, Tiny Sticks, and Astro Lab. Their own label, The Walls Have Ears, is slowly carving out a reputation for quality dubbed-out dance music too – the Cage & Aviary remix series has met with great critical acclaim thus far, with the likes of Andy Blake, Prins Thomas, Horse Meat Disco, Mock N Toof, Bill Brewster, Tim Sweeney, James Murphy, Tiga, Erol Alkan, Felix Dickinson, Leo Zero and other such luminaries counted amongst fans of their work.

Cage And Aviary – Lean On Me

Cage And Aviary – In Todd We Trust

Purchase album

Another master of smooth edits here in the form of 78Edits.  I’ve enjoyed these cuts for a while now.  Perfect for warm-up sets and making babies.  The three track Been A Long Time EP you see above has just been re-released off Original Cuts featuring a whimsically soulful Unlimited Love, a deep and slow title track, and a smooth and jazzy The Love You Give Me.

Purchase Been A Long Time from Juno HERE

LISTEN:

BONUS:

That’s right guys, today is Valentine’s Day and love is in the air. Below we’ve selected 10 songs to get you in (or out) of the mood. We’re hosting our regular HI-FI night at The Corner tonight so come show some love and bring your date. If you don’t have a Valentine you might just meet someone there.

Tonight: ::: LAURA OF MIAMI VS MARTIN BORLAND :::

Tracks:

Swoon (Lindstrom and Prins Thomas Remix) – The Chemical Brothers

Need Your Lovin (Tiger & Woods Remix) – Tensnake

Under The Sheets (Original Mix) – Maceo Plex

Lover – Blondes

Modify Love – Voices Of Black

Together – MagneticSoul

Midnight Lover (RussianAdults Acid Dub) – Kisses

Kiss & Tell – Miguel Campbell

Count Your Lovers (Eli Escobar Club Mix) – Clubfeet

Love You Madly – The Young Lovers

Honey Soundsystem has been around for a while but just recently have I started hearing mind-blowing remixes from them. My next trip to San Fransisco must be planned around one of their events. They have a very similar taste as Nightdrive except they’re bigger, gayer, and love attractive men Think Horse Meat Disco but in San Fran.

Official:

Honey Soundsystem is a collective of disc jockeys, musicians, performers and designers. We bond over our shared love of timeless sound, iconic imagery,the complete look, indulgent behavior, and most of all, attractive men. Since forming in January 2006, Honey Soundsystem has brought new style and edge to the San Francisco dance scene. They have hosted DJ’s from around the world, including Todd Terje,Horse Meat Disco, Discodromo, Stefan Goldmann, Hercules & Love Affair, Cosmo Vitelli, DJ Spun, Derek Plaslaiko, Prosumer, Boris, My Cousin Roy, Eric Duncan, Jacques Renault, Beaner, Mister Saturday, JD Twitch, Miracles Club, Hard Ton, Tim Sweeney, Kim Ann Foxman, Steve Fabus, Bobby Viteritti, and Mike Servito

Plus they also have a record label.

HNYTRX Brotherhood Compilation CD

Street hero – End Of The World (Honey Soundsystem Remix)

The Time & Space Machine is the latest project from London-born Richard Norris, best known as a member of The Grid back in the late 80s and 90s.  You also might know him for his collaboration with Erol Alkan as Beyond the Wizard Sleeve.

In anticipation of his forthcoming second album, Taste The Lazer, he’s released the single for Pill Party In India.  Off Tirk Records, it’s a great psychedelic disco trip with remixes by Mojo Filter and Psychemagik.  You can check out my previous post on Psychemagik HERE, but their take on Pill Party is the stand-out track.  Maintaining the trippy essence of the track, they add a bigger sound with some fat synths, driving bass line and punchier beat.  Sample the track below and purchase them HERE.

DOWNLOAD:

Posted by Patrick

The Never Years Jamie Long’s most recent dream pop shoe gaze project. Life of Dreams was re-released back in November and is considered to be up there with Washed Out’s Within and Without LP. If you’re into a nice blend of synths, guitars, and reverby vocals this is for you. Best for Sunday mornings, sunset drives, or gloomy afternoons.

The Never Years – Two Words

The Never Years – years remix (the sound of arrows)

Buy the album here

Check out our last post on Jamie Long

I have two words for you: Aquarius Heaven.

Upon discovering the INSANE music video for “You Can’t Buy Love”, I decided to embark on a deep websploration to find out who this crazy SOB actually was. It feels like watching the intro to Goldfinger on Ibogaine while being immersed in an absurdly enjoyable amount of gold, women, and nudity. Priceless.

Before transforming into the voodoo sex shaman he is today, to the world Aquarius Heaven was a Reggae/Dancehall/ Hip Hop artist known as Brain Brewster. According to his Facebook page, at some point in 2005 he said, “Fuck it”, and moved
to Paris.

He fortuitously hooked up with dOP, a Parisian electronic-trio who influenced him to fuse modern tech-house and his intrinsic afro-centric sensibilities to create what we know now as Aquarius Heaven. In 2010 he released “Universe”, which was closely followed by his first official release, “Before U Go”. Now signed to both Wolf + Lamb and Circus Company, he finds himself in the presence of some of the world’s hottest DJs.

For those of you who are in Miami for WMC this year, you can find yourself in his presence at Last Resort at Villa 221 on March 25th with more or less the greatest assembly of modern DJs on the planet…

Lucky bastards.

Aquarius Heaven- You Can’t Buy Love

Aquarius Heaven – Coat of arms (mix)

Posted by: Laurence “Pucho” Henriquez

2011 in many respects can be called the year of Bass in the US, where the mainstream finally realizing what electronic music is again (not). In 2012 many see it as being the final year of the Mayan Calendar and are expecting an apocalypse.

Though I think this is nonsense and prescribe to my own nonsensical dogmas, one only has too look to the sham that is the Grammy’s as a definite sign that our civilization not on the right side of history. None other than Skrillex will be going up for not one, not two, but FIVE awards. Well, there goes the neighborhood. Thankfully for us, there is good music to be found from around this beautiful world. Today I have for you one called Kuedo, whose debut Severant was on by top 10 last year.

Kuedo’s style is a machination of heavy bass, dark new wave circa 1982 and, last but not least, a massive dose of Blade Runner.  The Berlin-based producer is signed to Planet-Mu and is carving his own path musically by creating distinctly sinister beats that, at least for me, is a breath of fresh air in the field of bass heavy music.

The music whisks me to a dystopian 80’s view of the future, where despite the shitty flying cars, one world government and constant feeling of dread and dismay, our future generations had the sensibility to hook up sub-woofers to everyone conceivable surface to sooth our sorry souls. Enjoy.

Kuedo – Ant City

Kuedo – Truth Flood

Posted by: Laurence ‘Pucho’ Henriquez