I've been spending a little bit of time fighting off dust monsters while clawing through crates of old records lately - I wouldn't be surprised if I've done my lungs some serious damage, but the fruits of my labour have been worth it.
In preparation for a much welcomed and anticipated set on home soil next weekend at Aura Cardiff, I've picked up some great records and had the chance to spin a few last night on Cardiff FM, the second time I've had the pleasure of playing down there - which is always a fun experience.
Here's a little selection of my latest finds, all gnarly basslines and 80s vocals - just the way I like it.
This is one of my best pick ups on the record front for some time - the boogie bassline monster 'So Smooth' from Kristal Davis. You can just image the amount of cruising that was getting done to this - and I don't mean cruising as in the sleazy homosexual way. It's on Urban Rock records, straight out of 1985 New York. How come music doesn't sound like this anymore? Where has the ingenuity gone? The raw soul? The funk? It beggars belief that the youth of today are growing up on complete and utter dross when gems like this are rotting away in Notting Hill, waiting for the likes of yours truly to come and rescue them. The ironic thing is, play this to a crowd of young club goers and they'll all love it and who wouldn't? You'd have to be seriously beige not to want to move to it.
I'm not a serious record collector in any shape of the imagination, I buy records that I'll play at some point either out or in my house, however much or rare. Things like the latter don't motivate me and I'll buy something on listening value alone.
Check this classic Gap Band cut, snared from the same little gold mine as the above. I love how playful it is and it definitely lives up to the track title - big fun. The Mega Mix version is probably my favourite so I've included that here...
Something a little more on the wedding tip here with some duet action from Mike and Brenda Sutton. SAM is one of my favourite labels, probably because the art work is so pleasing to the eye - the Orange and Aqua are a beacon to look out for when crate digging and the back catalogue is full of classic boogie and disco flavas.
As said, this has got more of a lovey dovey feel to it and the vocals are a little bit cheese, but the backing track and the bassline as classic sounding early 80's business. I can't find the more preferable instrumental version on youtube that I can embed on here so It's the original version that I've included.
Last but not least here's another bass heavy gem from Urban Rock in the shape of Jocelyn Brown's 'Hands off'. Everyone remembers Joce for her timeless classic - somebody else's guy. This is as far removed from that smooth soul sound as possible with some pretty savage bassline action going down, complimented perfectly by her velvet tones of course. And guess what - she's gone and snared herself her own man now, which is basically the subject of the record... Kettle, pot, black springs to mind. Still, it's a pretty fly record!
These are just a couple of buys from the past few weeks I thought I'd share, I could post twenty or so more but then I don't think Blogger enjoys the burden of umpteen youtube videos to content with so that's your lot for now, I hope you enjoy them!
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