Leroy Hutson - Classy Lady

Leroy Hutson always comes correct whether he makes soul ballads or uptempo boogie. He's known for classic sweet soul tunes cut for Curtom in the 70's but he sure made good music in the 80's as well.

Classy Lady is a smooth modern soul/boogie tune from his 1982 masterpiece Paradise. The whole album is really solid but thanks to poor marketing and distribution by Elektra the record never got hardly any commercial success.

Leroy Hutson - Classy Lady [320 kbps, DivShare]

Donny Hathaway - This Christmas

Hopefully all of you will have a relaxing holiday season and a prosperous new year. See you in 2010!

Donny Hathaway - This Christmas [320 kbps, DivShare]

The Dynamic Superiors - Leave It Alone

I have watched High Fidelity for at least ten times but there I was again in front of the TV when it aired recently. Every time I see the movie I end up making all sorts of music lists and it happened again. Top 5 blaxploitation soundtracks, top 10 disco rap 12"s ...

All time top 10 soul ballads. That's a list I could never make since there's at least 100 songs that would deserve their place on the list. One thing's for sure. Leave It Alone by The Dynamic Superiors would definitely be on the list. Such a deep song that gives me the chills every time I hear it.

The Dynamic Superiors - Leave It Alone [320 kbps, DivShare]

L.A.X. - All My Love

I've been banging All My Love by L.A.X. on repeat for a good time now. It's such a great, feel good tune. The album is one of those records one would never buy based on the art work but it's a good buy. How can it not be if it's released by Prelude in 1980 and it's mixed by Francois Kevorkian. The title song is clearly the strongest of the bunch but the album has other good cuts as well, e.g. Possessed.

L.A.X. - All My Love [320 kbps, DivShare]

The Etymology of Merimonsteriboogie

A friend of mine is keeping up a small pirate radio and I took a shot at being a radio dj. Here's an hour long set I played about a week ago. Don't worry, no awkward hosting nor introductions from me, just uptempo boogie and some house-ish bangers. I don't have an all inclusive tracklist at hand but here's some of the tracks that appear on the mix:

I Must Be Dreamin' - Wanda

I Wanna Be With You (Part 1) - Armenta

Feel Alright - Komiko

Kinky Girl - The Creations

It's Just Begun (Larry Levan Mix) - The Jimmy Castor Bunch

Crisis - Rhetta Hughes

Milton Van Houten live at Merirosmoradio [192 kbps, DivShare]

Motor City Drum Ensemble - Raw Cuts

I was listening to Motor City Drum Ensemble's excellent mix for Resident Advisor today and decided to share two of my favorites tunes from the excellent Raw Cuts series by Motor City Drum Ensemble a.k.a. Danilo Plessow a.k.a. Aphro Pzyko.

During the past couple of years the guy has released a bunch of amazing, sample-heavy discoish house tunes in the spirit of Ugly Edits. I'm sure all Detroit house connoisseurs could prove me that this has been done before but I just love the way these tracks are built. Authenticity questions aside, this is dance music at its best.

Motor City Drum Ensemble - Raw Cuts # 2 [320 kbps, DivShare]

Motor City Drum Ensemble - Raw Cuts #3 [320 kbps, DivShare]

Eddie Drennon & The B.B.S. Unlimited - Do It Nice And Easy

Do It Nice And Easy has to be one of the coolest cuts in the history of latin hustle music. Disco Deviance released just recently Greg Wilson's awesome disco edit of this classic and I'm loving it. The edit works like magic with hot vocals from Donna Summer's Love To Love You Baby. The flipside of the 10th Disco Deviance 12" features Unwind Your Mind i.e. a fresh Greg Wilson edit of Touchdown's Ease Your Mind.

By the way Disco Deviance's excellent mix over at Cosmic Boogie is definitely worth a listen.

Eddie Drennon & The B.B.S. Unlimited - Do It Nice & Easy (With Love) (Greg Wilson Edit) [320 kbps, DivShare]

Eddie Drennon & The B.B.S. Unlimited - Do It Nice And Easy [320 kbps, DivShare]

The Notations - Take It Slow

I was selecting songs for a slow soul jam mix I'm working on and came across to Take It Slow by The Notations, a great Chicago based vocal group.

It's been a while since the last time I played the tune but now it really hit the spot so I had to stop by and share it with you. It's such a lovely slow jam and the whole album is really solid. I just wish they had gotten more love back in the day and a chance to record more for Curtis Mayfield's Gemigo label.

The Notations - Take It Slow [320 kbps, DivShare]

Deniece Williams - Cause You Love Me Baby

Lately I've been posting quite a lot of uptempo boogie/disco bangers so it's definitely time for some sweet sunday soul.

Cause You Love Me Baby is a lovely two-stepper from 1976 by Stevie Wonder's ex-backup singer Deniece Williams. The tune was originally released on the b-side of Williams' best selling single Free. Both tracks are produced by Maurice White and therefore feature Earth, Wind & Fire as a studio band.

Deniece Williams - Cause You Love Me [320 kbps, DivShare]

Dâm-Funk - Beautiful Music 4 Beautiful People

Dam-Funk's new mix for Clae has been out for days but I haven't found the time to listen to it. Thank god I gave it a listen today. Over 60 minutes of sweet boogie and electrofunk gems mixed live via all original vinyl releases. No MP3s, no bullshit. You have to respect that.

In case you slept on this like I did, wake up and download Dam-Funk - Beautiful Music 4 Beautiful People [via Clae].

Ben E. King - Street Tough

Street Tough is a sleek little jam by Ben E. King. The tune was released in 1981 and you can hear this but at the same time it has a great classy and soulful blaxploitation feel to it. No wonder since the track is written by the late great Willie Hutch.

The tune is taken from a Warner reissue 12". The original release has an instrumental of Street Tough on the flipside that isn't included in the reissue. Sharing a good quality file of this would be greatly appreciated.

Ben E. King - Street Tough [320 kbps, DivShare]

Muscle Shoals Horns - Dance To The Music

Dance To The Music by The Muscle Shoals Horns is an amazing horn driven midtempo party starter. Of course a tune such as this is more suitable for Saturday nights but I've had it on repeat today and I can assure you that it moves you on cold and dark Mondays as well.

Muscle Shoals Horns - Dance To The Music [320 kbps, DivShare]

Ritchie Family - I'll Do My Best (For You Baby)

I rediscovered this boogie gem today and decided that it certainly deserves a spin on a Friday so here you go. The track dates back to 1982 and it can be found from Ritchie Family's S/T album or from the 12" single release.

I'm under the impression that Ritchie Family's earlier disco work under various producers is pretty commercial but this one is a banger. The sound is clean and classy but not too cheesy. The man behind the sound is producer Jaques Fred Petrus affiliated with such greats as BB&Q Band and Change.

Ritchie Family - I'll Do My Best (For You Baby) [320 kbps, DivShare]

Todd Terje edits

Norway's crown prince of disco edits, Todd Terje, will throw a dj set in Helsinki next weekend. In anticipation of this, I decided to share a couple of his edits from the endless vault of sizzling hot Todd Terje edits. There's no need for introductions. Such QUALITY edits of classic tunes will speak for themselves.

Claudja Barry - I Wanna Dance (Todd Terje Edit) [320 kbps, DivShare]

Dee Dee Sharp Gamble - Easy Money (Todd Terje Rekutt) [320 kbps, DivShare]

P.S. Follow the link to check my earlier blog entries concerning Todd Terje.

Francois Kevorkian in the house

Helsinki music lovers were privileged yesterday since one of the greats of disco and house, Francois Kevorkian, was in town. In order to honour his gig I decided to choose a couple of my favorites from him though it's a tricky task since he has given his golden touch to so many amazing tunes over the years. Well, I chose two of my favorites; one old and one new.

Sharon Redd's classic Beat The Street mixed by Francois Kevorkian has exactly the early eighties proto house sound that I love. Here Comes The Sun is a more recent remix work by Kevorkian. In my opinion it's one of the most beautiful deep house tunes there is and hands down the best remix of Here Comes The Sun.

Sharon Redd - Beat The Street (Vocal) [320 kbps, DivShare]

Nina Simone - Here Comes The Sun (Francois K Remix) [320 kbps, DivShare]

Woods Empire - Universal Love

Earlier this summer I posted a couple of Beatconductor joints and someone asked about the samples used in The Freshest Jam. Well, it took me a good five months to let you know that you might want to check the title track of Woods Empire's 1981 album Universal Love. It's a fresh jam with a nice laid back beat and just the right amount of cheesiness in the lyrics.

Woods Empire - Universal Love [320 kbps, DivShare]

Advance - Take Me To The Top

Yes, I'm trying to revive this blog after a long break. I hate blogs that aren't updated regularly so when I realized I was mad busy with other projects I decided to call it quits without excuses or without wasting people's time with old Youtube clips.

But now I'm back with less bullshit and more banging tunes. I got lots of thrift store heat unripped but soon as they are on my HD, I'll start posting.

I thought I should start with a megapost of some sort but I'll get things rolling with a classique italo monster. For me Take Me To The Top is one of the greatest italo tunes though if I was forced to categorize it I would say it's more boogie than italo. Genres aside, it's a piece of art with sweet vocals and great synth action.

Advance - Take Me To The Top [320 kbps, DivShare]

I'm jumping for...

(image courtesy of Renata Kaveh Photography)

Yippee... Weekend at Last!

May everyone have a BEAUTIFUL Weekend!

Xox's

~Miss Kris~

Touches of BLEU...for YOU

Bonjour!

I have been rather busy still, trying to finish things outside here before we turn to very cold weather. Which does seem to be right around the corner:( Today I decided to share with you some new paintings I finished last month. Both are done in lovely shades of bleus, greens, black and my favourite ~ real touches of gold. Oooo...when the light hits them...they shine!

Le Ballet

L'horloge

These painting are available in my Etsy store HERE. They both measure 16 x 16 inches and are done on gallery wrapped canvas with the sides painted. Both of these painting were my renditions of some images I may have found on your Blog.

May everyone have a BEAUTIFUL Day!!!

Xox's

~Miss Kris~

~The Process, Part 1~

This is sometimes how my painting process starts. This process began with a lovely image, via Beautiful Things to Share Blog and I was instantly at my sketchbook. This beautiful image brought me right to Paris and I began to think about a lovely Paris apartment in the Left Bank perhaps on Rue de Seine. Where lovely cafes are on every corner and Paul's is just down the street. Oooo...I can almost smell the patisseries! Where I can go to the local florist and get bundles of fresh flowers for every room.

(image courtesy of OldPlank.com)

This is the second image for my inspiration for my Paris apartment foyer. I had this lovely set of antique doors in my file which are for sale at Old Plank for only $14,500. Aren't they MARVELOUS?

Of course, I had to somehow put Francois Boucher's BEAUTIFUL art in my foyer. Right?

Plus adding my little cat would be cute. (This isn't her although I love this little kitty, mine is a Himalayan so in the final rendering she will be there).

My final rendering! Voila! I placed my little kitty trying to get a beautiful yellow butterfly. Yes, I would have butterflies in my apartment. I also placed a few packages ready to be shipped out and some mail resting on my parquet floors.



Close-ups

Again the final rendering, 15X11". I hope you enjoyed my process in which "an image" sparked a painting.

May everyone have a delightful weekend!

Au revoir

~Miss Kris~

Our Beloved "Southern Accents" Top Kitchens

Hi Everyone~If you haven't already heard that Southern Accents is going away, it is! :( !!!

That was a "WHAT" moment for myself, when I read it over at Joni's blog, Cote de Texas a few weeks ago.

Yes, I'm sure for all it was "IT JUST CAN'T BE"! So I thought I would reminisce and share with you some of their top kitchens...oooo...just breathtaking! Enjoy!

All images courtesy of Southern Accents

The things I loved about Southern Accents was not only the eloquent interiors but it mixed in a little southern charm. It was sometimes country, sometimes it was modern, really no matter what direction it took...somehow... it always took me AWAY. It was my little escape! In the last few months though, when Southern Accents changed their covers to a new and different format. I have to say I was a little disappointed and the stories were a bit lacking for me. I sorta was starting to think that I was going to let my subscription run out before I started thinking about renewing it.

Now, that it is going, I sure will miss it...won't you?

Au Revoir!

~Miss Kris~

New Exhibit at Versailles

Hi Everyone ~ Versailles has opened up once again to another contemporary art event this fall.

Last year's event was with Jeff Koon and this fall, Xavier Veilhan is installing several new sculptures around the grounds. This contemporary event last thru December 13th.

This sculpture is called "The Large Carriage". I Love IT!!! I love the contrast of the purple sharp angled lines against the Beautiful Chateau.

Hmmm...perhaps I should check airline prices???

Xox's

~Miss Kris~

Some pretties for you ALL!!!

Hi Everyone, Today I am LOVING this image. So inspirational!!!

When I first found this image I took out my sketch pad and went crazy...hours went by! I was Dreaming of a little French Marie Antoinette Playroom! Oooo...this playroom would of course have a pretty soft DREAMY carousel in it and beautiful animals dressed up for the princess. A pretty Marie Antoinette walking down a stone path and maybe a LOVELY chateau in the background or perhaps La Hameau? I think I would even paint a garden...Oooo the flowers I could paint! The colours!

Well...I'll let my mind wonder in this Delight later.

Somewhere in my Marie Antoinette Playroom I would have to have some of this Pretty writing...perhaps somewhere on the carousel. I just LOVE this writing, reminds me of Love Letters. Also, I will need some flying butterflies with sprinkling twinkles coming off their wings. Little touches of magic!

This image makes my mouth water! Yum!


How about some macaroons for you all?




If I could invite you ALL to my make-believe playroom, I of course would pour you each a flute! (or 2) :)

May you Pretties have a BEAUTIFUL DAY!!!

Xox's
~Miss Kris~

Twinkles in the sky...tonight

(image courtesy of lilidebretagne flickr)

Hello...Yes, please do come in!

I have lots of treasures to seek out.

Old and used robin's egg books

&

Very pretty painted pieces.

Quilted covers

&

Vintage Mirrors

Beautiful Art

&

Pretty chandeliers.

Tiny touches are throughout here.

Today I am loving everything in soft bleus, greens, ivories, and touches of gold. Wouldn't you like to stay here?


Tonight I will be up top, outside, enchanted by the meteor shower. Look out to Cassiopeia constellation in the northeast sky (looks like a "W") and perhaps you'll be able to see lots of twinkles.
Xox's
~Miss Kris~