Sugarhill Gang - Hot Hot Summer Day

This is such a feel good classic and it goes great with the weather. I included Theo Parrish's version from 2003 as well. Though the re-edit goes quite far from the original it keeps the Roy Ayers-ish summer groove to it and it the edit goes heavy on one of my all time favorite Sugarhill lines: Freak Freak Da Funk Funk Funk Da Freak Da The Funk Funk Fuuunk.

Sugarhill Gang - Hot Hot Summer Day [320 kbps, DivShare]

Sugarhill Gang - Hot Hot Summer Day (Theo Parrish Re-Edit) [320 kbps, DivShare]

The Dells - Adventure (No Way Back Pt. 2)

Two massive disco edits from the masters themselves. Ron Hardy and DJ Harvey have done quite similar edits of The Dell's amazing tune Adventure (No Way Back Pt. 2). The original cut and a couple of other tunes by The Dells were used as a soundtrack for Fred Williamson's great blaxploitation movie No Way Back and released in 1976 on The Dell's hard to find album No Way Back.

Ron Hardy edited and played his version before Harvey did his version though I don't think that's the point here or with other disco edits. Of course Ron Hardy deserves credit for his innovative edit but in the end most of the credit from great edits should go to the original artists, in this case The Dells.

I don't know for sure if Ron Hardy's edit has been officially released before his nephew put out the Muzic Box Classics in 2007. The version I'm sharing is taken from an unofficial German release a few years back (2004). Harvey's edit is taken from the first release of Black Cock Records (1993).

Oh, almost forgot to mention that Ugly Edits Vol. 5 features Theo Parrish's edit of No Way Back. It's not on the same level with these two but still good.

The Dells - Adventure (No Way Back Pt. 2) [320 kbps, DivShare]

The Dells - No Way Back (Ron Hardy Re-edit) [320 kbps, DivShare]

Mytic Slot - No Way Back [320 kbps, DivShare]

Michael Wycoff - Looking Up To You

The Revenge's massive slow-mo house rework of Michael Wycoff's rare groove classic Looking Up To You was in heavy rotation in 2009 and now it's finally on vinyl thanks to MCDE, the finest label of the scene. The flipside of the release features a remix of the rework by Grooveman Spot but I have to say that this version isn't exactly my cup of tea but thanks to the nicely teasing, looped out killer a-side, this 12" is a must have. Go get your copy from a quality record store.

The original cut might be on many rare groove compilation rips circulating the web but just in case it isn't, here's a good quality rip for you to get your swing on.

Michael Wycoff - Looking Up To You [320 kbps, DivShare]

Tiger & Woods - Gin Nation

The ethics and the usefulness of disco edits has been a trending topic on a couple of forums for a while. This is probably due to the fact that there are tons of edits around and the ones pressed on vinyl are selling pretty well and the producers/DJs behind these edits are able to make some name for themselves.

I've been following these conversations for quite a while and I have to say that I find the question of usefulness or originality of disco edits somewhat redundant. If it's a good piece of music that sounds great and makes people dance, it doesn't matter whether it's the original or a re-edit. Certainly there's lots of weak, quickly done Ableton edits that should have never been released on wax but on the other hand I have found so much great, obscure music thanks to solid edits.

All in all a duel between the original and a re-edit is quite useless. Original disco era and modern disco edits are two different genres from two different eras and both have their pearls but it's also good to remember that the bulk of releases in both genres sucks so it's all about finding the good cuts and enjoying them to the max.

Enough with my chitchat. Let the music speak for itself. Gin Nation is a big disco/house edit found from Tiger & Woods' second release Caddy Shag EP (2009).

Tiger & Woods - Gin Nation [320 kbps, DivShare]

And here's the original masterpiece in case you weren't sure of the original and/or would like to do a comparison. Too bad the quality of all YouTube clips of Music And Lights is so low.

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]

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]

Earth Wind & Fire - Runnin' (Danny Krivit Re-Edit)

Here's a great EW&F edit by Danny Krivit that I've been playing a lot lately. This originally deleted edit was released in Japan by Sony in 2004 and as a white label 12" in the UK a year later. I like the way Mr. K. has taken down the tempo just a bit and how he lets the beat ride. I love the original but the more laid back way of things here brings out the bass line nicely. Sweet!

Earth Wind & Fire - Runnin' (Danny Krivit Re-Edit) [320 kbps, DivShare]

Jill Scott House Remixes

I posted a couple of Kenny Dope's Jill Scott remixes back in September but those links are dead. Since the tunes were requested so kindly I re-upped them but I added a nice white label Jill Scott house remix by Bush so that I would have something new to offer. Enjoy!

Jill Scott - Interlude (Bush Remix) [320 kbps, direct link]

Jill Scott - Golden (Kenny Dope Official Remix) [320 kbps, direct link]

Jill Scott - Not Like Crazy (Kenny Dope Crazy Woo Remix) [320 kbps, direct link]

Top 8 of 2008

Lists are always fun to make but many times I end up forgetting something obvious from the lists and it drives me crazy. We'll see what I forgot this time.

I didn't buy a lot of new releases last year but anyways I picked eight albums and eight singles that first came to my mind as the strongest ones released in 2008. Thanks for 2008. Hopefully 2009 will be even better.

Albums

1. Menahan Street Band - Make The Road By Walking

2. Raphael Saadiq - The Way I See It

3. Q-Tip - The Renaissance

4. Hercules And Love Affair - Hercules And Love Affair

5. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes

6. The Five Corners Quintet - Hot Corner

7. Erykah Badu - New Amerykah

8. El Michels Affair - Sounding Out The City (Digi-LP)

Singles

1. Menahan Street Band - Make The Road By Walking

2. DJ Mujava - Township Funk

3. Mayer Hawthorne & The County - Just Ain't Gonna Work Out

4. Marvin Gaye - What's Going On (DJ Day Edit)

5. Bounce Camp - Big Dancin

6. The Bladerunnners - Champ (Club Mix)

7. Estelle - Come Over (only the version without Sean Paul will do)

8. Erykah Bady - Honey (DJ Day Edit)

Since two great edits by DJ Day made their way to the list, I'll share his latest and greatest edit so far.

Marvin Gaye - What's Going On (DJ Day Edit) [320 kbps, DivShare]

Gwen Guthrie appreciation

During the last couple of weeks I've been really feeling Gwen Guthrie's solo material so I decided to devote a post to her. I should devote this post also to Larry Levan's mixing and Sly & Robbie's production because those are the key elements that make these tunes excellent.

It Should Have Been You (Larry Levan Mix) - Gwen Guthrie [320 kbps, zShare]

Padlock (Larry Levan Mix) - Gwen Guthrie [320 kbps, zShare]

Seventh Heaven (Larry Levan) - Gwen Guthrie [320 kbps, zShare]

Ain't Nothin' Goin' On But The Rent (Larry Levan Mix) - Gwen Guthrie [320 kbps, zShare]

These two songs are courtesy of DJ U-Tern. The first one is a great edit of this one and the second one is a banging blend.

Peanut Butter (DJ U-Tern Edit) - Gwen Guthrie [320 kbps, zShare]

Gwen Guthrie vs. Daft Punk (Club Version) - DJ U-Tern [320 kbps, zShare]

Jill Scott - Golden (Kenny Dope Official Remix)

I love Jill Scott and I admire Kenny Dope so when you put these two together you'll have to end up with something extraordinary. And you do; this Dopewax 12" features amazing Kenny Dope remixes of Golden and Not Like Crazy. The record came out in 2005 but it still feels fresh. Original versions of these two songs are from Jill Scott's album Beautifully Human.

Jill Scott - Golden (Kenny Dope Official Remix) [320 kbps, zShare]

Jill Scott - Not Like Crazy (Kenny Dope Crazy Woo Mix) [320 kbps, zShare]

Lil Louis - Y U Fall (Moton Edit)

Moton Records is known for their eclectic and obscure re-edits. The quality of the edits is always impressive but the legality of the releases is dubious. The one I'm posting today is an edit of Lil Louis & The World's house anthem I Called (Why'd U Fall). The song builds up quite a while but it's worth the wait. I just love the moment when the horns come on top of that fat bass line.

Lil Louis - Y U Fall (Moton Edit) [320 kbps]

Michael Jackson - Rock With You remixed

There's loads of remixes of this classic out there but in my opinion these two are the best ones. What's special about these edits is that they contain unreleased vocals and ad-libs not heard on the album version. This is because Masters At Work and Frankie Knuckles both had access to the original master tapes of the song while doing their remixes.

Michael Jackson - Rock With You (Masters At Work Remix) [320 kbps, zShare]

Michael Jackson - Rock With You (Frankie's Favorite Club Mix) [320 kbps, zShare]