Category Archives: french house

Shake and Wham…..and Stardust

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So today’s St. Patrick’s Day. Whoop dee fucking doo. I will quote my mom on this one: “I don’t need one day to remind me I’m fucking Irish.” Seriously. She actually said that to me once about ten or so years ago. So I’m not posting any bullshit Dropkick Murphy’s garbage. Or the Pogues. Or U2. Or any of the other myriad of Irish bands. I want to just post some music I like, and make all of you guys happy folks.

So instead, I’m going to post more dance stuff. Why? To torture you. It’s a lot of fun. And besides, I need something to put me in a good mood. As an aside, I spent the better part of yesterday at a wake for a man that bartended at a joint I spent many Sunday nights at and even DJ’ed at a handful of times. And oddly enough, the man was Irish, to boot. So what did we all do afterwards? We collectively drank our faces off at the pub this man frequented. It was certainly what he would have wanted. If you all would like to read about him, this link here is a nice write-up on Mr. Kevin Armitage. The turnout for his wake was unbelievable and the positive spin was that I got to meet many new friends and hang with and do my best to support those that knew Mr. Armitage better than I did. A positive can indeed be found in the down times. You just have to look.

Anyhow, today I wanted to post a couple of tracks I’ve had on the backburner for a while. They’re both dance tunes. And basically are bootlegs. The first is one I heard a year or two back during a Derrick Carter set that was simply titled “Shake and Wham” and was a mash-up of sorts of Green Velvet’s “Shake and Pop” and Wham’s “Everything She Wants”. It took me a while to track this one down, but I found it up online and it looks like a cat by the name of Awoke, who seems to have a very intermittent number of releases. Considering he has a release on Classic Music, it’s no wonder that Derrick was playing this. And be honest folks – this shit is hotness. So enjoy.

Download Green Velvet VS Wham – Shake and Wham

Next is a really dirty electro version of Stardust’s “Music Sounds Better With You” that I have to be honest about – I dig this! There have been plenty of folks that have posted this, but let’s be honest here. I know my shit when it comes to dance music. It ain’t a fad for me. So trust me when I say that this is worth at least a listen. If you’re up for some more Stardust, check out the post I made with other Stardust stuff. This one is made by a guy that goes by The Living Graham Bond – TLGB for short. Not bad shit here. Short, sweet, and to the point. Gotta love that. So go on. Love it.

Download Stardust – Music Sounds Better With You (TLGB Remix)

Again, considering the circumstances, I have to devote this week’s column to the late Mr. Armitage and to his family and friends. There was one memory in particular I have where I played at the Phoenix Landing for Randy Deshaies, and his Marz Entertainment crew, and after this one set, Kevin approached me about a track early on that was a Police bootleg of “The World Is Running Down” and I regret to say I never got him a proper copy of that track. The brevity of things means I couldn’t get an MP3 of it right now, but it will be coming for you guys. Now? Go buy some stuff. I don’t want to have to send a midget in a leprechaun outfit after you.

Daft Punk bootie here…..

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Yes, it’s a bootleg. I ripped this one from my personal collection. The B Side does have a lot of pops in it, so be warned. Thing is, I like the pops and hissing from vinyl. It creates a much warmer feel to the music. Unless it causes skips. Because there’s hell to pay, then.

Anyhow, this is a bootleg I picked up god knows when. Probably in 2001. If you want it on wax? Here is a link for you all. This is a bootleg of Daft Punk’s “One More Time”. I can still remember where I was when I first heard this. October of 2000, and I went to the event Monster Massive out in L.A., and Armand Van Helden started his set off with this. Ridiculous. To see probably fifteen to twenty thousand kids go nuts was surreal.

That said, the track hasn’t died off in popularity much at all. This is a DJ friendly bootleg, with the B Side tossing in this random vocals saying “Alright, alright, back to your stations.” Not sure why. Fuck it. A good bootie for you all if you’re a die-hard collector of their stuff. I’d only rate it a 7 out of 10, because it does get repetitive, and I feel that if it had used more of the original song’s vocals, it would have cut down on this.

Download and enjoy!

[Download Daft Punk – One More Time (Bootleg White Label mix – Side A)]

[Download Daft Punk – One More Time (Bootleg White Label mix – Side B)]

And since these are bootlegs, I’ll just say to go buy the authentic product. Because you’re awesome if you do.

Since it’s the holidays, how about some gifts!

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So I fully had the intention of tracking down a bunch of my Jess and Crabbe records for this post. I’ve got six or seven of them. Anything from all three of their “Tribute” volumes to “The Big Booya EP” and more. Well, digging through all my records, I found a ton of stuff I just got so excited about. Not least of which was the one George spoke of in Monday’s post, which is Jackson & His Computer Band’s “Sense Juice EP”. So today, I will still be posting a Jess and Crabbe cut, but I have plenty of other tracks in store. All are in the vein of house music, so just kick back and enjoy. If you’re somehow averse to house music? Well, just imagine being in a nightclub when this stuff is coming much louder and you’re surrounded by people who are just out for a good time!

First up is Jess and Crabbe. These two dudes from France make some great shit! This one if off the EP “The Hell and Back”, and is the title track. If you want to know where the sample comes from? It’s from a hip-hop group called Da Youngstas, and the track samples is “Iz U Wit Me”. I actually had that groups first album. That’s me showing my age, obviously. So here’s Jess and Crabbe’s “The Hell and Back”.

[Download Jess & Crabbe – The Hell and Back]

Next up are two tracks from a mix CD by Cevin Fisher (Dangerous Disco, the Adventures of Double O Cevin) I heard about ten years ago. There were two tracks that stood out – The Avenue’s “I Am (Filthy Rich’s own mix)” and Agent Purple’s “Kings of Spain (Mandrax Lower East dub)”. I somehow found two copies of the first record over the years (hell, I think I may have three, but that just shows you how much I love this song!), and I just recently came across a copy of the triple-pack unmixed vinyl of Fisher’s album, so I got both of these stellar tracks.

[Download The Avenue – I Am (Filthy Rich’s Own mix)]

[Download Agent Purple – Kings of Spain (Mandrax Lower East dub)]

Next up is the aforementioned Jackson and His Computer Band track. I first heard it on Lo-Fidelity Allstars contribution to the “On The Floor at the Boutique” series. It’s called “Makin’ It Happen” and good lord is it funky and just a stomper of a track! Just enjoy it!

[Download Jackson & His Computer Band – Makin’ It Happen]

The last two are classics. Two tracks that just make me love life and the fact that somehow I have managed to stay alive and kickin’. Terrence Parker is a fucking legend. If you don’t know soulful house, please do yourself a favor and look this guy up. This is certainly more my end of the spectrum, as he focuses more on the disco element with “Your Love”, but regardless, his stuff is awesome. “Your Love” has a backstory, of sorts, also. Problem is? I can’t find the story! Instead of even attempting to tell it, I will hope someone is nice enough to read this and explain. Story does go that it was dedicated to a late Detroit DJ and friend of Parker’s, but that’s as far as I will take it.

[Download Terrence Parker – Your Love]

And yes, I said I had two classics. Ever heard of South Street Player? Most people haven’t. What about Roland Clark? Maybe? Well, he did vocals on Armand Van Helden’s “Flowerz” and has been around for quite some time. He does the vocals on South Street Player’s “(Who?) Keeps Changin’ Your Mind” and to top that off? A video featuring the song, also. Some classic ’80’s breakin’. Not sure how it all ties in, but I figure if I start thinking too hard about it, my nose will start bleeding, and next thing I know, I’ll be in my 50’s and just waking up out of a coma.

[Download South Street Player – (Who?) Keeps Changin’ Your Mind]

And yes, this is where I tell you to buy this music! Hey, I did! So should you! And hell, for 99 cents a song at some places? It’s well worth it!

More of the French! Viva la stupid arguments!

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How important is an argument about a band? Well, it ranks right around watching paint dry, in my opinion. I got quite a testy response when talking about the fad-driven band MGMT, recently. Which made me wonder why people get so snippy about something so awesome as music. We’re all snobs to a degree with our music. We all hate certain bands, or certain types of music. Instead of saying, “This band sucks!”, I think what would be more appropriate would be, “This just isn’t my cup of tea.” And I hate tea! The site here isn’t intended to not be inclusive with our music choices. And the debate with these two hipsters – who are right now probably shopping at an Urban Outfitters and lamenting the state of a band only six months ago they went apeshit for – made me realize this even more clearly.

So to go in a complete one-eighty of such trivial and banal bullshit? I head back the way of the music I started in on last week. The French pop sound. And with that awesomely long-winded introduction, I give you Benjamin Diamond. Benjamin Diamond? Who the fuck is that? Rhetorical question, mind you. Diamond was the head of Diamond Traxx, and possibly best known for his stellar vocals on the seminal cut “Music Sounds Better With You”. He’s essentially the Prince of France, and deservedly so!

Stardust was the trio that featured Diamond on vocals, as well as Thomas Bangaltar (from Daft Punk) and Alan Braxe. Braxe would later release cuts like “Vertigo” and the EP Intro with the help of Fred Falke. Unfortunately, his latest efforts have been dull and uninspiring, but he did help with this cut, and we’re certainly thankful for that! Below I’ve brought you all the original mix, but as a little gift, I’m also featuring the DJ Sneak 32 on Red Mix. This is possibly my favorite DJ Sneak remix job, as it served admirably on its own in house sets of mine, as well as a great DJ tool record.

Stardust – Music Sounds Better With You (Radio Edit)

Stardust – Music Sounds Better With You (DJ Sneak 32 on Red Mix)

Well Diamond has had a solo career for close to ten years, now, and he’s just released a new album. Here, I’ll be featuring the track “Little Scare” off of his debut album Strange Attitude, along with the song “Baby’s On Fire” from his latest effort, Cruise Control. Viva la French pop!

Benjamin Diamond – Baby’s On Fire

[Download Benjamin Diamond – Babys On Fire]

Benjamin Diamond – Little Scare

And again, please do buy some of these! It helps to go a long way in helping us bring you this awesome stuff!


That French sound still sounds good!

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So the French sound seems to have permeated the airwaves again! Justice came practically out of nowhere to become the new French electronica darlings, a la Daft Punk. Well, the sound isn’t limited to people born in France. You can ask our wonderful blog owner himself how much of the stuff I used to play while DJing! And I actually still have quite a bit of it lying around, too! May have to update you all with some slick French house one of these weeks!

Well, today, the post is dedicated to that heavily filtered sound and a band that’s beginning to make a few waves. They’re Thieves Like Us, and they just recently released their first full-length album, called Play Music. The best way to describe the sound will need some explanation. The band’s name is the title of an old New Order track. So it’s no real surprise that the sound seems to meld some elements of New Order with the French House sound – albeit at a lower BPM, many times.

The result is a sound that just sounds calming, yet makes you want to dance a bit. The single making a lot of noise right now is the second cut off of Play Music, titled “Drugs In My Body”. Along with the original, I’ve also included a remix done by a a duo of…well….sort of strange dudes that go by the name of Designer Drugs. I can’t knock strange. I am, also. It’s more fun that way, anyhow.

Thieves Like Us – Drugs In My Body

Thieves Like Us – Drugs In My Body (Designer Drugs remix)

And there’s even a video for such a wonderful tune! Check it out!

And for those who – for some reason unknown – haven’t been exposed to the Daft Punk I knew and loved back in 1996? Here are two tunes. It was off of their landmark album Homework, which still gets love from many out there, and rightfully so!

And if you are also up for a little house music on the deeper and more soulful edge? A friend of mine who I’ve known for right around 12 years now here in Boston has a site that’s dedicated to house music in it’s most pure form. DJ Bruno has been doing his thing here in Boston for twenty years, and I owe a lot to him, to be honest! So if you get a second, please make a visit to Utopia Boston Radio! If you’re ever in Boston? Please do send me an e-mail. As you can see from all of us, music is our lifeblood, and we love to share!

One final note! I am still digging through some contributions. I will be doing many of these in the final two blogs this months, as a sort of round-up of what to look for in 2009! So thank you for your patience!

And please, shell out those duckets! Buy a little of the aforementioned music, so these guys can keep bringing you more of the good stuff!