Buried treasure #6 - McCartney II (LP) - Paul McCartney

A couple of years ago, Gilles Peterson started one of his Worldwide shows (the one with Bugz in the Attic) with a strange and quirky electronic tune called Check my machines, which he took from the b-side of the Paul McCartney's Waterfalls single. Flashforward to a couple of weeks ago, when I listened to a recording of the show. I immediately started searching for a single and by accident I found out that the song is also featured on the remastered full cd.

I received the cd a couple of days ago, and I just can't stop listening to the best tracks on it. Half of the tracks are typical McCartney songs, but the tracks in which he goes all experimental are bloody amazing. The bizarre Temporary Secretary you might already know from the remix the mighty RadioSlave did some years ago. But even better are the new wavish Darkroom, the quirky funk of Check my machines and the trippy Secret Friend.

I couldn't help but mess around with the tracks and these are the results.

Buried treasure #4+5: ADTDC - DJ Q/Glasgow Jazz (Derrick Carter remix)

In 1997-1998, I started to get a new interest in house music. A couple of years before, I had discovered the Music Man shop in Ghent, and had lost my heart to Detroit techno. I still remember the excitement when buying those first Carl Craig & Derrick May 12 inches. Even though they had been released years before, they still sounded like the future. And gradually I lost interest in house. Until Filter Records released DJ Q's We are one EP, which featured a Carl Craig remix. This C2 remix was the reason why I picked it up without even listening to it. And when I came home I was blown away by it and the original version. I picked up all other DJ Q releases on Filter and Glasgow Underground during the next years.
The amazing thing about these tracks is that they still sound as fresh as ever. We are one is still an anthem, obviously, but lately I've been playing out Derrick Carter's remix of Glasgow Jazz (Delirious EP, Filter 031) a lot. It has this typical minimalistic Carter groove that is just so enormously funky and very atmospheric keys.
And today, I stumbled across DJ Q's excellent Twentyfour7even LP (Filter, 2000). For some reason it had ended up in the wrong spot in my collection. I put it on the turntables and ADTDC (A dedication to Derrick Carter) really stood out: a simple yet funky groove and those typical Carter horns on top of them (remember Theme from Blue Cucaracha?). Excellent stuff.

Chill it! mix

Tracklist

Gee - Beach Boys
I put a spell on you - Nina Simone
Give me your love - Curtis Mayfield
Walk on by - Isaac Hayes
2 Wicky - Hooverphonic
Les professionels / All I need - Air
Tsunami / Back to live (acapella) - Sven Van Hees/Soul II Soul
Think Twice - Detroit Experiment
Rose Rouge - St Germain
Ugh - Mr Scruff
Bird's Lament - Moondog
Breaking away (Koop remix) - Shaun Escoffery
Sycamore Trees - Jimmy Scott & Angelo Badalamenti
In Dreams - Roy Orbison

Keep it slow - Low Motion Disco

Some time ago, I was raving about the first split double 12" of Low Motion Disco on Belgian imprint Eskimo. A couple of weeks ago, the dreamy Things are gonna get easier was released and now their debut album Keep it slow is finally up for grabs. Whenever a group has released two amazing singles, chances are big that you're gonna be disappointed when the full album finally drops. But even after just 1 listen, I can guarantee you: disappoint you or bore you, this album will not. Okay, you could call it balearic but this album proves that's not necessarily a negative thing. Whereas most eerie and slow paced music tends to lose you as a listener after a couple of minutes (remember those ambient doodlings of the nineties?), this album keeps you interested at all times. What's even more, the slower the songs, the more they grab you with the (proverbial) balls. Listen to The low murderer is out at night and you'll know what I'm talking about: hard yet slow drums, a spooky atmosphere and something that sounds like a Neil Young sample (my guess is Down by the river). Totally amazing song!

The fact that those good people at Eskimo have included a cd (with extra tracks!) together with the vinyl version, makes this a must buy.

PS Check their Myspace on www.myspace.com/lowmotiondisco and their own blog on http://lowmotiondisco.wordpress.com/ (featuring some mixes and other stuff). Essential!

Buried treasure #3 - Over & Over (12" version) - Sylvester

Now and then you come across a song that you wished would go on forever. For me, this song by Sylvester is one of them, even though it's almost ten minutes long. Normally these songs are heavily edited on artist compilations, but thank god the one responsible for the Star compilation put it on there in all it's 9 minute and 23 second-glory.

I first heard it on François K's Choice compilation (well-worth every penny if you can still find it) for Azuli. It immediately blew my mind with it's sweeping violins and this incredible break that builds and builds untill it explodes.

Only recently, I made the effort to have a look at the credits and found out it were Ashord & Simpson who penned this marvellous tune, which probably explains why it has such a moving melody.

I think I own at least three copies by now. For some reason I always have to buy a copy whenever I see it.