THE NEW YEAR IS HERE.

Ok.
It's all over, We can breathe a sigh of relief now, Normality is upon us once more now the Xmas season has past.
It was a nice one, But i could certainly do without all the debt, stress, falseness, overcrowded bars & streets and disappointment.


Phew. Rant over.


Thought i'd share some bits with you i picked up over the Xmas holidays here in London and up in sunny Manchester, There was alot of good raves on over the holidays, I was lucky enough to have caught the mighty Mark Seven of www.juswax.com (Big up the Cosmic disco and Cutloose boys in Manchester) and DFA's Tim Sweeney and Italian DJ god Daniele Baldelli at Horse meat disco's NYE bash (Big up James, Jim, Seve, Luke, Ali & Adrian) On the local tip we had our very own "Special Needs" NYE bash which was a total banger which will eventually become the stuff of legend !!
All these parties rocked and the good vibes were abundant with both London & Manchester proving they know their onions when it comes to a good knees up.
Quality.





www.juswax.com's Mark Seven @ Cosmic disco/Cutloose Manchester 27.12.2008 (Photo by Antonio Velasquez)





Horse Meat Disco's James Hillard @ Cargo London 31.12.2008 (No pics of Tim or Daniele because by that point i couldn't see straight.B)(Photo by Bobby Hands)


TREATS!
Some bits i unearthed over the holidays, When i should really have been saving my money for Xmas presents i spent it ALL on records. SORRY to my Mrs & my family.


Mouzon's Electric Band - "Everybody get down"





Picked this one up in Manchester for a measly £4 and it was in mint condition .. What a bargain! Wicked almost "proto-house" groove from celebrated jazz drummer Alphonse Mouzon, Made famous by DFA's James Murphy & Pat Mahoney on their Fabric live mix.
A surefire dancefloor monster ...


James Mason - "Sweet power, your embrace"





Finally copped a copy of this killer rare groover on 12" on my birthday, Absolute classic, Recently heard a mad cut up - edit - cover version type thing of this by none other than LA's own Peanut butter wolf (Who knows his boogie) Check his Myspace to hear it, It's called "Umbrellas" ft Free Design, I dug it. And you might too ...


Hot Chocolate - "Disco Queen"





What the fuck? ANOTHER good Hot Chocolate record? I'd never heard of this LP by them "Cicero Park" and to be honest i was suckered in by the sleeve, I mean, Come on .. It's fresh. They're a band who keep giving, I've got around 10-12 tracks of theirs that i'm really into ... Of course you got "Mindless Boogie" etc ... And on this LP i found 2 more, Namely - "Disco queen" & "Bump & dilly down" ...
Of course when you listen to them they're blatantly Hot Chocolate, But i like that ... Watch out for the Bobby Hands edit in 2009 ...


Al Dimeola - "Sequencer"





This is a wicked track, Had me and a couple of friends stumped for a wee while when we heard it on a DJ Cosmo mix, I was well shocked when i found out it was Al Dimeola of Prog-Fusion-Jazzers Return to forever (Alongside Stanley clark & Chick corea amongst others), Very much in the Baldelli - Loda - Cosmic vein and not a bad touch for £1, recently sampled by Ashley Beedle and Mark Ralph for their track "Ride this train" - http://www.discogs.com/release/1123221 which is actually really quite good.
How good is the video by the way??? Class ...


The Bombers - "Don't stop the music"





Sorry about the crap vid .. Shame really, Killer record, Big up Heavy-J for giving me this as a birthday gift, Absolutely chuffed ... Thanks mate !!
Another Westend killer, First heard this on a Baldelli mix, NYE 1978 (Thanks James!), Percussive disco with some serious afro leanings, Gives way to a seriously Santana-ish guitar solo .. Great stuff .. Don't stop the music ..