It’s not every day that you stumble across music gold in the bargain bin of a record store but every once and a while you discover something that just can’t be topped. Many moons ago i purchased Chromeo’s debut LP for a mere .99 cents, totally unaware of the love that would prevail, i also curiously picked up another album for the same price simply titled ‘Action Figure Party‘ wrapped in poorly printed sleeve art but, to my surprise, it turned out to be 12 tracks of some the most amazing jazz fusion. Action Figure Party is the brain child of Greg Kurstin, he pulled together a few of his talented friends to record this funk odyssey including Flea on bass and Jose Pasillas (Incubus) on drums. So the moral of the story is; never walk past the bargain bin at your local record store again without having a quick browse.
MP3: ACTION FIGURE PARTY - ACTION FIGURE PARTY
MP3: ACTION FIGURE PARTY - GAMERA
Ghostland Observatory are an extremely creative two-piece hailing from Austin, Texas. Their synth/funk 2006 album ‘Paparazzi Lightning‘ gave birth to the cult classic Sad, Sad City, but it was the final track on the release that stood out for me. These guys are perfectly suited to perform for a bunch of wannabe hippies at a huge outdoor festival. Like, woah!
MP3: GHOSTLAND OBSERVATORY - MIDNIGHT VOYAGE
Depth Charge has just released his latest EP titled ‘Mecha Squirrel‘ and it’s a total head trip yet technically brilliant. The track ‘Shy’ begins with what sounds like a delusional Mad Hatter character and continues it’s mis-guided journey into madness - that is until the 2.00 minute mark, when the craziness stops and the 808’s drop. I highly recommend the complete package - Juno.
MP3: DEPTH CHARGE - SHY
The following are a few newer releases from some favourites like Ilija Rudman, 40 Thieves, Pete Herbert jazzing up an old Harry Thurman classic and Joakim adding the dub touch to Poni Hoax.
MP3: ARTHUR RUSSELL INTERPRETATION ‘09 - WAX THE VAN (ILIJA RUDMAN REMIX)
MP3: MORTEN SORENSON - START SOMETHING (40 THIEVES REMIX)
MP3: PETE HERBERT - UNDERDUB
MP3: PONI HOAX - BUDAPEST (JOAKIM ITALO DUB)
These are straight from the vault…
MP3: ANN MARGRET - EVERYBODY NEEDS SOMEBODY SOMETIME (PART 2)
MP3: BOEING - DANCE ON THE BEAT (DRUNK MIX)
MP3: DISCO SPACESHIP - DISCO SPACESHIP (VOCAL MIX)
I’m going to sign off ‘Valley Style‘ with some 1983 hip-hop from T-Ski Valley in the form of ‘Billy Jean‘. I also suggest tracking down the ‘Dim & Mousse T’s Old School Mix’ of Catch the Beat which adds a health amount of ‘flava’ to the original.
MP3: T-SKI VALLEY - BILLY JEAN (VALLEY STYLE)
MP3: T-SKI VALLEY - CATCH THE BEAT
This masterpiece from 1977 was brought to my attention during the week. Don’t let the name throw you, it’s undeniably ahead of its time. (Thanks to Hunt!)
MP3: THE SEEBACH BAND - BUBBLE SEX
