Sometimes Brooklyn/sometimes Michigan producer Elk mixes pet sounds, tropical pop, sound effects and 60s soul on 'Volleyball', the first track taken from the forthcoming debut album 'Let's Get Married'. The bedroom recorded, self released album follows up his 'Honey Range' EP which is currently available for free download on Bandcamp.
I holidayed in San Diego last month and checked out precisely 0% local music. If Raw Moans are anything to go by I should have invested more time as their beautifully slow motion 'lectro-soul is one of my favourite new discoveries. 'Rose Bath' is featured on their 'We Want It Beautiful Not Real' double CDR out now and they're also featured on the 'ISVOLT' limited edition tour LP which you can pick up when they play The Den in London on 6th December
'Limit To Your Love' is one of the tracks that's behind the hype justifiably surrounding James Blake. In a rare clubbing excursion I caught him deejaying at XOYO a few weeks back, which was quite a sonic experience. Released 8th November, this is the first track to be taken from his forthcoming 2011 debut album.
Knitting Factory Records release their third set of reissues by Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti this week. Spanning 1976-1980 the titles are Zombie, Upside Down/Music of Many Colours, Stalemate/Fear Not For Man, Opposite People/Sorrow, Tears and Blood, Shuffering & Shmiling/No Agreement) and V.I.P./ Authority Stealing.
On their self-titled debut album, Quadron flip the future RnB sound of Sa-Ra, Plantinum Pied Pipers et al with Motown influences and a familiar Danish pop aesthetic that recalls the much underrated Benny Sings. Single 'Pressure' accentuates the Motown feel to excellent memory jogging effect.
I'm playing records at this night with some of my favourite people: funk trio The Baker Brothers, "the greatest band in the world" Talc and the legend that is Dom Servini. Its in support of The Baker Bros new album 'Avid Sounds', which features versions of some of their (and mine as it happens) favourite songs including: Fly Like An Eagle, Family Tree, Shack Up, Street Player...and more!
"Remixes from Morgan Geist and Quiet Village" is the type of subject header that makes me take notice. New artist Jonathan Jeremiah has both provide sterling versions of his forthcoming single 'Happiness' out 2nd Nov on Rosario Records, which also features the wonderful Heritage Orchestra. Geist opts for Yacht-friendly smoothness while QV evoke long forgotten memories of summer (with the help of a sun bed and a copy of 'Sounds of the Ocean Vol 4') with a beautifully string drenched mix.
Richard Swift's new album 'The Atlantic Ocean' is released in the UK next week. The blue-eyed soul of 'Lady Luck' is the best track on it and luckily its also available for free from Secretly Canadian's website.
Proper Songs is throwing a party on the 15th August at The Boogaloo (AS IF YOU DIDN'T KNOW) so here's a mix of songs - Proper Big Ones - we may or may not play...but you get the gist.
1. R. Dean Taylor 'There's A Ghost In My House' (Motown) 2. Anita Harris 'The Clapping Song' (CBS) 3. The Phenomenal Handclap Band '15 to 20' (Tummy Touch) 4. Talking Heads 'Psycho Killer' (Sire) 5. America 'Horse With No Name' [Todd Terje aka Wade Nichols Edit] (Warner Brothers) 6. Roxy Music 'Love Is The Drug' [Proper Songs Reedit] (Island) 7. David Bowie 'Lets Dance' (EMI) 8. Fleetwood Mac 'Little Lies' (Warner Brothers) 9. Anita Ward 'Ring My Bell' (TK Records) 10. Orange Juice 'Rip It Up' (Polydor) 11. George McCrae 'I Get Lifted' (TK Records) 12. Booker T & the MGs 'Green Onions' (Stax) 13. The Stranglers 'Peaches' (EMI) 14. Dent May & His Magnificent Ukelele 'You Can't Force A Dance Party' (Paw Tracks)
What with Proper Songs HQ still not having the 'net since moving (though we're not homeless now) and to make up for the absence of a podcast this month, here is a 1 hour 'Off The Grid' mix straight off the old vinyl - snaps, crackles and pops at no extra cost.
01. Dion - Daddy Rollin' (Decca) 02. Bonnie Koloc - Don't Leave Me (Ovation) 03. Francoise Hardy - Le Temps De L'Amour (PYE) 04. Fleetwood Mac - Hypnotized (Reprise) 05. Lalo Shifron - Quite Village (CTI) 06. Madlib - Elements For Mr Crabfeather (Stones Throw) 07. Lark - Hatbox [The Bees Version] (Care In The Community) 08. Donovan - Teen Angel (PYE) 09. Neotropic - Sunflower Girl (Ntone) 10. Roxy Music - Avalon (Warner Brothers) 11. Family Man Barrett - Soul Constitution (Dubstore Records) 12. Sam Ragga Band - Ibis Dub (Eimsbush Entertainment) 13. Found - Mullokian Dub (Surface Pressure) 14. Money Mark - Sometimes You Gotta Make It Alone (Mowax) 15. Scanner - 1978 Formant Modular (Static Caravan) 16. Elmore Judd - Eigenfunktion (Above The Clouds) 17. Yo La Tengo - Autumn Sweater [u-ZIQ Remix] (Matador) 18. The Beach Boys - All I Wanna Do (CBS)
Grovesnor has compiled the first Proper Songs guest mix. Not so much a journey...more an odyssey.
0:00 Robin Cooper - Uncle’s Birthday 1:00 Steely Dan - Do It Again (Live at The Record Plant 1974) 7:49 Sparks - The No. 1 Song In Heaven 10:00 Heaven 17 - We Don’t Need No Fascist Groove Thang (Instrumental) 12:29 Traffic - Low Spark Of High Heeled Boys 15:45 Matt Berry - Take My Hand 19:35 Michael Franks - All Dressed Up With Nowhere To Go 23:03 Gilberto Gil - Herói das Estrelas 28:57 Gene Clark - Strength Of Strings 35:40 R Kelly - Step In The Name Of Love (Remix)
Its been out for a few weeks but this CD has become a Saturday morning regular in the Proper Songs household. Lovingly selected by Phoenix, the majority of the tracks are pulled from the 60's and 70's - Roxy Music, Dennis Wilson, The 13th Floor Elevators, The Impressions - with the only truly contemporary choice coming from Dirty Projectors' album of 2007. It is obvious that Phoenix gave this unmixed compilation a great deal of attention, with the result in giving it the air of a mixtape thoughtfully created by a close friend.
'Just Ain't Gonna Work Out' has been around for a while but I'm off to Stones Throw at Cargo tonight with Mayer Hawthorne playing live, so this classic new-sounding-old soul song deserves a post (that and because I finally managed to convice myself to shell out a tenner for the red, heart shaped 10" - ouch!).
