“The Delfonics were one of the first groups to sing in the sleek, soulful style that became popularized (thanks to producer Thom Bell) as the “Philadelphia sound.” A vocal trio made up of brothers William and Wilbert Hart and high school friend Randy Cain, the Delfonics roots go back to doo wop singing at school dances in the early ’60s. They were well-known in the Philly area for their supple, airtight harmonies talent that brought them to the attention of record producers, eventually landing them a contract with Cameo-Parkway. While their early records brought them little if any notice, it did bring them to the attention of producer/arranger Thom Bell who signed the band to his soon-to-be influential soul label Philly Groove. Right from the start this was a perfect match as the band released the classic “La La Means I Love You” in 1968, a song that began a string of hits lasting into the mid-’70s.
The sound that Bell created for the Delfonics was the antithesis of the soul sound that came from Stax in Memphis and Muscle Shoals in Alabama. He sandpapered away the grit, lightened up on the backbeat, brought in string sections, and created a smooth, airy sound. Critics enamored of the soul singing of Wilson Pickett and Otis Redding accused Bell and his groups of creating aural wallpaper, but the reality was that Bell and the Delfonics were setting the stage for a different kind of groove where subtlety and nuance reigned.
The hits slowed for the Delfonics in the mid-’70s, and in 1971 Randy Cain quit the band and was replaced by Major Harris. A few more minor hits followed but Harris left the band for a solo career in 1975, effectively finishing the Delfonics. In the late ’90s, the group played a significant musical role in Quentin Tarantino’s film Jackie Brown. Tarantino, a borderline obsessive fan of ’70s pop culture, used “La La Means I Love You,” and their best single, “Didn’t I (Blow Your Mind This Time),” as a way of underscoring the relationship between actors Pam Grier and Robert Forster. In the film, Forster’s character is so struck by the music (and Grier), he goes out and buys the Delfonics Greatest Hits cassette the following day. Something I’d recommend you do too.”
Waist.
“The primary alias of Nottingham, England native Matt Cutler, Lone debuted in 2007 with a CD-R, Everything Is Changing Colour. A series of 2008 and 2009 releases — Lemurian (Dealmaker), Cluster Dreams (Dealmaker), Ecstasy & Friends (Werk Discs), and Joyreel (Werk Discs) — positioned Cutler’s project as something of a midpoint between admitted inspirations Madlib and Boards of Canada, as the producer combined abstract hip-hop beats with wistful, dreamlike textures and melodies. While some tracks — or sections of some tracks — had dancefloor appeal, Cutler flipped a switch in 2010. The A-sides “Pineapple Crush” (Magic Wire) and “Once in a While” (Werk Discs), along with the full-length Emerald Fantasy Tracks (Magic Wire), retained the evocative feel of his earlier work while incorporating his affinity for early-’90s hardcore, house, and rave. The deeply indebted yet unique sound carried through the six-track Echolocations EP (R&S), then took a bit of a goofball turn on “All Those Weird Things,” both of which were released in 2011. “Crystal Gardens 1991” previewed Galaxy Garden, a 2012 album for R&S. Cutler has produced a handful of singles with Andy Hemsley as Kids in Tracksuits, and has released an album as Kona Triangle.”
Waist.
“With an eclectic arsenal of samples and an ear for international sounds, Onra (born Arnaud Bernard) is a beatmaker based out of Paris, France. Reminiscent of crate-diggers like Madlib and DJ Shadow, Onra peppers his beats with exotic sounds from Vietnam and India, giving his sound an international flair. The French producer released his debut album, Tribute, in 2006 on Bo Bun Records, then followed up the next year with the critically acclaimed Chinoiseries, which was released on both Favorite Recordings (LP) and Bo Bun (CD). Continuing to stay productive, Onra released 1.0.8 in 2009 on Bo Bun before switching to All City Records in 2010 for the release of Long Distance. In 2011, the beatmaker released Chinoiseries, Vol. 2.”
Waist.
Delano Smith’s debut LP ‘An Odyssey’ is simply amazing.
“Born in Chicago and raised on Detroit’s West side, Delano Smith represents one of the last of a rare group of Detroit’s first house DJs. Perhaps it was the juvenile absorption of the sights and sounds around him during his first 5 years in the Windy City coupled with his experience during the new DJ craze of his high school years in Detroit that influenced Delano the most or maybe it is simply that enigmatic link between music people in Chicago and Detroit, known to insiders as the I94 Connection. Regardless of the reason for his natural ear for the deep and groovy, Delano can lay claim to a legacy that most Detroit jocks cannot. When performing outside of his native city, Delano’s unique sets highlight the fact that his skills were forged in an era before the rigid lines of house and techno genres appeared.
His attention to programming sets that are kinetic, emotional and educational are met with a delivery of the highest class. Having been one of the original young guns personally mentored by Motown’s 1st DJ, Ken Collier, he displays skills entirely unique to this group. Having cut his teeth in a time when an aspiring DJ had to live off his wits to make the cut, his dynamic skill set has made him the real Detroit head’s secret favorite. Smith’s extended hiatus later in his DJ years was ended spectacularly when the Detroit Beatdown project again highlighted his talent. Teamed with Mike ‘Agent X’ Clark and Norm Talley, the crew began to spread the word of Detroit to fresh audiences, in demand globally and touching down at renowned clubs such as London’s Fabric en route.
On the production front, Delano stands head and shoulders above the rest in crafting alluring, forward thinking and highly danceable grooves. His productions on Third Ear, Sushitech and Still Music have taken up crate spaces with jocks looking to add the perfect blend of soul and energy to their sets. With his own imprint Mixmode debuting in 2003, it continues to release selectively soulful dance floor gems. Both behind the decks and in the studio, Delano’s genre boundary defying vision of working a floor is a direct link to the beginnings of the DJ in Detroit, maintaining his integrity today, his hunger shows little sign of abating.”
Waist.
“A Greek band of the late ’60s and early ’70s, Aphrodite’s Child scored only one European hit, “Rain and Tears.” Though it was a big one, the group became little more than a trivia answer after keyboardist Vangelis Papathanassiou dropped his surname and hit number one with the theme to Chariots of Fire in 1981. Aphrodite’s Child also included drummer Lucas Sideras and vocalist Demis Roussos, who enjoyed some solo success himself as a pop vocalist. The band formed in Greece in the mid-’60s, and the title track from the second album was a hit throughout Europe. The 1971 album 666 was generally agreed to be the best, but it proved to be the last, though the single “Break” was also a hit in Europe.”
Waist.
“Whether making music between all the zeros and ones, circuitry and cards, with analogue gear or digital possibilities becomes a valuable art or just a service, is defined through distinctive character.
Peter Kremeier alias Losoul is a member of a unique guild of producers that always has been blessed with its very own sound signature.
In the course of his musical socialisation, Losoul came across a kaleidoscope of different styles: Techno- and House blueprints, Funk and Soul of the seventies, prehistorical Hip Hop and of course a bit of Jazz for the mind. At first, he appeared under the guise Don Disco that he used in the early and blessed nineties as a part of the Superbleep-DJ-Team while exploring the tension between emotive sounds and automatic rhythms over and above at their club night at the – nomen est omen - Basement and other places in the Frankfurt-area back when things were fresh as morning dew.
This suited him as well as his later nom de la guerre Losoul. Established as a trademark for his port of registry Playhouse - Frankfurt’s then youthful, now legendary label for electronic music with class.
Fuelled with his unparalleled ability to abstract the basics of dance music, tracks out of his forge blaze as typical Losoul grooves. Already one of his first and most famous pieces “Open Door” impressively exercises his practice of marathon jams that never go stale. But Losoul can also adjust to different techniques. For instance, when he respelled the words electronic pop music by means of a new alphabet in conjunction with the singer Malte, delivered his multi-layered as well as fascinating albums: “Belong” and “Getting Even”.
Ever since and in the meantime, he played live (with or without Malte), carried his record bag through the clubs of this world (always on the knife’s edge between Techno and House or places like Panorama Bar and Robert-Johnson) and created remixes for the likes of Freaks, Blaze, Khan, Alter Ego, Jay Haze, International Pony, Lawrence or Ark and on labels as renowned as Classic, Kalk Pets, Moon Harbour, Circus Company, Logistic and Telegraph.
And most of all, the producer Losoul consistently pushes these majestically and stoical marching 12-inches as well as delicate album cuts which smuggle themselves equally into one’s musical memory.”
Waist.
“Stacy Lattisaw (born November 25, 1966) is an American R&B, dance, and gospel singer. Since the 1990s, she has exclusively sung gospel music, as a callback to her Christian roots.
When she was a teenager in the early 1980s, Lattisaw had a string of Top 40 R&B hits, with several songs — “Let Me Be Your Angel,” “Jump to the Beat”, “Love on a Two-Way Street” and “Miracles” — crossing over to the pop mainstream. Lattisawrecorded her first album for Cotillion Records at the age of 12 in 1979, under the direction of record producer Van McCoy. However it was not until she affiliated with Narada Michael Walden, a former drummer with the Mahavishnu Orchestra who was just beginning a career as a producer, that she became a star. Under Walden’s direction, she had five hit albums between 1981 and 1986. She also opened for the Jacksons Triumph Tour in 1981. From Lattisaw’s 1982 album “Sneakin’ Out”, Mariah Carey used a sample of the song “Attack Of The Name Game” (R&B #14) for her 1999 track “Heartbreaker”.
Lattisaw continued recording into the late 1980s, signing to Motown in 1986. She scored her only #1 R&B hit with frequent duet partner Johnny Gill entitled “Where Do We Go from Here” in 1989. While the success was great, she grew increasingly disenchanted with the record industry. By the early 1990s, she decided to retire from the music industry and concentrate on raising her family. In addition, her official website states that she is now working on a gospel CD. In 2010, Lattisaw’s music career was chronicled on the TV One (US TV network) docu-series “Unsung (TV series)”, in which she also appeared.”
Zip
“Ken Laszlo (born as Gianni Laszlo Coraini, 1954) is an Italo Disco singer who became famous in the 1980s.
Ken was interested in music at a young age and his career began in 1980 when he played and sang in discos and clubs. His first hit in Europe was the single Hey Hey Guy in 1984. His songs Tonight and Don’t Cry are also well known.
Many of Ken’s songs appear under his own name and many others, under pseudonyms such as Ric Fellini, DJ NRG, Ricky Maltese.”
Zip
Look what we have for you from @ZombieDisco. Ker-ching! http://t.co/m2rFEHaD
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