Shoot the Moon

"The freak with the top hat is leaving with the basketball. Cover the freak....Tell the men, it's time to shoot the moon!"

I've been promising a disco mix for a while, and this weekend I finally got it together and finished it up. This is 14 tracks of smoked out, dubby disco edits that put a smile on my face. Nice and slow, lots of spaced out effects, slow motion funk for Sgt. Stedenko and the freak in the top hat (mostly for the freak). I used a bunch of edits from Deep& Disco and Munga, who are all killing the disco reedit scene right now. Check their Soundclouds for serious midtempo disco damage.

You can stream the set below, or download the mp3 directly using the link below. Better yet, follow the instructions on the top right side of this page to sign up for the podcasts, which will beam all our sets right into your iTunes/iPod fresh out the oven!

(Ralph Bakshi's "Heavy Traffic" promo, 1973)

mantisounds - shoot the moon

1. Marvin Gaye - What's Going On (Cole Medina Remix)
2. Minnie Riperton - Inside my Love (Darren Daz Dalton's Inside my Filter Rework)
3. Ed Wizard & Disco Double Dee - This Joint
4. Kazino - Binary (Munga Rework)
5. Loleatta Holloway - Seconds (Deep&Disco's Once is Never Enough Rework)
6. Sister Sledge - Pretty Baby (Eyan's Deep Space Dub)
7. Sister Sledge - Lost in Music (The Revenge Rework)
8. Mona Raye - Do Me (And Munga Done Did It Rework)
9. Sharon Brown - Specialize in Love (Munga vs. Deep&Disco Edit)
10. Jamiroquai - Alright (Dan & Kris Re-Edit)
11. BeatFanatic - Something Better
12. Richard T Bear - Sunshine Hotel (Musica Hermosas Bounce Edit)
13. Stevie Wonder - Do I Do (U-Tern Edit)
14. Alpha Blondy - Jah Glory (Rhythm Plate's Disco Riddim Plate)

DIRECT LINK TO MP3

(cross-posted at Mantisounds)

Bring Me a Dream

Good news boppers, it's new mix time from deep inside La MoDa Central! Both Mo and I have been hard at work, with some new goodies in the pipeline to get your toes tapping as the summer says goodbye and the leaves start changing. First up is a new breakbeat mix from me (Mantisounds). I endeavored to create a mix that was a "breaks-through-musical-history" concept, if you will. Starts with some flapper-style swing elements, passes through the early days of pop music (Mr. Sandman), and then storms headlong into the disco era. There's a nod to classic breaks (the Mexican remix), the remix of the year (IMO) from Peo and the Drumattic Twins, and then I finish up with breaks from the future (Slyde and the Stanton Warriors remix). All given the big room tweaked out thump that I can't get enough of.

I played most of these tracks in my set when I joined Atomik in Portland in August, and they went down really well, so I thought I'd do it again and post it up for all to enjoy.

Keep it locked, more treats from both me and Mo coming soon....

DIRECT LINK TO MP3

1 parov stelar - catgroove

2. gramophonedzie - why don't you (krafty cuts re-rub)

3. the chordettes - mr. sandman (mr. no hands wobbly remix)

4. emanuel kosh - make my music (zodiac cartel remix)(krafty cuts re-rub)

5. yolanda be cool & dcup - we no speak americano (johnny dangerously breaks mix)

6. duck sauce - aNYway (andy mcallister remix)

7. stardust - music sounds better (rebel sketchy 2009 remix)

8. the soulbrothers - 21st century disco shit (miles dyson remix)(rel1 re-fix)

9. bombermen - alcatrax vol. 1 (miles dyson breakfast edit)

10. wolfgang gartner - 5th symphony (rel1 refix)

11. drumattic twins - crazy love (peo de pitte 2010 disco edit)

12. plaza de funk - get crazy

13. fort knox five - party pushers ft. mustafa akbar (smalltown romeo mix)(krafty cuts re-rub)

14. mr. b - little acid people (drumattic twins remix)

15. deekline & tim healy - the mexican (krafty kuts re-rub)

16. slyde - move ya body

17. sub focus - rock it (stanton warriors edit)

18. dj zinc - wile out (small fry rerun)

19. yeah yeah yeahs vs a-trak - heads will roll (electric soulside ft. odissi mix)

hustle uptown

Whoa. It's been a minute since I posted a mix on the bloggy-blog. Holding down a 9 to 5 and raising twin babies has been a LOT of work, to put it mildly. Thankfully Mo has been holding it down on the podcast front. But I haven't stopped digging....still searching for the perfect beat. I've been trying to focus what little energy/free time I DO have on the monthly residency I'm throwing called Uptown Hustle at the Enormous Room in Cambridge (Northeast peoples, definitely mark the first Thursday of every month on your calendars). Been pushing a very disco/funk heavy future-retro vibe. Some might even call it "nu-funk" (shit, I call it nu-funk when I'm trying to come up with copy for the flyers).

I probably shouldn't say this, because it makes me sound old, but I remember when "nu-funk" was called "big beat," and before that when it was called "funky breaks," and before that when it was called "trip hop." (...and before that when it was all called acid jazz!) Before magazines needed micro-genres to sell issues, everything that wasn't house/techno or "jungle" was called "trip hop." (shit, no one reads magazines anymore. damn I sound old...) You could find Coldcut next to Mondo Grosso next to Metro LA next to Massive Attack. And it was all in the "dance" section of Tower anyway. Ah, simpler times...

Anyway, since I been feeling nu-funk since before it was called "nu-funk", I figured it was time for me to put together a proper mix to promote the night. A sampling of the sort of disco-dripped, funkafied future retro sound that I've been steering towards as I've taken the helm of Uptown Hustle while Mosart212 is doing his bid upstate. In honor of Todd the Rocket's guest appearance on August 5 at Uptown Hustle, here's a promo mix for everyone who just wants to break a sweat on the dancefloor. Don't try to play this mix sitting down....

Mantisounds - Hustle Uptown by Mantisounds on Mixcloud

mantisounds - hustle uptown

1. bill ben & baggio - pusherman

2. wu-tang clan - c.r.e.a.m. (dj moneyshot's travesty mix)

3. totalcult - brown feeling

4. afrika bambaataa & the soul sonic force - planet rock (dj ayers vs jay.soul remix)

5. fort knox five - the spirit of '75

6. fendaheads - sunrise

7. pale the kid - the doll that made the dice behave (rory hoy & lebrosk remix)

8. maelstrom & nap-z - mash the peas (post life the rat disorder mix)

9. funkanomics - last night a dj saved my life

10. jem stone & j.c. - disco daze (disco mix)

11. oasis - wonderwall (dvw remix)(dj ark rerub)

12. michael jackson - don't stop (dmndays re-edit)

13. grateful dead - shakedown street (tommie sunshine & figure brooklyn fire edit)

14. santigold - brooklyn we go hard (shovit gt mix radio edit)

15. donna summer - bad girls (sonicc remix)

16. michael jackson - get on the floor (summerheadz main mix revamp)

17. harvey mason - groovin' you (morsy mix)

18. rockets - golden strings

19. stardust - music sounds better (kid massive mix)

20. earth wind & fire - let's groove tonight (gogobizkitt remix)

21. brothers johnson - stomp (only children edit)

22. prince - I wanna be your lover (dimitri from paris re-edit)

DIRECT LINK TO MP3

Project Hit Record: Trouble Man

(image: tonypapesh)

I saw Mo's last post and thought the "one and done" approach to mixes might be a cool little project (if nothing else a project to consciously battle the OCD/perfectionism/second guessing instincts that most djs suffer from in varying degrees), so I tried my hand at it. I won't lie, I did it last night, and so even though I'm posting the mix as rendered, no mulligans, no obsessing over set lists, just press record and get going, I did give it a listen before posting (is that cheating?). I'm pretty pleased with the turnout, notwithstanding a few battles I had with some disco tracks that didn't want to stay mixed. I also worked in a track that my boys Recon and Earthrok threw down a few years ago called "Bikini Island" under the Lucha Libre moniker. The hook is in Catalan, so I have no idea what those ladies are saying, except I know it has something to do with Ibiza and it always reminds me of summer.

direct link to mix

Mantisounds - Trouble man by Mantisounds

1. trouble man intro
2. chaka khan - fate (todd terje edit)
3. beatfanatic - let us pray
4. beatfanatic - music (Remix)
5. dr. rubberfunk - beats working
6. chris joss - wrong alley street (part 1)(fort knox five remix)
7. brothers johnson - aint we funkin' now (todd terje radio mix)
8. all good funk alliance - top brass
9. featurecast - disco diesel
10. mark ronson - stop me (chicken lips remix)
11. the legion of doom - crazy as she goes
12. u-tern - give it up
13. earth wind and fire - system of survival (ok ma re-edit)
14. the karminsky experience inc. - belly disco (beatfanatic remix)
15. beatfanatic - how deep (deep love remix)
16. omegaman - disco love (featurecast remix)
17. neighbour - pistachio ride
18. omegaman - super hi-fi funk (b-team remix)
19. lucha libre - bikini island
20. krafty kuts & a skillz - happiness