For those still searching for a funky place to celebrate the end of 2007 and the beginning of the new year we might got something. We’ll be playing, in full force meaning both myself and Disco Dalglish, together with our good friend Jonathan at Boelekewis in Huizingen (near Halle). As some of you might know is that place a restaurant most of the time. Which means that there’s a possibility to eat before the party starts. A fancy buffet you can dive into for the price of 59 euros. But be quick cause reservations are coming in fast.

From 0h30 on the party will be open for all. And it will last until the early hours, no doubt. And with 3 dj’s who know how the party in style you can’t go wrong. Long time I’ve been looking forward to the NYE shenanigans so much as this year. Will try to go easy on the bubbles.

For all you Dilla fans, ancient to new ones, here’s a fine little mixtape free for you to download. It’s got some fine pieces of music on it you might have heared in the better radioshows around. Like Benji B’s. Love that "Lightworking" tune. And the Spinna one off course. That last one is out on 7" somewhere. Got mine already. Always fun to brag and boast about vinyl.

The tape is mixed by Mick Boogie. Check his site. More mixes available on it.

These last few weeks of 2007 are stuffed with niceness. Let me pick out the most interesting ones for you:

This weekends it’s all about our weekender off course. The extended version if you go for the Thursday in Leuven as well. Just scroll to the posts just beneath this one for more info.

Next week is a bit too much at once. First there’s the 1Love. party in Halle with Jovonn, Red D and Lady Linn, Soul Rebel and ourselves on Saturday. You can catch Jovonn & Red D the day before that in Ghent at Chicago Boogie in club Make up too. Maybe we finally end up there. They surely can use some of the Schaarbeek festive nonsense we are known for.

But there’s a Strictly Niceness too on Saturday. A tribute to James Brown. Funky concept I’ll shamefully miss. In Antwerp one of my favorite dj / producers of twisted modern Disco will be playing at Café Capital; Maurice Fulton. Will miss that too. Maybe we just need to bring the man to Halle some day. Would fit in nicely.

And to soften the blow of missing Maurice Fulton and another great opportunity to finally check Café Capital they put Detroit legend Carl Craig on their roster for the week after. Friday 14.12.2007 that is. The day after Dixon, one of the best House dj’s around, plays at Make Up. Deep techy House with soul all weekend long.

To finish off the list there’s Antown Trix at Trix in Antwerp. With Cris Prolific, Lefto, M.E.D., Dudley Perkins & Georgia Ann Muldrow and more to be announced. On the 21^st of December. Very nice one.

Our Weekender. This weekend. Most of you should know about it by now, with us spamming y’all with flyers, through mailing and Facebook and all of that. It’s going to be wild. Mark my words.

This Thursday I’ll be playing in Leuven. Expect some serious party music. Been digging up some lost treasures in my collection for this. Disco Dalglish won’t make it. We’re going Jazzanova lately dividing the dj-gigs between us 2. Rather like the joint sets though but going solo every now and then keeps one mind fresh.

Got this one through Tyler Askew’s blog (go see the guy if you’re in Rotterdam this weekend). Nice site about Sun Palace’s “Rude Movements” tune. A true classic. The site is made by one of the men behind this genius piece of music. Read it.

While I was abroad Disco Dalglish has uploaded another Podcast. About time we gave you one. But no worries. Others are in the making. December will be a good month, promised.

The new mix is a follow up on the "Digs Antwerp" edition we gave you a while ago. Here’s what Disco Dalglish has to say about it.:

Same store, same concept: provin’ the low cost of groovin’. This mix is the result of an afternoon diggin’ session in the heart of Antwerp. Both BLA and me ended up with bags of wax and enough money left to eat a sandwich and drink a cappuccino. We’ll be repeating this in a near future…

Tracklist

Imagination - Just an Illusion (dub version) - Red Bus 1983
Marcia Griffiths - Electric Boogie (dub 1) - Island 1983
Fatback - All Nite Party - Start Records 1988
Real Thing - Saint or Sinner? - PYE Records 1979
Tasha Thomas - Hot Buttered Boogie - Atlantic 1979
Odyssey - Hang Together - RCA 1980
Thelma Houston - If you feel it - RCA 1981
Skyy - Get into the Beat - Rams Horn 1982 (orig Salsoul)
Kenny Bee - Dance all Night - SMI Records 1980
Bell & James - Livin’ it up - Unidisc 1978 (orig A&M)
Stephanie Mills - Pilot Error (club version) - Casablanca 1983
The S.O.S. Band - Take your Time - Tabu 1980
The Gap Band - Party Lights - Mercury 1979
Gene Chandler - Get Down - 20th Century Fox 1978

Haven’t been updated with the full report yet myself but here’s a funky little review with some nice words for Soul Rebel and Disco Dalglish. Thanks. Always nice to see people diggin’ our stuff.

While you kids were partying like there’s no tomorrow I was checking some culture in the capital of Portugal; Lisbon. I’m not going to bore you with the details about it. Only the funky stuff.

The city is worth a visit, no doubt. It’s got culture, great food and fine weather. Some 10 degrees hotter than over here this time of year. And apparently that’s "freezing" to the locals. I enjoyed it although I didn’t dare to walk around in t-shirt seeing everybody else wearing puffy coats and everything. Never look like a tourist is my personal guideline number 1 when on holiday.

The thing I wanted to visit the most was the Expo ‘98 site. A whole part of town with modern architecture is more my thing than the ancient tourist infested area’s (which I did also). The Portuguese pavilion by Alvaro Siza with the curbed concrete roof has always been a favorite of mine but experiencing it live was incredible. Work of genius.

Second high of the trip was the food. Portuguese love the sturdy stuff. Heavy food that fills your stomach preferably with some bacalhau (cod) in it. Especially the Grehlados thing we did was a revelation. We need something like that here. Take away food with style. Damn good. The beer’s drinkable too. Superbock and certainly Sagres are good fuel.

Talking about style. Lisbon natives a have it plenty. Love the way most young people were dressed. Simple but classy. Fell in love more than once. Stylish, dark haired women not too shy to show some leg are a winner with me. Haha.

Went to a Hiphop Festival. Checking the state of the Portuguese variant of this genre. Not too convinced by what I saw. But had a good laugh anyway. And enjoyed the halfpipe action and some of the graffiti. More people than on a similar event over here I must say.

And then the vinyl. Seems like I can’t visit a city without stumbling on some dusty crates screaming at me to be checked. Found some nice ones in a shop like Sergio Mendes’ "Love Music" (great tune) and David Joseph’s "You can’t hide". But the greatest discoveries I did, together with my host, at a flea market in Cascais, a town near the sea a couple of miles from Lisbon. For nearly nothing picked up things like Jeanette Lady Day (the good one on Prelude), Angela Bofill (not the one I’m looking for but still banging), Kym Mazelle (Useless on 12"), even some T.C. Matic and a record you’ll here a lot in my sets the coming weeks (it’s just too funny not to use it). Even crossed Lefto’s Blue Note record in the crates of the shop we visited. Anyway had a good hunt, without really going for it.

Getting back was a bit of a bummer. Didn’t feel like it. Could have stayed a bit longer but duty called.

Anyway, a big, big thanks to Elsa and Kris for the wonderful hosting. I really enjoyed it. I’ll be back. When Kris will be resident in Club Lux and I the main guest in the main room. Only kidding about that last part.

Don ‘t forget this Sunday. It’s going to be wild, no doubt. Won’t be there myself because on my way back from the South. It’ll be Disco Dalglish and Soul Rebel doing the deck duties.

Wowzee. What a weekend. Friday going wild at my old hometown, Halle. Very nice to see some old friends back and getting to know some new cats. But way too late in bed. Saturday not all to well because of that but it still turned out to all good. Wonderful was good. Very good sets by all dj’s but Lefto’s was off the hook. Love it when he goes freestyle. Again too late (and too drunk). Catching up the lost sleep and brain cells last 2 days.

My course in acoustics is getting mighty interesting by the way. Can’t wait to apply what I’ve learned.

And leaving for Lisbon this Thursday. Visiting Kris. Checking some very fine architecture and digging into the local culture. Expect a full report on that next week.

One of my favorite figures in the worldwide nightlife scene has a radio show. Tyler Askew, designer / DJ with an impeccable taste, has on Shibuya FM, a Japanese station, a show called My Favorite Things. Named after his club night in New York which is very high on my priority list. Check it out. Very nice playlist.

With Newshutch ending I’ve had to search for a new RSS reader. Using Google reader now (after trying several way too complicated ones first). In the process, took the time to evaluate all my subscriptions. Ended a few, added some. But by deleting the stupid and uninteresting ones I came to a point where I can keep up easily with the incoming items. Even more than usual I’m looking for interesting ones. So feel free to suggest some. Need more knowledge.

This weekend is a pretty busy one. There’s the Wonderful party in Le Tavernier (hope it’s not as crowded as yesterday – haven’t enjoyed Cleo’s concert one bit due to letting too much peeps in and nobody staying 5 secs on the same spot) on Saturday. At the same time Kwak and Eleven from Strictly Niceness are spinning at the cafe of Dirty Dancing in Le Mirano. Those living in Ghent or willing to drive a little can enjoy Tyree Cooper at Red D’s Chicago Boogie party at the Make Up club. No excuses to stay home.

Time to make a list of tunes I found for free on the net. On the sites of artists or labels, their Myspaces, boards or specialist sites. No bootlegs or other shady acquisitions. All legal. You know I always keep it real when it comes to that. If you want’em then just use Google and I’m sure you’ll find most.

All Listed, All Top Quality:

Alecto – Ben Ik Te Min Ofnie
Bishop Lamont & Black Milk feat. Guilty Simpson – Mouth Music
The Cool Kids – Pump Up The Volume
Kerri Chandler – Even Though (Vocal Mix)
Ty – Expectations
Bullion – Pet Sounds: Song in the Key of Dee
Saigon – Come on Baby (Remix)
DJ Spinna feat. Phonte – Dillagence (One 4 Jay)
Ta’Raach & The Lovelution – Fuck Music
The Politik – Money (Don’t Let It Catch You)

Last night’s Strictly Niceness was a great one. Although I was a bit too tired to fully enjoy it. Packed house, lots of pretty girls, dancing people galore and, as always, top music. Nice set from the Goodfellas and ditto set by Bernard Dobbeleer (missed Kwak’s because I left early). Can’t wait to hear them play at our little spot the last day of this month.

For those wanting a little Strictly Niceness flavour at home check On Point’s podcast. Kwak’s set on it has been free to download for quite a while now and since late last week Bernard Dobbeleer’s selecting and mixing skills are on there too. Check it out. Like always a nice balance between wellknown party classics and undiscovered goodies.

More info and tracklisting on the On Point site.

Marc de Clive-Lowe’s live set at Southport 40 (last May’s edition) is online for grabs. Check his Myspace blog for more info or just click on the K7 above to check it out or download it. MdCL is a master.

Here’s the flyer for Boogie Box in Leuven. Going to be good. Feel it.

The ever on point Kris Verschaeve sent me this site. A Portuguese Blog about Disco. With info about records, edits and parties. Plus guest mixes by people like Greg Wilson. Niceness. Love the AVI-series.

Check it out.

We’re booking for Southport 42 this week. If anybody wants to join us 9, 10 and 11/05/2008, no problem, but you’ll have to find some people to do the booking together (it’s per chalet). I’ll be glad to help you doing the booking or finding others to do the booking with. Just send me a mail.

It broadens your spectrum. It came up in a conversation, Friday afternoon, at the Sands with my mates Phil and Jonathan and we concluded it should be compulsory for any soulful dj or lover of that sort of party music. It opens your mind, expands your culture and it’s a life changing experience. It makes you humble and gives you strength at the same time. And we need exactly that in Brussels / Belgium.

Mind, it’ll cost you some money. I recon I’ve spent about 600 to 700 EUR this weekend. All included (ticket / chalet, transport, food, booze, vinyl & bullshit like the lunapark). The first 200 EUR you spend now to buy your ticket.

Completely blown away by that “Downstairs” track Benji B played in his show last night. Pure, utter genius. That’s House music!

Some dates we firmly recommend the next few days and weeks:

Friday 09.11.2007 - Rikkie and Jonathan at Dansbaar - Halle
Friday 09.11.2007 - dj Premier, Lefto at Stereosushi - Brussels
Saturday 10.11.2007 - Pharoahe Monch at VK - Brussels
Saturday 10.11.2007 - Strictly Niceness at Biberium - Brussels
Wednesday 14.11.2007 - Cleo at Jazzbreak / Tavernier - Brussels
Thursday 15.11.2007 - Flying Lotus (and Necro if u really want it) at VK - Brussels
Saturday 17.11.2007 - Wonderful at Tavernier - Brussels

And then the events we play at off course.

For all of you addicted to Facebook there’s a Onda Sonora Facebook Group. Keeping you updated about our events and dj-dates. And giving you the possibility to give comments. Check it here.

Picked this one up at Southport mainly because it’s the only way to acquire “Tawiah - Watch Out” legally. That song alone was worth the 12 £. But most other songs are almost as brilliant if not - Flying Lotus’ “Tea Leaf Dancers”, Nicola Kramer’s “Last Time” and Jamie Woon’s “Wayfaring Stranger” – as perfect as Tawiah’s classic. Fine selecting by mr. Gilles Peterson (who apparently delivered a very strong set at Southport which I missed completely).

So, if you like your soul laidback but with an edge and above all top quality this CD is a must have. Ideal base to wander around from in up and coming soulful artist land. Other stand out tunes are, after the first listening, by Sotu the Traveller, Middlewood Sessions and NSM. All the rest is only slightly less staying hooked but are in no way fillers and by this time next week I’ll probably sum up a completely different set all together. Ideal for those days recovering from an overdose of partying.

Is up on our Myspace. Finally. Bloody computers.