More rawness from the man they call Omar S. He’s got a mixCD for Fabric and a 12" on Sound Signature coming out. Check them. Deep shit.

This weekend I saw a tight young jazz combo playing at our radio presenters birthday party. While they were playing I was talking with Luigi from Infinitskills about his future projects. One of them was doing something with the jazz players on stage. He told me they did a rework of Rene Costy’s “Scrabble”, sampled by Dilla for his ode to the Police (haha). Through the Laid Back site you can listen to the result. Rene Costy happens to be from Belgium. Didn’t know that.

Tight piece of music. And more coming from where it came. Infinitskills are without doubt some of the most talented cats around.

And Louis, don’t forget to send it to me. I need this.

Some facts about dj Xogn  we think you should know

- He recorded a killer Podcast mix for us.
- His real name is Tristan Cordier, born in Nancy, France a while ago.
- Arrived in Brussels in ’88.
- He once sported the name of Jah Floppy as a dj and played with Pierre Elitaire in Antwerp.
- Went to Dakar, Senegal in ’96 where he had a new / second hand record shop. He stayed there till ’06.
- Xogn means grilled rice from the bottom of the marmite.
- He organised the monthly Koulgraoul parties in Dakar. Parties with a mix of world beat music for a crowd of mixed people from all over the world. With an attendance between 500 and 700 people. Still going strong, by the way.
- He has a weekly radio show on Radio Campus (Wednesday from 9.30 to 10.30pm - 92.1fm) where he plays African music from the ‘60s and ‘70s.
- He organised many parties over the years with DJ ReeDoo. The next one is this Friday at Café Bota.

Every initiative to educate people about Disco and House music gets my full support. Yiannis told me about this movie project and it looks like it could be something great. The little teaser video is already nice. Larry Heard making some valid points.

This is a book I most certainly will buy and read. From the people who brought "Last Night A DJ saved My Live". Read all about it here.

One for the One-Handed / Paul White fans. Interview, mix and cheeky cutup all here.

Good thing about the people at 1Xtra not cutting their shows very precisely is that I always catch the last song of Robbo Ranx’ show. Discovered this Shaggy tune that way and I absolutely adore it. Orchestral Dancehall. Gotta be honest, didn’t see it coming. But love it.

Haven’t got the faintest idea of this one is already huge in the charts. Should be. But so far off from the mainstream I don’t know.

Something for the diehard collectors among you. Jakob aka AME from the Afterhours crew has started an online shop. He’s been our local Kon (or Amir) for years now and this site is proof of that. It’s got lots of Soul, Funk and other goodies. Not cheap but it’s for those needing the originals.

One of the names that’s been popping up quite a lot recently is Souled. You might have seen their productions in the playlists of most London based radio programs we like, you might have spotted their 12” in the shops or heard one of their remixes somewhere. What I’ve heard of them was always spot on. It’s deep, moody and fresh and I don’t need much more than that to get pleased.

If you like their music as much as I do, don’t hesitate to buy their 12” on Fresh Minute Music. Watch out for other releases on that label too. Got sent an Altered Natives EP (with a Souled remix) that’s very hot. Proving Broken beat is far from over.

And although I always fear for the worst when an artist puts an acapella on their 12” (that Jazzanova remix competition for example produced some toe curling bagger), the Souled remix of Erykah Badu’s “Honey” is one of the motivations to keep applauding the act. Proper slow House gem. Find it here for free.

Boddhi Satva is a great talent who’s living in Belgium. Been playing his Isa track on my iPod on constant repeat for ages now. Criminally underrated by the country he lives in, getting respect abroad from giants in the House genre like Osunlade and Little Louie Vega. Nice to see Kwak doing some effort to change that. An interview with the man on the Strictly Niceness Blog (In French). Big up.

One of the dj’s that is on top of our wants list for our own party is Rahaan. This Chicago Disco aficionado has been in Brussels before for a legendary nights from what’ve heard but it’s time to bring him back. Saw him at Southport and adored his set there. Proper deep Disco the way I like it. Brought the way I like it. Something lacking these days where dj’s only show off their perfect mixing technique or newest / rarest records. Rahaan got the skills and the killer records but above all he’s got what it takes to be great dj; he’s got a story to tell. So if you see him spinning near you, check it out.

The skills he has as a dj are reflected in his edits. He’s not just tagging his name onto rare records just for the sake of building up some reputation. Nope, he cuts and pastes until you got a proper dj version of the track. If you bring them right they are devastating on the dance floor.

Some of his edits are released. On Love4Music and on KAT records. That last label has just dropped their second 12” with Rahaan reworks. The Kokomo track has been playing on my iPod every morning since I got it. As a sonic breakfast to prepare me for the day to come. All other releases on this mighty fine label are firmly recommended too. I’ve always got some in my box when I go out to play.

If you are anything like us and like 80’s Electro Boogie this is a truly essential mix. Almost any mix by Greg Wilson is that. I’ve seen the man for the first time at work last year and enjoyed every bit of it. Discovering him opened up a world I’ve been happily lost in ever since. The music he’s famous for is maybe the niche of the musical spectrum I love the most. To the point I even buy the not even remotely decent releases because there’s always at least 10 seconds I really like on them. Haha.

Head for the essential mix he did for BBC Radio 1 and enjoy. 

One of the stand out cuts in his set at our Go Bang! party. Out now. This ones is addictive, no less. Phil Asher doing it again remixing his Restless Soul colleague Bopstar. That bass, those vocal stabs. So heavy. Can’t wait to cause mayhem with this on dance floors. Hot!

Check the Innervision blog. Innervisions is a label all lovers of decent deep House should know. Dixon, Ame and Henrik Schwarz should be households names. The blog holds news about their upcoming project on BBE (looking nice indeed), the new club the guys from Club 11 are starting in Amsterdam (also looking swell), the subscription on their new releases you can get and more. Nicely written, nicely looking. But you can’t expect anything less from them, isn’t it ?

Some cheeky free remixes from the man called Dorian Concept. To get you warmed up for his album. Nice ones.

I know some of you are very impatient to buy the Phlash & Friends album with us raving about it almost non-stop. But you’ll have to wait a couple of weeks more. In February it’ll drop and you’ll see it’s worth the wait. It’s still one of the most listened to things on my iPod and if you know me a little you know I never stand stay with something too long if it’s not top quality.

Anyway, to keep you busy for a while here’s an interview with Phil Asher.

And there’s always the Phil Asher mix I made a while ago.

Flying Lotus, as always a bit ahead of everyone else, dropped his album last year. Still trying to get my head around it, still discovering new things in it every day. But there’s more on the way. 2009 will see albums by some other hero’s of off-centre beat making.

Hudson Mohawke – Polyphone Dance EP (Warp)
All tracks are from this piece of vinyl to keep us warm before his album drops are shit hot.

Harmonic 313 – When Machines Exceed Human Intelligence (Warp)
His EP last year promised a lot but this one even tops the expectations. Not out yet but already essential.

Dorian Concept  - When Planets Explode (Nod Navigators)
Just buy it. You’ll need it in your collection.

Together with One-Handed keeping on going strong it looks like it’ll be a great year for forward thinking Hiphop beats. Hopefully Morgan Zarate will drop something new we can buy soon. That would make my year, no doubt.

With both ‘The Further You Look, The Less You Will See” and “Psychotic Photosynthesis” Omar S is responsible for 2 of the hottest tracks of ’08. It oozes that deep rawness I like so much. The man himself is just as raw if this interview from a while back is anything to go by with. I can follow him on a lot of points and I certainly dig his DIY attitude. He’s real.

Buy his music directly from him. Or through Rush Hour. You need it.

And gotta love the ice trays. That’s killer merchandising.

Oh, that Infinitestatemachine blog is just as essential as Omar S music. Check it.

A little update on the (Electro) Boogie post. Which is having some nice things. Generating traffic and getting me in contact with some very interesting people.

But here’s some more on the topic: 

- Robbie M website and Myspace for those wanting to know more about the man behind Midnight Express.
- More info about the Rhythm Based Lovers who have released more than just one 7”. They’ve got a 12” out on FrequeNC too.
- And here’s more on Future Times, the label that released that 7”. Check the Maxmillion Dunbar too. Sizzling hot wax. Love the Omar S quote on their site. Genius.

Can’t get enough of this sound. I’m slowly considering Jheri Curls and a leather suit.

Ever since Greg Wilson made me realise the years ’82 / ’83 have produced an almost endless number of quality joints, in what he calls the Electro-Funk genre, I’ve been obsessed by finding more music with that particular sound. Last year I noticed it is something I share with others and you can almost say it has become a movement, scene or even hype. Best example is the buzz Dâm-funk created with one single 12” release and an appearance on Benji B’s Deviation. His set at the party is a proper education in this style of music, making him almost single-handedly responsible for the success of Midnight Express’ “Dangerzone” worldwide. Been hearing that track from Brussels to Manchester and back. This Californian synth king has a second piece of vinyl out on Stones Throw that’s just as essential as that Burgundy track.

But he’s not the only one bringing that sound back. Rhythm Based Lovers is another outfit going wild on the early 80’s groove. I’ve played their ace 7” in our show this week. Stellar track. Cop it while you still can. Don’t know much about this group but I’ve found a site where you can download more of their music for free. Check it out.

Another great source for similar music is the People’s Potential label. Made with the original artists they are releasing some certified goodies. Like the aforementioned Midnight Express track. But all others are golden too. If my sources are right this label is somehow linked to Disco connoisseurs from Ebony Cuts.  

If you have plenty of money you can always go for the original stuff. On this site for example. For 200£ the original “Dangerzone” 7” is yours.

I’ve been sleeping on this one a tad too long but I picked it up last week in the fantastic 12INCH record shop in Paris and it hasn’t left my decks since then. N.D.ATL is Kai Alcé’s new label with the letters standing for New York, Detroit and Atlanta as the 3 cities that have influenced his sounds. And the record is indeed the perfect symbiosis between the raw deepness of Motown and the subtle vocal perfection of the big apple. Great record. Kind of bummed that I missed the first release though.

And you might want to dig a little deeper into the man’s oeuvre. He has released on labels like KDJ’s Mahogani, FXHE and Track Mode. Check his myspace for some sounds.

As one of the founding members of the Belgian Bullion fanclub (LuiGi from Infinitskills / Laid Back being one of the other members - check the end of the play list of our Christmas radio show with them) I’m happy to see the year starting the way it does.With a banging release of the man. To add more joy the other One Handed artist, Paul White, adds some of his magic on the 7" too. Don’t know much about who Tranqill is but I’m happy to see the family is growing. Keep ‘em coming Alex.

One of the plans for 2009 is visiting one of the nights of the London beat community. When they’re not coming your way, you need to go theirs will be my motto more than ever this year. You’ll see me a lot on dance floors in London, Manchester, Amsterdam and maybe Paris, if I can get past the bouncers. Even more than you would see me on local ones if my budget would allow it.

About time I get blogging again. So much to tell you. First up is a mix we’ve done for 54Kolaktiv, a group of people, from Brussels, with an interesting take on music, art and more. We don’t need much extra to be enthusiast to add our 2 cents to that. This in the form of a 90 minutes mix of deep disco, raw house and lots of in between stuff. Hope you enjoy it. 

Although I had spotted them before, 54Kolaktiv wasn’t a household name in Onda Sonora circles before we were contacted to do this mix. Hope we can begin to set that straight with this. It’s good to see there’s a wide range of things going on in the musical underground of our city. Not minding boundaries between genres too much, which we like off course. They remind me a bit of us when we started. Only less amateurishly than we were. Anyway, we’re excited to expand our universe and that of those following us a bit. And hopefully we can do the same for them too.

Watch out for their next Mo’Yo’Fro party on the 27th of February. Another chance to get to know them. We’ll be there.

Just to let you know this one is out. You need this. Believe us.

People active on the net will have spotted this already but others maybe not and it’s too funny to miss out on. Taking the piss out Kanye’s new autotune direction. Nice one.