You can tell a lot from a title. Mindless Self Indulgence is a promising artist name, as is “Never Wanted To Dance” an intriguing song title. But it’s not quite what you’d expect, and definitely NotSafeForWork, my dears. Think Nine Inch Nails goes berserk at Tears For Fears’ house. Hyper-lustful decadent aggro alterna-porn. Good fun.

Mindless Self Indulgence
“Never Wanted to Dance” (mp3)
from “If”
(The End Records)

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Tight, groovy, and funky as the day is long, this 1978 number by Venus Gang is pure fun. No politics or controversy here,  just a phat, raw beat, and sexy female vocals about stars making love and loving to fly. Imagination takes care of the rest. Disco keyboard and rhythm section work a’la Quincy Jones, meets a dubby clubby vibe that anticipates more contemporary nightclub music, and gives some of today’s producers a bit of schooling, I’d have to say. Delicious track.

Venus Gang
“Love to Fly” (mp3)
from “Galactic Soul”
(Mucho Gusto Records)

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SuperFan goin’ all ‘lectronicoid on ya again, with some pure electronic dance music. I was intrigued by the title and stark album artwork here – this is one of those random discoveries, and I’m glad I stopped to check it out, it’s fun stuff. As is often the case in this genre, one must be patient at first. “Piotun” starts with a mere skeleton, and you think, hey, I could do this on a laptop in my sleep, why is this a record? But the piece soon reveals itself, with a magnificent primal synth bass part that could compel a brick to boogie, before atmospheric cinematic gongs and blips complete the trance inducing picture. This kind of thing works so well in a nightclub setting. Or, you know, at home, with friends, pretending your pad is a nightclub. I do it all the time. Why not? Ravers, rave on.

Information Ghetto
“Piotun” (mp3)
from “Secrets – EP”
(3rd Wave Music)

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It seems Lee “Scratch” Perry‘s musical evolution will never stop. Jamaican music innovator number one, Perry has from the early 60′s to the present been a core author of the operating systems for ska, reggae, and dub, spawning myriad sub-genres and altering the perceptions and priorities of generations of fans and musicians world wide. Quite a resume. Now on, like, his ten thousandth LP or something, “madman scratchy” has a new release on the lovely Narnack Records label. This track, a wild riff on Perry’s already wild “Having A Party” which I posted earlier, is closer to a dubby downtempo or house vibe than the Reggae based work he’s most famous for. But the unique voice and mind bending take on life are instantly recognizable as no one else’s. Here’s holiday music of a kind I promise you, you have never heard before. Santa Claus is coming, so catch Scratchy on his short US tour they just announced, and be good!

Lee “Scratch” Perry
“Repentance”
Narnack Records

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Ok, I know it’s only December 1st tomorrow, but I’m starting the party early. This redonkulous remix of Dean Martin’s version of Jingle Bells is so wrong, it’s right! Purists flee, this is NOT the original Dean Martin cut, mmkay, let’s just get that out of the way. But it IS his incredibly rich, sonorous and oh-so-male voice uncluttered by effects or digital muck, plopped ever so nicely over a postmodern hip hop-ish holiday cacophony. Can you picture that? I thought not. Have a listen! From “Holiday Lounge – The Christmas Remixes” collection. A keeper for the merrymaking playlist, fo’ shizmus.

Dean Martin
“Jingle Bells” (mp3)
from “Holiday Lounge – The Christmas Remixes”
(Christmas Chill)

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Dj Subverse brought this to my attention last week, and it has worked its colors into my gray matter. A hyper contemporary soundscape featuring a beguiling mix of eastern and western sounds and melodies all tossed about in dub stylee. This mp3 packs a lot of music into two minutes and fifty seconds! Seductive and creepy, soothing and disturbing all at once. Is this what it is like to be haunted? Lovely work.

Rainbow Arabia
“Haunted Hall” (mp3)
from “Kabukimono”
(Manimal Vinyl Records)

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There’s a certain mojo that can happen with filtered bass synths, rather like the sensation of psychedelics settling in your tummy with just a hint of what’s to come. Now, I usually don’t get all Vice Magazine on you, after all this is a family blog (you should see my family) but, this is drug music. Sultry, sexy, mysterious, after hours, slithering velvet goodness. Cinematic dubstep garage fun from Chicago’s J Courage.

J Courage
“Too Deep” (mp3)
from “Too Deep (Juju Remix)”
(Trenchant Dubs)

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On the avant-garde side of hip-hop we find anticon’s dynamic duo Themselves carving some far out original soundz and spittin’ equally mind bending lyrical flows. “Gangster of Disbelief” is a crazy, brilliant production, featuring urgent yet controlled vocals which hypnotize from the first dubby strains of the intro to the last drop of warm synth-y goodness. Gr8 stuff.

Themselves
“Gangster of Disbelief” (mp3)
from “Crownsdown”
(anticon)

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In the lush, synthetic universe, inhabited by Bear In Heaven, anything can happen. The arrangement of “Wholehearted Mess” is surprising at every turn, with each bridge, verse and chorus opening a new door. An unusual and inspired chord progression, expressed in bold strokes on saturated, pitch-melting keyboard patches, frames a sweetly understated vocal magnificently, and it all adds up to, well, a wholehearted mess. Lovely, original work.

Bear In Heaven
“Wholehearted Mess” (mp3)
from “Beast Rest Forth Mouth”
(Hometapes)

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San Francisco DJ and producer Egadz! has bent beats and busted boundaries for about a decade, and he’s calling it.. quits? Sort of, his l8est release, “Egadz is Dead” is a farewell to his current moniker, with a promise of new projects to come. Why do I care? Well, because his music is brilliant and I’ll be fascinated to see where it goes next. Gaining the kind of peer respect that Egadz! has done already is no easy feat in the fast moving and highly critical world of electronic music. I think the essential reason for his success is the compositions themselves. Check out “Going Home” for example. Almost classical in its tonal language, there’s a care and love put into every detail of the beats, melodies, sounds, and overall production that you don’t always hear in this genre. Frankly, a lot of electronic producers can be perfectly lazy, setting their filter sweeps and beats and walking away and going “Wheee! I made music!” Not so with more the dedicated and cre8ive practitioners. Egadz is Dead. Long live Egadz!

Egadz!
“Going Home” (mp3)
from “Egadz is Dead”
(Kid Without Radio)

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