No.14 x 2012

The man from Pampas, Mr. Ric Piccolo, is following up on Diavol after the higly acclaimed  Diavol Edits-series (which I myself provided the third volume to) with a special digital EP of reworks/edits-and-then-some  of the yet quite unknown Argentinian producer Andres Massetti. The tracks that have been reworked all source back to the library productions under the name Music Hall Pop Orchestra, "directed" by Mr. Massetti. Specificly the Como Antes LP of 1977, which seems impossible to find (although the sleeve art seems to scream out bargain-bin find). The music is all about erotic flamingos flapping their wings in the sunset to a easy listening disco-fusion-house beat.

Ric Piccolo has been exploring his native crates before on the PampasDiscoShock mixtape series, and will soon be featured on the third volume of Heavy Rotation together with Frisbee Records regulars Albion & spAceLex.

The Diavol release is as usual digital & free (it's a brave new world) and comes with a kick-ass video and artwork by Enrico Nagel. Get it here: http://diavol.bandcamp.com/

No.4 x 2012

Vijay Benedict, the singer behind the 1982 Bollywood hit I Am A Disco Dancer, worked closely with music director Bappi Lahiri on many following movies. In 1987 they did this movie/record together simply called Dance Dance. And while 1987 sounded very different in the western hemisphere, things were still all right and funky down in India. So funky that they didn't much bother with upholding even a standard production quality. But that's where our newfound Norwegian talent Olefonken comes in and saves the day, providing some much needed drum work to back up old Vijay and his co-singer Alisha Chinoys shrill vocals.
Olefonken is only one alias of a young man representing the new wave of Norwegian disco that is brewing in the shadows of the major league. He also makes more classically crafted edits under the name Sure Sivert and is rumoured to be involved in the superfresh boogie band hubbabubbaklubb that are coming out with a 7" single sometime this year.

The download count raced off on this one, so we're happy to re-uload the track on the Academy account! Download HERE

No.36 x 2010 / The Saucer People Guest Blog No.3

Inspired by Diskoakademin's post of Flash & The Pan's 1987 classic 'Ayla' I thought I would delve into my own collection of tracks from this strange and semi-obscure Australian band. Formed in the early dawn of pre-history (or the 'mid-70s' as some historians label it) their first release, the 1976 'Hey, St. Peter' was a hit both here in the UK and in their native Australia but it was the 'Walking In The Rain' flip-side that they are now better known for (if only for the seminal cover version by Grace Jones that was the opening track of her 1981 Nightclubbing album).

Between 1976 and 1982 they released a shed-load of records and in the process had a series of minor hits and near misses with the best known probably 'Early Morning Wake Up Call', 'Waiting For A Train' (check out the 1983 Italo-disco Moonbase cover of the track by Tony Carrasco of Klein & MBO fame, especially the killer dub) and the 1984 'Midnight Man' release which featured a couple of sleazy-groove infested remixes from Francois Kevorkian & Ron St. Germain which I have included here. First up is the ultra-rare 11 minute plus remix with it's tripped-out progesque introduction followed by the mighty instrumental dub. Is it at this point I say 'enjoy'? probably not...

FLASH & THE PAN - MIDNIGHT MAN (LONG EXTENDED REMIX 1984)

FLASH & THE PAN - MIDNIGHT MAN (INSTRUMENTAL DUB 1984)

LESS IS MORE, ZERO IS ALL.

If you were in Stockholm last night, you might have overheard this tune while sipping on a glass of white wine or folding up your acid washed jeans to expose your sockless ankles in a pair of tennis shoes, since the hippest discoteque in perhaps all of Sweden (know as Slow Blow) had imported the man resposible for it to entertain the spoiled children of our capital for another night of top quality balearic disco. 

Leo Elstrob has under the name Leo Zero set out to reinvent every major pop star to his liking in this the age of the disco re-edit, but along the way finds time to gaze over the hill with his band A Mountain Of One, and occasionally lend his hands to the work of other artists crossing paths in the sand. Such as this; the newborn project of Zarrylade.

ZARRYLADE - EYE'S ABOVE YOUR HEAD PART II (LEO ZERO VERSION)