No. 19 x 2012

My good friends of Fasaan Recordings are about to release their first 12", following up previous 7"-singles by afro-project Enjebeye and rocksteady-band The Soularks. This time it's the duo-project of 2/3 of the labelowners themselves (Prins Emanuel & Golden Ivy) under the parental guidance of a bright new series called Fasaan Disco Specials. With inspiration from heroes like Arthur Russel, Walter Gibbons & Tom Noble as well as from extensive DJ-ing uring the last two years, the Fasaan-story has taken a new turn. Disco, Boogie & Dub are the cornerstones of this new sound, spanning from 117 bpm uptempo disco to 92 bpm dubbed out stoner boogie. The trademark Fasaan-style organ riffs keeps the tracks on the same path, piercing through the vibrant live instrumentation and holding us from drowning in the endless depths of the baselines. With some help from local house-guru Adam Lundberg (of Geography Records) these tracks are guaranteed DJ-friendly dancefloor cuts.

The mainstream popcultural blog PSL (a part of SVT) has even picked up on the duos dance music in a recent feature.
The 200 copies limited 12" will be released sometime around the 12th of January. Keep an eye out on the release over at Juno.

No.9 x 2012

It's been a while since you heard from me here, since I've been finishing my bachelor degree (not in disco though). But I have been keeping myself busy on that scene as well, providing the third volume for the very interesting Edits-series by netbased label Diavol.
The Argentinian label is run by local discophiles Premini & Jovan, and they have developed a quite uniqe concept with this project. All volumes are released digital and free of charge, accompanied by cover art from interesting young artists and video trailers in the same vein of musical visualization as In Flagrantis promo films.
The first volume features edits of obscure Brazilian disco, new wave and pop signed by themselves, the second volume had Nassau edit the local flavours of his home country Italy. For this third volume I pitched in with one edit of a Swedish original (Subway At Night) but expanded to an international scope on the following three cuts (spanning three diferent continents - Japan, UK & USA) and also decided to keep the names of the originals to myself - not out of pride, I've just always enjoyed the mysterious side of edits more (it makes the crate digging so much more fun).
The cover art was provided by Los Angeles-based Cleon Peterson, and is one of the pieces of a series called The Practice Of Masters.
All edits are now available for free on Soundcloud but you can also show your love by getting the whole volume for just a dollar at the Diavol site.

No.7 x 2012

Spotnicks was not a band in the classic sense of the word, but more of an institution that carried on in various constellations for decades, spitting out records in a variety of styles and quality based loosely around the surf sound of the 1960's. Their gimmick however, was the cosmic aesthetics of the space age (which I'm sure gave them a lot of gigs in the USSR). This gimmick played out well even long after the race to the moon was won, and gave them entrance to the cosmic side of the disco spectrum when 1978 came around: when the band somehow ended up in the hands of a bunch of french guys who cut the amazing electronic disco record Never Trust Robots with them throwning in some surf riffs here and there.

Anyway, on to 1983 and the band sees a new formation away from the instrumental surfing to a more rock oriented format with actual songs of their own, but not without a cosmic touch. The title track off this record is a loud bass-driven sleeze-fest with Phil Collins-size drums that works really well as a late night anthem, complete with a healthy dose of synth swooshes and the chatter of the space station control room during the guitar solos.

SPOTNICKS - DROP ME IN THE MIDDLE OF THE UNIVERSE

No.6 x 2012

Heavy Rotation 2 is about to hit the stores soon, and sees the return of the cosmic-european trio of Albion, Spacelex and Dea to the frontiers of the edit desk, this time joined by the serious sidekicking of Emil Doesn't Drive. Fans of the blog should already be familiar with Albion since back in 2009, if not sooner. The first volume was a deep plunge into the same vaults of disco obscurity that has been the source for Albions classic mixtape series dating back to the CBS era, and volume two is no exception.
The Heavy Rotation team of cosmic explorers has for this trip as well as the previous manned the vehicle that is Frisbee Records (run out of Berlin by Spacelex), but I'm thrilled to say that their next mission will be on the Blackdisco label (run by Lovefingers & Nitedog in the U.S.A.), one that has hosted previous voyages by the likes of Basso, Alexis Le-Tan & Justin Vandervolgen.
And if you don't like waiting for good things to come, and want to have this slice of cosmos right away, Oye Records in Berlin has had the privilege to receive a limited first batch of these darlings. Go get one here, just don't be fooled by the incorrect release date.

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.3 x 2012

Ah yes, Finland! Too few of our entries here tagged "Scandinavian" can be contributed to our distant neighbour Finland, the black sheep of the family when it come to scandinavian countries - since they have a language that doesn't even remotely bear resemblance to any of the other three. They're only connected to Sweden by landmass way up north in the Same territory, and seems to have adopted the ideal of the strong silent type from the top down (warning, massive stereotype alert). So what a nice surprise to see them pop in their head through the doors of the disco renaissance just to let us know that they're really not into that kind of stuff. Rod Stewart-impersonator and schlager star Ricki Sorsa sure can't stand dancing anyway, and takes a bold stance against the party drugs of the club scene, especially "the coke thats in your nose", as he puts it. And then to match these lyrics with a pumping disco beat and an infectious chorus complete with echo-layered handclaps only further proves that the finns have a dark sense of humor.

RIKI SORSA - CAN'T STAND DANCING

No.2 x 2012

Here's a re-edit of jazz-funk organist Ronnie Fosters 1978 trip on a percussion-fueled boogie airplane which apparently crash-landed in Copenhagen, got picked up by local digger Jens Dahl and re-built into a working machine, ready to fly again.

RONNIE FOSTER - MIDNIGHT PLANE (Jens Dahl Edit)

No.22 x 2011

Bagen was a hip MTV-style show on swedish public service TV in the mid-1980's, hosted by the ever so charismatic Cia Berg (front figure in the band Ubangi and later on in the 90's band Whale), check out a collage of some of Cias "looks" during the different shows here.

One of the features of the show except to supply the latest music videos of the time was a segment called Freak Out, where Stockholm B-boy Karl Dyall would give informative examples of breaking, locking and making fun of asians (no kidding, just check out his opening act in thisclip!).

SVT also managed to put out this amazing record of some of the music that was made exclusively for the show, most of it produced by the prolific former prog-rocker Coste Apetrea. There's plenty of good stuff in the way of electro and boogie, and the Mikael Rickfors track is a cool and dark piece that could stand to be compared with some of Angela Werners best stuff.

One noteble track is also the CCC version of Kool Katt, the cheesy rap-boogie hit by the group STOP (there's a nice edit of the original out there by our Norwegian neighbour Rune Lindbaek). This version on the other hand tones down on the cheese and adds more ice in the way of L.A.-electro style drum machines. Oh and the record comes with an instructional poster on how to breakdance and do the electric boogie.

CCC - KOOL KATT

No.20 x 2011

Take a look at this dude. He's all suave and hairy, apparently shirtless and possibly totally nude when this picture was taken. His eyes show a certain determination, located just under that vague uni-brow. Is he handsome? Well no, not really. But somehow he posesses a sleezy charisma that somehow rubbed off on the music this guy laid down back in 1978. The lyrics, which are a bold mix between swedish and english (or "swenglish" as it is called), reads like a compilation list of useful pickup-lines at any bar in Stockholm during the late 1970's.

KENNET GREUZ - LOVE MY BABY LOVE

No.6 x 2011

As you may know, I've got a soft spot (and very high cheese-tolerance) when it comes to the music of the disco era produced in my native country Sweden. I think at least every third post here at the Academy is tagged "scandinavian".
So I was awe-struck when I discovered Lovebugs mix Up North themed entirely around scandinavian disco & boogie of the 1980's. It's just so good I kind of wish I had made it myself. Somewhat reminiscent of the Top Nice-teams Svenska Pärlor mix I posted some time ago now, this mix focuses solely on the kind of pop-boogie sound that many have linked to the Sir Lancelot label. Some of these bands (Extra, Mantraction) could have been labeled new wave, but it seems to have been all a blur during those crazy pastell-coloured years. The odd number is definitley the christian disco of De'Funkar.
Lovebug is part of the german radio/club outfit Bleepgeeks located in Ulm, which also has an exceptional blog stuffed with obscurities.

LOVEBUG PRESENTS 'UP NORTH!'

No.5 x 2011

In 1978, only a year after Giorgio Moroder unleashed his futuristic smash hit on Swedish discoteques (you know the one where Donna Summer feels love) - drummer Åke Eriksson conviced his bandmates in the boogie rock outfit Wasa Express to record this tounge-in-cheek take on the italo disco sound, humoristicly done with nonsense lyrics and high-pitched smurf-like chants. But to judge from the outcome of this playfull mock hommage, it seems they might have found themselves actually enjoying it. Why else would they have spent their precious time away from the safe poses and riffs of their regular rock'n'roll repertoire to deliver such a spaced out excursion of disco perfection.

Again, I have to give credit to our friend V! (Oozlum) for spotting this one.

WASA EXPRESS - GET UP

No.3 x 2011

Strix Q started as the backup band of Magnus Uggla, the swedish equivalent of Lou Reed (or at least he thinks so) who to the international disco underground is most famous for his electro-balearic Sommartid. And it's easy to spot the influences of Uggla on this track off the album Capitol City, which was also released as a 7" single (although a 12" with a dub instrumental would have been nice). This is cocky glam-rock on the verge of 1980's flamboyance, but with the added soundscape of futuristic disco rock. The Moog baseline will blow you away!

And best of all is the lyrics, which in swedish tells the story of a guy getting dressed up and ready to hit the clubs, looking to score some action, and then the chorus comes in like a twist in a thriller to reveal that he's only in it for the boys. Oh, the gayness!

STRIX Q - BOYSS

No.53 x 2010

Our friend Crinan from Gothenburg has dug up some primo norwegian disco. I first heard this in a mixtape by Tiedye, another couple of guys from Gothenburg, made for the music section of the danish fashion label Wood Woods excellent website.
Back in the 90's Crinan made electronic dance music released on Börft Records. Now he runs the music blog/club Mind On The Run and is together with a friend responsible for the Parlour releases, some of the hairiest and most wildgrown edits put on vinyl over the past couple of years.
This one is jawdroppingly rough and funky progrock groover. Åke Aleksandersen in fact started out as a hairdresser in Oslo, and then moved his way to the microphone by playing drums in a jazz band. The songs title refers to the king of winter, a common figure of scandinavian mythology, which seems to have taken over as the unchampioned ruler of the weather during the last days.


FRANK ALEKSANDERSEN - KONG VINTER (CRINAN EDIT)

No.52 x 2010

DJ Ajetollah is known to her friends simply as Aje (short for Arjumand), and even though she has only been playing records for about a year (mostly as part of the underground crew Sui Generis here in Malmö) she has some kickass skills matched with
a distinguished taste in hard electronic disco both old and new.

This mix for instance starts things off by reclaiming Yellos Oh Yeah from the vaults of 80's nostalgia (although to most people it will forever be linked as the soundtrack to Ferris Bueler's Day Off) and then throwing us right into the retrofuturistic visions of Morgan Geist and his cratedigging spoof project Jersey Devil Social Club.

DJ AJETOLLAH - SPACED OUT MIX

No.50 x 2010

I was in Stockholm this weekend to play some records with my friend Johnny Too Bad (Jonas Dahlström) at a place called Marie Laveau. We also had time to squeeze in a session of the online radio show called Heathenism that Jonas and his co-dj Fredrik Borg runs. It's basically us three out in Jonas place in Bagarmossen taking turns at the turntables, drinking beer and eating potatoe chips.
I played mostly swedish stuff, and one of the tracks I play (starting at around 11:05) is If You Wanna Know by Janne Önnerud & Co. The track can be found on two of the bands albums, the 1980 album The Killer and on a limited second edition of the album Disco Power Play from the previous year. This record has long been known only as the cover that was ripped by brittish re-editers Soft Rocks for their 12" of the same name.


HEATHENISM #6

No.49 x 2010

I've made a playlist for the 10th issue of Tourist Magazine, an online publication with a broad spectrum of topics (a lifestyle magazine if I dare say so).
They also did an interview with me, that is to say the swedish person whose body is currently utilized by Sergio Rizzolo as a vessel for DJ gigs. Confusing? Go check out what he had to say and listen to the selections over here.

No.47 x 2010

Some amazing photos by Maya Hultmann of last saturdays guerilla record shop at the Makeriet gallery. Me and my main man Tobinski behind the decks.
Big thanks to everyone who showed up, bought records and drank beer with us.
And special thanks to Elias Westerberg, Mira Svanberg, Sofia Fredlund, Daniel Stahre, Jonas Grönlund, Arvid Holm & Farin Carami for support and inspiration.

No.45 x 2010

Daniel, who helps to run the gallery space Makeriet where The Academy recently exhibited (pics are on the way!), also has a local club called Music People together with two people. A guy called Johannes and a girl called Johanna.
Johanna Knutsson lives in Berlin where she makes dance music and cuts hair pro-style. Her first EP will be released early next year by Klasse Recordings.
She's recently put some of her Knutsson magic on an old proto-house joint, So Good So Right, off the classic gay disco album Body Talk by Imagination.
As far as I know, this is the first introduction on the disco edit-scene by a woman. Wether they are generally too cool to care about such a marginalized effort or just feel left out of the picture, the reason why the output of disco edits over the last few years have gone under the adjective of "bearded" is pretty plain to see.

IMAGINATION - SO GOOD SO RIGHT (Johanna Knutsson So Easy Edit)

No.44 x 2010

If you happen to be in Malmö (Sweden) tonight, the Disco Academy will be throwing a guerilla record shop party at a place called Makeriet. Around 40 records will be sold, everything from the bargain bin finds around the corner to rarities picked up in Europe, each with the Academy sticker on the cover and a small typed review. There will be beer. And turntables.

Here's the FB-event.

No.40 x 2010

It's been a long while since I posted something from my friends of Vidderna over here, mainly because we all blog over at Prejka together now.
They cetrainly have been keeping busy; with a recent tour of São Paulo, releasing a very limited split 12" with Ljudbilden & Piloten on Neosordo Records, as well as doing an upcoming tour of China. And yet they are always moving forwards on the lookout for new sounds, records and instruments. Often intertwined into the hybrid projects they call Vidderna Versions, which has of yet spanned everything from turkish prog rock, swedish new wave & Bryan Ferry.
Far from your ordinary edits, these are elaborate remixes with live instrumentation and studio tricks far from the reaches of my comprehension, but still very subtle and a with a carefull enchancing of the original. This tribal excursion by old aussie goths Dead Can Dance from 1996 was picked out of oblivion recently and sent into deep meditation.

Dead Can Dance - Song of the Stars (edit) by Vidderna Versioner