The world of the instructional record is really quite fascinating. From sincere DIY teachings to crass bandwagoning & fad jumping, the instructional record was a force unto itself in the 60's & 70's. The endless barrage of salesman related "you can do it" LPs from that era rival the male enhancement ad fads of today and reveal a similar, sinister undercurrent of predatory schemes that feed on the insecurity of many a male ego. It's entertainment all the way around! You'd be hard pressed to find more timely LPs than Strategy At the Bridge Table or either of the dance related records below.



I always find it funny that the three most important classes I took in High School were one semester electives-- guitar, speech and typing. Guitar was the beginning of the dymistification process between music and I. It also gave me much needed entertainment as I watched the jock meatheads fumble through "Lovesong" by the Cure in preparation for a lame attempt at buttering up some ditz over at the girls school. Speech was SO important, as it gave me an opportunity to get over performance anxiety by forcing me to give contrarian speeches to the same hamfisted types I mentioned in the guitar bit, within the safety net of the classroom. The teacher always wore suits and had a small mustache, traits that may have settled into my subconcious. He was asked to leave by the end of the semester because his affair with a jr. over at the girls school had been discovered, a trait I don't think I've picked up. The third class prepared me for the internet age. Not that I 'm a great typist, but whenever I watch a two fingered wonder pecking away, I'm always glad I took the class. Anyhow, this rant was brought on by the plethora of typing related LPs that I've seen over the years, a few of which are featured below.  

The art of the 12" company sleeve can really be quite entertaining. The middle sleeve above is not a Big Beat sleeve-- does anyone out there know what company made these? The Alicia Bridges and Travolta sleeves below are not company sleeves, but are good examples of the disco die cut promotional sleeve popular in the early years of the 12". Experiments with the 12" single format began in 1974 and by 1975 a decent amount of promo 12"s had been released. Within a couple of years the 12" single would become the format of choice for promoting dance oriented tunes. By the 80's, 12" records were pressed for most every mainstream hit, dance oriented or not. Springsteen w/  "dub version" b-sides, etc.





Above we have a couple of die cut sleeves used to market LPs, not 12"s. Below there's a Russian example. This sleeve may have been used for either LPs or 12"s, but this particular release is a disco-ish LP.

SHINEDOE
No Boundaries
Intacto

This is the first full-length release for Amsterdam-based DJ/producer Shinedoe on her own Intacto label. True to its name, she has chosen a broad sound for No Boundaries -- one that is always focused on the dancefloor and is never predictable. This record can be seen as the yellow-bricked road right through all the sounds that defined her DJ sets in the past years. The result is a record where rhythmic tracks fluently take turns with organic-sounding jam sessions -- warm and jazzy, deep and funky. "Below" starts it all off with an irresistible minimal groove, a tempting bass line and a warm, soothing synth. "Bounce To This" features a more funk-influenced house sound, just waiting to rock dancefloors around the globe. "Jazz it Up" is a track like you've never heard from Shinedoe, but it leaves you concluding, "why not?" Deep drum rolls build around a funky housebeat and saxophone sample in an almost hypnotizing groove -- just try to stand still for this one. "Finding A Balance" also shows a side of Shinedoe we didn't know before -- it's as if she gave the extremely rhythmic productions from her past a stylish, deep house twist. "No Boundaries" showcases her first collaboration with a vocalist -- guest of honor on this unadulterated oldskool house track is Bumpy, aka Mr. J. On "Higher," produced under her Innersphere alias, we can hear Shinedoe doing what she does best: subtle percussion and airy piano-loops put together in an inevitable dancefloor bomb. With the atmospheric closing-piece "Just For Us," she underlines her border-crossing ambition; warm, jazzy grooves jut against headstrong minimal techno. A brilliant and accomplished release from one of dance music's most organic and future-minded producers.

SMITH & MUDD
Le Suivant
Claremont 56