JAYDEE Plastic Dreams

Ever since last Sunday at the 14th Annual Clubhouse Jamboree when I heard DJ Spinna spin this classic early nineties house track (which like most longtime electronic music fans, I own and have somewhere in my collection) the damn song has been stuck in my head non-stop. So consequently I felt compelled to dig it up and play it on WFMU two days ago. And when I did I got a ton of  calls, emails, and comments from other music fans who shared my love for this everlasting funk-driven house classic from fifteen years ago.  Odds are if you went to any clubs or raves or parties in Cali in the early nineites you too also know and love this song. Released in 1992 on R&S Records, with the video (below) dropping a year later when Epic picked it up, it was recorded by JayDee (no not J Dilla) the Dutch DJ/producer Robyn "JayDee" Albers who consequently remixed/re-released it (including in 2004 -see 12" cover above) although the very original mix was just so perfect that it couldn't be topped (in my opinion).  Look for it at Amoeba Music in various formats and on various releases. I own it on a 4-CD compilation from few years ago called "Funky House No.1" - one of many it can be found on.

And if you remember hearing this track at some club/party please take a moment to share your memory in COMMENTS box below. Thanks! 

That's right - I said hott - with two "t"'s please. Lots of great music only comes out on vinyl. Here's a few 12" releases that are killin' it for the SF crew:

























































Dub Pistols - "Rapture" (Sunday Best)
Chin Chin - "Toot D'Amore" (Dialect)

Two seperate 12"s here, with the connection being their solid Prins Thomas remixes. "Rapture" is indeed a cover of the Blondie classic with ex-Specials vocalist Terry Hall on vocals, and it works just fine with its bubbling underbelly of faux-acid, big beat guitar riffs and hip-house. Flip the record over, however, and you get some *actual* acid as Thomas' mix is where it's at, adding a smidge of swing and sounding like some proper Chicago action. Chin Chin, on the other hand, come out on top with no less than three PT mixes on one 12". The Diskomiks is a funky congo affair replete with horn section and hella-funky afrodisco percussion while you get two 'bonus beat' tracks that work great as DJ tools or full songs in their own right. SF Electronica floorperson Brian is super geeked out on this as well, so i'll give it two thumbs up.

    At Amoeba SF's electronica section, we've usually got at least four or five titles each month that we're extremely hyped on. Here's our current batch:



    First we've got Gui Boratto's Chromophobia on Kompakt. Boratto's Brazilian heritage gives him an edge when making his brand of tech-house, and that's an ear for rhythm. Straddling between minimal and electrohouse, Chromophobia avoids any LP pitfalls by working equally on a dancefloor as on headphones, it's got enough oomph to sound fantastic on a large sound system, but intricate enough that you notice small details while listening at home. I love his way with melody, particularly the swooping tones of "Terminal" and the bleep counterpoint in "Gate 7"; it gets quite emotional. The rhythms are key, though, and it's clear from the first track on that Boratto has a good grasp of syncopation and funk. Between the Hug and Field albums and now this, Kompakt are on a bit of a roll, again!



    Next up is We Are Together by Japanese producer Kuniyuki Takahashi, released on Mule Musiq. This is an album that is a unanimous vote amongst the electronica staff - everybody loves it (well, at least four of us). It's jazzy house music only in the loosest sense of the phrase, managing to perfectly walk the tightrope between noodly and stiff. The thing I like best about this album is its sense of space, the production on every track sounds so expansive and widescreen as to conjure up images of the music's physicality. In that sense it reminds me of the Burial album where there's a very conscious sense of three-dimensional space - it's a real "smokers delight". Check Kuni's MySpace page to hear more of this excellence.

This week I happened to receive new music by Elektrons, a Manchester-based duo who've recently released their second single, and it's one that has shot to the top of my chart - I've been humming it all week!





Elektrons are also known as eclectic DJ crew  The Unabombers and throw an internationally-known club night called The Electric Chair (popular enough that they have their own CD compilations) that's been turning folks on to its varied music policy of fun, funky and leftfield dance tunes since 1995. Made up of Justin Crawford and Luke Cowdrey, the Unas both have a long history in music, with Crawford being behind jazzy downtempo act Only Child on Mark Rae's Grand Central Records as well as bassist for Madchester dance-rockers New Fast Automatic Daffodils (who are due for a major revival any day now - you heard it here first).

I co-produce a radio show on local community station KUSF called the Friday Night Session. Along with my fellow producers Andrew Jervis and Tomas Palermo, we visit brand new music for two hours every Friday night from 10pm to Midnight. While there's no set music policy, we tend to play jazz, soul, funk, latin, reggae and electronic dance music that is influenced by all those things, including Broken Beat, so-called "Nu-Soul" and Disco.

Last week we were lucky to have Gilles Peterson, BBC Radio One DJ and selector extraordinaire as our special guest. Gilles was in town working on the second volume of his Gilles Peterson Digs America compilation series for Ubiquity Records, as well as to DJ at local superclub Ruby Skye, but still found the time to kick it with us at the KUSF studio in SF's Western Addition.





Over a killer falafel plate from Haight Street's Blue Front Cafe and a wonderful bottle of wine, Gilles took us on a tour of his record box for two hours, while regaling us with tales of being a globetrotting DJ. Inbetween sips of cabernet, Gilles managed to play us a diverse selection of tunes ranging from latin jazz from artists like Tito Puente and Ray Camacho to more contemporary jams from Louie Vega and Simbad.