Hard News by Russell Brown

I went to an unpublicised event in the bush some km from the nearest city.

No bars, BYO, a couple of thousand happy people, no aggro, no apparent cops, great music (depending on ones taste, obviously).

yeah man, we're just a teensy tiny bit excited by what's in store. Baker's dotting a few final tees, but we hope to be able to confirm everything next week.

I googled the Andy Smith comp and saw its on BBE, which has been doing some good stuff of late such as last years reissue of Ahmad Jamal’s heralded ‘The Awakening’ album. Anyhow, the tracklist on that comp sure seemed pretty obscure although Cloud One’s ‘Patty Duke’ seemed familiar – cue Spoonie Gee’s ‘Spoonie Rappin’ (an early 80’s style direct lift!):

Oh, and I found this mix of tracks on the comp by Andy himself:
https://soundcloud.com/bbemusic/disco-wonderland-sampler

And for all the lovers out there, another Tamiko Jones classic:

Nothing like some good disco/funk. And I've been grateful to see some more recent documentaries on electronica finally acknowledging its influence on the genre.

Yup, the musique concretists and Kraftwerks et al came up with some cool sounds and technologies (and I suppose one or two prog exponents), but being able to dance to these sounds made the difference.

I distinctly remember the first time I heard I Feel Love - indeed, the best dance track ever. Moroder did some incredibly banal stuff (I can't forgive him for Take My Breath Away), but IFL is just the acme of dance. Flashdance, Call Me and Cat People were pretty good later on, as was lots of his late-70s stuff. Unfortunately, I find Donna Summer's 14 minute orgasm in Love to Love You Baby an embarrassment for all concerned (but I liked Berlin's Sex, which was obviously influenced-by, go figure).

Anyway, time to crank up Bandcamp and check out that collection.

Moroder did some incredibly banal stuff

He played The Studio in Auckland as a DJ a couple of years ago and by all accounts it was ghastly. Kinda glad I was broke that week.

Unfortunately, I find Donna Summer’s 14 minute orgasm in Love to Love You Baby an embarrassment for all concerned (but I liked Berlin’s Sex, which was obviously influenced-by, go figure).

Awww ... but the groove.

Also influenced-by, to the point of using his actual equipment: the Pet Shop Boys’ So Hard. It’s probably true to say Giorgio’s main contribution over the last 25 years has been his influence on other musicians, but that in itself is no small thing.

Also influenced-by, to the point of using his actual equipment: the Pet Shop Boys’ So Hard. It’s probably true to say Giorgio’s main contribution over the last 25 years has been his influence on other musicians, but that in itself is no small thing.

Harold Faltermeyer, Moroder's long-time session keyboardist/understudy, composed some gems in his own right.

Moroder

Holds the writer's credit for track 1, side 1 of what's indisputably the greatest album of all time.

I think this is Moroders greatest work:

NZ Festivals...meh....nothing worse than dropping nearly $200 for a ticket, only to be confronted by an hour long wait to get a drink, overly aggressive security, a bunch of kiwi acts from the past and on the whole badly trained staff.Poorly curated and over regulated best describes any "festival" in this country.Last year I was at Primavera and Sonar in Barcelona....your better off saving a few bucks and skipping the bad taste that gets left in your mouth attending one of "NZ's best festivals" and heading to Barcelona at the beginning of June...

kiwi acts from the past

You know it's over when Te Papa wants you to do some kind of valedictory/memorial/last gasp/ remember-this? re-enactment of a concert that is over 40 years in the past.
Billy TK senior called in recently ; he was looking around to see how many of the cast of "Life Beyond the Material Sky" had not gone beyond, in reponse to a Te Papa request to re-enact the album. The main problem is that nobody knew what we had played. Fortunately I still had an unopened copy of the double album on vinyl; I no longer have it :-)
So I'm guessing that we are going to do it. As with all Powerhouse concerts this has the potential to be an absolute disaster or totally cosmic.
I doubt that we will see Pauline Pool/ Hattie St John on cello this time.
From a personal viewpoint , at least this time I will have a rough idea of what it is that we will attempt to play, and will be in a position to contribute in a more audible fashion.
Rather than having to steal a Mk VII Jaguar to get to the venue, this time we few remaining will use our Gold cards.
Far out.

Holds the writer's credit for track 1, side 1 of what's indisputably the greatest album of all time.

Ah yes, the good old Music for Leisure compilations.

Awww ... but the groove.

That IS awesome. Imma check out Soundcloud and see if someone's remixed it without the vocal... or a less cringey one.