Influences: Thorsteinsson

Bootsy Collins was my first introduction to P-funk which led to George Clinton and the hole 70’s& 80’s electro funk sound. I am pretty sure he was also the first artists I ever sampled from so maybe he sparked that passion. ‘I’d Rather Be With You’ is one of my favorite songs by him which was also famously sampled by Tupac.

Some years back the now retired Citinite imprint in London re-issued a double 12″ called ‘John Davis Presents Flashcan’ that was originally recorded in 84 and inspired by bands like Parliment. This album blew my mind and was on repeat for quite a while when I first bought it. A robotic universe of drum machines, reverb, slap/synth bass and talkbox. Baby Jane is the only tracks from Flashcan I could find on youtube and also the only one from Flashcan using vocals in a traditional way.

Love Honey is a late discovery I am ashamed to say but it has become one of my favorite (Dj) tracks from that mid Eighties period. Man Friday is made up of the legendary Larry Levan, Brodie Williams, Kofi Morny.
I recently bought a repress of their equally cool Groove / Winners LP re-released on King Street Sounds which I have listened a lot to lately.

I have bought a lot of music from Morgan Geists’s Environ label in the past and discovered this unbelievable piece of music that was re-issue via his Unclassic series. It is just perfect disco craftsmanship and via this release I also got introduced to Siamese Records and is really into a couple of their other releases.

Another gem & re-issue by Environ Records. It has a great story behind it as described on their webpage which I hereby include and hope is true..

” Jersey Devil Social Club was conceived in northern New Jersey in 1980 as a studio-based soundtrack project. Unreleased tapes were shelved in various states of completion until they were unearthed in 2001.
The core of the original J.D.S.C. group consisted of two Italian immigrant brothers, Lorenzo and Vincenzo Capo. Vincenzo’s daughter Anabella contributed spoken vocal parts (apparently because she had almost no Italian accent) and two Latin percussionist friends of the brothers (credited simply as “Carlos 1” and “Carlos 2”) rounded out the lineup. It was in this formation that the members composed the bulk of their catalog. This included 1982’s 13-minute tribute to an obscure French disco LP, Black Devil, themed around Vincenzo’s obsession the local “Jersey Devil” myth.
The group ceased working together in 1984 when the brothers founded Vinnie’s Pizzarama. They continue to operate the pizza parlor today and recently celebrated the 20th anniversary of the business.”

The rawness and hypnotic moods of Jamal Moss’s re-edit series I found really inspiring and like just about every track there. My only complaint is that I don’t have any of it on vinyl.

I do not know much about Visnadi and only have 2 tracks by them, this and “Racing track”. According to discogs this is Brothers Paolo and Gianni Visnadi, a successful euro house duo from the 90’s. Both very amazing tracks and reminds me a little of Yello.

I have always been a fan of Vincent Clark and 80’s monophonic synth music. This is however by Robert Goerl and is right up there as one of my favorite tracks. Its from 84 with Annie Lennox on vocals..Nostalgia synth pop at its best if you ask me.

Richard Simms is from Washington D.C. and I was giving his Chaos 1978-86 Album a few years ago. It was a re-issue on Japanese EM Records in 2008 and sound to me like a mad scientist having tons of fun in a damp basement overdubbing drum machines,drones and punk jazz on a 4 track recorder. Some serious experimentation & music going on. Vera’s Back is his 12 min fusion trip which stands out to the rest of this album of more far out jams and lo-fi productions.

This list would not be complete without mentioning Jimi Hendrix who’s music has been with me most of my life. He created a very special sound and unique vibe that I still discover new thing in when I put it on. His music represents many music genre I like from blues to funk to sci-fi and beyond.
This version is not a performance by him but rather some dude dressed in his shiny outfit jamming guitar in the early hours at some US rave back in 2005..