Thunder Picks #019

Thank to Tim Murray and The Ray Gun for last week contribution if you all behave yourselves, we might get him back to talk about records. In the meantime, records, too many records and not enough time in fact. Here we go

House Of Music Rush Hour Records Fanzine

In my latest record delivery from Amsterdam, I was pleasantly surprised to find a lovely  little fanzine, produced by Rush Hour themselves. Issue 1 of the Non Periodical Magazine is a fairly lo-fi affair, not actually photocopied but that is the aesthetic that they have gone for grainy photos, black and white print,  on what looks like recycled paper. As one might expect, theres a real Rush Hour focus, with label & artists like Xosar and Tom Trago, theres an interview with Willie Burns (whos a swimming instructor!) and probably the best, most in-depth interview with Rheji Burrell of Nu-Groove fame. Its worth paying a few more quid on shipping to get a copy. Or you might want to get yourself a Rush Hour exclusive

Details Here
 

Tony G Simple Dreams

On that subject, Rush Hour seem to be the only shop stocking the new Tony G (no, not the same one who did orbital rave classic Tonys Song) record, Simple Dreams. I guess most people will make a fuss about the Young Marco mix on this 12 but for me, the Pink Skull remix is the one. I have no idea who Pink Skull is but this is probably my favourite record of the last month or two. Out on fledgling label Infinite Juju, its limited to 100 copies, so dont hang about if like you like it.

R-Zone 06 (R-Zone)

Back in Thunder Picks #09 you might remember me pondering who might be behind the mysterious R-Zone series? Well the unsurprising news is Im still none the wiser but as was suggested at the time, who cares? Theyre back with another cracking release, probably better than the last one. Romijin Ravine is the stand out, it really reminds of something too but cant think what I guess that doesnt matter either really.

Funkineven Species EP (Broadwalk)

This man can do no wrong at the moment. If hes not teaming up with some of the heaviest hitters in US house music right now, Kyle Hall and Delroy Edwards, hes churning out premium grade material of his own. The Joker will probably grab the dancefloor attention here but Im experiencing big love for the string laden titular track. Heres a bit of both along with a slightly dubious video of the man himself dressed up as a Roman Centurion (albeit one with eye make-up and a very natty, neatly trimmed beard) and slaying some sort of Nordic warrior to get the girl.

DJ GilbR & DJ Sotofett Concrete Guajiro / Foliage EP (Versatile)

Im beginning to run out of superlatives to describe the Sex Tags crew. The main man, DJ Sotofett, is at it again teaming up with Gilbert Cohen, who is one half of Chteau Flight and head of seminal French label Versatile, who were responsible for bringing us the likes of I:Cube, Joakim and Zombie Zombie, the latter of which Sotofett has previously remixed. The story behind this EP is Sotofett went to Paris to DJ with Gilbert and decided to say a while. They jammed with Zombie Zombie, bongo player of Cosmic Neman and Etienne Jaumet, and this was some of what they came up with. Concrete Guajiro is the slightly more abstract of the two tracks, with electronic meandering interwoven with melancholy sax. On the flip, the bongo and sax driven Foliage is equally excellent and lot more dancefloor friendly. Apparently theres more to come from this project too. Cutting edge dance music.

Re-Press Corner Classic EP (Serious Grooves)

What to say about this? Simply one of the best house records ever made. All four tracks are Chez Damier collaborations, including the two original and best mixes of Forever Monna with Stacey Pullen, The Bah Bah Song with Santonio Echols and cross Atlantic team-up with  Ralph Lawson on the emotionally charged A Dedication to Jos. Its beautiful and poignant on a number of levels, and you should really own it.

Buy It Here

Party of the Week Part 1 Bad Passion 5^th Birthday Party (Saturday 19 October)

I can remember seeing the first Bad Passion flyer and commenting to a friend on how good , not to mention unusual, the artwork was. That really doesnt seem that long ago, certainly not 5 bloody years ago. Talk about making a girl feel old Anyway, over these 5 years (Im sure theyre lying about this, to be honest), Andy and Chris have developed a bit of reputation for being able to throw a party or two. They demonstrated these skills when we were with them in Croatia recently, with Chris ability to party non-stop making me feel queasy and Andys stories about hanging off of 5^th floor window ledges and jumping from roof to roof (or not as the case may be) all in aid of the after party, making feel even queasier still. Suffice to say, this should be pretty good fun.  Some tickets still available here

Party of the Week Part 2 Dance Tunnel pres. Spencer Parker (Saturday 19 October)

In my humble opinion, Spencer Parker is one of the most underrated DJs around. A native of sunny Croydon, he now resides in Berlin and he really had to move to B Town to get appreciated. Hes regular at Panorama Bar these days, both as a DJ and a dancer, and he certainly knows how to get a party started. My personal favourite memory of Spencer was him tearing apart Be Cool in Barcelona during Sonar a few years ago and then immediately hitting the dancefloor to join us. Hes a got an album coming out too and this is the UK leg of the launch party, held at my favourite club in London. No advance tickets, but its just a fiver before 11pm. Full details here

It's a pleasure to have you back Mr Simpson. Not that it wasn't a pleasure to have Ray Gun guest last week. (Ed)

Tickets for the next very excellent Thunder with Rick Wilhite (3 Chairs, Detroit) are availble now.  Full details here.

Miles 'Thunder' Simpson