GAIA LIVE MIXES. MASTERS AT WORK - PART 1

A couple of months ago I recalled a mix by Plaid that was the first streaming mix I heard from the web. Then I discovered the Sly Stone's "If You Want Me To Stay". But the real amount of new discoveries was yet to come, when I reached the website that the Plaid's mix was recorded for - Gaia Live.

It was August of 1999, the internet connection was still dial-up, and the cheapest web-surfing was during the night. Very soon I took a whole night to spend on this website. I connected my stereo-system instead of the speakers and prepared a few cassettes to record some of the sets. The three tapes that I recorded that night became an endless source of inspiration in the following years. Although I never saw the track-lists of these mixes, to this day, many of the tunes I heard there remain my all-time favorites. In the following weeks I'll be recalling some of them.

The first set I recorded was by Masters at Work. I still had no idea, what their importance on the House scene was, but the first part of their mix wasn't about House at all - it was about Hip Hop. It was beginning with an array of short segments of rare original tunes, sampled in Hip Hop. And one of the bright memories to this day was a short piece from the beginning of this beautiful pop-sike song:

Dirty Harry

Today's tune is from one of my favorite Drum'n'Bass albums in 1999. It's interesting that back then I didn't connect this tune to the movie, that I saw in Russian translation about a year earlier. But now I can clearly see, how this tune brought me closer to the sub-genre of 70's action movie soundtracks - from Balxploitation to Euro-crime.

Cassettes show

Sometimes a break is necessary. So, while I'm taking mine (it will last only until the next weekend - I promise), I thought that it would be fair to post here the 1.5 hour cassettes special that I did on Radio Raash Hour about a month ago.

Here it is. Enjoy! :):

And the playlist (including some of the tunes I posted here before, plus two songs that will never appear on YouTube):

01. Amont Tobin - Nightlife
02. Clifford Gilberto Rhythm Combination - Soulbath
03. DJ Cam - Innervisions
04. Tongue - Notion
05. La Yellow 357 - Quelle Sensation Bizarre
06. Takeo Yamashita - Theme From Lupin The 3rd, Version 1 (FPM's Reconstruction Mix)
07. Pizzicato Five - Lesson 3003 (Part1)
08. Neotropic - Vacetious Blooms
09. Sneaker Pimps - Becoming X
10. Gus Gus - Why?
11. Hasta La Fillsta - Believe ('96 Demo)
12. Saint Etienne - Erica America
13. The Cranks - Fairy Tale
14. April March - Sugar
15. Meat Beat Manifesto - Transmission
16. Funki Porcini - I'm Such A Small Thing
17. Depeche Mode - Barrel Of A Gun (Underworld Soft Mix)
18. Everything But the Girl - Before Today
19. Nightmares on Wax - Stars

Underworld

Well, as you already understand, when I arrived to Jerusalem my head was in full B-Boy-style Hip Hop mode... on one hand... and deeply into Drum'n'Bass - on the other... So the developing interest in deep techno and disco-influenced house may sound really odd. And it still remains a mystery to me, because this is the only influence that with a time had no further development. Four-to-the-floor beats simply don't work well for me. But back in 1999 it was still a sort of sensation. Probably - thanks to one particular band and its two key albums of the 90's. We'll talk about the techno aspect of its influence later, but right now I'd like to concentrate on their ambient/downtempo side. This song was like an exciting extension to the "Soft Mix" they did for Depeche Mode (which you already know that I like a lot). Just an amazing ambient song with a simple but deep production:

We're going on air!

I'm glad to announce that tomorrow, after nearly half a year of posts, I'm taking this blog on air through my weekly show on Raash Hour Radio! Yes, this week's "Kaleidoscope" will be presented entirely from my old tape collection, including some of the artists that I've already mentioned here earlier and far beyond that. Here's the Facebook event.

 Important to mention that this cassette special is related to my new article in this month's "handmade" issue of Af Magazine (which is not out yet, but is on its way).

Tuesday, 8.01.2013, 21:30 - 23:00, Jerusalem time. Tune in! :)

If you want me to stay

When we arrived in Jerusalem, I've finally discovered the comfort world of dial-up internet at home (in Minsk I was only going to internet cafes). The night traffic was cheaper, so soon after we connected to the web, I arranged a sleepless night for surfing through music-related websites.

One of the first places I visited that night was Warp Records website. Warp were celebrating their tenth anniversary, so many artists made special their contributions for the web-home. One of those contributions was Plaid's two-part special DJ-mix (naturally for 1999, it was available as a RealAudio stream). The first part was pretty much electronic house'y stuff, which was less interesting for me. But the second part was more in the downtempo/freestyle vein. And I was so amazed by this mix that I even recorded in on a  cassette, like I was already used to do with the FM-radio. Today I hardly remember this mix and I can't even find the tape itself. But I remember clearly how out of the glitchy hip-hop beat suddenly appeared this tune. I already knew this song, since it was covered by Red Hot Chili Peppers, but this version (that I didn't yet know was the original) was just 100 times better!

FPM

Hey folks! Sorry for the latency. The New Year's preparations have taken all my time. However...

I was really glad to find this tune on YouTube. I already wrote here about my first meeting with Japanese indie through Pizzicato Five, Boredoms, Melt Banana and Boom Boom Satellites videos. So when I finally found the Bungalow Records' compilation "Readymade Records, Tokyo - The Remixes", I was listening to it all the time. This was the first cassette to include Pizzicato Five and Fantastic Plastic Machine music. And it introduced me to the "pop" side of the genre so much provided by late 90's Ninja Tune artists. And this remix was definitely one of my first favorite groove tunes. And I think it's a nice tune to post on the New Year's Eve - just to help you get in the holiday mood. :)

HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYBODY! :)

Hefner

When I first heard this tune by the future jazz artist Hefner (not the indie rock band) on "Radio Styl", I had no idea yet that search for this tune will bring me into the whole world of downtempo/electronic jazz music and a few years later - into broken beat scene. Later, in August 1999, when I was listening to Gaya Live (one of the first streaming web radio-stations to deal entirely with electronic music), I heard Hefner's music again. But this is an entire huge story to tell about. Let's be consistent...

It will take me about a year to find the Inertia Records compilation, where this tune was included. And another couple of years until I first find his tunes through AudioGalaxyy, and then - his entire album through SoulSeek. But still, this opening tune, alongside Clifford Gilberto and DJ Vadim's "London Mind State", will always remind me of my last spring in Minsk.

Clifford Gilberto

Today's tune is another Ninja Tune classic that followed me from spring till autumn of 1999. It was a perfect soundtrack for both - the first sunny spring days in Minsk, that I was often spending walking around downtown, and the first cooler days of autumn in Jerusalem, that I was spending in ulpan. Indeed, oddly enough, each time I hear this tune, there are two different sights that come up in my memory at once: banks of Svisloch river, covered with snow, melting in the sun; and the road from Kav-Tet be-November street all the way down to Emek Refaim.

New Forms

Yes, it took me a while before I finally bought this album. But after all this was one of the albums that made up the soundtrack of my first months in Jerusalem. And this particular tune very much reflected the way I saw this city, when I first got here - full of tension and mytery.

White Town

Time for a weekly tune! Something that I was thinking about for quite a while lately.

On the wave of new disco-inspired hits, like "Sexy Boy", "Lovefool", "Da Funk" and "Music Sounds Better with You", another memorable hit was "Your Woman" by White Town. Around the same time there was an article about the artist behind this name in "MG", from which I've learned that this song was recorded at home studio by British-Indian Jyoti Mishra and he's built his studio from the equipment that he found in the streets. Indeed, as I'm thinking about it right now, back then a lot of old electronic instruments seemed so useless that people were getting rid of them for ridiculously small money.

When we arrived in Israel, one of the first places that me and my sister visited was the "Picadilly" store on Shatz street, that was already running a closing sale, so a lot of CD's were extremely cheap and we bought a few after 2 hours of digging through shelves. One of which was White Town's album, because my sis loved "Your Woman". Back home we were amazed by the fact that the rest of the album sounds way different from the hit. And actually, all the other songs were much better! Like this one:

Jyoti Mishra is an original "bedroom producer". You may even call him and original hipster, if you wish. Despite his past major success, he continues recording and releasing his music independently to this day. He was one of the first artists I knew that were managing their website and even a sort of blog (it was still 1999, remember). Here it is - really worth checking out!

Hooter (Carl Craig Remix)

There were a few tunes that I forgot to mention in my previous posts, so I'll be posting them from time to time.

This video was actually on the same tape, that back in early 1997 introduced me to a lot of my favorite alternative artists as well as electronic ones, like FSOL and The Orb. This was my first introduction to techno - different from what I used to know by then (euro-dance and happy hardcore). I guess, this was the tune that opened the doors for me into this genre, and a few years later - led me to my first underground techno parties in Jerusalem.

Back then I couldn't imagine that this clip was actually 8 minutes long. It didn't feel like that.

Welcome to "Tales from the Crates"

Hello everyone!

I am Markey Funk and this is my new blog dedicated to the long forgotten music that I used to listen to as a child (and a bit after that). Behind every song there is a story of people and music, hidden in the records grooves. Behind every favorite song there is a listener's personal story and memories. When I brought up the title "Tales from the Crates", I wanted to explore the stories behind the music that I'm collecting. Now, I'd like to use this title to tell my personal stories, that I recall, while looking through my cassette boxes.

After running a 3-month daily song project in my Facebook profile, I realized how much music can one person listen to while growing up and how much can a person tell about almost every tune that he remembers. Of course, Facebook timeline format is not perfect for such storytelling project, so I've decided to create a blog that will collect all these musical memories. It will not be updated daily (3 months is fine, but we all have lives), but instead I'll be posting a song every Saturday.

But before we go on further, you're welcome to scroll backwards, read and listen to all the music that I've been posting during last 3 months.

Enjoy! :)

So Long

In winter I bought a tape of LTJ Bukem's "Logical Progression". In the middle of the mix there was this amazing tune. Each time I heard it, I was thinking about the day, when a plane will take us from Minsk. I was trying to imagine what I will see from my window seat... the noon sky, maybe the sea, maybe only the sea of clouds...

On July 18, 1999 it all became a reality: me on a plain going from one world to another, from one life to another... with no return ticket. I didn't realize yet, that this day will be the separation line between my life in Minsk and my life in Jerusalem. In 5 years, all this will be just memories. There will be music to bring those memories back, but there will be nothing to connect them to my new life here.

This wasn't the end of everything - this was only the end of the beginning.

Erica America

June 1999. I was counting days backwards to our flight, going downtown almost every evening and listening to this ultimate summertime album.

I remember this moment vividly:
Warm summer evening, me running by Palace of the Republic, turning behind the corner and here it is - city's new huge central square, filled with sunset light, this song playing in my headphones, and excitement filling every cell of my body. As if the whole world was smiling at me: the sun, the river, squares and parks, trees, buildings, buses, trams and cars - this whole city, giving me it's farewell cheers.

This is the Minsk that I'll always remember.

150 Milliardov Shagov

Late May 1999: After Kirill and me went to "Radio Styl" with our music as Observer, I was involved with 10GLAZ. While the project was still in working, I went to a hip hop festival organized by local alternative nightclub. There Kindut first presented one of the tunes we recorded together.

Around the same time the new Tequilajazzz album dropped out. I couldn't wait to buy it - this time on an original CD. Unlike anything else, this album was in sync with my confused feelings about these last months that I had in Minsk. I've learned to enjoy every little second of my life to the fullest, but I knew that soon I'm leaving into the new uncertain future, and all these things that I was enjoying so much will stay behind.

GROOVE DAY - PART 1

Of course, thanks to "Radio Styl", I was discovering not only hip hop, but it came alongside acid jazz, breakbeat, jungle... one night there was even a Reinforced Records special, from which I first learned about the early pre-"Timeless" sound... but let's be consistent.

Thanks to the promoters and DJ's that often came to the radio, I could not only discover separate tunes, but hear part of mixtapes by famous DJ's. One night they played various parts of the Cut Chemist/Shortkut "Future Primitive Session", which, of course, hooked me even more on scratching and DJ'ing. The other they played some parts from DJ Vadim/Primecuts mixtape, with some great and rare funk breaks.

But it was discovering segments from this amazing mixtape that a) turned me finally on Cut Chemist and drove me closer to discovering Jurassic 5, whom I will hear a couple of years later; b) showed me that you can spin any music with a beat in a DJ-set - not necessarily new; c) put my focus on what funk really is.

I guess, this was the first moment, when I thought - this is my groove, this is what I want to play as a DJ, these are the real roots of hip hop - this is where I want to dig. And all this "breakout" started with hearing these sounds:

GROOVE DAY - PART 2

One of the first real soul-funk tunes I heard on "Radio Styl" was introduced as a release from Acid Jazz Records. I wish I knew the truth back then and wouldn't mess with this genre too much, while looking for this song.

This was 100 times better than any Jamiroquai song I knew.

 

GROOVE DAY - PART 3

I heard this tune on the same night I heard the previous one and it just exploded in my mind. I just didn't know where to look for the stuff like this, but this was the essence of groove for me - wild like punk-rock, uncompromising like hardcore, tight like jungle and soulful at the same time.

I didn't know yet, that it was a cover, but after the years, with all my love to Julie Driscoll and Brian Auger, their version doesn't get any closer to this one.

GROOVE DAY - PART 4

This tune was the perfect evening tune of May 1999. Unrelated to the spoken content, it reflects the atmosphere of warm spring evenings in Minsk.