Hey Folks,
Being back into usual music mode, we revert to our regular post format, although give it a female flavour with focuses on two artists yet to get our attention, but also squeeze in shouts for a trio of chaps & their latest works.
So, let’s crack on and our first focus goes to Sharon O Love, a female talent that first caught our eye back on NYD 2009, when she featured large in Salvation’s massive party at the now defunct Hippodrome, an event that had its fair share of controversy, although Sharon’s stellar set was one major highlight along with other resident stars Gonzalo Rivas & Mis-White, Sharon’s typical uplifting, rip roaring, funky & fulsome vocal drenched house very much hitting the spot with the 2000+ crowd that night. Indeed, her style of sound secured Sharon a position within the regular team at Salvation and has seen her tour with the international club brand across the world, appearances on the international stage opening up doors & opportunities for solo representations, destinations included in her globetrotting being Russia, Germany, Greece, France & Spain, while more unconventional spots have included Lithuania & Dubai. But it would be far to say that Sharon has made as much of an impact back here in blighty, spreading her good house heaven word across not just London for Salvation, but up north from her home town of Nottingham, her impressive C.V. including gigs for Federation in Leeds, Essential in Manchester, Gatecrasher in Sheffield & Ko Ko in Leicester, although her appearances have seen her go as far south as Torquay and up north to Edinburgh, with much in between.
More recent developments in Sharon’s career behind the decks has seen her become part of the team at new Sunday night club event Booster in London’s Vauxhall, her following in the capital having increased tenfold as a result and we get the feeling that she will become even more of a feature in this ever changing yet vibrant scene south of the river. Mind you that doesn’t stop her spreading those international wings of hers and just last weekend saw Sharon play at Hamburg’s Pride event and this lovable lady is about to thrill throngs of Mexicano’s in a weeklong tour that will capture over 5 gigs, before returning to Europe for whistle-stop drop in’s on Munich, Lausanne & Rome, fitting these appearances in with her commitments to Booster, all meaning that Sharon’s life behind the decks is busier than ever. So, given all this, it is hardly surprising that swapping the circuit for the studio is a challenge, but it is one that Sharon rises to as much as she can, not only laying down compilation mixes from time to time, but also devoting a chunk of her unstoppable energies into track creations with mixing partner Alex Senna, under the guise of After 6. The duo have, in the three years in partnership in the studio, racked up over ten mixes/re-mixes in their discography, many with the backing of the huge MOS label, although undoubtedly their biggest success has been the rework of Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car”, which has been playlisted on every major UK radio station, including the biggie, Radio 1, and such has been the track’s success that recent further re-works include a sunrise & a club mix.
However, for us, it is Sharon’s compilation mixes that strike real resonance with us and very much reflect her live performances behind the decks, so it comes as no surprise that we have found real favour with her latest release entitled “This Is London – Summer 2010”, just over an hour of Sharon at her uplifting & energetic best that gets you going right from the off with uplifting vocals hits of now. The mix includes the brilliant “Acapella”, a superb re-work of “Sunday’s At Heaven”, a 2010 favourite of ours in Pitron & Sanna’s remix of Paul Harris’s “I Want You”, which is a take on the Eurythmics classic “Love Is A Stranger” and rounds off with a new take on David Guetta’s classic “Just A Little More Love”. But there is plenty more besides, especially a fabulous take on the Hed Kandi hit, David Morales’s “How Would U Feel” with the seductive vocals of Lea Lorien combining with barnstorming new beats that give the track that amazing energetic feel that is so very much Sharon O Love at her best. So, it goes without saying that this latest offering gets a massive thumbs up from us and is a must for your collection which you can grab at http://soundcloud.com/dj-sharon-o-love, along with over 6 previous full on compilations as well as those remixes of “Fast Car” we talked about.
Our other devotion this week goes to Lisa German, who’s terrifically trouncing tech tunes have been entertaining audiences for as long as we can remember, Lisa having first caught our eyes & ears back in the heady days of Trade during the 1990’s, when she made it big in the main room of Turnmills, having been given a foot in the door by promoter Laurence Malice, who offered Lisa a slot in the infamous test lounge. So impressed was Mr Malice that Lisa soon found herself playing in Trade’s main room, becoming a feature of the residency team through the late 90’s & into the new century, not just playing for Trade in the capital, but touring with the brand across the country & overseas and Lisa was featured in Trade’s “Retrospek” album, which was released in 2002, pretty much making Miss German a household name for the club since. But house nay Home was also going to dominate her career in the early new century, as it was the club of the same name, Home, that saw Lisa play out each Friday, where she rubbed shoulders with the likes of Steve Lawler, Danny Tenaglia & Carl Cox, this then leading on to appearances for Space in Ibiza and really opening the floodgates on worldwide gigs, whether it be as near as France & Switzerland, or as far as Brazil & Australia, there has been virtually no continent untouched by the Lisa techy, funky, chunky house style. Mind you, that said, this Lancashire born & bred lass has cut a considerable stride back home too, residencies including Sheffield’s Gatecrasher & London’s DTPM, Heaven & Gallery at Ministry Of Sound, making her probably the most accomplished & professional D.J.’s on the circuit and a favourite with the clubbing crowd.
However, one of the most interesting developments in her career was a chance meeting with Hed Kandi’s Mark Doyle while Lisa was playing a gig for Centro in Singapore in 2005, Miss German very much impressing Mark with her chunkier style of house that was to suit the “Twisted Disco” label of the brand and was brought on board to play at an endless string of parties across the UK and overseas. Having been known for playing it on the tougher side at clubs like Trade DTPM & Gallery, her move to Hed Kandi was seen as quite a strange one by many, although Lisa has been noted as remarking on this stage in her career as “...an opportunity that really brought back my love for simple, well produced funky house music...”, something that inspired her to get behind the decks in the first place and in some ways brought her full circle from the early days back in Manchester at clubs Brickhouse & Hacienda, two places very much responsible for her emerging love of house music back in the 1990’s. But back to Hed Kandi and Lisa also stated that “...I felt very privileged to be asked to join the team...” adding that “...The Hed Kandi parties were some of the best I have played, the crowds were up for a good time, pure & simple and you couldn’t ask for more than that...” and it was this philosophy that Mark Doyle had pioneered with Hed Kandi, that saw Lisa rejoin his side for Mr Doyle’s breakaway new brand, Fierce Angel, Miss German being a staple ingredient in virtually every album release & party.
But it is fair to say that Lisa has, through all this, maintained her underground status and remains best known for her Trade days, her continual appearances for Gallery and new venture Smartie Party. Having said that Gallery has led Lisa to be part of the team at Friday nighter Onyx, Miss German having been recommended by Tom Fuller and, along with Ariel, rips up the Terrace room each & every week with her terrific tech toned tunes, all this meaning that Lisa hardly ever gets into the studio to lay down recordings, preferring to play it live to her audiences. However, we trawled the archives and managed to track down a rare mix of hers which you can download for yourselves at http://abmp3.com/download/7072338-mp3, plus why not check out this fabulous video, which chronicles her tour of Greece with Hed Kandi, via the link http://muzu.tv/hedkandi/greece-is-the-word-music-video/38503?country=gb.
Right, moving on and we promised to bring you details of a live set devotion to the magnificent Matinee “Open Air Summer Party” by emerging talent Michel Mizrahi and here it is, a glorious Balearic inspired 58 minutes of sounds that reflect his performance at this huge event last month. The whole compilation is drenched with euro style vocals & beats but with plenty of funky intentions too, Funkagenda’s collaboration with Mark Knight, the brilliant “Devil Walking” standing proud alongside Blast’s “Crazy Man 2010” as two highlights of the mix, which you can grab now at http://soundcloud.com/michel-mizrahi/michelmizrahi-matinee-ministryofsound-11july2010.
Next and we were so thrilled to be in the company of French fancy Leomeo this last weekend, he having taken all the plaudits at Lovechild’s “Hot Tropicana” party on Saturday. However, when we caught up with him earlier in the day, we were given a full insight to the special mix he laid down in celebration of the birth of his niece Jeanne, entitled "The Life", a touching collection of tunes ranging from Massive Attack & Coldcut to Otis Redding & Sophia Loren, but with much more besides. Leomeo described it as “...as celebration of the birth of life and a mix combining loads of different sounds that have meant alot to me & my life, so mean even more when dedicating these records in a special collection to Jeanne...” the love & passion of his devotion purely evident in his words & expressions. And we couldn’t agree more, this 111 minute chilled out mix compilation having already found its way into our collection and should be in yours too by going to direct link http://soundcloud.com/djleomeo/the-life-soft-mix-special-dedicated-to-jeanne-by-dj-leomeo.
But the Leomeo story goes on and his exhaustive schedule of gigs leaves us breathless, recent trips to New York & Barcelona preluding his London showing. Whilst he takes every opportunity to rest between visits, such is the demand for his services, that Leomeo’s diary is pretty much booked out until December and much of it demands plane journeys here there & everywhere, including a return to his beloved Singapore. However, this delightful Parisian based beaut tries to fit in gigs in his native France and in recognition of this, has produced a compilation entitled “La Legende Masquee”, a mix dedicated to the the club of the same name in St Tropez where the man played out recently and is very much more in the Leomeo tribal & progressive style but with a touch of techno,which we found addictive from the start, being surprisingly reflective of that incredible performnce at Lovechild on Saturday and we are sure, a stellar set in St Tropez too. So, for another slice of Leomeo magic, go now to http://soundcloud.com/djleomeo/la-legende-masquee-the-mix-by-dj-leomeo.
Now to our final trio of talents and who else could it be but the fabulous Francesco Pagano, who treated us to a simply scintillating set at Logan Schmitz’s private party, UP, two Sunday’s ago, leaving us breathless in admiration of the man’s diverse talents. And just four days before, he released his remix of the superb “Raise Your Hands”, a pulsating progressive track that has the Pagano trademark sound & style written all over it, so is surely one for your collection, his dirty warehouse remix available via http://beatport.com/s/t5w8tf. But as good as this track is, the really exciting news is a planned compilation release due out in September on Kult records, entitled “Digital Generation”, so watch this space for news on that.
Right, that’s it for another post, although we are already looking forward to next week as our report will be more of a newsletter when we catch up on our backlog of compilations & track releases, covering offerings from Terry Vietheer, Per QX, Nacho Chapado, Javier Medina, Eduardo de La Torre, Nick Tcherniak & Danny Verde, before returning to our usual focus format and a very citric flavour devoted to Orange residents, The Sharp Boys & Fat Tony the following week.
In the meantime, we hope you like our choices here and as we love to say “select those sounds, sit back, turn up the volume & let the music play”.
xDM
Being back into usual music mode, we revert to our regular post format, although give it a female flavour with focuses on two artists yet to get our attention, but also squeeze in shouts for a trio of chaps & their latest works.
So, let’s crack on and our first focus goes to Sharon O Love, a female talent that first caught our eye back on NYD 2009, when she featured large in Salvation’s massive party at the now defunct Hippodrome, an event that had its fair share of controversy, although Sharon’s stellar set was one major highlight along with other resident stars Gonzalo Rivas & Mis-White, Sharon’s typical uplifting, rip roaring, funky & fulsome vocal drenched house very much hitting the spot with the 2000+ crowd that night. Indeed, her style of sound secured Sharon a position within the regular team at Salvation and has seen her tour with the international club brand across the world, appearances on the international stage opening up doors & opportunities for solo representations, destinations included in her globetrotting being Russia, Germany, Greece, France & Spain, while more unconventional spots have included Lithuania & Dubai. But it would be far to say that Sharon has made as much of an impact back here in blighty, spreading her good house heaven word across not just London for Salvation, but up north from her home town of Nottingham, her impressive C.V. including gigs for Federation in Leeds, Essential in Manchester, Gatecrasher in Sheffield & Ko Ko in Leicester, although her appearances have seen her go as far south as Torquay and up north to Edinburgh, with much in between.
More recent developments in Sharon’s career behind the decks has seen her become part of the team at new Sunday night club event Booster in London’s Vauxhall, her following in the capital having increased tenfold as a result and we get the feeling that she will become even more of a feature in this ever changing yet vibrant scene south of the river. Mind you that doesn’t stop her spreading those international wings of hers and just last weekend saw Sharon play at Hamburg’s Pride event and this lovable lady is about to thrill throngs of Mexicano’s in a weeklong tour that will capture over 5 gigs, before returning to Europe for whistle-stop drop in’s on Munich, Lausanne & Rome, fitting these appearances in with her commitments to Booster, all meaning that Sharon’s life behind the decks is busier than ever. So, given all this, it is hardly surprising that swapping the circuit for the studio is a challenge, but it is one that Sharon rises to as much as she can, not only laying down compilation mixes from time to time, but also devoting a chunk of her unstoppable energies into track creations with mixing partner Alex Senna, under the guise of After 6. The duo have, in the three years in partnership in the studio, racked up over ten mixes/re-mixes in their discography, many with the backing of the huge MOS label, although undoubtedly their biggest success has been the rework of Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car”, which has been playlisted on every major UK radio station, including the biggie, Radio 1, and such has been the track’s success that recent further re-works include a sunrise & a club mix.
However, for us, it is Sharon’s compilation mixes that strike real resonance with us and very much reflect her live performances behind the decks, so it comes as no surprise that we have found real favour with her latest release entitled “This Is London – Summer 2010”, just over an hour of Sharon at her uplifting & energetic best that gets you going right from the off with uplifting vocals hits of now. The mix includes the brilliant “Acapella”, a superb re-work of “Sunday’s At Heaven”, a 2010 favourite of ours in Pitron & Sanna’s remix of Paul Harris’s “I Want You”, which is a take on the Eurythmics classic “Love Is A Stranger” and rounds off with a new take on David Guetta’s classic “Just A Little More Love”. But there is plenty more besides, especially a fabulous take on the Hed Kandi hit, David Morales’s “How Would U Feel” with the seductive vocals of Lea Lorien combining with barnstorming new beats that give the track that amazing energetic feel that is so very much Sharon O Love at her best. So, it goes without saying that this latest offering gets a massive thumbs up from us and is a must for your collection which you can grab at http://soundcloud.com/dj-sharon-o-love, along with over 6 previous full on compilations as well as those remixes of “Fast Car” we talked about.
Our other devotion this week goes to Lisa German, who’s terrifically trouncing tech tunes have been entertaining audiences for as long as we can remember, Lisa having first caught our eyes & ears back in the heady days of Trade during the 1990’s, when she made it big in the main room of Turnmills, having been given a foot in the door by promoter Laurence Malice, who offered Lisa a slot in the infamous test lounge. So impressed was Mr Malice that Lisa soon found herself playing in Trade’s main room, becoming a feature of the residency team through the late 90’s & into the new century, not just playing for Trade in the capital, but touring with the brand across the country & overseas and Lisa was featured in Trade’s “Retrospek” album, which was released in 2002, pretty much making Miss German a household name for the club since. But house nay Home was also going to dominate her career in the early new century, as it was the club of the same name, Home, that saw Lisa play out each Friday, where she rubbed shoulders with the likes of Steve Lawler, Danny Tenaglia & Carl Cox, this then leading on to appearances for Space in Ibiza and really opening the floodgates on worldwide gigs, whether it be as near as France & Switzerland, or as far as Brazil & Australia, there has been virtually no continent untouched by the Lisa techy, funky, chunky house style. Mind you, that said, this Lancashire born & bred lass has cut a considerable stride back home too, residencies including Sheffield’s Gatecrasher & London’s DTPM, Heaven & Gallery at Ministry Of Sound, making her probably the most accomplished & professional D.J.’s on the circuit and a favourite with the clubbing crowd.
However, one of the most interesting developments in her career was a chance meeting with Hed Kandi’s Mark Doyle while Lisa was playing a gig for Centro in Singapore in 2005, Miss German very much impressing Mark with her chunkier style of house that was to suit the “Twisted Disco” label of the brand and was brought on board to play at an endless string of parties across the UK and overseas. Having been known for playing it on the tougher side at clubs like Trade DTPM & Gallery, her move to Hed Kandi was seen as quite a strange one by many, although Lisa has been noted as remarking on this stage in her career as “...an opportunity that really brought back my love for simple, well produced funky house music...”, something that inspired her to get behind the decks in the first place and in some ways brought her full circle from the early days back in Manchester at clubs Brickhouse & Hacienda, two places very much responsible for her emerging love of house music back in the 1990’s. But back to Hed Kandi and Lisa also stated that “...I felt very privileged to be asked to join the team...” adding that “...The Hed Kandi parties were some of the best I have played, the crowds were up for a good time, pure & simple and you couldn’t ask for more than that...” and it was this philosophy that Mark Doyle had pioneered with Hed Kandi, that saw Lisa rejoin his side for Mr Doyle’s breakaway new brand, Fierce Angel, Miss German being a staple ingredient in virtually every album release & party.
But it is fair to say that Lisa has, through all this, maintained her underground status and remains best known for her Trade days, her continual appearances for Gallery and new venture Smartie Party. Having said that Gallery has led Lisa to be part of the team at Friday nighter Onyx, Miss German having been recommended by Tom Fuller and, along with Ariel, rips up the Terrace room each & every week with her terrific tech toned tunes, all this meaning that Lisa hardly ever gets into the studio to lay down recordings, preferring to play it live to her audiences. However, we trawled the archives and managed to track down a rare mix of hers which you can download for yourselves at http://abmp3.com/download/7072338-mp3, plus why not check out this fabulous video, which chronicles her tour of Greece with Hed Kandi, via the link http://muzu.tv/hedkandi/greece-is-the-word-music-video/38503?country=gb.
Right, moving on and we promised to bring you details of a live set devotion to the magnificent Matinee “Open Air Summer Party” by emerging talent Michel Mizrahi and here it is, a glorious Balearic inspired 58 minutes of sounds that reflect his performance at this huge event last month. The whole compilation is drenched with euro style vocals & beats but with plenty of funky intentions too, Funkagenda’s collaboration with Mark Knight, the brilliant “Devil Walking” standing proud alongside Blast’s “Crazy Man 2010” as two highlights of the mix, which you can grab now at http://soundcloud.com/michel-mizrahi/michelmizrahi-matinee-ministryofsound-11july2010.
Next and we were so thrilled to be in the company of French fancy Leomeo this last weekend, he having taken all the plaudits at Lovechild’s “Hot Tropicana” party on Saturday. However, when we caught up with him earlier in the day, we were given a full insight to the special mix he laid down in celebration of the birth of his niece Jeanne, entitled "The Life", a touching collection of tunes ranging from Massive Attack & Coldcut to Otis Redding & Sophia Loren, but with much more besides. Leomeo described it as “...as celebration of the birth of life and a mix combining loads of different sounds that have meant alot to me & my life, so mean even more when dedicating these records in a special collection to Jeanne...” the love & passion of his devotion purely evident in his words & expressions. And we couldn’t agree more, this 111 minute chilled out mix compilation having already found its way into our collection and should be in yours too by going to direct link http://soundcloud.com/djleomeo/the-life-soft-mix-special-dedicated-to-jeanne-by-dj-leomeo.
But the Leomeo story goes on and his exhaustive schedule of gigs leaves us breathless, recent trips to New York & Barcelona preluding his London showing. Whilst he takes every opportunity to rest between visits, such is the demand for his services, that Leomeo’s diary is pretty much booked out until December and much of it demands plane journeys here there & everywhere, including a return to his beloved Singapore. However, this delightful Parisian based beaut tries to fit in gigs in his native France and in recognition of this, has produced a compilation entitled “La Legende Masquee”, a mix dedicated to the the club of the same name in St Tropez where the man played out recently and is very much more in the Leomeo tribal & progressive style but with a touch of techno,which we found addictive from the start, being surprisingly reflective of that incredible performnce at Lovechild on Saturday and we are sure, a stellar set in St Tropez too. So, for another slice of Leomeo magic, go now to http://soundcloud.com/djleomeo/la-legende-masquee-the-mix-by-dj-leomeo.
Now to our final trio of talents and who else could it be but the fabulous Francesco Pagano, who treated us to a simply scintillating set at Logan Schmitz’s private party, UP, two Sunday’s ago, leaving us breathless in admiration of the man’s diverse talents. And just four days before, he released his remix of the superb “Raise Your Hands”, a pulsating progressive track that has the Pagano trademark sound & style written all over it, so is surely one for your collection, his dirty warehouse remix available via http://beatport.com/s/t5w8tf. But as good as this track is, the really exciting news is a planned compilation release due out in September on Kult records, entitled “Digital Generation”, so watch this space for news on that.
Right, that’s it for another post, although we are already looking forward to next week as our report will be more of a newsletter when we catch up on our backlog of compilations & track releases, covering offerings from Terry Vietheer, Per QX, Nacho Chapado, Javier Medina, Eduardo de La Torre, Nick Tcherniak & Danny Verde, before returning to our usual focus format and a very citric flavour devoted to Orange residents, The Sharp Boys & Fat Tony the following week.
In the meantime, we hope you like our choices here and as we love to say “select those sounds, sit back, turn up the volume & let the music play”.
xDM
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