30 March 2015, No. 64, Reverso 68, ‘Piece Together (Todd Terje Spinning Star Mix)’

Have we had Todd Terje’s work on the list yet? No. This is the first one at No. 64, but there will be more. Terje’s Norwegian, and his name is an homage to Todd Terry (whom we’ll hear at No. 76, I think [edit: nope]). Terje makes good music, good edits, and good remixes. This “spinning star mix” of Reverso 68’s tune “Piece Together” does have kind of a cosmic, “spinning star” feel in places, whatever that means. Lots of hissing white noise and gongs and reverb in the background, swelling and dissipating with the changes in the song, like one imagines the burning gases swirl in and around a star. Sometimes I think attempts to describe music are pointless (just go listen to the tune, already), but I suppose other times it’s not so bad. The urge to red-pen all that star stuff is strong, though…so just go listen to the tune already.

29 March 2015, No. 63, Kenny Raw, ‘The Next Hustle’

I didn’t think I’d be able to bring this tune for you, but it looks like the folks over at Myspace have left up all that music we posted pre-2008 or whenever the world switched over. So we’ve got another Kenny Raw jawn coming in at No. 63. I couldn’t spoil this one for you if I wanted to—not without a little research, anyway. No idea what the source track is. The edit is called “The Next Hustle,” though, so maybe there’s a clue there for all you intrepid sample-source sleuths.


The Next Hustle from Kenny Raw

27 March 2015, No. 62, Raggio di Luna (Moon Ray), ‘Comanchero’

If it weren't for the excellent synth work here and the amount of satisfaction one gets from singing the word "comanchero" and rolling the r, this spaghetti disco take on the folks who traded with the Comanche and were (apparently) preoccupied with "pretty squaws" would be pretty lame. As it is, it's worth keeping on the list, plus it's got that little bit of extra campy cache not all italo disco records can claim. Like Silvio "Silver" Pozzoli, Raggio di Luna seems to have Anglicized their name to Moon Ray, and here's a panting, atmospheric, synth-laden, and probably culturally insensitive horse ride called "Comanchero." Coming in at No. 62, it also gets stuck in my head a lot.

25 March 2015, No. 61, William Hart, ‘Time Out for Love’

The Delfonics got name-checked in Quentin Tarantino’s Jackie Brown, and they have some well-known tunes out there. This one, a joint from their lead singer William Hart called “Time Out for Love,” is not one of those well-known songs, but it does come in as the 61st-slowest song on the list. It’s got a catchy little hook, but my favorite part, of course, is the synth solo at 3:00 or so. I like complicated and weird-sounding synth work, but even better than that stuff most times is just a clear, distinctive lead or bassline played on a simple monosynth like a Minimoog or a Yamaha CS15. Take a little time out for synths and soul with “Time Out for Love.” (Note: I couldn’t find this one streaming easily enough, so I put it on my SoundCloud account; we’ll see how long it stays there before the rights police knock it down…)

24 March 2015, No. 60, The Fatback Band, ‘Keep on Steppin’’

Kenny Raw taught me to juggle the intro and breaks in The Fatback Band’s “Backstrokin’,” and that’s still my favorite song of theirs, but this bouncy little “Keep on Steppin’” at No. 60 is much improved by the 16 bars or so of looped intro DJ Apt One added to the version I have. That version’s not online anymore, so just imagine the intro stretched out (and maybe blended with the fading-out of the steel drums outro from yesterday’s tune). Also, what is it with Fatback and droppin’ all the G’s from the ends of the verbs in their song titles? Just sayin’.

23 March 2015, No. 59, Boy, ‘Little Numbers (Leo Zero Remix)’

Another new(ish) tune. I don't know who Leo Zero is, and I don't know much about Boy except that they're girls and there’s two of them and they're from Europe somewhere. Switzerland and Germany, it seems. Can’t really tell they’re European listening to them, but isn’t that usually the way with European pop acts? Anyway, the first of the last two things we’ll note is that one reason I like this song is the singer sounds reminiscent of Rachel Ries, whom I also like and went to college with. The other thing is that this Leo Zero remix is the second thing on the list that’s ultra-Balearic, and we like that because it’s spring now, and summer is coming, so it’s nice when the music warms us up too. Steel drums and boogie, Leo Zero’s remix of “Little Numbers” by Boy at No. 59.

21 March 2015, No. 58, Hamilton Bohannon, ‘The Beat (Part 2)’

I used to DJ with Chris Carlin a lot, and he had all the Bohannon records, so I never bought them unless they were in the dollar bin. Which means that while there are a lot of Bohannon jawns on this list we’re doing, they’re not records I feel very close to because I rarely if ever played them. I left that to DJ Honkytron. I think Carlin is now DJ Chris Carlin instead of Honkytron, and while that was probably a wise move professionally, I miss the whimsy. No. 58 brings a little of it back, “The Beat (Part 2),” Hamilton Bohannon.