Bit of politics there. Or was it political satire? I don't know.
What I do know is that I started writing this post on the 4th July, that's why the picture (further down) of the two Red Bubble people has them wearing American gear.
In memory of TdV, if you have a few minutes spare today, listen to this 11-hour Tony de Vit set from the inside of Trade. It's really good and it gives you a flavour of what it would have been like to listen to Tony live for eleven hours in a club full of muscle men.
The other day marked the twenty something anniversary of the death of the best DJ to have ever set foot inside a nightclub DJ booth. No, I'm not talking about Josh Posthuman or Man Power. Or DJ Gerd Janson or Jacques Lu Cont. I'm not even talking about Ricardo Villalobos or Jon of the Pleased Wimmin. I'm talking about my favourite DJ in the whole wide world; DJ Tony de Vit.
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| 4th July #vibes |
It's good, isn't it? I had to turn it off whilst I was writing this, though. It was doing my head in.
I've been pushing for a hard house revival for the last 10-15 years, but be careful what you wish for, readers. I had Radio 1 on last Friday night and Pete Tong was playing a contemporary track that had all the 90s hard house ingredients: 130-135 bpm, silly vocals, a build up that had high pads, rolling snares and that thing where the kick drum and cymbal comes in once every four bars or something, then every two bars, then every bar and then every one, etc., building to a crescendo of kick drums and cymbals before getting back into the meat of the track. Sounds brilliant the way I've described it, doesn't it? Yes, but it wasn't. It was crap and I wish that I'd never wished for a 90s hard house revival because the other year they came for 90s trance and that was crap and all.
I don't know what the track was (I tried to Shazam it, but it wasn't recognised), so I can't slag off whoever it was who made it, unfortunately. To make things right, here's one of the best hard house songs of the last 200 years:
I bet you any money that Bicep start playing that now.
Speaking of Bicep, I know a man who's got TWO biceps. He's called Man Power (real name, Manfred Power) and he's a friend of a bloke called Juan Maclean (real name, The Juan MacLean). In 2020, Man and Juan met up at the very height of lockdown to record an LP called The Juan Power LP. Whilst keeping a distance of two metres at all times, they made six brilliant tracks of "full tilt moving grooves! Technology driven house with progress features!" under the moniker, Juan Power. Do you get it?
Juan Power are BACK with a MASSIVE EP in 2022 that is ALSO brilliant. This one is called Ramon's Return and features a sassy-sounding guest vocalist called Mizbee. I don't know why it's called Ramon's Return. Juan Power - get in touch, lets touch base, grab an ice-cold Cola X and get to the bottom of why you've called it that.
I don't know when it's being released either, to be honest. I'll keep you updated on here, though, don't worry.
The first song on Ramon's Return is called In Your Palm. It's quite tropical sounding, with a nice bassline and some nice percussion things in the background that I think is Man Power playing the drums with a wooden spoon and some pots and pans. It's a really nice touch and it made me feel really nice when I listened to it. I don't know what Mizbee is singing about on it, but she sounds nice. It's the kind of track Andrew Weatherall would have had a selection nightmare over on his fabric mix. He'd be up all night thinking, "ooh, do I use Don't Hide It (Alexkid's Vocal) or In Your Palm to lighten this mix up? I don't really know! Ooh..."
The second track is called Communion, and all I can say is this: these two have never stepped foot inside a church. I take the Holy Communion every Sunday morning and they don't play music like this when you're queuing up to receive. You're more likely to hear Amazing Grace or Room at the Table than eight minutes of chuggy, hypnotic loop-core that will definitely make you question who you are, where you are, what you are and why you are if you're listening to it about three pills in at the back of a warehouse.
Ascending to Florus is the third track. It's got Juan MacLean talking in a funny German accent over the top of a repetitive bassline and some horror sound effects. I don't know what Juan MacLean is talking about, to be honest, but he does do a good German accent! LOL. There are no drum beats in this track, unfortunately.
The last track is the first track, but they've CUT Mizbee's vocals.
So, is Ramon's Return any good? Let's put it to the team here at Best Promos...
...guys, is Ramon's Return any good?
"Yes."
Excellent. On the strength of that feedback, I'm going to award this EP a stonking 10/10 !
When some public clips or something are out, I'll stick them on here for the twenty or so of you who read Best Promos to listen to.
I don't know when it's out, but keep refreshing their Bandcamp page until it is: JUAN POWER
Follow Man Power on Twitter: @Man_Power_Music
Follow Man Power on Instagram: /manpowermusic/
BREAKING NEWS - Ramon's Return is out on Friday 5 August 2022
Follow The Juan MacLean on Instagram: /thejuanmaclean/
Speaking of tracks that have some vocals in them, here's the new EP by the scary-sounding Zombies in Miami. It's called The City of Love and it's grrrrrrrrrilliant! The title track is one that would have given DJ Dixon a selection headache over when compiling Body Language Vol. 4, "oh my God", he'd be saying, "do I use The City of Love by Zombies in Miami or that Tracey Thorn one?!. Bloody hell, come on Dixon, make up your bloody mind, the deadline is tomorrow!"
It's a cool and trendy song that will make you look cool and trendy if you play it out, which is no bad thing at all. As well as hypothetically going on that 00s Dixon CD, I reckon you'd also hear this at an ALFOS night or a club where Wolf + Lamb are playing. Excellent stuff.
There's a remix by Barnt which is good and all, and their PR people say it better than anyone when they describe the third track on the EP, Aurora, thus; "Aurora is showing a way into a journey that invites us to let go of our concerns." Beautifully put and I wholeheartedly agree.
If I was in Miami and a zombie had a gun to my head, I'd definitely give this release a 10/10
The City of Love by Zombies in Miami is OUT NOW on Motordiscs.
BUY IT HERE: The City Of Love
Follow Zombies in Miami on Twitter: @zombiesinmiami
Follow them on Instagram: /zombiesinmiami/
Follow Motordiscs on Instagram: /motordiscs/
And finally, a big up and a massive respect to the max for DJ Alex Cuddles. Long time reader, Alex, kindly offered Best Promos here a spare AAA VIP lanyard for tonight's event at the best venue in central London, The Social. Tonight, you've got a big nerd-off between Bill Brewster and Frank Broughton for an hour before they jump on the decks and play records until 1am. If I didn't have four episodes of EastEnders to catch up on and kids to look after in the morning, I would have definitely gone.
YOU SHOULD TOO.
If you do go, keep shouting "DJ Cuddles" at the top of your voice whilst Bill and Frank are talking. When he runs over to shush you, buy him a drink from me.
The new version of Last Night a DJ Saved My Life is OUT NOW.
The launch party of it is at The Social TONIGHT.
Buy the book: Last Night A DJ Saved My Life
Go to the party: The Social party link
Follow DJ Alex Cuddles on Twitter: @DJCuddles
Follow DJ Alex Cuddles on Instagram: /alexcuddles75/
Listen to DJ Alex Cuddles live on Brixton Radio every Tuesday between 12 and 2pm: Brixton Radio
Follow The Social on Twitter: @thesocial
Follow Bill Brewster on Twitter: @djhistory
Blimey. A lot of plugging there, I'm knackered now. Bye!
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