Anyway, made this little mix for the K&T Podcast. It has two of my own unreleased productions on it. It’s sort of all over the place, but I had a lot of fun making it.

Jeremy Berman – Kiss & Tell Podcast #2

1. Popol Vuh – Hosianna – Mantra – Pilz 1972
2. Factory Aire – Tracers – Unreleased 2010
3. Matzo & Pauli – Kommaah! – Cyber Dance 2009
4. Costas Charitodiplomenos – Lost In The Night – Many 1984
5. Victrola – Maritime Tatami – Electric Eye 1983
6. Liaisons Dangereuses – Los Ninos Del Parque 1981
7. I.M.S. – An English ‘93 – Emergency 1983
8. The Party Boy – Never Let You Go – Westbrook 1989
9. J.F. Burma – Careless – Unreleased 2011
10. Jungle Wonz – Time Marches On – Trax 1987
11. William Onyeabor – Something You’ll Never Forget – 1977
12. African Disco Power (Sofrito Edit)
13. Beryl Cunningham – Why-O – Barclay 1978
14. Neftali’s Beast – Land Of The Drums – Capitol 1980
15. Curare – To Have And Have Not – Westside 1985
16. SPK – Metal Dance – Polydor 1983
17. Amin Peck – Suicidal – Best 1983

Also, check out the other K&T mixes. Some really nice ones in there.

Rainbow Dreams returns, but not where you were expecting!

This month we’re moving a little closer to civilization, but don’t think that means you have to act civilized.

East River Bar on Friday with the regs plus Mr. G. If you heard him play with us last time, you know whats up.

Word!

Oh hai! Been a while. Were you at Rainbow Dreams two Fridays ago? Sorry we didn’t tell you about it. Been a little preoccupied lately. You would’ve loved it. Killer vibe, dope beats, etc.

Don’t be sad, there’s always next time.

Los Bermanos, Marco Tulio Thrash (Live), Mr. G. & D.Clapp Live @ RD4 (8-7-10)

Just the regs tomorrow night. Gonna be beastly. Come celebrate the b-day of one of the Los Bermani…we’ll let you guess which one. Fun!

By MTT

Photos & Video By M. Coghlan

We got to the Beauty Bar early, gazing at the strangely deserted underpass street. Shortly afterwards, the dj’s trickled in: Los Bermanos, Mr. G and D. Clapp. The Beauty Bar was actually filled with random bits of sound equipment … a subwoofer there, a prehistoric cd player here, a slab of sharp glass under the turntable which could automatically hari-kari any dj that got too close. Despite this the Rainbow Dreams team managed to fashion a fearsome frankenstein soundsystem out of all these different parts … and then, they retrofitted D. Clapp’s speakers, for good measure.

Los Bermanos, Marco Tulio Thrash (Live), Mr. G. & D.Clapp Live @ RD4 (8-7-10)

(almost 5 hours!)

Kicking everything off with what could be defined as Mayan disco, *Lara* then dove straight into Dream Disco “In Your Eyes”. The bass and forlorn vocals resonated all over the still virgin dancefloor. The mix then took a detour down the funereal side of machine disco. After that there was a slight hands-in-the-air moment with Chess One’s “Night in Bangkok” as it sped up inexorably toward dancefloor bliss. With hindsight, this heralded some post-apocalyptic diva histrionics for the freaks everywhere.

An overhead projector was setup in a free area to the left of the dj’s. In the meantime, a breaksome and drawn out version of Stacey Q’s top hit “Two of Hearts” was played for the mental delight of all. Once powered up, the projector shone its clean pale light square onto the sparkly bands of color that ran across the wall; just as Squash Gang’s “I Want Illusion” played on. The french voice interlude of that track kissed everyone’s ears as the beat careened off into a more classic disco era, full of pipes and strings with Jackie Moore’s “This Time Baby”. However this was only momentary as the bassline of Happy Station kicked in and we all teleported unexplainably to a strangely decorated television studio in the mountains of Italy for synchronized dance!

Marco Tulio Thrash live set notes:

1. Pleasant movable table contained the music making equipment.

2. The Los Bermanos-provided microphone was the best I have ever used live.

3. A raw show is always enjoyable.

4. Paying the bar staff with a (One-eyed Jack’s ?) poker chip is a rare pleasure.

5. Monitors are valuable when playing live.

People started throwing the gauntlet to the dancefloor once Los Bermanos and Mr.G shifted to a deeper American dancefloor sound. It was then that a divine lady of disco appeared on the dancefloor rapt with rhythm. Lydia Murdock’s “Superstar” got a well deserved airing. After that there was a brief respite for what was to come.

Mr. G played “Passion” by the Flirts which of course got many people to unchain themselves royally and it wasn’t long before the divine lady of disco looked gracefully on me and for a while we complemented each others moves. When that wasn’t enough she boogied all the way down and back, topping everything off with lysergic optics courtesy of some severely myopic glasses. Mr. G, not to be outdone, lined up “Dirty Talk” by Klein & MBO for full effect.

After that I do remember seeing ‘the woman who want to dance in the night” as well as “the woman who want to stand up and fight” and I was all up fists in the air for Skatt Brothers “Walk the Night” but from then on I took the hairdresser’s chair (literally) for the remainder. While I sadly couldn’t partake, D.Clapp was on fire from one track to the next and all that was left was clenching one’s shoulders to the beat. To my left there was the Bushwick Print Lab producing superb screen printed t-shirts including ones for the Rainbow Dreams Airways (Fly the Disco Skies).

So remember, if you’re a disco-italo-boogie freak you have an appointment with Rainbow Dreams. Keep checking the sky!

For this installment we have special guest Marco Tulio Thrash performing a very special LIVE set (a Rainbow Dreams first), as well as Mr. G droppin’ the heat. We will also have new interactive visuals (in the form on an old-school overhead projector and dry-erase markers). Sweet! See you there.

If you need a track ID or want to know which DJ played what, holla at us.

Next RD is on Friday, so stay tuned.

D. Clapp & Los Bermanos Live @ Rainbow Dreams 3 (7-16-10)

Come cool off at Rainbow Dreams #3 (it’s beginning to look like a TRIPLE RAINBOW!)…Yeah! Residents Los Bermanos (Jeremy y Lara Berman), D.Clapp and special guest Mr. G. will be droppin’ the proverbial heat. Expect the same great vibe and maybe even an exclusive track or two. Word!

ALSO, we splurged a bit last week and procured a new portable digital recorder (Zoom H4N FTW!), so we may actually make good on our long-overdue promise of actually recording the night…Stay tuned!

TONIGHT! Should be a good one.

Soapism’s resident reviewer, Marco Tulio Thrash, takes a look at Steve Summers’ new release on Echovolt. Thanks MTT!

Steve Summers is another facette of producer Jason Letkiewicz’s musical world about whom you can read more at the very clear and to the point confusedhouse.org website. During a recent interview, Lietkiewicz briefly and cautiously summed up the Steve Summers sound as “early chicago influenced house tracks”. I am so grateful for this description because I’m ashamed to say I am completely illiterate when it comes to house music.

His latest release for Echovolt Records opens with trigger happy snares and claps before a totally bumptious bassline kicks in. Soon after, a languorous seductress slips into her negligé in the form of a silky lead melody. The 16 beat hi-hats maintain the energy until an ‘electronic adventurer’ – style melody comes in to supplant the initial seductress. That pretty much sums up the EP opener “Lucid Fingers”.

“Deep Necking” is the other cut on the A-side. This is a more subdued jam with tingling percussives and a less manic drum machine allowing only for infrequent rhythm flourishes. In the background, a meandering snake charms around the mysterious temple ruins.

On to the B-side, where further pleasures await. “Seeing Things” is definitely a house track (not that I’d know any better) but there is something in its relentless and intoxicating hook that makes me think of 80’s pop and new wave.

“What Do You Think You Feel” revisits the languid seductress again, but this time it feels like walking into a human wreck during a sunny morning in some abandoned house taken over by nature. The ebb and flow swathes catch the breeze while ‘on-even-keel’ toms negotiate the debris from elsewhere.

This record is so good, like a hearty risotto paired with the perfect wine. The flavor stays in your mind long after it has left your mouth. It paralyses you in the moment, so all that you can do is bask in the full sound. Your mind in bliss, arms flail in abandon.

In this EP, Steve Summers opens countless minds and lifts the collective weary soul. He’s welcome at my house any time and something tells he’ll be welcome at yours too.

Hear some samples and buy:

Echovolt Records

Confused House