Unruly Boys Who Will Not Grow Up

The Smiths - Barbarism Begins At Home (Tim Zawada Edit) (32o kbps)

Here's a nice little Smiths edit by fellow Chicagoan, disco/funk/boogie/[etc.] DJ, and cool guy Tim Zawada. Nothing too out there, but definitely a good call. We definitely recommend checking out his soundcloud– handfuls of solid disco edits (all conveniently downloadable in high quality) and fun ass mixtapes. The dude has good taste.

Just Like Rising Moon

Don Armando's 2nd Avenue Rhumba Band - Deputy of Love (255 kbps)

Don Armando's 2nd Avenue Rhumba Band - I'm An Indian Too (192 kbps)

Hey MGMT, those super quirky mystical-alt-indian costumes are soOo totally out there (omgdrugsrule, and college is awesome) but guess who had the Native American Hipster thing down before yall were born? That would be Don Armando and his 2nd Avenue Rhumba Band, an offshoot of Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band and produced by August Darnell of Kid Creole & The Coconuts. They only had one album, on ZE Records in '79, and one dance chart hit (Deputy of Love).

Deputy of Love is an undeniable disco classic, and singer Fonda Rae totally 'kills it' as the kids say. We've found that with I'm An Indian Too, half the people we play it for think it's really obnoxious. But we think it's the greatest thing ever– jangly, campy and unknowingly semi-racist disco about the desire to kick it with indians ('just like Battle Axe, Hatchet Face, Eagle Nose,' oh, okay). If you are into this song, you are in our crew. Our tribe...

I'd Rather Be In A Van

We heard the new Ray Mang single, Bulletproof, featuring Deee-Lite's mighty Lady Miss Kier, a few days ago and can't wait for a chance to hear it played out. It's a light but anthemic disco number (on the DFA imprint about which you probably already know how we feel) that takes George Clinton's Bulletproof and switches the mood to the days of righteous, flamboyant club disco (made slightly more subtle and timely). We've got a feeling our little corner of the internet is gonna be saturated with it so we're not gonna post it (but get it here)... but it reminded us of our favorite Ray Mang remixes that might top the brilliance of Bulletproof and its superior B-side Look Into My Eyes. The first is a bass-spankin remix of West Phillips' 1983 disco-funk track I'm Just A Sucker For A Pretty Face, complete with DFA-cowbell and all. Next is a remix of Brazilian samba-meets-funk group Banda Black Rio which we're not even gonna describe and if you trust us, we really hope you trust us, just give that lil link a click.

West Phillips - I'm Just A Sucker For A Pretty Face (Ray Mang Remix) (192 kbps)

Banda Black Rio - Tomorrow (Ray Mang Main Mix) (320 kbps)

I Can Hear Your Voice Across The Room

Family of Eve - Having It So Bad For You (Edit)

The world is unfair, and sometimes astronomically talented people go unnoticed by society at large. That's how it goes, but we feel for Family of Eve regardless. They were a Pittsburgh soul group around '80 who only had a couple 7"s and moderate local success, although somehow their releases are pretty sought-after collectibles now. These guys had it all, making gorgeous, tight disco/funk/r&b-tinged soul with killer male-female vocals, and it's too bad for the world that they did not blow the fuck up. Anyway, we have no idea who did this edit of our favorite Family of Eve track, 'Having It So Bad For You' from '80, but we've been bumping it for probably a good year now and it just does not get old.

Don't You Feel It Getting Hot?

Jo Bisso - Play Me (Parts 1-4) (192 kbps)

16 minutes of super-erotic '78 disco from late 70s French producer Jo Bisso, divided into four continuous parts: 1. Desire, 2. I Wanna Love, 3. You Are Loving Me, and 4. Burning. These subtitles are pretty indicative of what to expect from the track– lots and lots of sex sounds over a funky, bass-and-string-heavy disco rollercoaster ride that remains constantly interesting despite its length. Besides, a 16 minute relationship that starts with desire and ends with burning– it's like Bisso read our high school diary! Wait, what...?

I Tried To Walk, But How?

image courtesy of sacred mountain

Was (Not Was) - Tell Me That I'm Dreaming (Traditional 12" Remix)

Sympho State - You Know What I Like

For a bit now we haven't been able to stop playing 'ZE 30,' a compilation that came out a few months ago celebrating the 30th anniversary of New York no wave cult label ZE Records. The super-stylish label, run by Michael Zilkha and Michel Esteban (Z + E), was home to a totally eclectic array of artists like afrobeat-meets-post-punk French babe Lizzy Mercier Descloux and Latin-funk-pop goofball Kid Creole. The way ZE brought all these seemingly random artists together into a cohesive, avant-garde unit of funked-up weirdo disco-tized post-punk was fucking awesome, and we find it hard to think of a comparable label today (sorry).

Anyway we want to share two of our favorite tracks from the compilation, one you've maybe heard and one you maybe haven't. The first is Was (Not Was)' 1982 Reagan-sampling post-disco/funk track 'Tell Me That I'm Dreaming'... totally essential. The second is by a lesser known ZE artist, Sympho State, with a more traditional super-sexy disco number 'You Know What I Like' from '79. But it was seriously stressful trying to streamline our selection, and these honestly aren't a sufficient representation of how dope this comp, and ZE in general, is, so please just do yourself a favor and grab that shit if you haven't.

Let's Make Love In Public Places

The Love Symphony Orchestra - Let Me Be Your Fantasy (320)


10 minutes of 1978 disco, so sexy it was originally released by Penthouse. They aren't stingy with the bongos, which is an automatic win in my book. UK disco collective Horse Meat Disco and Strut Records included it on their most recent compilation, which is great, which you can purchase here.