This month I started a new record buyers column called The Vinyl Staircase. Rather than go into tedious and forensic detail each and every month of every single purchase I’ve made, I thought I’d construct a YouTube playlist of the best 20 tracks I’d got my hands on instead.
Most of these purchases were made at gigs, second hand/brand new record shops, boot fares, charity shops and damned, damned Discogs. (Although big shout out to the kind folk at Mute, Kemado, Brownswood and World Circuit for sorting me out with four of the twenty.)
Nearly all of the purchases were made to use out while DJing in a vain attempt to legitimise what is clearly an entrenched and unhealthy habit or addiction rather than a benign hobby. They will get played at either Hollywood 7 – next night Saturday October 24, Servants Jazz Quarters or Outernational – next night Friday October 30, Redchurch Brewery. And many will get played at both.
So here’s the YouTube booty. I hope you enjoy it.
Mike Sena – ‘Bali High’
Glorious mid-80s session guy psychedelic surf music, recently issued for the first time ever by Kemado Records.
The Impossible Dreamers – ‘Spin’
Mancunian post punk / punk funk pre-acid house Hacienda classic.
Pat Thomas & Ebo Taylor – ‘Ene Nyame Aam ‘A’ Mensuro’ (Henrik Schwarz blend)
Two Ghanaian legends for the price of one on this sublime Weatherall-esque, dancefloor slaying edit.
Undisputed Truth – ‘You + Me = Love’
Motown’s premier UFO-truthin’ psych disco champions with a high water mark dancefloor-orientated 12"
Mbongwana Star – ‘Suzanna’
Renegade mutant dance hybrids from Kinshasa’s future discotheque slayers.
The Primates – ‘King Kong’
French monster disco smash that never was.
Ihsan Al Munzer – ‘Jamileh’
Yet more stone cold Lebanese discotheque brilliance. File next Ziad Rahbani’s ‘Abu Ali’.
Simple Minds – ‘Theme For Great Cities’
Actually I finally got hold of the Optimo ‘Psyche Out’ edit of this track on wax and not the original in the YouTube below but who’s counting?
Eno Louis – ‘Move!’
Super fresh Nigerian electro disco cut from Mr Bass: Eno Louis.
Comateens – ‘Get Off My Case’
NYC Ze-style downtown disco/funk/rap banger. Always the LP version though… the 12" mix blows.
Mickey Daniel – ‘Obeah The Witch Woman’
Bad ass, antediluvian and epic Guyanan disco: "Only her pets go near her!" BOOM!
Robin Beck – ‘Sweet Talk’
Smooth as all hell.
Fela & The Africa 70 – ‘Roforoto Fight’
The Knitting Factory Fela reissues continue apace and you won’t find me complaining.
Ersen – ‘Derman Bulunmaz’ (Kozmonot rework)
Rough and ready, needles in the red edit of a Turkish psych rarity.
Owiny Sigoma Band – ‘(Nairobi) Too Hot’
A pop cut from the bewilderingly diverse and highly recommended Nyanza LP.
Titanic – ‘Macumba’ (Todd Terje edit)
Priapic German funk rock at it’s best and now with an added Nordic disco sensibility.
Funkadelic – ‘Get Off Your Ass And Jam’
Actually, I’ve got a 1999 re-edit which extends the 2.28 original to 4 minutes. It’s still not long enough.
Fern Kinney – ‘Groove Me’
Always been a fan of ‘Kiss Me Baby’ but this magisterial number passed me by until relatively recently.
Gwen McCrae – ‘90% Of Me Is You’
Had this in different formats for a good couple of decades now but finding this glorious track spread across one side of a 12" in Flashback was as good an excuse as any to buy it again.
New Order – ‘Plastic’
Mancunian overlords back in the game with Music Complete, their first album for Mute.
