Cosmic Boogie

The Lonely Hearts Club is a monthly night in Manchester run by people who know how to promote and throw a party. Situated at the very cool Purple Pussycat, the music is a throw down of disco, funk, pop, cheese, soul, boogie and electro. Pretty much anything as long as its good. Cosmic Boogie were invited over to play on Friday 27th of June, and we dragged along our photographer Ste who took loads of splendid photos for your viewing pleasure.

Sadly there was a hiccup with the system on the night so most of it had to run through vinyl (and anyone who reads this site knows how we love Serato) - so I didn’t get much chance to play, instead being entertained by the very affable and musically clued up Ema (one of the Lonely Hearts residents).

The Lonely Hearts Club is a great night run by great people and Cosmic Boogie wishes it every success. You can find out more about the night on facebook. Thank you’s go to Gemma and Susannah for the support.

Because of the lack of any real opportunity to play, I still feel like I didn’t give anything to the night and that bothers me. So I have created what is well and truly a disco-boogie-pop-funk-bomb-cheese-fest, for your downloading or streaming enjoyment. I have included a tracklist - although I toyed about with the idea of not putting one at all (because most of it is fairly obvious), it just wouldn’t be in keeping with the rest of this site…

Full Tracklisting

Mary Jane Girls / All Night Long
Inner Life / Make It Last Forever (Larry Levan Mix)
Fred Wesley / House Party
Gwen Guthrie / Aint Nothing Goin’ On But The Rent
Neneh Cherry / Buffalo Stance
Aurra / Baby Love (Instrumental)
Leroy Burgess / Heartbreaker
MC Mellow Dee / And You Don’t Stop
Pure Energy / When Youre Dancing
Chemise / She Can’t Love You
Whispers / And The Beat Goes On (Greg Wilson Edit)
Rockers Revenge / Sunshine (Greg Wilson Edit)
Geraldine Hunt / Can’t Fake The Feeling
Instant Funk / Just Because You’ll Be Mine (Edit)
Jean Carn / Was That All It Was
Chic / I Want Your Love (Todd Terje Edit)
Chaz Jankel / Pleased To Meet You
The System / You Are In My System
The Salsoul Orchestra / Take Some Time Out
Kool and the Gang / Too Hot
Soul II Soul / Back To Life

 

 The Lonely Hearts Club MIx: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

We welcome Professor Eddy to the site with a fantastically upbeat mix called “Ice Cream Disco”. Eddy contacted me last week with the mix, and its great - a bit like a big disco ray of sunshine. “The idea”, says Eddy, “was to put some fresh disco tracks together”. I think he has certainly done that, a lot of new things to my ears that’s for sure. If you want to hear more from Eddy you can catch him on the Internet in various other places - ‘Soul Searching’ on Laid Back Radio and the ‘Soul Searching Time podcast‘. He also had a guest mix on the fantastic Beat Electric website a couple of months back. Enjoy.

Full Tracklisting

Ju-Par Universal Orchestra / Funky Music
Lowrell / You’re Playing Dirty
The Dells / Don’t Trick Me, Treat Me
Rotary Connection / Vine Of Happiness
Cissy Houston / Gonna Take The Easy Way Out
Heaven Sent and Ecstasy / I’m A Lady
Ralph Myerz feat. Pee Wee / My Darling
New Young Pony Club / Ice Cream
Joey Negro & the Sunburst Band / Sitting On Top Of The World
Señor Coconut & His Orchestra / White Horse
Quincy Jones / Sanford And Son Theme
Titanic / Macumba (Tangoterje Edit)
Bombers / Shake
Jack Ashford / Hotel Sheet (12″ Promo)
La Flavour / When The Whistle Blows
Luisa Fernandez / Make Me Feel Alright
Orlando Riva Sound / Body To Body Boogie (12″)
Natalie Cole / La Costa

 

 Ice Cream Disco: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is the second part to an article I started last week on tracks that changed my life. I wrote a load of blurb at the start of that one so I wont bang on here, ill just dive right in. Remember, these tracks are in no particular order (least of all chronological). Continue Reading…

We are great friends of Cosmic Disco over here. There are some things we don’t like about Manchester *cough, Ronaldo*, but Cosmic Disco is certainly not one of them. Not only is the blog an inspiration, its a virtual catacomb filled with musical treasures. Without these three aficionado’s this blog wouldn’t exist, and I bet countless others wouldn’t either. So its a real pleasure to have a Cosmic Boogie mix hosted by them.

For the mix, I wanted to do something more in vein with the sounds I am finding myself drawn too; more boogie/electrofunk led disco, heavy on bass line and percussion with only the slightest whiff of mince about it. There’s not much else to say really, so why don’t you head over to Cosmic Disco and listen to it, and then while there take some time to have a look at the site. Levels of genre spanning that put most of us to shame.

Full Tracklisting

Cats ‘n’ Jammer Kids / Disco Drum
Level 42 / Love Games
Sparque / Take Some Time
Five Letters / Tha Kee Thaa Thaa
Sandy Kerr / Thug Rock
Brenda Taylor / You Can’t Have Your Cake and Eat It Too (Greg Wilson Edit)
The Emperor Machine / Slap On
Leo Zero / Walk On (Special Edit)
Mike T / Do It Anyway You Wanna’ (Greg Wilson Edit)
Jimmy Ross / First True Love Affair (Eddie Tour Edit)
Grizle Hands / Its Disco Dub
Universal Robot Band / Barely Breaking Even (DT Edit)
Superstition Outro / Dennis Mobley & Fresh Taste

Its really difficult to write a list of favourites. What is your favourite house track? What is your favourite film? They change all the time for me. Some days I might say Donnie Brasco is my favourite film, other days it might be The Panic in Needle Park. Some days it could be Voodoo Ray, another day it might be Strings of Life. I guess it depends what kind of mood I am in. Today, for example, its The Panic in Needle Park. Until I get home, then its more than likely Blazing Saddles. You see my point.

One thing I can list though are tracks that have changed my life, for better or worse. That wont ever change unless I happen to bump into the Doc and borrow his time machine. This list (in no particular order) is not exactly representative of the style of music I like now, or the style(s) of music I always liked in the past…but it does have 20 tracks that left a lasting impression. It’s not the most original maybe, but I can’t go throwing obscure cosmic classics in just to make myself look cool. Continue Reading…

That is one hell of a statement in that title, and its not entirely truthful. I guess the real title would be “How I started to understand how to mix disco and other earlier genres of dance music and what advice I can give.” That’s a little self indulgent (and long), plus, I’m going to put the thoughts of others down here as well, so its not just about “me” per say. Continue Reading…

The end of June see’s not one but two Cosmic Boogie nights to note down - firstly this coming weekend (Saturday the 21st) see’s the return of Shoot Speed to The Cellar Bar in Blackburn, were none other than Crazy Penis will be laying down a soundtrack alongside the Disco Outcasts. The night starts at 11pm and goes on till the milkman finishes his rounds.

The weekend after, Cosmic Boogie makes two trips from Liverpool into Manchester, making sure to remove all pro LFC material from on display in the car before leaving. This time its with Cosmic Disco on the friday, and the Disco Outcasts on the saturday, both at The Purple Pussycat. Expect the usual blend of electrofunk and disco warmth, and me to play the only 10 records I own at both nights (from Serato, of course).

You might know Stefano from our good friends at Shoot Speed (or maybe from the Disco Outcasts). This mix was carefully crafted for a play on David Dunn’s radio show on Galaxy FM last weekend, and now its here for all of us to enjoy. Late night disco badness - Holy water can’t save us now…

Track Listing

Business Man / Dubbys Game (edit)
Mudd / Blue River (edit)
Phil Collins / Im not Movin (Idjut Boys edit)
America / Horse with no Name (edit)
Mudd / Bricket Wood (edit)
Andrew Allsgood / Disco Pigs in Space
Unknown / Unknown
Caroline Crawford / Comin on Strong (edit)
Sly n Mongoose / Snakes and ladders (edit)
Police Dogs Bonfire / Reverso 68
Inner City / Big Fun (SMD edit)
Talking Heads / Psycho Killer (Greg Wilson edit)

 

 holy water cant save us now: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

The fourth in the series of renaissance mixes from Whistlebump in London on the 23rd of April, 2005.

Track Listing

Jeanette Lady Day / Come Let Me Love You (mastermix)
Raw DMX / Do It To The Funk (gw edit)
Gino Soccio / Try It Out
Atlantic Conveyor / We Are
Rockers Revenge / Sunshine (gw ruff edit)
Players Association / Turn The Music Up
Man Boys / Hip Hop Be Bop Rock (gw mash-up)
Man Friday / Love Honey, Love Heartache
Boogie Corperation / Dirty Rip (gw edit)
Liquid Liquid / Cavern
Michelle Wallace / Tee’s Right
Mike T / Do It Anyway You Wanna (gw edit)
Bermuda Triangle / Secret Pillow (prins thomas remix)

 

 Whistlebump / London: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Its pretty obvious, isn’t it?

Make sure you have your Serato MP3 library and crates backed up, as often as possible. Its pretty obvious, but as this relatively stupid DJ found out - its not compulsory, and people often forget. When people forget to do such obvious things, sods law will dictate that said persons will come a cropper. Especially if these people are not only stupid, but also, pretty unlucky.

(Yes, I forgot). Continue Reading…

Dan Soulsmith sent a mix to Cosmic Boogie, and we all love it. Rather than talk about it myself, I will simply hand you over to Dan, who can clearly do it more justice…

“My cosmic mix or ‘Dan’s Space Ride mix’, to give it it’s full title, was the first mix I recorded in over 8 years! I recorded it to minidisc in August 2007, after a trip to Berlin; when I realised that I wanted to push my own DJ endeavours and hopefully play in cities like Berlin, or anywhere inspirational really. I had no intention of doing anything with this mix as it was purely a practice mix.

In February 2008 I recorded my first neo-funk studio mix ‘Hook & Swing’ with the sole intention of distributing a mix CD and finding further DJ residency work in Manchester. Soon after - I created my mix blog - for friends and venues to get hold of my mixes online. Then I remembered my ‘Cosmic Mix’ minidisc and went about importing it to my PC, EQing it - quite drastically! and dressing the mix with a title - giving it the concept of a journey through space.. bit of an afterthought really!

The process of recording studio mixes has led naturally to playing around with audio, I’ve since begun to re-edit some of my favourite pieces of music.So this particular mix was the catalyst for me jumping on the steep learning curve that is audio engineering.”

We look forward to doing more with Dan in the future…

Track Listing

MFSB / Mysteries of the World
Lennie Williams / You Got Me Running
Giorgio Moroder / Evolution
Cerrone / Suparnature
David Astri / Dancing Digits
Francine McGee / Delirium
Atmosfear / Dancing in Outer Space
Cerrone / Supernature

 

 Guest Mix 2 - Dan Soulsmith: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

With those warmer days and hazy nights just around the corner, here comes Cosmic Boogie Mix #13: ‘Summer’s Coming’.

Track Listing

Lonnie Liston Smith and the Cosmic Echoes / Aspirations
Bryan Corbett / (Intro) Off The Rails
Build An Ark / A Love Supreme (Live)
Dwight Trible & The Life Force Trio / Is Music
Theo Parrish / Summertime Is Here
Flying Lotus / Tea Leaf Dancers
Black Pocket / Look Over Honey
Aardvarck / Pigstyle (Smurf)
Pattie Blingh and the Akebulah 5 / Brother: The Point (2562 Remix)
Malcolm Catto / Untitled
Steve Reid Ensemble / Dabonxxar

 

 Cosmic Boogie Mix 13: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

There’s something about Southport. On paper, it looks great. 5,000 friendly people and tickets that sell out months in advance. Live acts that push the boundaries of soul, jazz, funk, Latin and house. DJs who are at the forefront of every evolutionary branch of Black music. But when the sweat’s pouring down your face in the Powerhouse, or when Theo’s playing just a little bit too loud and you still can’t be dragged away, or when you’re surrounded by some of the greatest dancers you’ve ever seen and you don’t feel even a little bit self-conscious, you feel the part of Southport that can’t be written down. The part of Southport that isn’t captured in the footage and that isn’t invoked by live recordings. It’s a whole that’s greater than the sum of its parts.

In The Gift, a literary exploration of the creative spirit, Lewis Hyde retells a mid-nineteenth-century English folk tale about a man from Devonshire. Fairies had given this man a barrel of ale that would never run dry. For many years the ale flowed freely until one day the man’s inquisitive maid removed the bung of the barrel and peered inside. All she saw was cobwebs. And so it is with Southport. Whenever I try to pin down just what it is that makes Southport special, I’m inevitably left with cobwebs. What I do know, and what the Southport faithful most definitely knows, is that here, for six days each year, there is magic in the air.

And it’s a magic that everybody feels. A few songs into a blistering set, Carl Craig takes to the mic: ‘I know you’re all music lovers here. Southport’s all about the music. So I’m gonna play a little different to how I usually do, I hope y’all keep dancing!’ For two hours his pulsing, concrete beats and nagging synths cause a riot in the freshly branded Beat Bar.

Another highlight in the most progressive room at the Weekender came from Luisito Quintero on Saturday night. His contagious energy and glowing smile elevated the mood as he introduced rhythms from the Afro-Latin, Afro-Cuban and Afro-Venezuelan diaspora to an excitable capacity crowd. Recloose followed with one of the standout DJ sets of the weekend, not only joining the dots between the organic and the electronic but blurring the boundaries completely with his low-slung show of tropical techno funk.

At 6.30am on Sunday morning, Theo Parrish stepped up to the turntables. Whatever music Theo chooses to play, it always sounds like Theo. It’s mind-bending, it’s raw and it’s feverishly unpredictable. Whether it’s the giving of a particularly rousing techno 12″ to an admiring DJ Rahaan or the passion that flows through every twisted sound, his magic - the magic of Southport - is a magic that can never be truly described, but once felt is never forgotten.

Lead photograph by Kwame Asiaw
Book tickets for November’s Weekender here.

Soul Science, the debut album from Justin Adams, Juldeh Camara and Salah Dawson Miller was recently nominated for the Culture Crossing category of the BBC Radio 3 Awards for World Music. Robert Plant’s guitarist Justin Adams fronts the outfit, supported by seasoned percussionist Salah Dawson Miller and sensational Gambian riti player Juldeh Camara. On March 19, the trio brought their Anglo-African blues to Liverpool with an intimate gig at the Bluecoat. After the show, Gavin Kendrick met up with Justin to find out more about his latest project.

You were in Liverpool last Thursday for Africa Express, how was that?
Mad! Absolute chaos! An amazing array of people came, we were on stage with Baaba Maal, Nitin Sawhney, even the rhythm section from Reverend and the Makers.

So is this the first time you’ve toured?
Yes apart from a few gigs we did in October. It’s building slowly as it’s such a small thing but people pretty much always go away thinking, ‘Wow that was something!’

It’s such a unique fusion.
It is an unusual thing but then we’re not trying to mix fish with foul if you know what I mean: everything is from the same gene pool. We’re not putting conflicting rhythms or conflicting scales together and that fusion is what the concept of Soul Science is all about.

The rhythms and the melodies are old, really old. Like thousands of years old! If somebody calls it blues or they call it funk then yes, its outer shell is blues or funk or reggae or whatever it is. But the actual science of how you fit a rhythm with a melody is very ancient, and it comes from different parts of Africa. It’s not just any blues lick I’m playing. I know enough about Juldeh’s traditional music to be able to play a lick I know he relates to, that’s why it works.

I particularly liked your version of Muddy Waters’ Hoochie Coochie Man.
Ah yes, Juldeh is Fulani so he calls it Fulani Coochi Man!

How much of the set is improvised?
Our system is that we know the rhythm and the key of each song, and we have a signal to end each piece. And we know a few key points in the set but the actual form of each song, for example how many bars it is before somebody starts singing, or when someone takes a solo, that’s completely improvised.

And it works so well as a unit – even without drums or bass, you’ve got a really full sound.
My inspiration was the bands you see in the streets in places like Morocco, with just three guys. If one guy with an acoustic guitar can sound pretty big then why can’t three people sound enormous? There’s not a lot of sub bass and as much as I like it, you can live without it. It gives a spacious feel to the music. A fiddle, electric guitar and percussion trio – I don’t think there’s another band in the world quite like it!

You can buy the Soul Science album here.

A very good friend of mine came to DJ with me at The Magnet last week. Id say that many years ago he was responsible for starting me off on a journey to find out more about every kind of music. This mix is slow burning cosmic funk, mixed by me, dedicated to that friend.

I salute you Roscoe.

Full Tracklisting

Al Usher / Here Today
Gepy & Gepy - Body to Body (Intro Disco Dub)
The Popular Peoples Front / Showtime
Quiet Villiage / Can’t be Beat
Will Powers / Adventures In Success
John Tropea / Living in the Jungle
Mad Dog Fire Department / Cosmic Funk
Indigo Country / Ultra Funk
Kwanzaa Posse / Wicked Funk
Stevie Wonder / Living for the City

 

 cosmic boogie mix 12: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

The third in the series of renaissance mixes from Suono in Newcastle on Bonfire Night 2005, coming in 2 parts.

Part 1 Tracklisting

Eighties Ladies / Turned on to you
Quiet Village Project / Pillow talk
William DeVaughn / Be thankful for what you got
Marvin Gaye / What’s going on (rhythm & strings)
Peter Brown / Do you wanna get funky with me
Death In Vegas / Dirt
Zapp / More bounce to the ounce
P Funk All Stars / Hydraulic pump pt III
Ben Onono / Hinsight (gw dub)
Maze / Twilight
Dubble D & Rakin / Soul squelch (gw mash-up)

Part 2 Tracklisting

Thelma Houston / You used to hold me so tight
Firefly / Love (is gonna be on your side)
Todd Terje / Kul I pul
Martin Brew / Galactico (gw mix)
The Temptations / Law of the land
Crown Heights Affair / Say a prayer for two
Fantastic Four / Got to have your love
Instant Funk / I got my mind made up
Players Association / The get down mellow sound
Sugarbone / Lovesoul (gw ruff mash)
Toby Tobias / Glory hole
Weeks & Co / If you’re looking for fun
Prince Charles & The City Beat Band / The jungle stomp
Cheryl Lynn / Got to be real
Geraldine Hunt / Can’t fake the feeling

• info: www.electrofunkroots.co.uk
• e-mail: greg@electrofunkroots.co.uk

 

 Suono / Newcastle (part 1): Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Suono / Newcastle (part 2): Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Cosmic Boogie’s biggest month so far sees the launch of a new monthly residency in Blackburn, the continuation of our weekly night at the Magnet in Liverpool, and an after party with one of the all time greats when Cosmic Boogie has been invited to part of the line up for the Roy Ayers gig. A true legend.

Every month, on the third Saturday, we will host a night in Blackburn @ The Cellars, bringing the likes of Greg Wilson, Crazy Penis, Chicken Lips, The Unabombers and Maurice Fulton to the city. Starting at 10, proceedings will go on till 4 - and its free to get in before 12. If you know anywhere else you can see a lineup like this for nothing, we would like to know. More on this night will be coming soon, with some exclusive mixes, interviews and everything else you would expect from a blog like ours.

Finally - the Geisha bar Thursday residency has ended - with the bar looking to take things in a different direction. We will be playing one Saturday a month, the first of these being the 31st of May.

May Dates

Friday 2nd - Cosmic Boogie @ The Magnet
Stu Robinson & Karl Roscoe

Sunday 4th - Cosmic Boogie @ Geisha
Gavin Kendrick

Thursday 8th - Roy Ayers After Party @ The Magnet
Robert Strauss, Downstairs Disco & Cosmic Boogie (Neil and Stu)

Saturday 17th - Greg Wilson Presents…Cosmic Boogie @ The Cellars (Blackburn)
Greg Wilson, Neil Meekin, Stu Robinson, Stefan Junpier, Stephen MacLeod

Friday 23rd - Cosmic Boogie @ The Magnet
Neil Meekin & Stu Robinson

Friday 30th - Cosmic Boogie @ The Magnet
Neil Meekin, Stu Robinson, Stefano & Leo (Shoot Speed Social)

Saturday 31st - Cosmic Boogie @ Geisha
Stu Robinson

What is your definition of an edit?

In a strict sense it’s taking an existing recording and altering the arrangement, although, with the options available via modern technology, the lines have become increasingly blurred. Continue Reading…

Not the football team, of course - that would just be dirty.

No, we love Manchester because of its vibrant music scene, cheeky manc types, and all round good naturedness. With that in mind, we thought it would be a good idea to bring the two cities together by forming an alliance (of sorts) with our friends over at Shoot Speed Social.

You can expect a number of things - mixes and edits to be shared, interesting articles to be delivered…but most importantly, it means that Cosmic Boogie will be playing once a month in Manchester, and that Shoot Speed Social will be playing once a month in Liverpool, at our new weekly residency at The Magnet.

Dates and finer details are yet to be confirmed, so watch this space for a more official announcement. In the mean time, check out the wonderful Shoot Speed Social blog, come down to the marvellous Shoot Speed Social Presents… night at the Attic (where we are playing next week), and most of all, raise a disco filled brandy glass to Stefano and Leo. May the funk, indeed, be with you.

This is the second in a series of renaissance mixes from Greg Wilson. From Stylus at The Music Box in Manchester, then home to the Electric Chair, on the 14^th November 2005 (a week before he made his New York debut). Greg played from start to finish, a full 5 hours in the Shack, with the opening part of the night recorded.

Full Tracklisting

Parliament / P-Funk
Bobby Moore / Call Me Your Anything Man
Pointer Sisters / Yes We Can Can
Brian Eno & David Byrne / Regiment
David Bowie / Fame
James Brown / The Payback
Eric B & Rakim / Paid In Full
Stretch / Why Did You Do It?
Chakachas / Jungle Fever
O’Jays / For The Love Of Money
Dawn Elliot & Co / Gotta Keep Workin’ It (GW mash-up)
S.O.S Band / Just Be Good To Me
Kid Creole & The Coconuts / I’m a Wonderful Thing, Baby (GW edit)
Secret Stealth / Stealth 2

• info: www.electrofunkroots.co.uk
• e-mail: greg@electrofunkroots.co.uk

 

 GW Renaissance #2 - Stylus: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download