post-disco

Urszula Dudziak: Ulla (1982)

2018/06/12

Someone, somewhere, (maybe a massive Polish Jazz aficionado), is absolutely, positively going to hate me for doing this: but I have to profess/confess my absolute love for Urszula Dudziak’s Ulla. Riding that same copacetic wavelength as Maki Asakawa’s Nothing At All To Lose, Urszula Dudziak’s Ulla transformed someone known as the Yoko Ono, Linda Sharrock,…
Larry Levan Featuring Sly Dunbar, Robbie Shakespeare, Gwen Guthrie, Wally Badarou, Darryl Thompson: Padlock (Special Mixes) (1983)

2018/06/05

Life is something special, isn’t it? That’s something you can palpably feel in the music of Larry Levan. When he introduced music to the dancefloor he reimagined the music in a way the originals (possibly) never imagined. In a way he made that music everyone’s. Was Gwen Guthrie’s music ever truly hers? Was it ever…
Imagination: Shake It (1980)

2018/04/24

From Germany, via the intriguing mind of Düsseldorf-native, multi-instrumentalist Uwe Ziß, comes this unlikely marriage of AOR, balearic, post-disco, funk, R&B, Krautrock, southern boogie, and soft rock. Perfect for days, much like this one, when your loyal blogger has very little time to actually write/keep up with my own set, writing deadlines. Nothing gets closer…
Jean-Michel Gascuel: La Vie Continue (1984)

2018/04/20

Holding fast to some heartfelt theory, I do believe the best musicians aren’t always, exactly “musicians” themselves. Joining us today in our personal, illustrious group which includes Steve Hiett and Brian Eno, is native Frenchman Jean-Michel Gascuel. In the span of two years, from 1982 through 1984, Jean-Michel Gascuel released two albums C’Est L’Premier Pas…
Mix: 8. Dreaming Of A Dream (Walearic Japan – Vol. 2)

2018/02/02

We can affect change or be an effect of change. These ideas, proposed wonderfully in Charles Demuth’s Spring, moved me to take up a call from Zattirizat to create a playlist for their brilliant guest mix series. Umut from Zattirizat got me thinking: What can I do to move your needle? To do so, I had to…
Santiago: Walking The Voodoo Nights (1979)

2017/11/17

Proof positive that maybe the Germans were on to something. In 1979, the independent German music critics’ association bestowed upon Santiago’s Walking the Voodoo Nights their highest honor, the Deutscher Schallplattenpreis. For album of the year — knee deep in the time of punk and post-punk — one wouldn’t think that such a high honor…
Regrets: Agathe (1985)

2017/08/25

Entirely slept-on, to the point that it still boggles my mind how with all the recent reissues and rediscoveries of artists like Telex, Alec Mansion, Li Garattoni, and Linda DiFranco – artists who skirted the line of Balearic, electro-pop, post-disco, and boogie – there hasn’t been room for someone to be woke enough to Montpellier’s…
Alain Chamfort: Amour, Année Zéro

2017/08/02

I almost hate myself for sharing this. It’s like eating a slice of sublime dark chocolate cake, followed by a full spread of some fine charcuterie, chased with some sumptuous Riesling. Obviously, it’s too rich and not entirely good for you…but man is it refined and tasty when you’re devouring it. That’s exactly the…
Mike Francis: Let’s Not Talk About It (1984)

2017/07/21

Now this, this right here, is the promised boogie wonderland. The late Michele Francesco Puccioni’s (aka Mike Francis) 1984 debut is that unheralded statement piece of funk and R&B music that once you have your chance to get your hands on you’ll never forget. Let’s Not Talk About It was the product of some hard-earned…
Kenji Omura: Gaijin Heaven (1983)

2017/07/19

Power can manifest itself in many ways. Power isn’t always in the density of something but in the lightness of it. Kenji Omura’s spirited take on funk, sophisticated pop, and so many other smooth genres comes together into one powerful album: Gaijin Heaven. The late, great Kenji Omura, one time or some time YMO guitarist,…