10 December 2008

MINNIE!

09 November 2008

Somethin' Else last Friday











Mbar in Helsinki is not really known for uninhibited dancing and euphoric disco atmosphere. However, it's a nice, relaxed bar with quite a knowledgeable audience most of the time. Together with my buddy Matti we packed a coupla bags full of some vintage funk, disco, boogie and jazz and headed to Mbar. It was nothing groundbreaking, but a cosy evening of beer drinking and vinyl spinning, nevertheless.

30 October 2008

HEAVY METAL GALORE 2 - The Rough Stuff

Destruction - Bestial Invasion



Celtic Frost - Into The Crypts Of Rays



Pestilence - Out Of The Body

29 October 2008

HEAVY METAL GALORE

Annihilator - Alison Hell






Queensryche - Queen Of The Reich



Loudness - Run For Your Life

28 October 2008

Choose German Metal


I'm on a classic heavy metal tip here, with a couple of more extreme examples thrown in for good measure. German metal has always been a bit of an anomaly. However, bad pronunciation, generic lyrics, bad coiffure and scary facial hair have never managed to obscure some great heavy music produced in the land of the Teutons.

Here's a pair of tunes by Accept. The band was founded in the mid-seventies and enjoyed their biggest success with 1983's album Balls To the Wall. Here's the brilliant title track:

Accept - Balls to the wall
(320 kbps)

And here's one from their 1982 semi-masterpiece album Restless & Wild:

Accept - Ahead of the pack (192 kbps)


There's no argument the Scorpions were one of the biggest metal bands of their heyday. Many people only seem to remember their somewhat repulsive power ballads such as Wind of change and Still loving you, but to me their best songs are the rougher rockers from the late seventies and early eighties. Here's an example:

Scorpions - Another piece of meat (320 kbps)

I can't help it, this song still gives me goosebumps:

Scorpions - Bad boys running wild (320 kbps)

In the next one, Klaus Meine occasionally screeches like a deranged warthog. Which is nice.

Scorpions - Can't get enough (320 kbps)


And so we sail on towards more extreme waters. Essen's Kreator have released an extensive catalogue of thrash madness over the years. This tune is from Kreator's second album Pleasure To Kill, released in 1986.

Kreator - Ripping corpse
(192 kbps)


Finally, one of my all-time favourite thrash metal bands, Destruction. Their EP called Mad Butcher (released 1987) included this wicked tune:

Destruction - Reject emotions
(192 kbps)

Mecca pics










Last friday's party started well enough, but kinda deteriorated towards the end. Anyway, it was interesting and probably keeps us humble or something.... and thanks for all the good friends that turned up!

24 October 2008

RIGHT TRACKS goes Mecca


Disco and boogie tonite @ Mecca, Helsinki. Me, Jell-O & Matti.

18 October 2008

Right Tracks yesterday












Here's some pictures from the party, which was pretty dope. Thanks for everybody, seemed like people were more drunk than ever! Well, almost.

Guinnevere


This is one of my perpetual favourites. I've never grown tired of the song's truly haunting beauty. If this was CSN (&Y)'s only song ever, they would still be in my hall of fame.

Crosby, Stills & Nash - Guinnevere

16 October 2008

Everybody wants to be bourgie bourgie

Ashford & Simpson - Bourgie Bourgie. one of my definite disco favourites. No synths whatsoever plus huge strings and brass, features that would normally scare me the hell away from a tune. Not this time, though. Absolute class.



A less polished version by John Davis & The Monster Orchestra. A beauty, nonetheless. And with vocals to boot!



And here's a short live version of Bourgie Bourgie by Gladys Knight & The Pips:



15 October 2008

DISCO DELIGHTS





11 October 2008

27 September 2008

Morgan Geist - the name is like a short story


I really admire Morgan Geist. His main project Metro Area has never put a foot wrong, in my opinion. And neither has Morgan with his solo outings, of which this is one of the most recent ones (from his phenomenal 2008 album Double Night Time).

Morgan Geist - Lullaby

26 September 2008

Superstitious?


This great Fender Rhodes groover cannot fail to make me feel happy. It was recorded in 1975 and is, of course, a cover of Stevie Wonder's original. Today, Ahmad Jamal is 78 and keeps on playing and recording. He continues to be one funky son of a gun. Respect!

Ahmad Jamal - Superstition

From No Comments to Yes comments

I've changed the comment settings so that anyone - not just registered bloggers - can now give their thoughtful and ingenious opininions.

20 September 2008

Homage For Satan




One of the best zombie movies around. If not THE best. I absolutely love it.

16 September 2008

RIGHT TRACKS @ We Got Beef, Helsinki 19-09-2008


I'll be playing a five-and-a-half-hour set @ Beef this Friday. Looking forward to it and looking forward to seeing you there!

13 September 2008

Post punk saturday

Hello there! This time we're off to the magical world of post punk, the bleak and dangerous mixture of thatcherite England (plus some N.Y.), musical vision and drugs aplenty. So many fantastic bands and artists came from this era, not so many survived. Here's a few fine examples of that time and place.

We start off with A Certain Ratio, the phenomenal funk-punk-whatnot band from Manchester, England. Their records were released on the now legendary Factory records.

A Certain Ratio - Oceans
A Certain Ratio - Choir

John Cooper Clarke's "Evidently Chickentown" proverbially blew my head off when I first heard it on The Sopranos episode's end credits. It's a haunting piece of music and poetry that just won't leave you alone. In other words, it's a bloody revelation!

John Cooper Clarke - Evidently Chickentown


A little detour to New York City, where Liquid Liquid made a handsome racket that falls nicely into our category of the day. The first tune, "Cavern" is probably most famous for lending its bass line to a certain rap hit of the early eighties, but it's a great song in its own right, too.

Liquid Liquid - Cavern
Liquid Liquid - Dig We Must

Section 25 came from Blackpool, England and released three albums on Factory records. This tune is from their debut album Always Now.

Section 25 - Dirty Disco

And the award for the most amusing band name goes to... Teenage Jesus & The Jerks, a New York band with the shrieking, insane Lydia Lunch as a front woman. A select quote: "I would be humiliated if I found out that anything I did actually became a commercial success". And so it was.

Teenage Jesus & The Jerks - Baby Doll

In my opinion, you can't get much more English than The Fall, fronted by the original and singular Mark E. Smith. This here is a sample from their superb debut from 1979, Live at the Witch Trials.

The Fall - Crap Rap/Like To Blow

The Pop Group hailed from Bristol, England and released a couple of excellent albums of dissonant, dislocated music that sounds just right to me today.

The Pop Group - Words Disobey Me

03 September 2008

Mr. Methane

And now for something completely repulsive. Mr. Methane, as the name suggests, is a fart artist. He comes from England and seems to be pretty proud of his achievements. Here's a couple of samples. Musically, it's something hideous and cheap. But there's some element of me that still thinks this is funny. Play this tune next Christmas when all the chocolate's been eaten and you can't come up with anything to say to your parents.

Mr. Methane - Jingle Bells


Another smell of his art on YouTube.

20 August 2008

Soothing sounds of extreme metal


These sounds here are sort of my musical home. The more filthy and rugged and metallic, the better. I feel right at ease. Purified. Don't laugh.

First up is Autopsy, formed by ex-Death drummer Chris Reifert in the late eighties. Autopsy was all about snotty sounds, sloppy but powerful playing and rather twisted lyrical explorations.

Autopsy - Death Twitch
Autopsy - Frozen With Fear
Autopsy - Spinal Extraction

Moving on to Abscess, the aptly named group also fronted by the aforementioned Mr. Reifert. If possible, the tunes are a bit more mucus-y, sicker and even sloppier than before. Which makes for a perfect death punk metal experience, don't you think?

Abscess - Tattoo Collector
Abscess - Swallow The Venom

Finally, a listen to one of the most legendary death metal bands ever. Deicide, with the singular Glen Benton, have been going on for a good 20 years now. The standard of the albums has varied pretty wildly, but lately they seem to have found a new lease on death, so to speak. The latest couple of albums have been strong. However, this next tune comes from their very first album.

Deicide - Dead By Dawn

14 August 2008

Colombian sweetness


Today we're off to South America for some brilliant, soothing traditional sounds from Colombia. I presume these songs do not really represent cumbia as such, but in any case they're my favourite anti-panic or anti-angst tunes. Enjoy!

PS. The stylish chap in the picture above is Romulo Caicedo.

Alberto Pacheco - El Gallo Tuerto

Romulo Caicedo - Clavelitos


Romulo Caicedo - Y No Es Que Me Arrepienta

11 August 2008

Right Tracks


Looking forward to next friday, as we'll be playing records at We Got Beef in Helsinki with a couple of excellent dj's and all-round good guys Hiihtopipo & Kavallus. It should be a very fine night indeed with plenty of good, obscure funk & disco delights for y'all!

Here's a little taste of what's to come, not obscure by any means but something that never leaves my bag:

Central Line - Walking Into Sunshine

09 August 2008

Freerange podcast


Here's a great monthly deep house podcast for you all. In my opinion, Freerange records has been one of the most consistent and best house labels for so many years now. This month, there's a very impressive up-and-coming Roberto Rodriguez track in the mix among other extremely solid tracks.

Here's the August podcast tracklist:


Part 1
Hosted and Mixed by Matt Masters

Artist – Title (Mix) [Label]
1. Lovebirds - The Night [ Winding Road ]
2. Roberto Rodriguez – Besomebody [Freerange]
3. Langenberg - Judgement Day [Drumpoet Community]
4. Osunlade - Momas Groove (Jimpster's Slipped Disc Mix) [Strictly Rhythm]
5. Nekes – Waitin [Unknown]
6. Unknown - Almost Here (Part 2) [Zepp01]

Part 2
Mixed by Mike Monday

Artist – Title (Mix) [Label]
1. Mike Monday - I Am Plankton [ Om ] *
2. Tommy Four Seven - Eat Me (Mike Monday Remix) [Brique Rouge]
3. Mike Monday - The 11 11 (Original Club Mix) [ Om ] *
4. Mike Monday - I Am Plankton (The Glug Glug Club Dub) [ Om ] *
5. Tomski & Fredboy - Do The Tartelet (Mike Monday Remix) [Tartelet]
6. Mike Monday - The Unanswered Question [ Om ] *
7. Worthy - Mummer (Mike Monday Remix) [Katabatic]
8. Mike Monday - Salieri Complex (Extended Club Mix) [ Om ] *
9. Mike Monday - Stargirl (Exclusive Sonar Remix) [ Om ] *

* from the forthcoming album 'Songs Without Words pt 1

08 August 2008

THIS BLOG IS CALLED MANKKA

Hello, fellow earthlings of the musically curious kind. After months and months of hesitation and angst I finally decided to come up with a blog designed solely for the purpose of talking about music, uploading and downloading music, exploring the peculiar manholes and vast heartlands of music, and so forth and so forth. From snotty and rudimentary black metal to slick deep house gems, it's all about music here. OK?

For the possible non-Finnish people out there reading this, "mankka" basically means "ghettoblaster". So there.