Imperial Birthday

I've had a few ace birthdays in the past, but last year's will take some beating: nearly vomiting on The Fratellis, playing 'Killing In The Name Of' not once, not twice, but three times in a row at the end of the night (my drunk reasoning being that nothing could follow that track, so on it went again) and then jumping in the shower fully clothed when I got home, only to find I'd left the camera in my back pocket. 

But this year is my 30th, so it's time to be a bit more grown up. And as luck would have it, on my actual birthday a hotel round the corner is showing the 2nd and 3rd Star Wars films on the big screen by the pool, meaning I'll spend most of my 30th birthday on a lilo, with a beer in one hand, and a BBQ'd chicken wing in the other. Tremendous.

For those that know me, Star Wars has a special place in my heart (and my education, oddly enough). Part of my history degree was looking for historical links in Westerns, so I argued that Star Wars was an updated version, and they'd swapped the Wild West frontier for the final one (apologies for the Trekky reference). Essentially, this meant watching Star Wars for days on end, and comparing the Ewoks to the Viet Cong, Emperor Palpatine to Richard Nixon and Hans Solo was the space-faring equivalent of John Wayne.

And that Star Wars fixation has spread over into my musical tastes, and I've got quite a few Star Wars bangers in my arsenal, as well as a few home-made ones as well...

Imperial Brown Bag

http://soundcloud.com/da-funct-synf/star-wars-vs-roni-size-brown

Bonkers Wars 

http://soundcloud.com/da-funct-synf/star-wars-vs-dizze-rascal-imperial-bonkers-da-funct-edit

Mos Eisley remix


http://soundcloud.com/mattyblades/elevator-breaks-pt2-starwars-edit

This is my favourite, proper weapon - we opened our Da:Funct Soundsystem set warming up for 2ManyDJs with this


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CV5goLx-fZg

I'll leave you with the genius that is Robot Chicken, and their pant-shittingly funny take on Star Wars...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ln3tcSoN3gc

Disko Dubai

I've been lucky enough to be involved in some fun nights in Dubai, but last night was pretty special as the Norwegian Disco Mafia (TM someone else) AKA Todd Terje and Prins Thomas were in town.

Warming up can sometimes be an interesting job in Dubai, but when you've been given license to play out rare disco tunes, cleaned up funk edits and big room nu-disco on a Funktion 1 soundsystem (thanks Buff), it's pretty clear you've got the best job in the world, even if at 10.30 you're playing to the bar staff and the manager. Here's the playlist, and at the bottom is the track I finished on at midnight, quite possibly one of the best tunes I have in my collection, a proper disco journey that just builds and builds to an incredible climax. Weirdly, the internet doesn't know much about it, so if anyone has any info on who/what Combi are then do let me know.

http://serato.com/playlists/DaFunct/todd-terje-prins-thomas-warm-up-6-9-11

10:06pm

00:00  Almunia - Travel (instrumental)

00:48  Four Tet - Circling

07:56  Boards of Canada - Turquoise Hexagon Sun

10:28  Patti Austin - Baby Come To Me (Brendon P's 'Dubbed Out' Edit)

18:23  MIA - Paper Planes (DFA Remix)

19:01  Dee Dee - Easy money (Todd Terje Re-Kutt)

25:42  Rufus Thomas - Fried Chicken (scratchandsniffs finger licking re-rub)

31:21  LTJ - Get Cha

34:52  Lindstrom & Christabelle - Lovesick (Vins DJ Edit) 8.wav

40:55  6th Borough Project - McLovin

47:32  Trickski - Pill Collins

51:24  Champ's Boys Orchestra - Tubular Bells (Cosmic Mix)

57:25  Happy Mondays - Hallelujah (Club Mix)

1:01:32  6th Borough Project - Just A Memory

1:05:34  Grace Jones - William's Blood (Cosmic Jam Remix)

1:10:47  Fred Wesley - House Party (BP's 'Bring Your Own Bailey's' Edit)

1:15:59  Villa feat. The New Sins - Beats of Love (the c90s remix)

1:21:39  Low Motion Disco - Love Love Love - Aeroplane Mix

1:28:00  Lapelle - Jermaine draft 2

1:30:25  MGMT - Electric Feel (Aeroplane Remix)

1:34:12  David Bowie - Golden Years (Mano Le Tough Edit)

1:39:28  Craig Bratley - Birdshell (6th Borough Project vs Russ Yallop Dancefloor Edit)

1:43:58  Tensnake - Holding Back (My Love)

1:49:26  Combi - We Gotta High Together

http://soundcloud.com/da-funct-synf/combi-we-gotta-high-together

And Todd and Prins? Predictably ace. Everything from 70s disco to proto house and more, with edits of The Doors, Marvin Gaye and so many more weaved in over the top. Oh, and Todd Terje likes to DJ in his socks. True story.

Death of Rock'n'Roll

My cousin's band, The Fridge Magnets, are getting some serious hype in the UK at the moment. Based in Aberdeen, they've been getting airplay on Radio 1, sold out shows at Scotland's biggest venues and have been booked for a series of dates in London this summer, including playing Alan McGhee's night (he signed Oasis, My Bloody Valentine and started Creation Records, so a bit of a dude).

My cousin Chris is the drummer in the band, and he sent me the link to their new track, Death of Rock and Roll which is out now on iTunes and comes with this rather good video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvHugZwszTg

And when I heard the track, I decided to give it a dubstep twist, with a fun drop half way through the track. It's a bootleg/mashup, but a pretty fun one that stays very true to the original.

Feedback always welcome :: http://soundcloud.com/da-funct-synf/fridge-magnets-death-of-rock

Rememberance Sunday

There are some bands that I wish I'd seen live, and The Beta Band were one of them.

Similar to Oasis, all their early stuff was by far the best. And this was the earliest, a seminal, cult-classic called 'Dry The Rain' that's a shuffling, folky and hypnotic beast on record, and when they performed it live on their farewell tour in 2003, became something even bigger. If the hairs on your neck don't stand to attention when the crowd refuse to let the song finish at the end by singing back the chorus for 30 seconds, you're dead inside.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0s5xnh6t-wE

Chuff Chuffed

So, it seems I should take my wife out for dinner more often. As after a few cocktails, and half a bottle of wine our summer plans had gone a quiet little pootle around France or Italy, to planning a 5 day trip to Ibiza. Not entirely sure how that happened, but pretty damn happy about it. Last year's trip was memorable (the photos did help jog the memory, admittedly), as we got to see Groove Armada at Space where I met this really rather tall chap...

We then went to see LCD Soundsystem at Ibiza Rocks which was incredible - their Jay Z cover at the end of the set still sends my synapses into over-drive.

And then headed to the after-party where I danced like a dick, and fell in love with this tune http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fs9vRtZsMz0.

This year's line up is a little less band-heavy, but I can't really complain about it.

Sunday is this Cocoon with Sven Vath, Monday is DC10, Tuesday is a well deserved night off, Wednesday is a toss up between Ibiza Rocks with Sub Focus and Example, or Pacha with Sneaky Sound System and Basement Jaxx (but it also comes with Erick 'Get Me a Pillow' Morillo, so that could be the deciding factor), and Thursday is all about Space and Simon Baker, Nick Curly, Lee Curtiss and Seth Troxler. Sleazy house heaven.

So yeah, a whole post dedicated to me getting chuffed about 120 hours in Ibiza. Cue a re-run of this face. Tremendous.

Re-Loaded

Maybe it was the timing of the launch, maybe it was the drink deals, and maybe it was the fact I'd pimped out my FB account for 3 solid weeks mentioning nothing but (it was the drink deals, I know), but the Loaded launch at Casa Latina was ace. Like ace squared. 

People were rocking up by 9.30, and just 2 hours later it was one in, one out. As Simon, the other half of See You Next Friday, pointed out though, a packed club is one of life's better problems. 

Musically, I think we lived up to our promises - everything from Aphex Twin to Buddy Holly was thrown into the mix, and in our 3 years as SYNF, we've not seen a better dancefloor than when The Strokes kicked in about 1.15am after a long loop. 

We're back on Friday June 24, with slightly less FB pimping, and the same silly drink deals (Dhs75 for 5 cans of Kingfisher - are they quite mad?). And it's also my 30th, so I'll be taking up residence at the bar downing buying/drinking shots and then attempting to mix indie into drum and bass. Winner. 

Short and tweet

If Bob Dylan were a more prodigious tweeter, he might well amend his most famous line and slowly type out 'the social media times, they are a'changing.' For Twitter has never been bigger news, both in everyday mundane use (telling us what you ate for tea), and also as a catalyst for provoking change and creating a talking shop whereby you can speak directly to thousands or even millions of people.

Time Out recently highlighted the 20 most popular Twitter users in the region, and it made me think of the consequences 160 characters can have. They were vital in instigating the Arab uprising, have been a vital tool for Iranians trying to tell their side of the story during the recent revolts when there was a blanket ban against traditional media and a simple sentence online has sparked much-needed constitutional debate in the UK parliament following the Ryan Giggs debacle. On a local level (and far more superficial level), it's a pivotal way of getting the latest on your favourite club night - that would be *warning, gratuitous plug coming* http://twitter.com/SYNF

It's also given me renewed enthusiasm for Twitter, and I don't just see it as a time-waster inbetween work (or instead), but as a genuinely exciting platform. Just don't expect me to break any super injunctions any time soon.