Stuart McLean is better known by his alter-ego Frenchbloke, reknowned electronic disco producer, remixer of "Talking To The DJ (While He's Trying To Mix)" by Cnut, father of "Son" (or not) and who has this year been bringing out some fine music via Seed Records.
Knowing he was a fan of Hi-NRG, we contacted him recently to do us a guest mix. Frankly, we're blown away by the result. This is probably the best guest mix we have had yet, and fits Menergy so perfectly it's uncanny. It's a reminisence on a youth spent hanging out at Bennets in the mid 80s so he could hear good music - Hi-NRG, electro and early house (imagine going to Bennets now to HEAR GOOD MUSIC!!), Stuart has this to say about the mix:
"A snapshot of sorts, of an era where a young Frenchbloke went to clubs where men danced with men, ladies danced with ladies, people danced on their own or with each other to a curious electronic beat."
Richard X - You (better let me love you x 4) tonight - featuring Tiga Wood Allen - Airport 89 (club mix) Scotch - Man to Man Animotion - Obsession Atelier Folie - No Rhyme No Reason (dub version) Digital Emotion - Get Up, Action Antoni Maiovvi - Tokyo Ultra Funk Frankie Goes to Hollywood - Relax (from soft to hard) The Flirtations - Earthquake Nitzer Ebb - Murderous (instrumental) Evelyn Thomas - High Energy Fancy - Slice Me Nice (extended version) Trans X - Living on Video MG - Boogie Tonight Mike Mareen - Love Spy Maria Vidal - Bodyrock Giorgio Moroder - Utopia - Me Giorgio Gina X Performance - No G.D.M (dedicaed to Quentin Crisp) My Mine - Hypnotic Tango Patrick Cowley - Menergy (Extended) Hazel Dean - Searchin' (I gotta find a man) Elvin - You Set My Heart on Fire Man2Man meets Man Parrish - Male Stripper Divine - Shake It Up (Extended mix)
Yes, its that time of year again, when darkness spreads across the land and the midnight hour is close at hand, etc etc. Due to the venue we had hired going out of business, we have been forced to cancel this years Rock'n'Shock festivities, which is a shame, but there's lots of other options for Samhain revelling (personally I highly recommend the Cry Parrot Art School party with Gary War, Ben Butler & Ultimate Thrush, and the return of Optimo Espookio). To get you in the mood, here are some free spookilicious download-able mixes.
The first two are from our own Menergy gang. We made these mixes back in May to promote the Italo Horror Party, but they seem more relevant at this time of year. Mine is a comp of all your favourite disco versions of horror themes while KZ's is a more brooding, modern take on John Carpenter atmospherics. But with some gay disco thrown in for good measure.
Halloween II - John Carpenter Cannibal Ferox - Fabio Frizzi Zombi - Goblin Amityville Frenzy - Lalo Schiffrin Prom Night Theme - Zaza & Zitter Phantasm - Captain Zorro Phantasmagoria / Silver Sphere Disco - Fred Myrow & Malcolm Seagrave NYC Theme - Budy-Maglione Demons (Disco Beard Edit) - Claudio Simonetti Friday The 13th Part III - Manfredini & Zager Lust - Rinder & Lewis Doin' It In A Haunted House - Yvonne Cage Disco Blood - The Vamps Soul Dracula - Hot Blood
Actress- Paint Straw and Bubbles Tobe Hooker- Haddonfield Fear Factory Mr Pauli- The Crunch Black Devil Disco Club- Timing, Forget The Timing Pat Hodges- Fly By Night Telespazio – Galileo – Rodion Mix Goblin- Tenebre Lory D – Bank Robbery Bunker 2 – Dark Side of The Moon Gique- Fulci's Rotting Children Patrick Cowley – They Came At Night Ajello and Daniele Baldelli – Cosmogony The Immortals- Ultimate Warlord Goblin- Suspira Solenoid- Suspiriosm Porn Darstellar- Holocaust
Next up we have a special festive mix from our chums at the disco/house blog Feel My Bicep. The whole thing is three hours long and available from their website. There are loads of great tracks up on the to download too, so get over there and get clickin'.
And finally here's an epic four hour mix from the producer Frenchbloke. Put together for a friend of his who had only just discovered Cabaret Voltaire, it features lots of cold-wave and minimal electronics form the early 80's. This is not specifially Halloween themed, but it is great, and some of these tunes are deliciously creepy!
xeno & oaklander - saracen psychic youth - the future is now ciaran harte - love is strange deux - felicita nightmoves - transdance (uk disco mix) fad gadget - the box the eurythmics - take me to your heart metal urbain - panik robert rental - a.c.c rude 666 - the 1000 year storm palais schaumburg - telefon victrola - maritime tatami rema rema - instrumental the normal - warm leatherette (mathew stone remix) cabaret voltaire - seconds too late das boomerang - suzanne oppenheimer analysis - the devil's dancers futurisk - poison ivy missing scientists - big city, bright lights hiroshima chair - tu eddie and sunshine - lines moderne - indicatif dark day - no, nothing, never gorilla aktiv - spiegelbild monte cazazza - kick that habit man the passage - xoyo ami marie - spiel mit mir our daughters wedding - lawnchairs (dance club version) daf - kebabtraume blah blah blah - in the army john bender - 06-27b4 (rainy day sunshine girl) martin rev - mari conrad schnitzler - auf dem schwarzen kanal severed heads - adolf a carrot emak - tanz in den himmel soft cell - bleak is my favourite cliche der plan - rot grun rot the gist - iambic pentameter yello - there is no reason bourbonese qualk - lies das kabinette - the cabinet die krupps - goldfinger klinik - moving hands hula - poison (club mix) chris and cosey - october (love song) he said - a.b.c.dicks love neon - lobotomy portion control - go talk john foxx - 20th century front 242 - operating tracks i start counting - my translucent hands kas product - loony bin spk - metal field silicon teens - sun flight dorothy - i confess hard corps - je suis passee daniel miller & boyd rice - cleanliness to order malaria! - tod holger hiller- jonny (du lump) heaven 17 - i'm your money voice farm - sleep die doraus und die marinas - fred vom jupiter
