dirty agency.

In the 70s, your parents may have missed the boat on some things. They probably liked The Beatles and the Rolling Stones but then fell into disco and did tons of drugs and then OOPS! Kids! Now, I wasn’t around in the 70s. I’m only in my mid-twenties. But being the curious MP3 blogger that I am, I enjoy finding out about a lot of eras of music, especially the decade that apparently inspired a bunch of potheads to turn into a bunch of cokeheads; the 70s. Kind of like the 90s into the new millennium.

I had a nightmare dream that I had a son and daughter and they asked me “What did the people who didn’t like Kayne West listen to?” That’s when I dusted off my old 4th gen iPod from a box in the basement and played them Kylie Minogue? Right. So the point is, what did people who didn’t like ABBA and The Bee Gees listen to? Hmmm…..

Christian Gaubert was a composer for a lot of French films. In 1976, he created this epic disco track for a marginally decent documentary called Sex O’Clock USA. What is better? The fact something is called “Sex O’Clock” or the fact USA is tagged at the end? Does “Sex O’Clock” reference a specific time for sex or is that sometime usually before bed? Whatever the case, at least it had a halfway decent soundtrack.

Christian Gaubert - Baby Come On

Contrary to popular belief, the are more than two music acts that came out of Canada that don’t include Rush or Bryan Adams. Erotic Drum Band sure had some great albums such as “Plug Me To Death” and “Touch Me Where It’s Hot”. Jesus. It’s disco’s Spinal Tap. This percussion heavy disco act was blazing in Canada. Americans simply didn’t know what the fuss was about.

Erotic Drum Band - Plug Me To Death

And what would dance music be without a little Latin flavor (ie Ricky Martin)? After Fernando Arbex split with his drug-fueled blues band-mate in the early 70s, the next logical step was writing disco music. And that is just what Fernando did. Not to be confused with the bandit from the children’s tale The Bible, Barrabás, was Arbex’s next project.

Barrabas - Checkmate

And if you haven’t noticed, this stuff is a bit catchy. So throw some of this stuff in your next mix. If any of this followed whatever Ed Banger song you were playing, you’d have instant disco cred.

Yesterday, I watched a lecture on music from Evelyn Glennie, a world renowned deaf percussionist. In it, she talks about listening to what is NOT in the music she is reading in front of her. Rather than simply playing back that which is in front of her, she separates the technician from the interpreter.

It’s difficult to even begin to review Gregg “Girl Talk” Gillis’s follow up to Night Ripper. While preaching through a MySpace account with a simple “I Am Not A DJ”, Feed The Animals reinforces the notion that Girl Talk is not modestly regurgitating the last 40 years of music into our ears. Gregg is now toeing the line on so many different facets. This proverbial line is bordering on legality, composition and music theory, art, DJing, remixing, society, and (of course) partying. On the internet, we often call that last sentence “nuthugging”. However, let me explain…

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