COOL BREEZE (playlist)

i'm laying low this memorial day week-end. still, i can't get away from listening to old & new tunes alike. here's my new playlist:

COOL BREEZE - MP3 downloads

i started with 2 cool remixes of Warp's Berlin resident Jamie Lidell whom i love ever since i saw him live a few years ago at the Troubadour. he will be at the El Rey this coming 29th of May, with James Pants opening... in this playlist, Frenchies Mondkopf & Barney do a fantastic job revitalizing 2 of Jamie's recent releases. here's a 3rd MP3 of a Jamie Lidell song if you want...

i've blogged about Belgian pop star Lio before. of course she usually is credited as being a French pop star. the French always get credit for everything Belgian, from chips or fries to art & fashion! anyhew, Lio's Amoureux Solitaires will always be one of my favorite songs (check link for translation & video). Montréal's Les Breastfeeders came out with a very cool cover of the song, added to this playlist. here's another cute clip of Lio...

this playlist opens with "Cool Breeze" by the Jeremy Spencer Band. Jeremy was Fleetwood Mac's first guitarist... I went a little overboard with a bunch of songs from Secretly Canadian artists; great label & even greater name! anyhew, you'll find songs from the Abba'esque Music Go Music, and from the cool Bodies Of Water, Richard Swift & Throw Me The Statue.

following Jeremy Spencer is one of my all time favorites: the 1980 robotic "Love Machine" from French pioneers Space Art. there's plenty more dance tunes: Ghostly's Osborne, a Midnight Juggernauts remix of fellow Ozzies Cut Copy, Lifelike remixes of Cazals & of Alyoa, a great Scuola Furano remix of Chromeo as well as their own track "G Funk 3000" and the list goes on...

Domino's Light Speed Champion will be at the Troubadour on the 21st of June. Brazilian Bo$$ In Drama does a crazy remix of one of their songs here; check out my page to listen to the Ol'Dirty Bastard remix by Bo$$ In Drama that i posted for now... aslo from Brazil, you'll enjoy São Paulo's NRK formerly known as New Raver Kids (On The Block)!

from Valencia, Spain, Cof Cof just released the kinda beats that are perfect for the summer. "Caribbean Boy" is so up my alley & you can download more of their songs from their page. i also included one of my favorite songs from 2007 by CocoRosie.

my favorite instrument to play with is the xylophone. ever since i got a fisherprice one as a little kid, it's been my fave. my other fave i never played nor do i know how to is the mbira. so i had to throw in a song from Zimbabwean star Stella Chiweshe. for more on this exceptional woman, check out her own site... i do get a little folky with Finnish singer Lau Nau. listening to her somehow brings up images of Akira Kurosawa's "Dreams" as i close my eyes... anyhew, i even embrace some country music with a duet by Conway Twitty & Loretta Lynn who crack me up when singing to each other "you're the reason our kids are ugly." now that's real love!

speaking of duets, i hope you enjoy just as much as i do the Nôze song featuring Dani Siciliano who invite us to dance with them. i've loved her voice ever since i first heard her singing for Matthew Herbert many years ago... i also love what Jürgen Pappe did with the voice of sexy Israëli polyglot & bond girl Daliah Lavi... i thought it would be fun to mix in some Greek garage with Zoitsa Kouroukli & then a little bit of old school British punk with X-Ray Spex. i like DeVotchka who scored "Little Miss Sunshine" so there's one of their songs in this as well. and i found some fun boogie by the Biddu Orchestra.

on a different note, you'll find some Ratatat who are with XL. also on XL, Vampire Weekend. here is a video of theirs i posted last year (2nd one down). one of my favorite 2008 songs is "Bang On" from The Breeders who are with 4AD. i recently discovered Texans Shearwater who had a show here in LA earlier this week. keep them on your radar! they are with Matador...

for good measure you'll find some songs from the voices of the girls Serge Gainsbourg seduced one by one: Mireille Darc, France Gall, Brigitte Bardot, without counting Catherine Deneuve, Anna Karenina & his 2 wives Jane Birkin & Bambou!!! it's almost summer again, so for whatever it is you didn't accomplish this Spring, just listen to Billie Holiday & remember there will be another Spring... dance it off with Conchita Velasco's Yéyé, or kick back to the Rolling Stones covers by Claudine Longet & Sandie Shaw. this wouldn't be complete without Nancy Sinatra's "The Last of the Secret Agents" or Dionne Warwick's theme song for "The Valley Of The Dolls". if you haven't seen Russ Meyer's "Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls" yet then i highly recommend it. the Carry Nations rock!!! check video at the bottom of this entry...

by the time i hit #54, my mind drifted to what it must have been like to party in the heyday of Studio 54. i dug up a fierce banger that brings me back to my crazy party days of the early 90s: Pryda's Pjanoo. then i had to follow-up with some old school disco with Dalida who just wants you to let her go on dancing, which she did till she committed suicide in the 80s. as a kid i remember being very sad about that... another disco song on here is by the one & only Melba Moore who still rocks the night clubs...

i wrap it up with Del Shannon revisted by the incomparable
Pilooski. this song really makes me feel great for some reason. one day when i want to start dating again i imagine this would be the perfect song to listen to on the way to pick up my date, whether he's a Gemini or not...