When all is said and done, it’s a rhetorical question.

The Beach Boys - Let’s Go Away For Awhile

The Blue Nile - Downtown Lights

Sinead O’Connor - Curly Locks

Big Star - Watch The Sunrise

Mercury Rev - First-Time Mother’s Joy (Flying)

Primal Scream  - Damaged

Vangelis - Wait For Me

Mercury Rev - Moving On

Download

Here’s a mix by Grey Lagoons. Two tracks from the The Secret Migration by Mercury Rev made it onto the list, totally makes sense to me, as it was definately a highlight of 2005. Apparently they were going to go with Shine Like The Stars, originally, for the Primal Scream track, although the unintentional use of Damaged ended up highlighting the bittersweet nature of the collection, in my opinion. The  Sinead O’Conner track is from her 2005 album Throw Down Your Arms, which was produced by Sly and Robbie and is mindblowing in case you didn’t know that already. The Lagoons have been pretty busy over the last few days and two more of their mixes will be posted on www.anothernightonearth.blogspot.com/ . So check them out if you like this mix, or even if you don’t, ‘cos they are really different to this one. Good luck to Moka on her voyage to France, I’m sure The Lagoons would totally support me in dedicating this mix to you. 

An interview with Hans-Peter Lindstrom by Moka and myself.

Chris: When did you become interested in dance music, were you more into the rock scene previously?

Hans-Peter: Yeah, I’m from the rock scene, and accidentally got into the electronic music scene when winning (hey!) a bedroomproducer-contest in norway in 1999 …

Chris: Did you release any tracks previously to your work as Slow Supreme?

Hans-Peter: Only as part of a 8-piece gospel-group singing the gospel according to elvis presley

Chris: How did you and Prins Thomas meet up?

Hans-Peter: We met in oslo in 2001. He was the best dj around. And I was curious …

Chris: Did you feel as though you were part of a new movement in 2005 with the advent of so much new Balearic and Cosmic influenced music? Do you see a certain amount of zeitgeist in what you are doing and what artists like Quiet Village Project are doing, for instance? Do you guys all have a secret headquarters somewhere? :)

Hans-Peter: Hehe, not as far as I know … I’ve been making music w/more than one chord-change since day one, since I need something more than just beats & a bassline … and I prefer to keep the tempo slow, because it gives me space to fit in more musical elements … heh.. the slower the better, although I realise now that it doesn’t make sense to make remixes in 100 bpm … haha.

Chris: What is the scene like in Europe at the moment, have you seen a big increase in fans of your style, or has the scene been growing for some time?

Hans-Peter: I get the feeling that the crowd everywhere is 95% ‘normal’ people who doesn’t know anything about cosmic or balearic. While the rest is nerds & dj’s. When I play slower tracks, or unaccessible’ stuff, people leave the dance floor. Most clubs in Europe are used to house and minimal, but I’ve been told that it’s now ‘allowed’ to promote a night with the dreaded ‘disco’-word … haha

Chris: Is it just me or does Norway seem like a seriously stylish country? Who is the person that did the amazing artwork on the Album and the Turkish Delight single, for instance?

Hans-Peter: haha, he’s from Finland. That’s where all the nice scandinavian design is from. Norway isn’t particulary stylish as far as I know …

Chris: I once read about a club in Oslo (at least I think it was in Oslo) that was actually a converted public toilet building in a park somewhere. Does it still exist? Is it rad?

Hans-Peter: Yeah, that’s true ! However, it’s closed now. It used to be good, I’ve been told, but there were a change in ownership at some point.

Chris: Is the collaboration with the release of the Lindstrom debut album on Smalltown Supersound a sign of things to come? Could we be seeing musicians from that stable collaborating with you in the future?

Hans-Peter: I don’t think so. I’ve realised that I’m a loner. I like to do everything myself.

Chris: How did you first come across Todd Terje?

Hans-Peter: At a student-dj-night around 2000. He was 18 maybe, and seriously into Salsoul & New-York-disco.

Chris: Is Hans-Peter or Prins Thomas still possession of The Idjuts disco balls?

Hans-Peter: Say what…?

Chris: Are you fans of the Compass Point era of Grace Jones, when she was recording all those strange cover versions, under the direction of Chris Blackwell, assisted by Sly and Robbie and Wally Badarou? (I only ask ‘cos it’s my favourite thing!)

Hans-Peter: I love the early 80’s Grace Jones productions. Sly, Robbie & Badarou defined her sound. Simple but effective. A huge inspiration.

Chris: Finally I have to tell you a story about my former co-worker Zweli. When he was still working with me he used to listen to your album on headphones, while he played this computer game where there’s this bug that has to shoot all these crystal balls before they fall down a hole. The graphics are really trippy, so I really dug watching him play every now and then. While he was playing the one evening he started singing this song in Zulu. I couldn’t hear the music, just the singing, so I turned around to watch the screen and the combination of the singing and the visuals was just incredible. I really think you guys should get together and do some sort of multimedia thing together! (if only I knew where to find him). You guys should probably come to play in South Africa sometime.

Hans-Peter: Hahaha. It’s a great story indeed !!!!! Yeah, sooner or later it would be great to come to africa !!

Moka: Psychedelic and metal guitarists seem to be a very important and subtle influence on your sound, I read on an interview on your label you were citing Malmsteen as a one of your music addictions at the time and even your mate, Prins Thomas, released an Ep tribute to Ash Ra Temple’s guitarist, Manuel Goettsching, a few months ago. Would you mind sharing some of this guitar influences with us?

Hans-Peter: Hm … dunno what to say. All of the guitarists you mention are really good, and influences me in different ways. I like the sound of the guitar. It’s a very flexible instrument.

Moka: What’s the composition process you follow? Is there a substantial difference between composing in collaboration with your mate or alone?

Hans-Peter: Thomas is working waaaay faster than I am. I used to finish a track or a remix in 1 week, but now I’m probably using 1 month. Reason is that I’m doing many different versions of the track, and then decide for which arrangement/structure is best for the song. When working with Thomas, we record loong jams and edit everything the next day.

Moka: What’s been playing on your tour bus these months?

Hans-Peter: Which bus? Only flights in our world .. iPod-music … lots of good mixes.. recently, Tim Sweeneys beats in space mixes.

Moka: You edit, produce and even have your own label, what’s your opinion on the music industry? and internet and peer2peer networks?

Hans-Peter: I believe blogging and P2P works fine when promoting a new release. It’s a very effective way to spread the music instantly. And I don’t think it hurt the sales, since I’m releasing mostly vinyl. Low quality mp3s cannot replace a physical vinyl-copy. More and more dj’s play cd’s, but I believe many still prefers vinyl…. And I don’t believe in fighting against new technology in general.

Moka: You’ve both did a lot of dj-ing on festivals on August and you had a great show on the Sonar Festival in Spain, can you tell us about these experiences? How’s a Lindstrom and Prins Thomas gig?

Hans-Peter: I didn’t play at Sonar, but Thomas was there. Anyways, we’ve been travelling lots last year, and it’s a great way of meeting people, playing new productions to check if they sound alright, and eat good food from all over the world ! The only drawback with travelling is all the airports, transport, carrying, waiting, hotels etc etc … hm

Moka: The collaboration with Torgunn Flaten (on “run”) and with Christabelle and the way vocals adjusted almost effortlessly into your music was well received and praised by fans and critics, does the future hold more vocal collaborations or vocal samples?

Hans-Peter: Yes, I’m working on some new tracks with both of them, and there might even be a taste of a christabelle-collaboration on 12” early 2007. She’s got a really great voice, and has this non-clubmusic-background which I think is an advantage sometimes.

Moka: What’s your plans and projects for the next months?

Hans-Peter: Lots of studio-work, and some more travelling I guess. And maybe NYE in Tokyo with my girlfriend :o)

recording of the Lindstrom laptop-live set from Club Caviar in Gothenburg Sweden on the 3rd of August 2006

A. R. Rahman - Mumbai’s Theme
Penguin Cafe Orchestra - Thorn Tree Wind
k. d. lang - Or Was I
Steve Miller Band - Fly Like An Eagle
Dinosaur Jr. - Green Mind
k.d. lang - Sweet Little Cherokee

Solomon Linda’s Original Evening Birds - Mbube

Kippie Moeketsi and The Marabi Kings - Goli Kwela

Boyoyo Boys - Tsotsi

Sipho Mabuse - Burn Out

M’Du - Ipompe

Malaika - Destiny

Nik Cohn did eventually admit that he fabricated Tribal Rites of the New Saturday Night , his article for New York Magazine in 1975. The article went on to become the basis of the film Saturday Night Fever and in the process created the persisting perception that still rankles the true disco fans. Of course, he wasn’t the first to ruin a musical movement by “reinterpreting” it for mass consumption, but it’s still important to highlight the point, ‘cos misconceptions linger. Walter Gibbons was probably the most respected DJ amongst DJ’s in the seventies. He was famous for his flawless beat mixing of two copies of the same record, creating extended versions of tracks, live. Gibbons made history when he remixed Double Exposure’s Ten Percent due to his radical approach. He was, according to Tom Moulton, the first person to extend the intro, so as to increase the impact of the vocals when they finally hit. He took remixing to a new level, where the experience of being on the dancefloor became the inspiration, as opposed to instant “radio-friendly” gratification. Walter did not believe in quickies, he extended tracks to lengths previously unheard of. These two mixes are amongst of his first, displaying just how much of a natural Walter was right from the beginning. The next track on the list was mixed by Shep Pettibone, a man that was too much for even Tom Moulton, who found Shep’s style to be unmusical. These dudes were pioneers of a new way, which developed into the Garage sound of New York and the House sound of Chicago. Which influenced some cats in France, who ended up becoming world famous as Daft Punk. This version of One More Time is the eight minute, far superior, club mix (with obligatory extended intro) . When this track was released some of the dance music journalists didn’t really get it. Perhaps they’ll listen now. Last of all is the lesser known remix of Tina Moore’s classic from ‘97. This track was huge on the UK speed “garridge” scene, but it’s the faster Kelly G Bump N Go Mix that was more popular at the time. I was just thinking the other day that this version seems more “now”. Ironically at the time it probably would have been old fashioned. So that:

Double Exposure - Ten Percent (Walter Gibbons Mix)
The Salsoul Orchestra - Nice & Nasty (Walter Gibbons Mix)
Loleatta Holloway - Love Sensation (Shep Pettibone Mix)
Daft Punk - One More Time (Club Mix)
Tina Moore - Never Gonna Let You Go (Warehouse Junkie Mix)

(btw: Love Sensation was the song that famously got ripped of by Italians Black Box on the ‘89 track Ride On Time)

The picture is of Walter Gibbons.