ultrafunk » house

DJ Afro – “Afroshow”

rune — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 14:23:14 +0000

DJ Afro, also known as José Luis Pardo – the guitarist in Los Amigos Invisibles, has his own hourly radio show where he spins some of his favorite tunes from many different genres. On his website there is an excellent archive of his newest shows available for online listening, just follow the link above and check it out because there is a lot of really good stuff in there, although some of his house mixes are not my cup of tea.

Syrup – “Different Flavours” (2000)

rune — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 02:27:18 +0000

Hidden behind the unknown band name is what can best be described as the disco bastard child of the German old school funk maestros The Poets of Rhythm, a simple fact that should speak volumes about the quality of the music. This is disco in the good and “classical” sense, not the diluted kind that has more or less attached itself to the genre over the past 20 years or so. Ironically, there are a couple of house tracks included here that honestly sound out of place when compared to the rest of the material.

For those of you who do not know The Poets of Rhythm; They appeared in the early 90′s under many different names, playing and releasing hard-hitting, original but completely authentic sounding late 60′s/early 70′s funk of such high quality that they fooled well known hip-hop producers and crate-diggers into thinking that they were the real deal no one had discovered before. Check out their now classic debut “Practice What You Preach” if you have not heard it already.

Getting back to Syrup, “Different Flavours” is a pure instrumentally driven disco funk album composed and performed by musicians with consummate skill, and although the production is quite modern and clean, it still possesses all the qualities you would expect to find on any number of staple songs from the period when disco was still played with real instruments.

One standout track has to be mentioned, it’s aptly named “Sweatshop”, and this eight minute high-energy horn and synth driven romp might not inspire you to start working in a poorly paid assembly line making cheap designer knockoffs (pardon the pun), but it should get all the juices in your body flowing nicely! It’s definitely one of my all time favourite floor-fillers.

Homepage: Syrup / Compost Records

Purchase & audio samples: eMusic.com (digital download)

Los Amigos Invisibles – Remixes and collaborations

rune — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 07:01:02 +0000

One of my all-time favourite bands and also some of the friendliest people I have ever met are these gentlemen from Venezuela, better known as Los Amigos Invisibles. The whole band, and especially their guitar player and DJ José Luis Pardo, have remixed and collaborated with a lot of different bands and artists over the years, and presented here are some audio samples of the (in my own humble opinion) best resulting tracks – it’s a long list, so please read on:

Oh, and by the way, if you like what you hear, please pay them a visit (Los Amigos Invisibles & DJ Afro), there is a lot more great music to be found there and plenty of other good stuff as well!

Collaborations (follow the link for the complete list):

Ron Hall – “The way you love me”

Louie Vega – “Aphrodite”

Dimitri from Paris – “Everybody wants to be a cat”

Dimitri from Paris – “Lolita go home”

Findlay Brown – “Promised land” (full track)

Louie Vega – “Ma mi mama”

Dimitri from Paris – “Paris-Brooklyn”

Nicodemus – “So what!”

Wummi – “The time is now”

Remixes (follow the link for the complete list):

Beastie Boys – “Negotiation Limerick File”

Tito Puente – “Timbalón”

Junior Walker – “Shotgun”

David Byrne – “Everyone is in love with you”

Quincy Jones – “Pelando”

Righeira – “Vamos a la playa”