Otis Gayle - I'll Be Around

I'm in the need of some quality lovers rock/soulful reggae this weekend. I can't say that I'm a connoisseur of the genre in any way but I know some of the classics and from time to time I love to start my saturday/sunday mornings with them. So if you're following interesting blogs concentrated on lovers rock, please point me in the right direction.

Otis Gayle's beautiful cover of the massive Spinners cut I'll Be Around has been a long time favorite of mine and it surely hit the spot again when I listened to it in the morning. Since Johnny Osbourne's We Need Love is equally lovely and uses the same riddim, I put it up there for grabs as well. Both cuts have outstanding, beautiful vocals but the organ solo by Jackie Mittoo towards the end is also fantastic. Hopefully these set the mood for a good, relaxing weekend. Have a good one.

Otis Gayle - I'll Be Around [320 kbps, DivShare]

Johnny Osbourne - We Need Love [320 kbps, DivShare]

The Main Ingredient - Party People

I was desperately asked via email to re-up this classic so I took the time. While I was at it, I also uploaded Party People. It's another killer from the same fantastic album produced and arranged by the one and only Patrick Adams.

Speaking of The Main Ingredient, you might want to also check out these Beatconductor cuts I wrote about some time ago. The fans of I Only Have Eyes For You might find something familiar from Make No Mistake.

The Main Ingredient - Party People [320 kbps, DivShare]

Ace Spectrum - Don't Send Nobody Else

I've had Ace Spectrum's classic cut Don't Send Nobody Else on my wantlist for a long time but all the copies I've seen around have been inevitably too expensive for me. Just recently I came across to a cheap copy of Inner Spectrum, the debut album of Ace Spectrum. The album was in beautiful condition and it has Don't Send Nobody Else as the first track so of course I bought it immediately. What a great way to "save money" plus I got an album full of beautiful harmony quartet soul instead of just a single.

Ace Spectrum - Don't Send Nobody Else [320 kbps, DivShare]

Milton Van Houten - Love Attack

I started using Mixcloud a couple of days ago but my news feed still looks empty. So I recorded a mixtape and uploaded it to Mixcloud hoping I would get more out of the service. In a way the mix is "The Best of Boogie Banger". Lots of killers featured on the blog in one way or the other plus some obvious classics I never get tired of playing.

EDIT: The mix is now on SoundCloud as well. If you're feeling this one, check out the sequel.

Love Attack - Milton Van Houten by Boogie Banger

Al Green - Simply Beautiful

I'm aware of the dangers of overpopulation and I'm also aware of the strong positive correlation between increasing birth rates and Al Green's voice but I'm willing to take the risk and share one the most beautiful Al Green cuts on Valentine's Day because the tune is simply beautiful.

Al Green - Simply Beautiful [320 kbps, DivShare]

By the way, if you're looking for something special to listen to on Valentine's Day with your special someone, look no further since Cosmo Baker re-upped his excellent Valentines Roll mix recently. A two hour love package of the finest slow jams selected and mixed just for the purpose.

Tiger & Woods - Gin Nation

The ethics and the usefulness of disco edits has been a trending topic on a couple of forums for a while. This is probably due to the fact that there are tons of edits around and the ones pressed on vinyl are selling pretty well and the producers/DJs behind these edits are able to make some name for themselves.

I've been following these conversations for quite a while and I have to say that I find the question of usefulness or originality of disco edits somewhat redundant. If it's a good piece of music that sounds great and makes people dance, it doesn't matter whether it's the original or a re-edit. Certainly there's lots of weak, quickly done Ableton edits that should have never been released on wax but on the other hand I have found so much great, obscure music thanks to solid edits.

All in all a duel between the original and a re-edit is quite useless. Original disco era and modern disco edits are two different genres from two different eras and both have their pearls but it's also good to remember that the bulk of releases in both genres sucks so it's all about finding the good cuts and enjoying them to the max.

Enough with my chitchat. Let the music speak for itself. Gin Nation is a big disco/house edit found from Tiger & Woods' second release Caddy Shag EP (2009).

Tiger & Woods - Gin Nation [320 kbps, DivShare]

And here's the original masterpiece in case you weren't sure of the original and/or would like to do a comparison. Too bad the quality of all YouTube clips of Music And Lights is so low.

The Joneses - Summer Groove

I have a vicious and a persistent flu and I'm on bed rest for the fifth day now. I have already watched all five seasons of The Wire and at the moment I'm sitting at home watching snow fall. The amount of snow over here is so overwhelming that it makes the upcoming summer feel as a vague, distant dream.

To make things worse, I've been watching Helsinki 78-82's newish music video. It captures all the best features of summer in Helsinki: long sunny days, bikes, beer and good music. Such a feel good video (produced by Flatlight Films) and a killer tune (released by Top Billin).

To make things even worse, I started to compile a playlist of all the best summer tunes. Summer Groove by The Joneses is most definetly on the list.

Enjoy the winter and keep yourselves warm.

The Joneses - Summer Groove (Moving On) [320 kbps, DivShare]