I'm Heavy Duty!

“Tribulations” by LCD Soundsystem is a few years old. It’s been stuck in my head lately and I thought I would share something good from what is often a scary place. Fun video to boot!

Welcome to the singles club. At least that’s what I think I’ll be posting all week. This one is a 12 inch of “Stop This Crazy Thing” (1988) by Coldcut. It’s probably the best dance single ever recorded. If you disagree with that I’d love to hear what you think is better.

Junior Reid (Black Uhuru) provides the perfect vocal complement to this jungle music which is replete with all sorts of hoots and hollers, including Tarzan’s signature wail. The sounds and samples are themselves what’s crazy here and I definitely do not want to stop them.

This is one of the most played records in our collection. Long live Coldcut!

(I found this video of “Stop This Crazy Thing.” The record cover appears to be for a 12 inch (different edition than mine), but the record itself looks like a 7 inch, and the music is shorter. The original 12 inch is seven and a half minutes of jumping.)

Coldcut’s MySpace
Coldcut Wikipedia article

I can’t get enough this new Hives record, but I’ll post that later. Here’s a little something for the afternoon. You’ve probably heard Daft Punk‘s “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger” (the original and most interesting version, especially in the second half), and I’m guessing the version with Kanye West (gotta love the extra bass), but have you heard this? Check out “Robot Rock.” Usually, videos make me like the song less, but this one makes me like it more. I think I’ll play it again…

Lots of Daft Punk videos

• Artist: Leftfield
• Title: Leftism
• Year: 1995
• Format: CD
• Rating (1-10): 8
• Owner: Tracy
• Acquired: 2007 – SecondSpin.com
• Keeper: Yes

More than once I’ve read reviews that called Leftfield’s Leftism “the greatest dance record ever.” To that I say, “OK.” It’s good all right; that’s for sure. Leftism was their debut. I’ve had their second, darker and somewhat minimalist, record Rhythm and Stealth for some years, and it’s one of my favorites. I couldn’t find Leftism easily because it’s now out of print. Then, just recently I discovered SecondSpin.com. I’m sure they’ve been in business for quite a while, but they’re new to me. They have used CDs, DVDs and games, the prices are great, and best of all they have hard to get stuff like this record. You can bet I’m going to be picking up a lot of back catalog stuff from them.

Anyhow, the Leftfield deal is like this: They are two DJs with numerous guest vocalists (no less than John Lydon on this one) and have been described as the finest example of freestyle British club music. Yes.

Read more about Leftfield at Wikipedia.

• Artist: Baby Ford
• Title: Children of The Revolution
• Year: 1989
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 7
• Owner: Tracy
• Acquired: 1989 — Promo received at our store RIP Records in Norfolk, VA.
• Keeper: Yes

This is a 12 inch single by Baby Ford with two mixes of Marc Bolan’s (T-Rex) “Children of The Revolution.” The flipside contains “Oochy Koochy (Konrad Cadet Version)” and “Ford Trax.” I was sure this belonged to Mary, but based on the year it came out and the promo stamp on the cover it must be something I got at our store. I’m not that into it and wouldn’t keep it, but Mary digs it and rates it a generous, in my opinion, 7. Last thing, does this belong under “B” or “F”? When artists have stage names I’m never sure where to put them. His real name is Peter Ford.