Starship 109

I've been searching (sometimes passively, sometimes aggressively) for a copy of Mistral's 1978 single Starship 109 for almost 2 years. After a heavy stint of translating Russian last night I finally can enjoy my own copy without watching the video snippet on Youtube. Its a latin flavored space ballad that sets the blueprint for The Rah Band's "Clouds Across the Moon" some 7 years later. The sweet flamenco guitar is courtesy of band member Robbie Van Leeuwen, founding member of the Dutch band Shocking Blue,who had a big hit with "Venus" (later covered by Bananarama). Yay for fun facts! So anyway, was it worth the search? Yup.

Mistral- Starship 109

Hey There!

I loooove this song. All you gotta do is look at the album cover to know this is awesome. Seriously. Look at it. Booby planets? Wow. Funky, spacey and crazy catchy. My favorite part by far is the pitched down back up vocals on the chorus. Sounds like Tim Curry in Legend.

Lucrethia & Azoto 14,008- Hey There

I Heart ZYX

Its impossible to decide what the best part of this video is. Theres too many fantastic things happening at once. One of my favorite elements gets a little lost because of Koto's keyboard karate, so please pay special attention to the spacemen moving excruciatingly slow in the back. Why so slow? Well, because... you know, theres low gravity in space.

Koto- Jabdah

Thanks to Marc for youtubin so I don't have to.

Two Piece

Phreek Plus One are actually three people. So, do two of them make up one phreek? They are also Italian. Therefore they know how to make some disco. Must be something in the meatballs over there. Their new EP out on Compost Black Label (entitled Compost Black Label #22. I know. Ingenious title.) is must have for cosmic leaning chicks and dudes. Three tracks of strange beauty. Don't believe me? Behold, Bikini.

Phreek Plus One- Bikini

Nice right? Support Italian badassness. Buy vinyl or digital.

Everybody Likes Ice Cream

Sebastien Leger has been killing it. For like, almost ten years. Heres a bouncy little filter house jam called "Ice Cream" off Riviera's 2000 comp "Cruel Summer". The guitar in this jams. Serious. I think my lady and I picked this one up in Amsterdam that year. Oh, what jetsetters we were...

Sebastien Leger- Ice Cream

I miss music like this.

Tikibot

Imagine you're aboard the Love Boat, gliding across pixelated seas, a tikibot band playing by the pool, the warm breeze in your face... hold it... perfect. Now listen to this.

Space Art- Welcome to Love

Dragon Jacked

If you are like me, you probably have this song on your computer already and have never even heard it. It just popped up on shuffle and I'm blown. It sounds like Todd Edwards inhuman microediting skills mixed with the Jaxx' magic dust of bleeps, bells, and whistles. By Ratcliffe? Who? Oh! Simon Ratcliffe of Basement Jaxx?! Now it all makes sense. You guys lost me on the last album, but a few more tracks like this and I'll be right back with ya. As for Dragonette... eh.

Dragonette- I Get Around (Ratcliffe Remix)

Looking...

Picked up this Johnny Chingas record at a thrift store in hopes that it was another version of Automatic Lover. Nope. However it's still amazing. An unrelenting disco beat, a strange handclap, lots of synth squiggle interludes and a nice little tune. In my excitement about Mr. Chingas I searched out anything I could find and came up with this E.T. inspired piece of work. Kraftwerk meets Santana? Hells yeah.

Johnny Chingas- I'm Looking for an Automatic Lover
Johnny Chingas- Phone Home

Ay Hee Hoo

Methusalem must have been crazy fuckers. Black hole starts off pretty normal(for space disco) then veers into this carnival merry go round type tune complete with a yodeling vocoder. Yes. A yodeling vocoder. Just what you've always wanted.

Methusalem- Black Hole

By the way, thats the Yodelking, Franzi Lang up there.
They don't call him Yodelking for nothing.

I Am Legion

LSB are killing it! Hot on the heels of the Fog 12" comes the new Super Discoteca Vol. 2 with stellar edits of Barbara Norris, Blondie, Gino Soccio, Fun Fun and P. Lion. How does Pete Herbert have time for it all? My fave here has to be this edit of Mark Shreeve's own remix of Legion.

Mark Shreeve- Legion (LSB Edit)
and the OG...
Mark Shreeve- Legion (Spacemix)