Funky Friday Has Magic Love


Today is the final day of my Bentathon. Their third LP The Everlasting Blink has what is probably my favorite Bent song on it, Magic Love. It's a smooth as silk disco tune that cops the vocals from Love On A Shoestring by '70s cheesy listening legends The Captain & Tenille. It's sounds like it would be horrendous, but it's pure bliss. The vocals match the tune perfectly. The version I give you today is the wickedly funky 12" remix, Magic Love (Ashley Beedle's Black Magic Vocal Mix). Ashley Beedle extends the track, spacing it out and punching up the rhythm and bass. It's fantastic.


Big Ups
I'd like to "big up" Ampari, a Finnish mp3 blogger kind of like Totally Fuzzy - he points you in the direction of interesting tunes other bloggers have put up. I don't have a clue what he's talking about - I don't speak Finnish, but he links to me occasionally so I try and check him out. This week he had a link up (via Aquarium Drunk) to what was referred to as "Steely Dan - The Lost Gaucho". Now, I'm a HUGE fan of the Dan and all of their albums - except maybe that last one - so my curiousity was tweaked in a BIG way. I clicked on the link and was taken to this crazy Singaporean blogazine called Big O Magazine. It's a combination of humor, music, leftfield politics, and more music. And amid it all was this "lost album" by one of my all time favorite bands. I was blown away, because I'd never heard anything about it. There is an accompanying story (it could be the original version of Gaucho) and even album artwork to download. It's a good read, and I can't wait to spend this long Labor Day weekend soaking up some new(old) Steely Dan!

Newsworthy
Human League fans living in the US rejoice! Next week Astralwerks is releasing the remastered and expanded Hysteria - with 5 bonus cuts. Out the same day is the new Black Dice LP Broken Ear Record. Astralwerks are reissuing the Jimmy Jam/Terry Lewis helmed Human League album Crash on October 4th. Hardcore fans should also be interested in checking out the Sept.27 release of the League's The Original Remixes, which features 14 of the original 12" versions. This is a Euro only release. I need me one of those too.