High wire

Rarely used, Myspace always comes with the best surprises, here's one I found out on my inbox. Remember the glam discofied sounds of Iceland's Max Skiba? Well one of his collectives, the KDMS, are releasing a brand new single with a video starring a space lady we all know and love.

Here it comes: The new slowdisco bomb of Kathy Diamond and Max Skiba aka THE KDMS. It’s their second 12inch release on Gomma, but already the buzz is big. Their last Gomma -single “Never Stop Believing” (including the infamous house remix by New York DJ legend NICKY SIANO) was huge with DJs from Pilooski to Holy Ghost, Sweeney to Aeroplane. And it is quite sure that the new one will get no less attention. “High Wire” can easily be described as a little masterpiece. Just listen to it one time and it will stay in your head. Remixes come up by Russian disco heros D – PULSE, Gomma’s own MUSTANG and KOOL DJ DUST (with releases on Permanent Vacation and Tronik Youth’s label under his belt).
This release of the London Disco Queen Diamond and the Polish house wunderkind Skiba will be followed by 2 other singles the two recorded separately: Kathy has just released her single with Toby Tobias on Radioslave’s label REKIDS and another record with Nick Chacona on Mood. And Max Skiba (whose last single was featured on MYLO’s Mixmag CD) comes with a single on UNDER THE SHADE. We can be sure: 2011 will be big for these two disco youngsters.

Here's the vid. Enjoy!



PS: Be sure to visit Max on his Myspace and Facebook sites

three decades of GLITZ

It's thursday and almost forgot about yesterday, when a legendary cult bad bad really bad movie, one of my all time favorites, turned 30. Whew! the time passed so fast we hardly noticed.
I'm surprised that some people actually don't know about the existence of "Xanadu" or the fact that Olivia Newton-John (fantastic pop star and NOT JUST the girl who played "Sandy" on "Grease") starred in it. Others are also quite oblivious about the plot which was pure disco nonsense: the core of the flick is the friendship between Sonny Malone, a record sleve designer, and Danny McGuire (played by Gene Kelly, in his last movie before his death ten years later), an ex jazz musician from the 1930s. Both men are enchanted by the same woman: a muse named Kira, one of Zeus' golden daughters sent to Earth in a flash of neon lights and roller skates. Her lady power inspire Sonny and Danny to transform an old theatre (the Pan-Pacific Auditorium) into a other-worldly place called...what else...Xanadu!

The critics, or should I call them the cynics, tend to focus on the really bad acting instead of what's so beautiful about the film: the choreography, the editing, the animation (at one point, Sonny and Kira suddenly are trapped in a Disney-like fantasy) and of course, the music, provided by Livvy, brit legend Cliff Richard, rock group The Tubes on a jazz-new wave hybrid called "Dancin'" and the Electric Light Orchestra, who puts the cherry on the milkshake on the classic title track, the one that goes on forever. The story and its legacy is still going strong thanks to the gay comunity taking it to heart and a Broadway adaptation that was quite popular in 2007-08.



MP3: Olivia Newton-John and the Tubes - Dancin'

music for chamaleons

I've always had a thing for that strange smokey persona that is the enigmatic Gary Numan. The pale face, black eyeliner, the suits, it's an imagery that evoques artistic imposition, theatricality and an alternative point of view. Overall, it was a very distintive style that, blended with his haunting electrobeats, influenced a world of musicians, from The Killers, to Nine Inch Nails to GaGa (even if she doesn't try to admit it).

Although he's most known for his 79 hit song "Cars", there's so much more to this man: his tours and albums are one of a kind and quite diverse (his sound is eminently electronic but he also flirted with synthpop and jazz, while his concerts could go from a rave to a down right industrial freak show), he married the president of his fan club and he's a certified pilot. Go figure!

MP3: Gary Numan + Tubeway Army - Are Friends Electric?
MP3: Gary Numan - I Die: You Die
MP3: Gary Numan - We Are Glass
MP3: Gary Numan - Music for Chamaleons
MP3: Gary Numan - We Take Mystery (To Bed)