Drugula's Doppelgänger

What ever happened to Count Drugula? Has he vanished through that wrinkle in the space-time fabric which swallows up philosophy graduates? Has he drifted off into the cosmic ocean like Carl Sagan's dandelion seed? The answer is probably affirmative on both counts, but the truth of the matter is that his laptop was stolen at gunpoint. Now, you may not be able to tell from your narrow three-dimensional perspective that, in the fifth dimension, Drugula and I exist on the same vibrational frequency - but it's quite true. In other words, we groove out to the same interplanetary music. Accordingly, we're teaming up to bring you jams from the dark sides of moons that Pink Floyd never even conceived of.

Since dance music seems to be the center of gravity in this density level of the blogosphere, I'll (more or less) stick to that for my first post, but I have loads of more experimental music in store for later.

I presume that readers are already privy to the fact that Wolfgang Voigt, Kompakt, and the Speicher series are essential. If you want proof, look no further than these bangers:

Wolfgang Voigt - "Stomp (Originalversion Monotone 1993)"
Partial Arts - "Trauermusik (Alter Ego Mix)"
John Dahlbaeck - "Wet Summer" [alt link]



The transitional period at the interstices of disco à la Giorgio Moroder and Chicago-style house music was pretty gay and awesome, kind of like San Francisco, home of "high-energy" music pioneer Patrick Cowley. Cowley was responsible for tracks like the gay anthem "Menergy" and an epic 15-minute remix of Donna Summer's "I Feel Love" (originally produced by Moroder). Check out his joint "Megatron Man" from '81 below. Also included is Ripple's "The Beat Goes On", an irresistible slice of disco from the legendary Salsoul label, which was a favorite of influential house DJs like Larry Levan and Frankie Knuckles.

Patrick Cowley - "Megatron Man"
Ripple - "The Beat Goes On"



And now for one of the best basslines in recent memory from regular Alan Braxe collaborator Fred Falke:

Fred Falke with Savage - "Omega Man"

If you've ever seen Terrence Mallick's film The Thin Red Line, you know that the best part is the beginning with all the beautiful shots of that cool island and, most importantly, the Melanesian choir chanting... y'know, the part before we find out why the natives are terrified of the Army. This choral song is one of the film's only uplifting moments - a minute and a half of bliss.

Melanesian Choirs: The Blessed Islands - "Jisas Yu Holem Hand Blong Mi"

Keep it real.