the shape of blog to come...

this is the very last post you'll see here at this old blogspot.

please update your links and bookmarks to the brand new MONOBLOG.

we've already begun posting there, so jump on and enjoy the ride...

so much is happening!!!

first off, Prins Thomas fell ill, and is recuperating in his Fortress of Solitude in Norway. wish him well! luckily, Marcos Cabral, of NYC's Runaway, is flying in to break your mind at tomorrow night's Holocene 6th Anniversary Party with us and our friends, Linger & Quiet.

immediately after that, we'll be heading to Ascension for a three-way afterparty with some of our favorite local lovers. see the graphic above for all the info you need on that... or, you can head to OUR BRAND NEW BLOG for extensive details!

...that's right. MDY's been holed-up developing the new home for MONORAIL and Monorail Riders alike, and this blogspot will soon be going the way of the dinosaur.

we're going to try and migrate as much of the content from here to there as possible, but just to be safe, grab what you can while you can. we're not making any promises...

but like i said, there's SO MUCH going on, so i gotta run. stay tuned to our myspace, twitter, facebook and of course, MONORAILPDX.COM for all the good shit.

i'm allowed because its my birthday (tomorrow)...

i swear we'll stop posting about Norwegians here soon... just after next Friday.

in the past couple of days, on a particular social networking site, something curious came my way. doubt i'm blowing up anyone's spot here, but at the first sign of chaffing, i'll pull this, so don't sleep.

i also don't know if its already too late... but the other day i joined this "group" called Coswax Industries and then a day later i was sent a message containing individual download links for 96 Todd Terje edits. for real!

if that well's run dry, i wouldn't want you walking away totally empty-handed, so do yourself a favor and check out this amazing edit of - no joke here - the Eagles by the fresh French edit outfit, Rove Dogs, on the lovely ARAWA.fm blog. ....i can't believe i can't stop playing it.

this post comes unusually unaccompanied by music, but with hopefully enough mystery to make you want to go see if you can't score 9.5 hours of playful, smart, space-disco-house goodness for yourself. or at least 8.5 minutes of it.

and like i said, its my birthday, so paypal me some money to blow on records. seriously. do it.

syttende mai!

in less than an hour from now it'll be May 17th here in Portland. but right now, folks in Norway are probably just getting around to celebrating their independence. but rather than sing "Ja, vi elsker dette landet", i thought i'd share a few originals and remixes from some of my favorite Norwegians.

the first one is a remix by Prins Thomas who will be here in Portland on June 5th for Holocene's Sixth Anniversary with some familiar faces. enjoy, as i finish getting ready for the first edition of Cult of the Midnight Sun (an obvious reference to Scandinavia itself) at Ascension. STAY UP ALL NIGHT!

Force of Nature - To The Brain (Prins Thomas Diskomiks)


Lindstrøm - Breakfast in Heaven


Infant presents Simon Baker - Plastik (Todd Terje Türkatech Remix)


and here's a bonus from Oslo up 'n' comer, Solli Diskoklubb, that i grabbed from the always great TwentyFourHours blog out of Sweden.

Solli Diskoklubb - Nye Tider


while i'm at it, don't miss Remy & MDY's opening set at Linger & Quiet's new Sunday BBQ party, Dayshift, also at Ascension. summer's getting good already...

pushing past...

with obvious apologies for my flakey and non-existent presence as of late, i thought i would approach you with a few pretty olive branches in hand to try and shake you from your mirror-rehearsed angry reaction to my sudden reappearance.

it won’t happen again baby.

first, i thought i’d like to start with a new track that’s been my internal soundtrack as of late: a collab between dubstep recluse, Burial, and guilty pleasure, Four Tet, “Moth” (above) creeps in like morning on an all-night cross-country drive when everyone else in the car is asleep and you’re left to yourself and your shitty truck stop coffee. extremely rare to find in its physical form (in the US), this 12" has quickly shot to the top of my want list and could be a candidate for international ordering status...


this picture is for you too.

accompanying that minimal treat is my much self-scrutinized, ”Gettin’ Over Mix”, the result of an idea and feeling for a Sunday morning congregation that involves you & your friends, something to nosh, a cocktail or two, the sun, and the sounds of the Monorail taking you there. i did my best to try and capture our wide spectrum (Remy, MDY and i) in a quick 30-minute mix. all vinyl. all one take. enjoy:

Standing 8 - "Gettin' Over" Mix


...and if you’re not too mad at me, i’ll be playing this Friday the 15th in the third installment of Hall of Records Presents: Wax Broker Riot with fellow audiophile DJ Clearance Duffy.  our third outing at the wildly eclectic It’s a Beautiful Pizza, boasts more record dealers, guest DJs, and co-founder Justin Meyer’s birthday. a solid growing concept that’s part dance party, part record sale and all that. come down, drink the kool-aid and be a believer.

for your love...

i wanted to introduce myself with a mix or one of the edits i'm working on, but while i was looking for a cleaner copy of the Yardbirds' "For Your Love", i was reminded of this gem of a disco version. nearly 12 minutes of glory here; soak it up...

Chilly - For Your Love


if i don't manage to post anything else this week, it's because i'm preparing for a hefty set this coming Saturday at Ascension. i'll be spinning all that good cosmic/bearded/psych disco and a whole lot of weird stuff from 2am til dawn. come get strange:

(click flyer for link to facebook event)

i'm a man, yes i am.

here's two tracks that are sort of old news if you've really got your finger on the trigger, but are rad nonetheless. old news because they come from last year's "Rong Music Presents Promo Only" CD, which just came in the mail for me with a few records. since i'm not about to wake the roommates ripping records all late, here's the first - an amazing hunk of spacey discofunk edited by How & Why? that had MDY and i scratching our heads yesterday. you figure it out:

How & Why - #9



next up is a choice edit of a Chicago jam from back before the Transit Authority gave them heartburn, done by NYC's Rub N Tug. those fellas are going to be playing all night in LA this Saturday - somewhere - ruining Mother's Day for anyone privileged enough to be there for it. enjoy:

Rub N Tug - Lower Beard Stays The Same


ps: come follow us on twitter!

everybody dance(d)

first of all, a GIANT thanks to everyone who made it out on Friday for the party - and danced their faces off - it was beyond all our expectations, by far.

we also got some really kind emails from other Portland deejays who were playing elsewhere in town and couldn't make it, and we really appreciate that too. that seriously means a lot to us.

we're very excited about the coming months, and to be living in a city that really knows how to get down.

to all of you folks, i dedicate this song - which i *think* is an edit done by Chicago's Dj Rahaan, though i can't even remember where i stumbled upon it (any info would be appreciated; thanks internets!)...

Chic - Everybody Dance (Dj Rahaan edit) (?)


if you happen to have pictures from Friday, be a peach and hook it up, please. the above picture happens to be the only decent photo we managed to take the whole night, haha...

the next MONORAIL party will be in June at Holocene; stay tuned for more info on that.

and in other news, we've invited a new contributor to the Monorail Blog family - he'll be introducing himself later on this week with his otherworldly sounds. fans of cosmic disco and deep edits and weird gear, look out.

that's all for now. i'm off to finish the second half of this really confusing Godard film... anyone wanna help make sense of this?

and so it begins...

this Friday's "soft launch" is coming FAST, and we're gearing up. for me, that also means *resting up* - cos if you know me, you know i don't bother sleeping much.

so last night, while my, umm, sleeping pill worked its way through my system, and before i fell into a wonderfully deep sleep, i worked through this lil mix to get your ears ready for what's to come. its a bit cheesy, but you know you like that...

Remy's "Soft Launch" Mix


the mix is also up in the MONORAIL myspace player. go get friendly with that too if you haven't already.

and if the tunes get your feet moving, and you think you've got what it takes - and we know you do - check the post below and get in on the dance crew action. its your time to shine too.

are you ready to throw down?

if you don't already know, MONORAIL is an intergalactic express delivering the video dance show of your future, while providing a healthy dose of a past you never knew existed. your hosts Remy and Lamar create a soundtrack deep in land of disco-funk and a physical presence from deep in your dreams.

so here's the deal, we need dancers! not professional dancers, but serious party dancers. if you've ever had dreams of being a Soul Train dancer you've pretty much got the idea. we're looking for a group of 25-30 dancers to tape at the beginning of the night and stay to keep the dance floor hot for the party. don't worry, your efforts won't go unnoticed, scratch our backs and we shall definitely return the favor. 

if you still don't know what to expect, check out this video from WGPR Detroit's The Scene, Detroit group Felix & Jarvis open the show with their track "Flamethrower Rap"

Felix & Jarvis - Flamethrower Rap

to keep it Detroit, have a listen to ShareVari by A Number of Names to help get into it for Friday's "soft launch".

A Number of Names - ShareVari

another lazy post?

...i guess you could say that. but its more like a "busy post". i swear i'll get to ripping some music, just after i finish the giant pile of other things i need to do.

until then, enjoy the video above for Beautiful Swimmers' "O Yea" - the B side to their now-sold out 12" on Future Times. if you're in DC Friday night, you can catch them with Tim Sweeney. you lucky dog.

and while you're watching videos on the internet, go here and see what these Vice magazine wannabes think of Nite Jewel's "Artificial Intellegence" video. they'll be playing Portland with Telepathe, Fleshtone, and Linger & Quiet on June 11th. ...at about the same time that my plane will be landing in Cancun, Mexico. bummer right? well, i found this out after i switched my ticket so we could spin the Holocene 3 Year Anniversary with Prins Thomas on the 5th. win some, lose some!

...oh, and before i forget: there's going to be some changes 'round these parts very soon. all good things of course. we may be changing urls. we may not. but monorailpdx.com exists now, and with our party launch coming up, there will be loads of interesting shit flying from our fingertips. try and keep up, k?

eeerrm...

we've been very bad bloggers lately.

MDY and i are superbusy getting shit ready for the "soft launch" of our monthly "showcase" danceparty (more on that soon, promise), and frankly my trip to Sweden and the all-night Glass Candy/Simonetti/Linger & Quiet dance extravaganza (and breakneck trip up to Seattle that immediately followed) just about have me spent.

but i'm almost back at 100% and will be ripping some fresh hotness and hot freshness for your enjoyment very soon. and if i can wrestle the 808 out of Mike's hands for a few minutes maybe i can get him to let some secrets out too. cross them fingers.

stay tuned for tunes, news, and nonsense... for now, i'll leave you to ponder this slice of amazingness from 1977:

sweden forever

this one's going to have to be short and sweet - getting ready for my trip to Sweden this weekend for to work the Göteborg Tattoo Expo.

i'll be djing the convention's official afterparty at Trägårn, and maybe a set somewhere else before or after (details soon). if you're in town, come hang out!

here's two strange edits by Swedes - the first is a recent edit by Stockholm's "reactivated" Jackpot, of Czerwone Gitary, Poland's "Red Guitars". there's more from Jackpot over on Sweden's fine Service label. the second is a 1981 edit of Donna Summer's One Love by Dagur Nilsson that this blog tells us is now running Rucksack Records out of Malmö. i recently picked this one up from Juno.

Czerwone Gitary - Coda (Jackpot edit)


Hverfisgötu Disco - Forever (Dagur Nilsson re-edit)


i'll be back in Portland early next week, getting down to business on some new stuff around town. keep your ears to the ground... exciting action ahead.

linger & quiet in space

not like you need a new reason to follow Tim Sweeney's always-amazing Beats In Space radio show, but right now you need to go hear some really choice selections from our friends, Linger & Quiet who run Portland's Nightclubbing party that MDY and i opened for a few weeks back.

Linger & Quiet on Beats in Space

part two of this installment of BIS is the work The Revenge from OOFT Music. my pal Flufftronix hipped me to him and his blog recently, and may have even given me this edit of his below.

Sister Sledge - Lost in Music (The Revenge rework)

brash & vulgarrrrr

i don't know if you're keeping up, but i sure am, and today is March 24th. that means In Flagranti is releasing their sophomore full-length, Brash & Vulgar. go check out all the little promo videos for it on their homebase at Codek. yowza.

just last week i received their contribution to the "RVNG of the NRDS" series - four jacked edits of discofied rock and rockified disco. unfortunately for you, its all sold out at the RVNG site, but you can probably dig it up somewhere... here's a cut from that:

Petite Storm - Stahl Rig (In Flagranti's RVNG of the NRDS edit)


and while i was ripping that, i had this Tussle 12" handy, and figured i'd let it out as well. its the A side to the release of the same name. they're touring with Ratatat in April, but not through Portland. maybe next time around we can change that?

Tussle - Here It Comes


and finally, while we're getting vulgar with In Flagranti: all last night and this morning i've been jamming this *super sleazy* mix by Lovely Jon on Sweden's Service Records "radio" page. dripping wet with phone sex ads and porno clips, its a romp through vintage exploitation film soundtracks. get it on here.

EDIT: LOLOL @ Jarvis Cocker's SKIVVIES!!

questionnaire of love

here's two quick classics.

the first - Deputy of Love - i'm posting because i was reminded of Don Armando's 2nd Avenue Rhumba Band earlier in the week over lunch. this is by no means a rare track. it was a no.1 hit in 1979, and saw a reintroduction on Ze Records' first Mutant Disco comp - though there's hardly anything "mutant" about it, just straight-up disco. Fonda Rae's vocals on this are so clear and bright, and there's something about the whole track overall that can only be described as "relentless".

the second is the title track from Chas Jankel's 1981 Questionnaire LP. i picked this record up in Chicago, and its gorgeous from start to finish. i thought this would go well with the other track - maybe its just the big production - and had been looking for a reason to blog some Jankel anyhow. either way, enjoy.

Don Armando's 2nd Avenue Rhumba Band - Deputy of Love


Chas Jankel - Questionnaire


i stumbled on that creepy gameshow painting by Richard Telles here.

...and, fuck it, here's another track from that rip, and a Terje re-edit of another from the same LP... aren't i generous?

Chas Jankel - Now You're Dancing


Chas Jankel - Glad To Know You (Todd Terje Re-Edit)

stayed up talking all night long.

video shot and edited by Aaron Garcia. i'm in it here and there, getting my sweat on just after my flight in. all three bands - Pan De Sal, Afghan Raiders and Yacht - were excellent that night.

i've got a lot of amazing tunes to post, just been too lazy to rip records, sorry. stay tuned, cadets.

i'm so nasty...

so last night a couple tall cans of Steel Reserve led me to finish up the first in a series of mixes made with some of my favorite low quality vinyl rips. to keep it nice and NASTY! i've made sure to throw in a smattering of fuck-ups and horribly ridiculous voice overs. with that said get to the listening.

MDY - Nasty V.1

introduction/assassination.

we're pleased to introduce our man, Dameian - known-in-the-night as Standing 8. i'm not gonna go on and on about how great a dj he is, or how he's a real down-ass-dude, or how, if i was having some babies right now, he'd be on my short list of godfathers... instead i'm gonna just copy/paste the encyclopedia entry he wrote about this track, and let you enjoy the aural delight that follows. expect more choice cuts from him from this point forward:


it’s pretty safe to say that the track listing for the sub-genre of "Dance Songs about Boxers" is pretty damn short, at best. so to lay claim as the band to hold the undisputed belt of best dancefloor burners about brawlers, should be an obtainable and realistic goal for any of the bands on said list, and with this, it looks like The Sunburst Band are standing with their arms raised with this cut, about then-world champion Larry Holmes, hoisted proudly on their shoulders. currently the only contenders for this title that come to mind are the UBB approved Experience Unlimited with their certifiable break, “Knock Him Out Sugar Ray”, “Mama Said Knock You Out” and maybe something from the Roy Jones Jr’s rap album (yeah, shelve that somewhere between K.O.B.E. and your DVD of Kazaam). Dillon’s “Hurricane” or Zevon’s “Boom Boom Mancini” really don’t count as “dance floor heat” so they get a gracious omit.

found this 12’ single (research has turned up a 7’ version too) in a box of records sitting on the front lawn of a garage sale on the north side of Indianapolis, near the Children’s Museum. at the time, the cover didn’t really pop at me but the fact that Larry Holmes’ autograph was front and center sparked curiosity and thus, was copped - along with the rest of the box that contained jazz treats from Pablo and various other nondescript local market proto-disco 12’s.

couldn’t really find much about the history of this band but i’ve often speculated that the song was financed by Larry Holmes himself in order to have some nice intro music to win the crowd over on his way to the ring. but what do i know? the guy was World Champ from ’78 to ’85 with a professional record of 69-6 (44 KO’s) and he forced the retirement of famed sport commentator Howard Cosell due to disgust after he beat the ever-loving shit out of actor Randal “Tex” Cobb (the bad guy from Raising Arizona and The Golden Child) for 12 rounds in what’s been widely called “The Most One-Sided Heavyweight Title Fight In History”.

this shit is pure heat. with a taste of DC Go-Go slap Bass and Congo breaks that go on for-fucking-ever, this track is certifiable just off the strength of the 6 minute instrumental b-side alone. but low and behold, the a-side kills it with the early disco rap style that you hear (complete with backup singers on the hook and a 2 minute instrumental intro for the nice-nice mix) and pays tribute to more widely known and slightly earlier artists of the same genre, ala Kurtis Blow, Love Bug Starski or The Treacherous Three. (Doe, you’re sleeping on the vocal).

enjoy.
- St8

The Sunburst Band - The Easton Assassin

i should be packing.

i leave for Vegas tomorrow immediately after work, for one of those breakneck weekends that i seem to always organize for myself.

it includes this, which i'm pretty excited about:



come hang out and get awesome with me. i think i'll be opening and closing the night, with plenty of time for dancing, drinking and debauchery in between.

for a run-down of the rest of my weekend plans, indulge my ego here. i'm going to be blogging stuff there that doesn't belong here, so if you just can't get enough of my blather here, you know where else to be...

more news: we'll soon be welcoming a new guest contributor to the Monorail. you're gonna wanna stick around for this guy. he's got a lot of love to give, so keep your ears open and your heart free.

over & out.