Tonight, Giraffe Boogie returns. As usual, we’ll be taking over Start The Bus (Baldwin Street, Bristol) for a night of quality underground disco, boogie, electrofunk, Italo, synth jams, proper house and random reworks. This month’s guest is legendary Bristol DJ/radio host DELI G.
We’re rather looking forward to tonight, as we’ve got a box of custom-made BEDMO DISCO VISORS (those colourful sun visors that used to be popular in the 1980s) to give away. And, of course, the music will be ace – Deli is a top DJ.
For the uninitiated, Deli G is an award-winning radio host, best known for his show The Touch which ran on Galaxy 97.2FM in Bristol for well over 15 years from 1991 onwards. During that time, he showcased the best in black American dance music, and became firm friends with many of New York, San Francisco and Chicago’s leading DJs and producers.
During the 1990s and 2000s Deli was a regular face on the Bristol club scene, where he was an integral part of the successful Roasted night alongside friend Ben Daley. He’s also DJ’d internationally and was a regular face at the Southport Weekender for many years.
Deli originally started DJing in the early 1980s, and his record collection is famous for its depth and variety, offering a unique overview of shifts and changes in black American dance music from the 1970s to the present day. Although famed for playing quality house and US garage, he owns a formidable collection of original disco, boogie and electrofunk records – including a large amount of test pressings, acetates and one-off promo records that were never released.
A firm friend of the Bedmo Disco family and an enthusiastic supporter of recent releases, he’ll be showcasing his disco and electrofunk collection at GIRAFFE BOOGIE on a rare headline appearance in his hometown. If you want to get a taste of his skills, he now also hosts a weekly show on Bristol-based community station BCFM. Anyone who listened to his show back in the day will tell you that it should be appointment listening.
In support, as always, will be the Bedmo Disco trio – Awon, Five-Stylez and Sell By Dave.
So, come down and party hard with us. For the record, the party begins at 10pm. £2 to get in – cheap as chips!
For the latest instalment of our ongoing BedmoCast mix series, we’re delighted to welcome Brooklyn producer AARON DAE into the fold. His mix, a delightfully fluid journey through starry deep house, disco-house and touchy-feely nu boogie, is sure to warm more than a few icy fingers and toes this autumn.We think it’s ace, and well worthy of your attention.
For the uninitiated, Aaron is a New York based DJ, producer and label owner. Alongside close friend J KRIV, he runs sneaky re-edit imprint Razor ‘N’ Tape. He’s also part of the rapidly expanding Deep & Disco family. He’s an excellent DJ with fine taste, as you’ll hear when you give BedmoCast 09 a listen.
Speaking of which, you can listen/download (alt+click on a Mac, something similar but different on a PC) to BEDMOCAST 09 here: BedmoCast 09_ AARON DAE
The tracklist for the mix is below. You’ll notice that it finishes with Only Children’s brilliant re-edit of “Falling In Love” by Surface, one of our favourite re-cuts of recent times. It dropped last week on Razor N Tape. It’s the label’s first digital-only outing and is currently being offered as an exclusive at Beaport. Buy it - it’s a wicked little EP.
BedmoCast 09: AARON DAE
1. Ron Basejam – Get Closer – Redux
2. Heion – It Can Be – ISM Records
3. Nicholas – Wind City – Amplified
4. Duff Disco – Return Of The Duff – Duff Disco
5. Rayko – After The After (Rayko After Edit) – Rare Wiri
6. The Glue – Our Love Is An Edit – Unreleased
7. Session Victim – Time To Let You Down (Original Mix) – Delsuions of Grandeur
We’ve got a rather special treat for the latest edition in our BedmoCast mix series – it’s only a live recording of CHRIS DUCKENFIELD’s set at Saturday night’s GIRAFFE BOOGIE party at Start The Bus!
Chris very kindly let us record his set, so we could capture some of the fun, excitement and downright debauchery of the party. We’ve been banging on about what a great DJ Chris is, especially when joining the dots between disco, boogie, house, funk and soul, and we reckon this recording captures that perfectly. Every time we listen, it brings back some hazy memories of the party and the characters that made it so special. Given that most of us were quite drunk, that’s no mean feat.
It’s not quite his whole set – sadly, for various reasons we only captured 1 hour 45 minutes of the two hours plus he played for – but it’s almost a complete record of a memorable set. You can listen and download on the Soundcloud player below.
While we remember, many thanks to all those who made it down and danced hard. Special shout outs to Deli G – local Bristol legend – who came and hung out with us and Chris, and of course Chris himself. As ever, he was a perfect gent and well and truly got the party started. Sell By Dave is still recovering from the shame of clearing the dancefloor (with a stone cold electrofunk classic, no less) before Chris came on. Ooops. There’s more pics of Chris in action from the night below.
This Saturday (October 13) sees the return of our semi-regular Giraffe Boogie party to Start The Bus in Bristol. It’s a very special instalment, because this time we’ll be joined by one of our favourite DJs, Sheffield selector Chris Duckenfield.
Chris has been a longtime friend of the family, and has made numerous appearances at various Bedmo Disco-related parties over the years. Many moons ago (2005, in fact), he played at the opening of Tricky Disco, a night run by our own Sell By Dave and Nick Harris (NRK Music). In the years that followed, he made three appearances at best before:, including two particularly memorable bashes in a tiny boozer called The Bank. Each time, Chris got the party started in magnificent style, joining the dots between deep house, tech-house, disco, boogie, broken beat, techno and more besides. In our humble opinion, there are few better party-starters out there.
For the uninitiated, Chris has a long and distinguished history and dance music. As a youngster, he was a key part of the Sheffield house scene. He worked behind the counter at the legendary Warp Records shop on Division Street. He was also part of genre-bending Warp-signed techno combo RAC, alongside pal and longtime production partner Richard Brown. The duo went on to enjoy a long career as SWAG, where they almost single-handedly invented tech-house and later put the swing back into house music with various releases on their own Odori, Primitive and Version labels.
Chris has history in the disco/boogie edits scene, too, being the man behind the superb Popular People’s Front series of sneaky 12″ singles. PPF seems to be on hiatus these days, while Chris concentrates his efforts on running All Ears Distribution. Although his production work has taken a backseat recently – no doubt due to the demands of parenthood and running All Ears with old Toko pal Alec Greenhough – he continues to DJ around the world. He’s a regular at the brilliant Electric Elephant festival in Croatia (held at the same site as Soundwave) and runs a fantastic bash in London called The Idiots are Winning.
Should you be unaware of his ace party-starting DJ skills, check out the two mixes below. One was recorded live on the Idiots are Winning boat party at Electric Elephant. The other is a recent homemade effort. Both are, of course, ace.
Support at the party comes from Bedmo Disco’s own trio of necksnapping idiots – Awon, Five-Stylez and Sell By Dave. Entrance is a couple of quid, and the party starts at 10pm.
Yesterday, Sell By Dave took care of Bedmo Disco Radio duties on Passion Radio Bristol. You can listen to the show (and download, if you so wish), via the Soundcloud player below. Enjoy.
It’s that time of the month again. Tonight (Friday 5th October), Bedmo Disco will be taking over the main room at Big Chill Bristol. From 9pm, Five-Stylez will be mixing it up in his own inimitable way, before Sell By Dave takes over a bit later for three hours of disco, electrofunk and house jams. If you’re lucky, Awon may also swing by to drop a few jams “back to Back” with Sell By.
Either way, it’s going to be mucho fun… good music, good people, good times. Free early doors, £2 later on (possibly, we’re not sure what their charging policy is these days).
Big Chill Bristol is on Small Street, off Corn Street, in Bristol city centre. But you knew that already.
Sometimes, when you’re promoting a certain sound in “alien territory”, it can be frustrating. However many emails, tweets or Facebook messages you get from people around the world saying nice things, there’s always something better when people in your home city “get it”. Slowly, Bristol seems to be getting electrofunk and boogie – and it’s a great thing for us here at Bedmo Disco HQ.
Exhibit 1: the fantastic new single on Gutterfunk from Sure Thing, a collaboration between a trio of Bristol producers bettter known for their endeavours in other genres. All, though, have deep record collections featuring some some serious boogie and electrofunk jams. Heading it all up is DJ Die, a bass music (and specifically drum and bass) legend who has been playing electrofunk and boogie for years, most recently as part of Laminate Radio, his collaboration with DJ/producer Gus Pirelli. Then there’s Christophe, Futreboogie Recordings regular and one-time resident at our Tricky Disco night and Futureboogie regular known for his digging skills and deep record collection. Chris has always been into boogie; some of his sets at Tricky Disco used to consist almost entirely of old boogie dubs and obscure disco jams. The third member of the Sure Thing trio is Joker, world renowned basshead whose “purple” genre almost single-handed put the synth-funk back into bass music.
“Holding You Tight”, the first Sure Thing single, is superb – a fantastic chunk of dayglo, synth-heavy boogie-funk that sounds like it could have been made in 1983. We like. A lot. The video, too, is excellent. Incidentally, it was made by a good mate of ours.
The Sure Thing record is going to be big, and rightly so. Critically, its cast list should ensure that more Bristolians, those who maybe pay little attention to the homegrown electrofunk/boogie/disco scene, will stand up and pay attention. As for those outside of the City, it will prove that there’s more going on in our fair city than just bass music, shiny deep house and stoned dub techno. Bristol has boogie – and it has done for a while.
There are plenty of boogie and disco heads in Bristol, it’s just that they’re not necessarily that well known. Southport Weekender regulars will know Deli G, something of a local legend who for years presented a shit-hot show dedicated to US garage and soulful house. His first love was boogie, disco and what would now be called “proto house”. Then there’s Mike Shawe, the man behind the “Hot Buttered Soul” nights. Alongside Bedmo Disco Records own Jimmy The Twin, Mike hosts nights dedicated to the best in obscure boogie, soul, disco, funk and rare groove. He used to run a record shop that specialized in tech-house, but that was years ago now. Speaking of record shop staff, Russell Deane of PK Music, a second hand store on Gloucester Road, is also a mine of boogie information and a great selector to boot.
There’s also the Falling Up crew, whose members Jay-L, Andy Mac and Type-Sun join the dots between electrofunk/boogie and hip-hop, soul, deep house, jazz, Detroit techno and various styles of bass music. Their sets always have soul in abundance. The same could be said of The Kelly Twins. Although perhaps best known these days as residents for the bass-inclined Crazylegs, R&B-style So Bones and house/techno stable Idle Hands, Sean and Dan Kelly have always played tons of boogie, ’80s electro, electrofunk and slow jams.
The list goes on. Check out sets by Feel The Real Soundsystem, Andy Clarkson, Vast and Bulbous, Crids (whose Soulworks night is worth a look), Legendary Tone, Futureboogie (perhaps better known for house these days but never shy of dropping disco and boogie bombs at the right time), Magic Gary (promoter and resident at the ace Turbodisco night), the Wise Guise (check out a dope mix here) and the Ghettospheric crew, and you’ll hear plenty of boogie and electrofunk. The latter now reside in London, but for years almost single-handedly kept the boogie and slow jam flame alive in Bristol.
Finally, there’s us: Bedmo Disco. All of our extended family, from Awon and Nu-Balance to founders Five-Stylez and Sell By Dave, are confirmed boogie, electrofunk and disco nerds. It’s why we founded Bedmo Disco Records in the first place – to showcase these sounds, and prove that there’s more to Bristol than house and bass music. We’ll continue to do that, so when you think of Bristol and boogie or disco, don’t forget to check us out. Speaking of which, if you need more Bristol boogie goodness to brighten your day, check Awon’s Startime below, or check out his BedmoCast mix
If we’ve forgotten anybody, many apologies. Hopefully this gives a flavour of what’s happening, and confirms what we’ve always aid: when it comes to disco, electrofunk and boogie, our fair city has its share of heads.There is still, though, only one label purely dedicated to the sound. Maybe in years to come, that will change – it would be nice if that happened.
Boogie down Bristol: there’s more to life than wobble bass. There’s synth bass, after all.
This weekend the Bedmo Disco crew will be out in full force, spinning records all over Bristol. We’ll be at Big Chill Bristol, BrisFest, the BrisFest afterparty and Dojo’s. On Saturday alone you can catch us spinning three times in one day, should you so wish!
Here are the details in full…
FRIDAY 21st SEPTEMBER – THE BIG CHILL BRISTOL (21.00-03.00)
Awon will be manning the decks, warming up for local reggae Grandad DJ Derek, from 9pm. He’ll also be playing the last hour, too, dropping party bombs.
Disco and boogie vibes at BrisFest, as we join the always amusing Shambarber and Jazzification crews (both specialists in glittery facial decoration) for an early afternoon set. BrisFest is turning into an institution, and now it’s back at Ashton Court – scene of many legendary Bristol community festivals over the years (and, for the record, a regular haunt of the newly golf-loving Awon). Expect the full crew, with Awon, Five-Stylez and Sell By Dave doing battle to see who can play the best dusty old gems and next level jams.
BRISFEST GALA AFTER PARTY @ ASHTON COURT MANSION (UNITY ROOM, 22.00-23.00)
As the festival begins to wind down for the day, we’ll be making a quick appearance in the Unity room at the official BrisFest afterparty, with all three Bedmo Disco nerds getting the party started. Should be fun, this one. For the record, the Alfresco Disco boys are hosting one of the other rooms.
TURBODISCO @ DOJO (12.30-06.00)
We’re really looking forward to our final set of the day, an extended disco and boogie rinse-out at Dojo, scene of many legendary UFO parties over the years (and more besides). We’ve heard a lot of good things about Turbodisco, and particularly their crowd, who apparently go nuts for quality disco and boogie. As you can see from the flyer, Awon and Bedmo Disco will be going back to back, dropping bombs and generally keeping it upbeat and groovy. Expect a few camp screamers, Patrick Adams productions and the odd exclusive from our vaults.
So, do join us for a bit of a hoe-down… it should be fun. Oh, and keep 13th October free… we’ve got another Giraffe Boogie bash at Start The Bus, featuring a VERY special guest. Keep ‘em peeled for details…
As ever, we appreciate your support. If you like our releases, let the world know – either via social media, blogs or just by playing them loud in sweaty basements to groups of gurning disco freaks.
Last night Bedmo Disco were guests on BCFM’s “Fourth Floor” show, a weekly two-hour dispatch about underground club culture in Bristol. Presenter Paul Conroy grilled Awon, Five Stylez and Sell By Dave on the label, our music and the true meaning of Bedmo Disco. We also contributed two 20-minute minimixes (one each from Awon and Sell By Dave) packed with unreleased nuggets and forthcoming jams. As if that wasn’t enough, Paul also played tunes that have influenced us and that made us the grinchy, beardy types we are today.
The show is in two parts; the first part features a minimix from Awon and some mic chat, the second a minimix from Sell By Dave and even more mic chat. Oh, and Awon’s thoughts on Girls Aloud.
For the record, the tracklists for the minimixes are below…
Minimix 1 (mixed by AWON)
AWON – JOY AND PAIN
AWON – NO RETURN
AWON & FIVE-STYLEZ – COOKIES
AWON – BRING YOUR SWEET LOVIN’ BACK
FUNK DELUXE – THIS TIME [AWON RE-EDIT]
BEDMO DISCO – ILLUSION
Minimix 2 (mixed by SELL BY DAVE)
FIVE-STYLEZ – FREAK
BEDMO DISCO – I WANT YOUR DUB BACK [BEDMO DISCO DUB]
AWON – STARTIME
ROCCO RAIMUNDO – TURNS ME ON [BEDMO DISCO DUB]
BEDMO DISCO – ANYWAY YOU WANNA [FIVE-STYLEZ EDIT]
COSMIC BOOGIE – CALLING LENNY [BEDMO DISCO DUB]
THE STRIKERS – INCH PERFECT [FLX ONE EDIT – BEDMO DISCO DUB]
