I had the privilege of rocking the Ballroom from 3.00 until 4am at the end of a glorious Saturday night lineup at this years Boomtown Fair. I had the closing set and so I took the opportunity to rock out harder and heavier than normal, less swing and more ghetto funk, soul & funk remixes, and drum & bass was the order of the day. Big shout out to Bass6 for incredible beatboxing & introduction and to Mike from Dutty Moonshine for serious crowd hype at the end. Much fun!

Tracklist:

Jukebox Champions – Celebrate
Sammy Senior – Goin’ Crazy
Father Funk & Howla – Got Swing
Dutty Moonshine – InTuYa
Illectrix – IDYMLN
McMash Clan – Swing Break (Opiuo Remix)
Toots & Maytals – Hard To Handle (Stickybuds Remix)
Sam & Dave – Hold On I’m Coming (Phat Tony Ghetto Funk Remix)
Etta James – Tell Mama (Copycat’s Remix)
James Brown – Get Up Off That Thing (Featurecast Edit)
Francis Red – Le Mozeltov (The Motherland Funk)
Swing Bot feat MSP – Saz Me Up (Johnny Lectro Remix)
Dutty Moonshine – Rum Runners
Slamboree – Zorba The Greek
Skeewiff Vs Wilson Picket – Land Of 1000 Dances (I Got Soul Re-wiff)
DJ Dunya – Rock a Beat
Slamboree – Prokofiev
Slamboree – Big Bada Boomtown (loop)

DJR @ Boomtown Festival 2014

Hello! First up, I’ve got to give some apologies. I’ve been trying to get this roundup into a regular pattern however outside work pressures have been making it hard (I’ve been juggling launching a new vintage DJ business (Vintage Wedding DJ if you’re interested) with holding down a normal job and gigging at the same time and it’s all got a bit hard to manage. As such for the next few months I’m going to do each Electro Swing Roundup on the first of every month so that everyone knows exactly when to expect it.

Right plenty to catch up on so let’s get into it!

Swingamajig 2014 It’s only a few days to Swingamajig and there’s a really good buzz about the festival going on. I know that it’s almost sold out and once again there will be the cream of the electro swing scene meeting up in Birmingham. If you come down make sure you say hi – look for me on the main stage between all the headliners. To get you in the mood check out The C@ In The H@’s rather smashing mixtape:

Free Music Top of the class goes to this deep disco groover from The Swing Bot and Johnny Lectro:

Here’s the first of two remixes messing with Parov Stelar. First up the Swing Bot again:

And Phibes adding some definite glitch n bass:

Pugzilla is celebrating getting an impressive 75000 plays on soundcloud by this unusual swinger:

Butler Reeves has been nicely retouching this vintage swing original:

This has a nice swing feel mixed with a 60′s style sample which grooves rather nicely:

This may split a few people when it drops, but I have to say that the build always puts a massive smile on my face. I might wait until after midnight at Swingamajig and see if it’s the right time to drop it in.

FOR THE REST OF THIS POST CLICK READ MORE!!!

I rather like Tomahawks excursions into the 50′s style sound and this one works well:

In preparation for their new album (see below) Kitten & the Hip have been remixed than none other than Bart and Baker for this lighthearted dittie:

I nearly forgot to put this in. Lucky escape because this is another strong remix from JPOD.

Mr Manifold has been adding world flavours to the Quantic Soul Orchestras classic Pushin On:

And Jamie Berry bringing the wobble to the Puppini Sisters vintage take on Kate Bush:

Mista Trick seems to be doing some interesting things with that classic mix of vintage samples and bass.

New Releases Big news of the week is that Dutty Moonshine have finally got their LP ready to go, it’s not released quite yet…. so I’ll review it next month but suffice to say it’s sounding hot and contains lots of bass.

Molotov Jukebox – Carnival Flower Here’s a band who seem to be gaining lots of momentum at the moment. They’ve got a new album out and lots of festival appearances lined up. Definitely one to watch. Get the album from Amazon.

Parov Stelar – Clap Your Hands EP It’s always big news when Parov Stelar releases something new. Here’s the preview for their next EP which is out on May 9th:

Scoured Cream – Vol.4 Spinforth seems to have been guiding his Scoured Cream releases ever more in the swing direction and there’s a number of strong tracks on this release which slide beteen the ghetto funk and swing scenes. In particular check out the Minoru track and Father Funk / Howla track.

Kitten & The Hip – Hello Kitten Kitten & the Hip also seem to be gathering momentum at the moment (I heard their Shut Up & Dance track soundtracking a TV advert yesterday) and so it’s good timing for their debut album to be released. Mixing Ashley Slaters skills on production (remember Freak Power?) with the Kittens vocal and stage presence seems to be working well and this album is a good mix of swing, dance and pop.

Howla – Jivin’ Howla has a new version of Jivin available from his bandcamp in high quality for only £1.10.

ShazaLaKazoo – Monobrow If you like the balkan sound then dive on into the new ShazaLaKazoo album – loads of good things going on here! Available from itunes.

Foxy Cheex – Lick The Spoon Cheeky video of the month goes to Jem Stone who has reinvented himself in kinky cartoon form – definitely worth a watch! Track available from Juno.

Mundial Beats If you like your balkan and world flavours then you should check out the new compilation on Bombastic Jam. There’s loads of good stuff on here, although a few I’ve seen before. It’s available from Juno and here’s the balkan jam that made my ears prick up:

Gypsy Hill – Bekin Cocek (Agreement Mix) And another phat balkan throwdown from Gypsy Hill. On Juno from 30 April.

Fresh Dixie Project – Ipso Facto Remixes Ragtime Records seem to be busy at the moment and they’ve come through with a 4 track EP remixing their new signing Fresh Dixie Project. Personally I’d head straight for the C@ In The H@’s remix of Flowers & Cigarettes.

Sound Nomaden – Warm Lights EP If you like the chilled end of house with just a hint of the swing feel check out this slick EP of gentle groovers:

DJ Mixes I’m getting excited about this years Boomtown which has an absolutely killer lineup of swing acts. To get you in the mood the Big Swing Soundsystem have put together a mix of some of the live acts and DJ’s. Here’s the tracklist – check it!

Kid Kasino feat. Shea Soul – Mink Schmink
Formidable Vegetable Sound System – Yield
Jamie Berry Feat Rosie Harte – Peeping Tom
Smokey Joe & The Kid – Schön
The Chicken Brothers – The Big Apple Turnover
C@ in the H@ – Sneaky Bizniz
Dutty Moonshine & JFB – Move Ya
AlgoRythmiK – Muppet Chaud
Fresh Dixie Project – Pay My Way
Gabby Young & Other Animals – In Your Head
The Electric Swing Circus – Penniless Optimnist
Tape Five – The Flappers Delight
Klischée – Tin Tin
Hypeman Sage – SwingTing
Cab Calloway – Minnie The Moocher (Castro Remix)
[dunkelbunt] – Cinnamon Girl

DJ Sensible has been in touch. He does a radio show every week on Casafonda Radio and seems to enjoy mashing up all sorts of things from swing to folk, blues and funk. It’s quite a ride:

Last up is this balkan flavoured mix from Clan Dextine:

That’s it. See you in a month! If you’ve got anything you’d like included in future roundups hit me up on soundcloud.

Electro Swing Roundup – May 2014