Andy Blake (Dissident): Top Ten Records of 2008

We asked Dissident Records head honcho Andy Blake to put together his top ten records of 2008 and this is what he sent us. A great read and an indication of what to expect at his appearance at NM on Friday 27th February.


I've always bought loads of old records and played them in my sets amongst newer releases and thought that the best of the older pieces sounded easily as good (and in many cases far better) than their modern counterparts. With the world obsessed with disco, italo and
afro-cosmic it seemed like now (back then) was as a good a time as any to give it a go.

So far it's been a roaring success. All through 2008 after I finished my sets I was often approached by people wanting to know where I got all my edits and pumped-up new versions of these old tunes from. Most of whom were totally taken aback when I told them that every single record they had just heard me play was an original copy from 20-30 years ago and hadn't been tampered with in any way. Some of them took a hell of a lot of convincing that all I had done was play originals and blend and cut them together one after the other. I think that this is true testament to the fact that, when used correctly, the word timeless means just that.

So, in no particular order, these are 10 of my biggest tunes from 2008.

The Sweet - Funk It Up. An extended disco mix of a late era tune from the glam-rock superstars that's only available on the extremely rare Canadian 12". Don't go wasting your hard-earned on the marginally less rare American pressing which just contains the 7" version.
Xr7 - Xr7 Forget about the "as played by Baldelli" instrumental and the silly sped up edits kicking around, its all about the vocal version. A slamming funky frat-boy party tune and as dumb as a very dumb dog covered in cake.
Mass Production - People Get Up. A lairy, brassy disco stormer that just screams at you to dance; '…people get up, stomp your feet, let's get down…' And who are we to argue?!
Craig Leon - Nommos. The entire LP is a work of abstract electronic genius from the guy who produced the first Ramones LP. The gaff's finally been blown on this record now due to inclusion of a track on the recent Typhoon comp so it no doubt costs a small fortune these days if you can track one down.
Radio Band - Radio Rap. My heart sank when i saw this was on the Moonboots and Mike originals comp as it had been a secret weapon of mine for a few years. Oh well, what can you do? Its a free world and all that. Before i managed to find one, i was so obsessed about finding a copy of this very rare 12 that i actually had an extremely (or should that be worryingly?) vivid dream that i had found it at a boot sale and was utterly mortified when i woke up and realised i didn't have a copy yet! I finally found a mint one for £5 on the same day that one of the big European dealers sold one for over £300 on Gemm. There's still some chancer with a copy on Gemm for $2300 if anybody fancies one :-)
Photon Inc - Generate Power (Wild Pitch Mix). Available everywhere for the price of about one and a half bags of crisps. An un-fucking-believable record. Blew my head off back when it came out and Rampling used to rock two copies for about 20 minutes and it still blows my head clean off today. People come rushing up to me to ask what it is every time i play it and i still can't quite believe that everyone doesn't know it already. Apparently this means that i'm getting old.
Azoto - Anytime Or Place. Celso Valli is a genius and this could well be his finest moment. I played this in the Rizla arena at the Big Chill coming out of The Eurythmics' “Sweet Dreams” and i swear an already deliriously happy dancing crowd lifted 3 feet off the floor in a moment of transcendental dancefloor ecstacy. A truly sublime piece of disco gold.
Tony Orlando - Don't Let Go. Another one that has been doing the rounds in an edited version and smashing the place right up. The Disco Deviance instrumental edit is very, very good indeed but you really need the real deal vocal version for the full story of how truly great this record is. 'Blow that whistle its ten o'clock, come on baby it's time to rock'. You tell ‘em Tony. Sounds especially ace when played in the rain at the aformentioned Big Chill with everyone dressed in blue Rizla shower-proof poncho thingies that made the dancefloor look like it was full of wet Smurfs.
Gepy and Gepy - Body To Body. Danny Wang played this at a party in London and was waving the sleeve around like a very jolly madman. I duly made a mental note and bought a couple of copies of the 12 for peanuts as soon as i got home. Since then it's been virtually impossible to get a copy for the right side of £40 and it looks like getting ever more expensive as more people cotton on to this piece of sweet and lush, sleazy soft-porn disco sung by a hairy, overfed gangster-looking dude. Check the sleeve, this guy sure knows what side his bread is buttered.
Westbam - Hold Me Back. An eternal favourite of mine that figured heavily in my sets last year. I played it at Disco Bloodbath last May where it tore the roof off. A few months later a guy came up to me at Horse Meat Disco thanking me for playing it that night as up until then he had only ever heard it in the near-legendary Ibiza documentary from 1990. He was absolutely blown away as this tune he had only seen on the TV finally came to life for him on a dancefloor. Is it possible for me to say that it's moments like that that make me love being a DJ so much without sounding like a corny twat? Probably not but it's the absolute truth your honour.

You can check out Andy’s brilliant mix for 'Beats in Space' mix here:

http://www.beatsinspace.net/main.html