Carly Simon – Why (extended)

This was sampled by A Tribe Called Quest for Bonita Applebum. . Of course, hearing Q-tip over ANYTHING is great. So good for them. But thank goodness I discovered the original before I learned about the sample.

This is an odd song. it was on a soundtrack to a movie I never saw. It is very slow. It is by a singer who I don’t really care about. BUT…It was produced and played by the guys from Chic. And it just sounds massive. The bass is…just…wow.

It’s a balearic classic, I have it on several mixtapes I play in my car in the summer, or whenever the sun shines. And I always play it when I dj.

Ramsey Lewis featuring Earth, Wind & Fire – Sun Goddess

It’s raining in Holland, I was on the subject of sunshine and found this slowjam again.

After his classic acoustic albums in the 1960s, Ramsey Lewis wanted to head in a new musical direction in the 1970s. As the mid-70s approached, he reunited with Maurice White, who at that time was with his own band, Earth, Wind & Fire. Members of EW&F including White played on the album sessions, while Philip Bailey added vocals.

The album became a huge crossover hit, charting at #1 on the Billboard Black Albums chart, as well as the Jazz album chart.

Sun Goddess is a great slow motion sunshine song.

Ryan Paris – Dolce Vita (Extended Instrumental)

An absolute italo-classic from 1983. The song is very well known and was number one in Spain, Holland and Belgium.

The vocal version is a bit corny with stupid lyrics and a horrible chorus, but the instrumental B-side is an absolute HAMMER of dazzling synths, awesome bassline, spacious effects and mechanized handclap-drums.

Drop this version as a surprise-bomb in your DJ-set and they will scream, smile and dance their socks off.

Aphrodite’s Child – Aegean Sea

This is from the album 666, the 1972 double-vinyl monster that would break up this Greek band. Vangelis was working with different singers, Demis Roussos was doing solo work and the album was a huge departure from their earlier work. Much more progressive rock, weird lyrics, thematic and less approachable. It was almost entiely the work of Vangelis and the rest of the band did not like it, they wanted to play pop.

Aegean Sea is a slow motion, dreamy, cosmic rock-track, with weird lyrics and some great spacey guitar solos. It has a perfect late afternoon, sunny feeling.