Todays first track is by Buffalo Bunch. It was released on Guy of Daft Punk’s record label, Crydamoure. That is reason alone to get it, but also, its a damn good record. Probably not a peak time track, but its very nice.

Buffalo Bunch – Music Box

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Finishing up today with some NYC House by none other than Armand Van Helden. This is a remix of the Kim English classic Nite Life. Great tune, even for modern times. I was reading Youtube comments for this track and apparently, it was sped up when played out, specifically +8 on the ol’ wheels of steel.

Kim English – Nite Life (Armand Van Helden Retail Mix)

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See you next time!

-Mercurius FM

Buffalo Bunch @ Discogs
Kim English @ MySpace / Armand Van Helden @ MySpace

Going way back today with these tracks.

First up is Armand Van Helden’s remix of Da Funk, which was released in 1995. Daft Punk also used bits of this remix for their live show back then. I think its pretty cool that Daft Punk seeked out remixes by their favorite producers and basically helped them become more known. Cool things happening in this very extended mix.

Daft Punk – Da Funk (Armand Van Helden’s “Ten Minutes of Funk” Mix)

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Next up is an even older classic by the Jungle Brothers circa 1988. This is a track that sampled other tracks of the time such as Todd Terry’s Can You Party which samples Move your Body by Marshall Jefferson and Can You Feel It by Mr Fingers aka Larry Heard and more… Funny how its all interconnected, but this track brings to it new vocals. Nice party tune.

Jungle Brothers – I’ll House you

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Till next time!

-Mercurius FM

Daft Punk @ MySpace / Armand Van Helden @ MySpace / Jungle Brothers @ Discogs

Hitting you with some filtery goodness today.

Our first track is a cut from the Crydamoure label by Raw Man. It features a cut up rap sample over a very funky baseline. Nice builds and drops in this one.

Raw Man – Lovers

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The next is track is by Armand Van Helden, now of Duck Sauce fame. This track was made in the late 90s right when this sound was new and fresh. So its fair to say that without Armand Van Helden and a few other pioneering cats, these type of tracks wouldn’t be quite as popular as they are now.

Armand Van Helden Feat. Duane Harden – U Don’t Know Me

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See U next time!

-Mercurius FM

Raw Man @ MySpace / Armand Van Helden @ MySpace

Hope everyone had a great Halloween weekend. Lets get November started with some great jams.

Our first track today is by the prolific, NYC based, Armand Van Helden. It’s off an old release of his called “Old School Junkies” in 1995. Interestingly, the album is technically by Old School Junkies, but in actuality, he made all the songs under that alias. This song is true to Armand Van Helden’s style in that its not just another House track; you’ll notice it actually uses a B-more beat in full effect.

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Here is an old favorite of mine by Raw Man which he released on his own label, We Rock Music. Some of you may know he was part of the Buffalo Bunch and is now doing some rock production and random electronic production. He put out several quality dance tunes on Crydamoure as Buffalo Bunch and on his own on We Rock Music. Definitely worth listening to.

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Till next time!

-Mercurius FM

Armand Van Helden @ MySpace / Raw Man @ MySpace

A nice treat from House master Armand Van Helden. This was a moderately successful anthem he made which was dwarfed by its brother anthem, My My My. I preferred this one and in fact, I’ve decided I’ll be making an edit of it soon to get it back in play.

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Next up is a new face for my post… Cosmo Vitelli. Some of you may know him from Daft Punk’s Daft Club compilation or perhaps from his 2003 studio album Clean. He’s a producer and songwriter who showcases the classy Parisian synth House sound stunningly. This remix is of fellow Parisian House masters Cassius and takes the song in a completely new and sexy direction. I love this one so much.

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Have a good week. Till next time.

-Mercurius FM

Armand Van Helden @ MySpace / Cosmo Vitelli @ MySpace / Cassius @ MySpace

Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving (Thats a month late for you Canadians, sorry). For this post, I’d like to bring in some more House with a hip hop twist. Since dance tracks with rap on them is taking over the radio, lets take a look at a couple of the steps it took to get there. Let me first say that this was a huge pain in the ass to choose just 2 tracks to showcase.

So, first off, no one better to mention than Armand Van Helden, New York City based House music pioneer and one of the creators (if not the creator) of speed garage. He’s dabbled in practically everything and fused it with House music and this track is titled perfectly for this post. He also expanded this concept into a much more fleshed out and highly recommended album.

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Next up, French House favorites, Cassius with their contribution to the House/tech/rap sound. This track features Ghostface Killah, who later went on to release a dance remix EP and a track that I playlist, “Word Up” with my friends MSTRKRFT. The synths are particularly noteworthy.

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Have fun,

MERCURIUS FM

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Armand Van Helden @ MySpace / Cassius @ MySpace

Da Mongoloids @ Discogs / Ghostface Killah @ MySpace