Archive for the yaz tag

Miss Kittin: On The Way To San Jose

It's from last year, but this mix deserves a post. Recorded for Death Disco Radio, the megatalented French musician and DJ Miss Kittin (of Miss Kittin and The Hacker fame) reaches back to her roots with this perfectly executed freestyle-heavy retro mix. Yes, Miss Kittin doing freestyle. I'm not even much of a fan of the genre, but I love this mix. You have to hear it. She drops some Ebn-Ozn, Yaz, Anne Clark, New Order, and Exposé in here, if that gives you an idea.

Available (for free!) on the Death Disco Radio Podcast or on Podfeed, for the less iTunes-inclined. Also check out the other mixes and live recordings; they're quite good as well and include a stellar list of djs and producers.
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The Assembly: Never Never

If you are into New Wave in any way, shape or form, chances are the name Vince Clarke is very familiar to you. You knew him on Depeche Mode's Speak & Spell. You knew him from two Yaz (or Yazoo) records. You certainly knew him as a partner in crime for Andy Bell in Erasure. But did you know him in the Assembly?

The Assembly were a short-lived project started by Clarke with producer Eric Radcliffe, following closely after the split of Yaz in 1983. Their original idea was to have a new singer on every track but only ended up releasing one single entitled "Never Never." The singer chosen for the track was Feargal Sharkey of the Undertones - quite a departure from the sound of that band and an unlikely match for Clarke, but somehow it worked. The result was a little piece of magic which still remains a perfect (synth)pop song, similar to that of Yaz's "Only You."

"It never happens to me, maybe that's the way my life was meant to be..." Now, what new waver can't relate to that?!