compiled by mark seven
A digger extraordinaire I’ll start off with a slight diversion. When setting up my label Internasjonal a couple of years ago, one of my ideas was to eventually get Mark Seven to do a compilation of his own secret treasures for me. With his vast knowledge of music, superior digging skills and exciting online mixes he seemed like an obvious first choice for me... Damn you Paul, beat me to it! Anyway, when asked by Mark and Paul if I wanted to write some words for this compilation, I immediately agreed. I’m more than happy to give someone like Mark all my praise. He is a great and diverse dj, a passionate music lover/collector/seller and most importantly, a good friend. With a background of playing warm up sets for people like Andrew Weatherhall, Danny Rampling and Dave Dorrell in the late 80’s, he surely has his balearic credentials intact. After years of backroom dj’ing and dabbling with bedroom studio production he moved to Sweden for (in his own words) “the rare women and beautiful vinyl”. There he set up his Juswax website and started throwing parties known as Black Lodge to spread the gospel. He’s still living in Stockholm where he does his own thing and now, more and more often, travels the world to do so. I’ve had the pleasure of hanging out with Mark on numerous occasions, he invited me to dj with him at his Black Lodge party a few years ago (at the time situated in a grim little house in a public park outside Stockholm’s city centre). He’s one of the few dj’s we’ve invited to our monthly Full Pupp night in Oslo and he’s kindly nursed me with Mexican-style scrambled eggs for breakfast when I’ve fallen off the wagon in his home town. However, coming to Mark’s place, hungover and with your wallet full of last nights fee is not recommended... although you will leave with treasures from near and far. Besides his good ear for a great tune, what I consider to be Mark’s real strength is his ability to go out and dig for those special records. While most people will just be happy compiling tracks from other peoples playlists or buy the regulation well known classics, Mark is listening through piles and piles of records from the most unlikely sources in search for that special gem. No wonder he can be quite secretive about his finds. To quote Mark: “I love vinyl. I try to play records no-one else has. I still imagine the feeling of being high as a mountain on the dancefloor whenever I play to one”.
Thomas Hermansen, Oslo 3 February 2009
Stars ‘n’ bars Stars & bars
Gareth John Whizz kids
Joe Montana Five stars
When you’re out in the field, you never know what’s gonna come at you. I was knee deep in the trenches, holed up in a vinyl bunker in Stockholm in the winter of 2003 when this dropped. An amazing, spaced-out Swedish groove so good they named the band after it! This really set the tone for the “Slow Blow “ mix.
This one’s on a crazy library Lp, but I can’t imagine what they intended it to be used for except rocking dancefloors. I got this in a trade with a nice man in California, thanks brother.
Ah… the call of the Islands! This one just seemed to slip through the radar a couple of years ago, so much so that at the time of writing there’s still copies out in there in stores. Perfect Balearic house groove from Italy.
Mr Monday Daybreak A balearic beauty from ’92 to carry you up, up & away from a UK on it’s long comedown from acid house.
Blindboy I dream I got this from the excellent Snickars Records, an institution here in Stockholm. Mika, the owner, told me he’d bought a box from the guy who’d pressed it up… couldn’t have been more than about 300 copies. Hiding away on the b-side is this headtrip beauty based on the Pink Floyd groove
Joker African To my ears, this is the best cut from the obscure EP. My pressing’s Italian but I think it originates from Holland. I first heard about it from a collector in Germany and then it turned up in a record fair in Belgium one cold sunday. I love Europe!
Cities of Foam Last man standing This turned up in a pile of brand new stuff dropped in a local secondhand store. Everytime I’ve played it over the last five years or so, someone asks me about it. Of course, I tell them to mind their own business!
The Dynamic Hepnotics Hepno beat (instrumental) Crazy loose joint from ‘82 by an Australian band I know nothing about. Somehow they hit upon this perfect Balearic groove and by all accounts they had a big hit that featured on Neighbours. This wasn’t it.
Nicky Robson Stars Sometimes you can’t believe your luck when you’re out digging. I was in a vinyl lockup in some basement in Stockholm listening through a pile of mediocre crap on my portable when this driving piano riff comes belting out, wild phasing synths over the top… AND it’s called “Stars”! Half hour later I found two more. It turns out that this is a very rare 12inch and if you got one of those spares, I undersold it!
Swayzak Stronger love Who’d have thought that the simple combination of Alexander O’Neal’s vocal & Hall & Oats’ groove would produce such a perfect drug! If you’d heard me play anywhere in the last seven years, chances are you heard this. I found a whole pile of them on sale in a big retailer in Stockholm, lovely!
Clay My unknown love I struggled with letting this one out of the bag. A British house record that came to me via my brother in the USA and cropped up as we were in the basement of a store in Manhattan. It’s chugging along nicely and then BAAM… that piano drops in! Must’ve been something in the water in ’88 that left me forever addicted to piano house.
Loui$ Pink footpath Pink Footpath? Why Loui$, where does that lead to?” Another perfect find in the same backroom that turned up ‘Star & Bars’. Wonderful, melancholic Italo which closed off ‘Slow Blow’ and has since proved to be pretty rare.
Stars ‘n’ bars - Stars & bars Mr Monday - Daybreak Blindboy - I dream Joker - African Gareth John - Whizz kids Cities of Foam - Last man standing Written by Menter, Wills & Yatman. Sax by K Ridgers, Vocal by B Yatman. P & © Cities of foam 2005. www.dorado.net The Dynamic Hepnotics Hepno beat (instrumental) Nicky Robson - Stars Written and composed by Nicky Robson and Andrew Hale. Produced by Gary Numan. Recorded and mixed at Rock City Sound Studios © Scratch Records Joe Montana - Five stars Written by E Fatovich P & © 2006 Haiti Groove Recordings www.haitigroove.com Swayzak - Stronger love Clay - My unknown love Loui$ - Pink footpath Mastered by Sean P Sleeve notes Thomas Hermansen Photography Ian Williams Design Mudd Mudd thanks: Rabbit, Mark Seven, Ian Williams, Sean P, Thomas Hermansen, Andy, Nick Robson, Swayzak, Oliver Buckwell, Bernhard Kancze & Bill. Mark thanks: Paul & Jess for their support & enthusiasm, to Steve, Les & the ESP party all-stars, to Phil & Ange, Stuart, Gerry, Joel, Alex & the Voices heroes. To my brother (from a Cuban mother) Peter, Joni & Bobby Mo. To Mike, Jan & the Manchester peoples, to Phil & Trish, Damien, Rich & Alex and the New York familia. To the artist known as Prins & the Oslo astronauts, to Pats, Carl & Mika, all the promoters, dancers & dj’s that kept the faith and especially to my brothers & sisters in the Black Lodge… and Jenkins x/m P & © Claremont 56 2009. Due to the diverse nature of this release we were unsuccessful in trying to locate some of the repertoire. If you want to contact us, please email muddsworld@inbox.com
www.claremont56.com
Claremont
Claremont 56 is an independent label dedicated to releasing beautiful music that has been lovingly crafted and is genuinely felt. The music is released in limited edition format and is collected around the world. Originals is series of compilations put together by un-sung heroes, the discoverers, the influencers and the taste makers who don’t seek the limelight and often get overlooked. www.claremont56.com