Saturday, September 10, 2016

Five tracks to get you back in the groove

With summer unofficially over, and my baseball team unceremoniously knocked out of the playoffs, I've hit a wall, not wanting to start the next chapter. As always, I find myself turning to music to not just lift me up and help me move on but to re-calibrate my body and soul. Music is incredibly powerful because of its inherent personal appeal; it connects listeners through a shared experience, but in the end, its strength lies in its existential capacity. Today I've compiled five tracks that ooze with groove, both literally (grooves in vinyl) and figuratively (try not to dance to these tracks). These five tracks are full of funky disco vibes and show no shortage of uplifting energy. The first, Flying Mojito Bros remix of Crosby Stills and Nash "Turn Your Back On Love" came to me yesterday, as I was trolling the web for something to write about and immediately appealed to my love of old groove tracks. The content is killer from the guitar to the bass and the lyrics to the vocal harmonies. This is the track that inspired this playlist.

Fittingly, the V4YS remix of Marvin Gaye "Where Are We Going" followed the Flying Mojito Bros, via souncloud's related tracks feature. With that rolling intro, and bright keys the disco is strong throughout and is incredibly infectious. Grab the free download here.

Diving deeper into the disco vibes comes, The Immortals' "Ultimate Warlord." It's fun, funky and incredibly lighthearted. After hearing it for the first time on a long trip home, it woke me up and got me home safely, inspiring me to become "The Ultimate Warlord."

From 1979 to 2016, is Breakbot's remix of Fatima Yamaha's "Love Invaders," which sounds at home in either decade. It's an absolutely awesome slice of carefree disco funk, proving once again the combination of Breakbot and Fatima Yamaha is without parallel. If you like this be sure to check out their cross contamination "2GOOD4ME," which is also a free download.

Rounding out this five-some of uplifting funk, is one of my favourite tracks of all time, my second most played Boy 8-Bit production, and 7th most played track of all time, his remix of Vandroid's "Master and Slave." The combination of Boy 8-Bit's bleepy chiptune quality, playfully poignant percussion and awe inspiring, soundtrack-esque arc makes it the perfect capper for this playlist. I have gone to this track nearly a hundred times on my iTunes alone and will continue to count on it to change my mood and get me back in its inescapable groove. I just hope one of these five tracks speaks to you the same way this track speaks to me, and you can count on it the way I count on Boy 8-Bit.