Too Slow To Disco Volume 2 - Minimix by DJ Supermarkt

Buoyed by the extraordinary response to Too Slow To Disco Volume 1 in the summer of 2014, Berlin’s renowned yacht-pop archaeologist DJ Supermarkt has leapt straight back into the soft-top and been out digging for lost gems. It will be released on vinyl and CD in June but in the meantime AOR Disco is delighted to premiere this exclusive minimix by DJ Supermarkt of the tracks you'll be hearing on Volume 2. "Too Slow To Disco Volume 2 is another perfect collection of missing-in-action, late-70s and early-80s smooth, singer/songwriter, AOR-paced, yacht-based pop and blue-eyed soul,"  says Marcus Liesenfeld aka DJ Supermarkt. "Every song brims over with that West Coast sunshine, and for Too Slow To Disco Volume 2 we’ve dug even deeper into obscure corners of LA, London, even Cologne, to create an even more potent soundtrack to that lost world that’s somehow always with us.  Sure, we love this music, but the reaction to Volume 1 took even us by surprise. Rough Trade Shops gave it its prestigious “Best Compilation of 2014” award and clubs all over Europe invited us to hold Too Slow To Disco parties. If you think Volume 2 has a lot to live up to, you’d be right, but don’t you worry, it’s the smoothest transition from one to two. The Too Slow To Disco guiding philosophy will always be to champion the lost classic, the no-hit-wonders, the ones that got away. Sometimes the artists imploded, disappeared in legal wrangles, went AWOL, maybe joined a cult - who knows? What we do know is every cut on this record deserves your love and attention. I've tracked down bass players, phoned possible family members, enquired about the contents of lofts and basements, to try to find the masters of tracks that often the writers themselves had long forgotten. It’s fine, you can thank me later. Since Volume 1 debuted it seems like the whole world has switched back on to this amazing era of music making, from Father John Misty, BC Camplight, Andrew Combs, Liam Hayes, Silk Rhodes, to the entire soundtrack of Guardians of the Galaxy. Smooth is no longer a dirty word. Before we start, let’s slip into something more comfortable. We start our journey with Hall and Oates but just as before, even the nerdiest music head will likely never have heard of most of the bands and musicians on Volume 2: For the first time 2 European acts have the honour to be “California’ed”: the British duo R&J Stone (who met a sad and tragic fate, but a truly great song) and – hold your breath – the German band StreetPlayer. Moving back Stateside you’ll find a genuine curio in the form of legendary musician/former Monkee/movie-producer/musicproducer/video-visionary and hit maker Michael Nesmith with his bizarro-futurist rap-disco track: “Capsule”. Our nets are cast so wide this time you’ll also discover Michael Omartian and Bruce Hibbard, both of whom hailed from the 1960s Christian rock scene but still found time to cut some wonderful yacht-poppy tunes in the late 70s. Omartian also ended up playing for Steely Dan and helming recordings for the likes of Christopher Cross, and now has to deal with a basement full of Grammy awards. We’re also psyched to be able to include outstanding singer/piano-man/songwriter Ben Sidran, who the London Times called "the first existential jazz rapper" and who spent his early days as part of The Steve Miller Band. Last but not least, we present the ‘troubled genius’ Jimmy Gray Hall, who died far too young. But we unearthed for you one of his only four (!) recordings, the mighty "Be That Way“ (which was weirdly an underground hit on the 1970s Northern Soul circuit.) So join us on another sunset trip as we soundtrack summer 2015 in the company of these lost luminaries. Bask in every detail of that glorious over-production, and recall an era when the music industry had the time, money and sheer musical talent to make everything BIG. Pay no mind to the cynics, the cooler-than-thou-erati, or the buzz kills of the sincerity police. These are big tunes that deserve to be hits, even if it’s taken 40 years to get there, driving slowly up that winding California coast road in the wonderful warm summer air. Speaking of the road, you’ll find another 1970s totem on the sleeve of Too Slow To Disco Volume 2. Our cover star is the AMC Pacer, and with good reason. This little beauty, “the first wide small car”, derided and unloved at the time, is now rightly regarded as a cult-classic. Despite boasting futuristic gizmos (which often left the car garage-bound), oversized windows (now the norm), it was shorter than a Golf yet wider than the biggest Mercedes, and it flopped pretty magnificently. But if it was seen as a symbol of excess-over-reason, designed with deluded grandeur, undermined by a million crazy details, well it belongs right here amongst the fabulous follies of Too Slow To Disco Volume 2." BUY