30.10.14
27.10.14
25.10.14
23.10.14
18.10.14
17.10.14
15.10.14
25.8.14
23.7.14
17.7.14
10.7.14
Q&D.. From original - to new and ungrateful
I own this site, and the name, Queen & Disco, and have done since it began. I've wanted nothing but the best for Q&D naturally, but whenever deceitful and ungrateful individuals become involved, politics take hold, and ultimately, take over.
For now all I can say is all the best to the ones who believe Q&D is "theirs" and is better without me, I reckon you'll take it on a direction that I am obviously not capable of, my music taste, my DJ'ing skills and my general persona is clearly not up to scratch, however, the show must go on..
The new people of Q&D will treat you to monotonous, un-original re-edits that have no background into early funk, nor disco, not even house for that matter.. And it is with great regret for myself to say that for me, Queen & Disco is DEAD.. Ta'ra
For now all I can say is all the best to the ones who believe Q&D is "theirs" and is better without me, I reckon you'll take it on a direction that I am obviously not capable of, my music taste, my DJ'ing skills and my general persona is clearly not up to scratch, however, the show must go on..
7.6.14
20.5.14
Copyshop Feat. SnemK ¦ Fate (L'obsession) - Slove Remix
Another one similar to the track below, this one's from the men over at La Dame Noir...
Earthquake - This Is The Kit (Plaisir de France Remix)
A very Andrew Weatherall/Ivan Smagghe rework here, driving guitar riffs, melodic vocals that will no doubt get stuck in your hear and that nice kick drum..
17.5.14
16.5.14
EVENT ¦ Queen & Disco "1st Birthday" w/ Marcel Vogel & Keith O'Hanlon @ Sandinos
Queen & Disco | Bank Holiday Sunday 25th May | Sandinos Lounge
Well, that year certainly flew in fast and now it's time to whip out the bunting and party poppers and blow out the candle on a whirlwind first year of pure unadulterated disco!
Almost a year on from when we had the Horse Meat Disco crew over to kick things off, we've met and played with some of the best punters around.
Providing the soundtrack for the 1st Birthday, we have 2 huge acts in the form of Marcel Vogel and Irish disco stalwart Keith O'Hanlon from The Disconauts.
We're mighty excited to have Marcel play for us. He's been a key factor as to why we started the night in the first place, a huge influence and his range of music tastes is right up our alley and reflects exactly what we're about. Head Honcho over at Lumberjacks in Hell & Intimate Friends, you'll have seen him in action various times on the Boilerroom spinning strictly vinyl sets.
Entry is £6 on the door all night from 9PM
CHECK OUT MR VOGEL ONLINE ///
https://soundcloud.com/marcelvogel
https://www.facebook.com/Lumberjacks.in.Hell
7.5.14
5.5.14
Marcman ¦ Dici
An almost trip-hop feel, but yet very club-friendly Marcman definitely one to watch out for. This production is ever evolving yet simple and stripped back..
10.4.14
1.4.14
25.3.14
Fort Romeau - Stay True
Slowed Down, Italo-inspired, spacey, atmospheric-weirdness from Fort Romeau.. Brilliant
Kolombo, Sammy W & Alex E - Play ur Chick (Original Mix)
Bit of tech-house stuff here from Kolombo et al.. Nat too shabby
9.3.14
King Of The Mountains - Zoetrope
Absolute winner of a track, heard this on 6music with Lauren Laverne at around 10am one morning going bananas to it, kurlasss craic
8.3.14
Podcast 010 - Fingerman
To bring our series into double digits we have a man who’s tracks have been a mainstay in Q&D sets from pretty much day one, that man is Fingerman. Q&D residents Alan Mooney and Barry Crumley recently had the pleasure of playing alongside the big guy in Brighton’s Above Audio and haven’t stopped singing his praises since so we’re delighted to be able to add this mix to roster.
Fingerman has held residencies in Casablanca Jazz club and more recently Above Audio, both in Brighton, where he has been able to really hone his sound. Now hailed as one of the most influential acts on the disco and re-edit scene, his edits never fail to disappoint and always go down a storm on the dance floor.
In recent years labels have been virtually fighting for the chance to secure Gregg’s latest ventures for their releases as they’re guaranteed to hold their own regardless what else is on the record.
One of the hottest properties about on the re-edit scene we’re over the moon to have this mix and can’t wait for you all to have a listen. So, without further adue….
5.3.14
21.2.14
18.2.14
Podcast 009 - 80's Child
A true child of the 80's, Danny Worrall (80's Child) has slotted nicely into the disco/re-edit scene over the last few years and rightly so, with his shed load of free edits on his soundcloud and his debut release, ‘Back To the 80s Volume 1‘ a four track dance floor killer out on Retrospective storming the Juno charts.
Between this and volume 2 which dropped just earlier this month, Danny released his 'Night Vision' EP on YamWho's Midnight Riot label that received loads of attention from the likes of Late Nite Tuff Guy, who included his rework of the Hall & Oats classic, 'I Can't Go For That,' in his Top 5 picks for Cafe Del Mar Australia.
80's Child maintains the integrity of the originals but updates these tunes for today’s dancefloor. It seems music is life for him, the word attitude is not in his dictionary and his ‘down to earth’ personality is the biggest treasure he has. That's enough from us... hope you enjoy it as much as we do!
17.2.14
Sun Ra - Door of the Cosmos
"Of all the jazz musicians, Sun Ra was probably the most controversial," critic Scott Yanow said because of Sun Ra's eclectic music and unorthodox lifestyle. Claiming that he was of the "Angel Race" and not from Earth, but from Saturn, Sun Ra developed a complex persona using "cosmic" philosophies and lyrical poetry that made him a pioneer of afrofuturism. He preached awareness and peace above all. He abandoned his birth name and took on the name and persona of Sun Ra (Ra being the Egyptian God of the Sun), and used several other names throughout his career, including Le Sonra and Sonny Lee. Sun Ra denied any connection with his birth name, saying "That's an imaginary person, never existed … Any name that I use other than Ra is a pseudonym."
16.2.14
13.2.14
12.2.14
Podcast 008 - Jay Ru
Our next set comes from Waterford’s Second Son Jay Ru. Jay has been doing his thing for years and in the last 12 months has really started to garner looks from outside the Waterford and indeed Irish circles.
With weekly residencies on The Terrace in Waterford’s Shortt’s Bar, Jay Ru has fine tuned his sound while also starting to really build his own brand of edit which have his own unique sound smothered all over them.
With several releases coming out across several labels including, Midnight Riot, Beaten Space Probe, French Kiss & Los Grandes to name a few. It’s with one of his own demos he starts this set off with and it is the perfect way to showcase his talents in production, ear, and selection.
We’ll be having him up in Derry in Sandinos Back Bar on Friday 28th of February, this mix is the perfect way to advertise what the night will have in store. So if you’re about make sure you call in :)
8.2.14
Blue Gas - Shadows From Nowhere
What a massive tune, building brilliantly with those Bee Gee-esque vocals. This 1984 Italo disco track from Blue Gas is sublime
6.2.14
Podcast 007 - Beaten Space Probe
This mix has done some serious air miles to make its way to us, all the way from Japan. For many Europeans it may be hard to imagine a dance world outside this little bubble of ours, so when one of the hottest properties about at the minute turns out to be Japanese you could be forgiven for thinking it’s just a touch from leftfield.
The truth of it is, the scene in Japan is bustling with activity and Shota Tanaka, better known by his pseudonym, Beaten Space Probe, is the standard bearer for this movement. His label BSP has been just another in a long line of successful ventures with his 2 records going to number 1 on the Junodownload Chart. His work has seen him garner high praise from Greg Wilson, Dicky Trisco, Tensnake, Optimo, Craig Smith and many more so he must be doing something right.
He played in Waterford for the Get Down Edits lads in Autumn past and by all accounts blew the roof off the place, all be it more a veranda than a roof but impressive nevertheless. His unassuming nature and friendly character combined with a serious prowess for crate digging make him a dangerman behind the decks with his infectious feel good vibe.
So clear an hour or so from your schedule and allow Shota to pull the strings...
23.1.14
12.1.14
Happy Clappers - I Believe
Uplifting 90's piano house here from Happy Clappers, as featured on our most recent podcast by The Glue..
11.1.14
Podcast 006 - Tony Johns Edits
The mixes just keep rolling in and for this instalment we have the hugely impressive Tony Johns. The big guy hails from London but has been spreading his musical seed worldwide through regular guest slots on a wide range of stations including, we play jams radio (New York), grooveskoolradio, disco 935 (New York), and many more.
This man shows us that funk doesn’t have to mean disco which is the main reason we were so delighted to get a listen to the mix. In future we’ll be bringing a lot more dimensions into the Q&D sound and what better way to get the point across than to have Tony Johns lead the way with his ‘Hippity-Hoppity’, Old-School infused sound.
Already having collaborations with jay negron, alkalino, pied piper, choci roc, fingerman, 80s child, rob ouimet, dj jp-sol, discobody, appo ozone, chewy rubs, dynamicron and tony jacalone to name a few it’s a slight cout for us to have his name down on the roster for our podcast series which, if we do say so ourselves, is starting to shape up rather nicely.
Finally, for all you Q&D heads in Northern Ireland, don’t forget we have Dicky Trisco this Friday 24th January in Sandinos and we hope (expect) to see you there!
Enjoy folks.
Podcast 005 - The Glue
For our next, rather quick fire podcast, we have Norwegian disco juggernauts 'The Glue'. The costumes are reminiscent of a French DJing Duo but the styles are in stark contrast. Crate digging is their forte and grooving is their Modus Operandi. @the-glue
The duo have been kind enough to do an exclusive mix tape for us which offers you all a sneak peak into their eagerly anticipated new white label 12" 'Q&A' which was just recently released on 16 Dec 2013 on Untz Untz.
www.juno.co.uk/products/the-glue-q-a/514850-01/
Sit back and wrap your ears around this little disco delight.
Q&D x
The duo have been kind enough to do an exclusive mix tape for us which offers you all a sneak peak into their eagerly anticipated new white label 12" 'Q&A' which was just recently released on 16 Dec 2013 on Untz Untz.
www.juno.co.uk/products/the-glue-q-a/514850-01/
Sit back and wrap your ears around this little disco delight.
Q&D x
9.1.14
Podcast 004 - Craig Smith Live @ The Gweedore
The first part of this mix come from one of our Q&D residents Barry Crumley. Baz has been continually expanding his music collection and has really found his own sound moving between slowed down melodic house and soulful and lyrically leaning tracks..
We booked Craig to play with us in Newcastle under Twisted Logic a few years back and it was one of the best sets we've heard til' date. He played an absolute blinder of a set, and it was an eye-opener for us all so understandably we've got him in to play at our Christmas Special. This mix is no different where Craig shows his now almost unique blend of house, breaks, and a wee classic thrown in at the end for good measure ;)
EVENT ¦ Dicky Trisco
To kick things off, we have a very special guest in the form of Dicky Trisco. DT has been on our radar for years now, and has been one of those DJ's we couldn't not book. His most recent venture, or most notable anyway, is his hugely influential Disco Deviance imprint that has Greg Wilson, Pete Herbert and Ashley Beedle as regular contributors to the re-edit label.
To top things off we'll be playing both upstairs in the Back Bar and downstairs in the main bar. Dicky will be providing the tunes upstairs supported by Alan Mooney whilst the Q&D residents will be playing records along the lines of funk, soul, alternative, jazz and everything in between downstairs..
Doors will be £4 all night for upstairs.
8.1.14
6.1.14
Feature ¦ The Smoking Gun
29th March 2004, a day which for some reason, few saw coming, however which in hindsight seems like the most obvious and natural of progression in an ‘enlightened’ society. It was of course the introduction of the smoking ban in the Republic of Ireland. In European and indeed World terms, RoI was quick off the mark and this signalled a sign of things to come. Being from Northern Ireland it didn’t immediately affect me (not to mention the fact that I was only 14 at the time) but it did come into effect on 30th April 2007.
I may not have been old enough to be out partying to fully understand what it meant back in 2004 when the ban was brought into effect in RoI, however I do vividly remember the debates the ban brought about. Would the smoking ban ruin the clubbing experience? Forcing every smoker to leave the dance floor and stand outside in the unreliable Irish weather, often unsheltered, in order to get a smoke. Or was this just tough luck for smokers, who for far too long had been free to smoke all night in over crowed and under ventilated clubs.
The truth, as with nearly all arguments of right and wrong; lies somewhere in the middle of the two. This is not where the problem lies. Of course non-smokers should be free to go clubbing in smoke-free environments, but with smokers leaving every 30minutes to go and get a cigarette the atmosphere within the club suffers greatly and as a consequence, something is lost that cannot be resolved easily.
The answer lies with the forward thinking Republic of Ireland. Just like they were proactive with the smoking ban, they were proactive with finding solutions to the backlash of the smoking ban. Instead of bemoaning laws which aren’t going to be changed, and in reality are a positive thing, they looked to operate within the realms of the law, while in parallel trying to make the clubbing experience as enjoyable as possible.
The result has been triumphant. Shortt’s Bar immediately springs to mind in Waterford. A fully integrated “outdoor” smoking area which offers clubbers the chance to smoke, dance, drink and party without having to as much as leave the room. Smoking areas don’t have to be exposed to the elements. They don’t have to be on the sides of streets or down back alleys. If thought out properly they can add to your clubbing experience and not take away from it.
This may seem obvious, but it clearly isn’t obvious enough to some club and pub owners in the UK and Ireland. Surely now though, in a time when they are struggling to get ‘bums on seats’ it is time to make a change. To finally realise that customer is in fact king and sometimes that a little outlay is necessary for a little in return.
I won’t hold my breath for it but surely, someone has to do something to spice up the nightlife in Northern Ireland and in particular Derry where this fact is more evident than anywhere.
Until at least 2025, when the Republic of Ireland propose bringing in a public smoking ban. In which case, we’re fucked.
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