DIRTY DIAMONDS II TRACK BY TRACK

01. MOONDOG “Voices of spring” (1969)
Moondog was kind of a celestial blind bum who used to drift around Times Square 
wearing a Viking helmet. He also was a genius musician, who - before his work 
was plundered by electro producers (Mr Scruff among others) - released very 
personal records on Blue Note, mixing sounds captured in the streets of New York 
with short pieces rarely exceeding two minutes. Because of its apparent simplicity 
and its concision, this piece resembles nothing ever heard, and therefore will 
never age.

02. THE KONKI DUET “On dort mieux quand il pleut” (2004)
The Konki Duet, as you wouldn’t expect, is a Parisian girls trio. With this 
falsely naïve piece, they bring an outstanding definition of post-electronica 
pop: a lot of sensitivity, no unnecessary sound design and a perfect command of 
short formats (one minute for this piece).

03. WILLIAM SHELLER “Lux Aeterna  introit” (1970)
A perfect encounter between a symphonic orchestra and a rock band (one of the 
major temptations of the 70’s), Lux Aeterna is the first record published by 
William Sheller. But it’s above all a wedding mass, which he composed for a 
friend’s wedding. A sound UFO that Dan the Automator rediscovered 20 years 
later for his futuristic rap project Deltron 3030.

04. SA RA “Glorious” (2004)
Echoing William Sheller’s low funk baroque, Sa Ra, from New York, offers a 
summary of fatness in 4 minutes : an instrumental piece stuffed with distorted 
sub bass and topped with christian like fervour voices... Glorious is a futuristic 
soul hymn, which should open the gates of heaven to its creators. Gilles Peterson 
has already given them his blessing.

05. SIMON DUPREE AND THE BIG SOUND “Kites” (1967)
Kites was the one time hit of Simon Dupree and the big sound, a modest English 
R&B band, which gave a happy try to the psychedelic genre fashionable at that 
time. This kite flying declaration of love is punctuated by a poem told by a 
Chinese actress named Jacqui Chan. Most Chinese listeners agree that this poem 
is adorable but incomprehensible.

06. NINO ROTA “O venezia, venaga, venusia” (1976)
The soundtrack composed by Nino Rota for Fellini’s Casanova was their last 
collaboration and also his ultimate masterpiece. Gloomy and magic, O venezia, 
venaga, venusia is an evil invitation to melancholy. In this piece, Nino Rota 
brings out his taste for baroque experimentation with an incomparable degree of
sophistication.

07. AIR “Alpha beta gaga (jackson remix)” (2004)
A magnificent and very personal remix, since the original piece can hardly 
be recognized. That’s another proof of Jackson’s talent, a young French 
producer who after a few ep’s, is releasing more and more convincing remixes.

08. JOHN FOXX “Metal beat” (1981)
Founder of the original Ultravox, John Foxx quickly escaped the band to 
become a solo composer. His first album, Metamatic, was one of the best 
manifestos of a very 80’s synthetic and romantic pop idealism. Metal Beats 
thus became the hymn of a generation who liked better artificial neon lights 
rather than home-made candle lights.

09. I MONSTER “These are our children” (2003)
Both hardcore fans of Hammer production, Dean Honer and Jarrod Gosling 
meet in Sheffield during the mid-90’s. They decide to use their vintage 
synthesizers to compose music for horror movies that don’t exist. As one 
of the first consistent results of these electronic jams, These are our 
children, stands out as a venomous imaginary soundtrack for an 
English-fantasy “Giallo” (as are called Italian horror thrillers).

10. ARTHUR RUSSELL “See through love” (1986)
We wanted to pay tribute to this New York producer, who represents the 
perfect union of contemporary music (he worked with, among others, Philip 
Glass, Allen Ginsberg, David Byrne or Rhys Chatham) and club music. He 
produced some everlasting disco classics under various names (Loose Joints, 
Lola, Dinosaur L, etc.). With See through love, it’s the intimate side of 
Arthur Russell’s work that we wanted to show.

11. THE PASTELS “Wilderness end theme” (2003)
This seminal pop band released a wonderful album last year, which unfairly 
went unnoticed. Wilderness end theme is nonetheless a beautiful moment of 
sensitive pop off the beaten track, which gives us the chance to scream out 
our love for children choirs.

12. MARTIN L GORE “Compulsion” (1989)
Martin Gore, maker of one of the most sophisticated war machines of his 
time (Depeche Mode), invited us in 1989 to visit his workshop. Counterfeit 
is an album of obscure repeats, which unveils the inner world of a Martin 
Gore re-inventing gospel in the shadow of his synthesizers. This cover of 
Joe Crow also proves that our man is an exceptional singer.

13. FRANKIE KNUCKLES “Your love” (1989)
Your love is the B side of the classic Baby wants to ride released on 
Trax in 1989. It’s just the quintessence of club music (in our opinion): 
this piece reeks of sex while remaining very chic and incredibly efficient. 
Frankie Knuckles reminds us, that sensuality should never have left the 
dancefloors. We promise we won’t forget that.

14. YELLO “Daily disco” (1981)
At the dawn of the 80’s, two cranky moustached guys from Zurich - one 
being a millionaire (Dieter Meier) and the other one not (Boris Blank) - 
decided to mess around reinterpreting disco under the name of Yello. The 
duet, signed on Ralph Records - the Resident’s label - became the promoter, 
all the way to the United States, of quite a unique experimental (and 
entertaining) euro disco. Daily Disco is one of its most extravagant 
examples.

15. CHICKEN LIPS “Do it proper (maurice fulton mix)” (2003)
A mix which pays tribute to two of the best producers of "dancing" music 
of these past years. Chicken lips for their efficient disco and know-how 
of dub sound effects (echo & delays) and Maurice Fulton because he’s one 
of the most original American producers around. A remix by Maurice Fulton 
isn't just three loops running for six minutes, but a real progressive 
piece going (growing) on.

16. OUT HUD “Hair dude, you’re stepping on my mystique” (2003)
Out Hud flies about the alterglobalist galaxy (or sect?) of Kranky 
(Godspeed you black emperor’s label), and you can hear that: their dark 
and psychedelic rock will take you high but it also grooves like hell. !!! 
& LCD Sound System lovers listening to this record just discovered some 
new friends.

17. MONEY PENNY PROJECT “Le cercle de minuit” (the swiss poney remix by 
Octet)” (2004) What can we say? Octet, a.k.a. Benjamin Morando does indeed 
take part in the selection of this tracklist, but we included this piece 
against his will. Because we just find this remix amazing. Because it tells 
a story. Because it proves that Octet can stir dancefloors too and not 
only electronica lovers ones. Beck recognized this, and just asked him 
to remix a single of his forthcoming album.

18. HARRY NILSSON “One” (1968)
It was a quite a heavy load to have been picked out by John Lennon 
and Paul McCartney as one of the best artists of the times. Harry 
Nilsson nevertheless overcame this handicap and became a popular singer 
with his own versions of Everybody’s talking and Without you. One, a 
mesmerizing meditation on loneliness, is thanks to its intensity and 
simplicity, one of his most striking compositions.


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