seen from Singapore
seen from Netherlands
seen from United States
seen from Singapore
seen from China
seen from United States
seen from Türkiye
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Singapore
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from China
seen from United States
seen from Malaysia
seen from United States
seen from China
seen from United States
seen from Russia
seen from United States
View credits, reviews, tracks and shop for the 1982 Vinyl release of "Semjase" on Discogs.
View credits, reviews, tracks and shop for the 1984 Vinyl release of "Mystery Man" on Discogs.
Clive Stevens & Brainchild - Mystery Man (1984) [voc Brenda Joy Nelson (B.J. Nelson)]
Italo
View credits, reviews, tracks and shop for the 1984 Vinyl release of "Mystery Man" on Discogs.
Clive Stevens & Brainchild - Mystery Man (1984) 🔥
ITALO
A-T-4 037 Clive Stevens & Brainchild - Mystery Man
We went to see the Cymande documentary at the beginning of the week, and yes you will be humming Bra for days after. The documentary tells two stories, one about Cymande the band and the cold climate in the UK that they were born out of, the other was about the Djs, musicians, record enthusiasts, and other influencers that have kept their legacy going (the arrogance of the hip hop djs taking credit for Cymande's success was pointed out to me, there was difference between the humility of American hip hoppers and French rapper Mc Solaar)
Clive Stevens & Brainchild - Mystery Man is a similar type story for a small group of people. It was played by DJ Daniele Baldelli in Italy and like Cymande's Bra is a foundational hip hop break Mystery Man was an essential Afro/cosmic record that has become synonymous with that scene. To tell the story here is an interview with Clive Stevens on Test Pressing
Midnight Drive are cruising with a reissue of Clive Stevens & Brainchild's cosmic classic Mystery Man, including a classy new extension
In the second paragraph on the article above there is a link to an interview Daniele Baldelli did with Electronic Beats and a little bit on his part in what we know as Afro/cosmic
Dance music historian Tim Lawrence sat down with DJ Daniele Baldelli to learn the story of how cosmic disco emerged from northern Italy in t
Clive Stevens & Brainchild - Mystery Man
A towering figure of cosmic music has passed on...rest in peace Clive Stevens.
Reviews 097: Clive Stevens and Brainchild
Clive Stevens is an incredibly talented multi-instrumentalist with a career spanning decades. But amongst the balearic weirdos of the world, he is best known for his 1984 cult classic “Mystery Man,” in part due to its prominent placement in the legendary cosmic DJ sets and mixtapes of Daniele Baldelli. This is a hypnotic and glistening slice of vocal-led electro/disco perfection and thankfully Midnight Drive have stepped in for a loving 12” reissue. And rather than include the original backing track “Saturnight,” we instead get a massive rework of “Mystery Man” from Velvet Season & the Hearts of Gold, who were given the original session parts by Clive himself, allowing them to apply their mesmerizing dub extension techniques to spread the song even further out into the tropical cosmos. Also, there is a wonderful and recent interview with Clive by LJ Horstman over at Test Pressing.
Clive Stevens and Brainchild - Mystery Man (Midnight Drive, 2018) For the “1984 12” Mix”, an electro-tinged disco beat grooves underneath some chugging Italo synthbass magic, with sparkling windchimes swirling and strange percussive effects approximating the noises of insects. I’m not sure who the singer is, but her heavenly vocals enter all soft, soulful, and romantic, with vocal hooks deliciously tracked by brassy pads. Occasionally, mallet instruments wash over the mix like an island breeze, accenting the throbbing flow with shimmering tropicalisms. There is a percussive midtro where the bassline pulls out, leaving the disco beat surrounded by cascading chimes and psychedelic whistles. And when we drop back into the cosmic balearic glide, hand drums and reverb soaked tom fills and snare rolls add flare to the steady rhythmics, while gentle yet exploratory synthesizer solos intertwine with subtle flutes and faraway saxophones.
Then on the flip comes the Velvet Season & the Hearts of Gold “Ever Evolving Ever Transforming Mix.” Rather than jumping straight into things as in the original, each element is slowly teased as the Velvet Season boys take their time building to full strength. The drumbeat comes first, with dubwise effects splashing off the kit in rainbow hued echoes. The tropical idiophone melodics from “1984 12” Mix” are also given center stage, floating in solitude over the minimal dub disco riddims until the brassy synth hook enters, preceding by a few moments the sultry vocals. And once the chugging bassline drops, we are finally in full swing, the vibe skewing quite close the original but also more zoned out and stoned out, with the gorgeous soul sexuality backed as it is by delirious dub echoes and understated percussive variations. Sometimes the filter opens up on the bassline for moments of soft acid atmospherics and the climactic synth solo is still here, swimming through a cloud of chimes, bells, and marimbas. Perhaps best of all, the skronking blues saxophone is given more prominence, tearing it up over increasingly wild drums and acid bass soaked in sci-fi fx.
(images from my personal copy)
clive stevens & brainchild - mystery man
nice italo
CLIVE STEVENS & BRAINCHILD : MYSTERY MAN (1980)
