Pussycat Residency Update...

The shortest residency in history? Well, probably not but pretty close.

The owners of the Purple Pussycat have decided that our music policy is a little too obscure for their clientele and we have agreed that rather than compromise our principles we would be happier if they employed DJ's who would be willing to play something mainstream to suit their customers requests.

Fair do's then as the last thing we want is to find ourselves being nagged to play filtered, funky house for 5hrs a time for a few measly quid, so stepping into the void will be the capable Silvestre who will be taking over as of the 12th December whilst we look for a new home for Close Encounters in the New Year.

Fear not as our friends over at Cosmic Disco are on hand to provide the stand out party of the Xmas period with Mark Seven flying over from Stockholm on the 27th December for what is a FREE PARTY! Be quick though as we are lead to believe they are already nearing full capacity.

GET YOUR FREE MARK SEVEN TICKETS HERE...

Have a great Xmas and we will be back with party info soon but make sure to keep checking us in the meantime for weekly track uploads.

Peas in the valley. x

Marni - Marnimix

To help us kick off the christmas party season December's Close Encounters welcomes back Niles & baggy from the excellent Cosmic Disco and to celebrate, this week's track is one of their favourite records from 2008 in Marni's 'Marnimix' (Taken from the Issimo No.1 12") which is a oddball cover of Rod The God's 'D'Ya Think I'm Sexy?'

Hailing from Austria, Marni has been putting out stunning mixes under several guises of which you can sample a selection direct from his website - Marnimix. A rather elusive fellow with an obvious penchant for all things cosmic were very much looking forward to hearing more releases in the not so distant future.

Going back to our December party, you'll find us playing from 11pm - 4am on Friday 12th December at disco dive bar - Purple Pussycat where we hope you'll pop in for a glass of egg-nog, just ignore Niles if he decides to put some mistletoe above the DJ booth.

*Note* The guys over at Cosmic Disco are joining forces with Cut Loose on Saturday 27th December where they are flying over one of the most respected underground DJ's in the world right now in Mark Seven for a FREE PARTY @ Bookbinders, Manchester. They are installing a full Funktion 1 sound system with drinks promotions. As this is a free party, places are at a premium so if this sounds up your street get your free tickets from their Eventwax page ASAP!

Marni - Marnimix

Discogs Release Information

We Are Not Alone...

Close Encounters - Every Second Friday

Thanks to all those who attended our debut party on Friday 24th October, we had muchos fun!

As a result you can find us playing the finest intergallactic jams every 2nd Friday of the month at Manchester's disco dive bar - The Purple Pussycat.

This week's track is one that went down a storm on Friday - Cozy Powell's 'Dance With The Devil'.

English drummer Colin Flooks aka Cozy Powell (Nickname taken from Jazz drummer Cozy Cole) first started playing drums at his school orchestra aged 12.

After touring the semi-pro circuit in Germany with The Sorcerers, Cozy returned to England and based himself in Birmingham where he became friends with Robert Plant, Noddy Holder and a young Tony Iommi. After a series of singles Powell started to clock up plenty of session work then landed the job drumming for guitar icon Jeff Beck where he was a crucial member of the band that went on to record two albums in his prescence.

After being persuaded to persure a solo career Cozy had a number 3 smash with this instrumental solo 'Dance With The Devil' in January of 1974, inspiring a generation of youngsters to take up playing the drums.

* Remember to come catch us play next on Friday 14th November.

Cozy Powell - Dance With The Devil
Discogs Release Information

Riuichi Sakamoto & Robin Scott - Just About Enough

What do you get if you put the Yellow Magic Orchestra's Riuchi Sakamoto and M's (Of 'Pop Muzik' fame) Robin Scott together in a studio?

Synth Pop perfection, that's what!

1982's 'The Arrangement' was an EP on Tokyo's Alfa Records taking four tracks from the album 'Left Handed Dream', of which Robin and Riuichi co-produced. A somewhat complicated album mainly due to the fact that three versions exist. To have the complete works you would need the Japanese release and 'The Arrangement' maxi. The UK and US versions have three tracks from 'The Arrangement' swapped with Japanese album tracks. The three tracks in question have the same melodies but different lyrics sung by Robin Scott.

When the chips are down
Kids all gather round
Payday is Friday, but I'm not hanging round!
Just about enough and then it's party time...

Riuichi Sakamoto & Robin Scott - Just About Enough
Discogs Release Information

Nexus - Stand Up

A track that could easily be mistaken for a Metro Area release 'Stand Up' was arranged by Italo super producer & keyboardist - Maurice Cavalieri.

Maurice was responsible for producing a number of Italo projects such as Armed Gang, Rainbow Team, Ago, Celly, Evo and one of Italo Disco's longest running projects in 'Firefly', who had a US club hit with 'Love (Is Gonna Be On Your Side)'.

Released in 1983 on Mr. Disc Organisation (A subsidiary of Full Time Records) it's hard to believe that this track is over 20 years old.

Now retired from the music industry, Cavaleiri lives in Florida as a developer for the Wave Group. Let's be thankful of the amazing musical output he produced during the early 80's!

Download: http://www.zshare.net/audio/19092512d05e6d3d/

Discogs: http://www.discogs.com/release/220522

Asha Puthli - Mr. Moonlight

OK, here's our first post to an MP3 download that floats our boat.

We must first state that all links to MP3's (Taken directly from our personal vinyl collections) are for promotional purposes only. Please, if you like the music, hunt it down and buy yourself a record or CD. It really is worth it!

Indian born, European based singer Asha Puthli recorded the album 'L'Indiana' in 1978, which was initially released in much of Europe and Canada. (Which had a slightly different tracklist and cover.)

This track is taken from my US version which was released the following year on the Dash/TK label who, in the process comissioned a different cover and got rid of her surname from the album.

The 3 tracks on side one were the most disco influenced and specially remixed by no other than Richie Rivera for the US release - 'I'm Gonna Dance' being released as a 12" single.

L'Indiana is possibly one of the most eclectic and unique disco albums by possibly one of the most underatted artists of her time. 

Download: Asha Puthli - Mr. Moonlight

Discogs: http://www.discogs.com/release/528912 

Close Encounters @ Purple Pussycat

An update on Close Encounters:

The venue opens from 11am till 4am. Not bad for a Friday. The atmosphere is welcoming and intimate, and there are spaces to have a chat and a generous dancefloor, which we hope you will be putting to good use. Remember, sometimes the best music is played in the beginning, so do not miss out!!

Most important of all: It is free to get in and drinks are not a rip off, so no excuses.

19a Backbridge Street, M3 2PB here in Manchester (Purple Pussycat is off Deansgate , right in front of the atrocious Inland Revenue building and next to Mojo)

Welcome to Close Encounters!

Hello and welcome...

Close Encounters is a new monthly club night (Friday's) at Manchester's 'Hidden Gem' - The Purple Pussycat.

You can expect to hear the finest cosmic disco, space rock, cock rock, yacht rock, white boy funk, balearic bombs, cosmic chuggers, weirdo pop and whatever else takes our fancy, programmed purely for late night, basement based dancing pleasures.

For our opening party on Friday 24th October, we have somewhat of a coup as we have persuaded local hero's Niles & Baggy from the highly respected Cosmic Disco to join us for what will hopefully be a 'Close Encounters' club residency. Supporting will be Silvestre who is gaining respect for his deep collection showcased at various venues around the country.

More info coming soon but in the meantime, sign up to the blog as no doubt more info on the party will be published soon in addition to regular information and posts to rare and exciting MP3's that float our boats, our latest DJ charts and of course up to the minute details from the world of 'Close Encounters' 

Remember, the truth is out there...