Category — News

I have known this for years, but now finally scientists are catching up and provides some hard evidence.

Scientists have discovered that joyful music is not only good for the soul, it’s also good for the heart. Listening to a cheerful favourite tune has a beneficial effect on blood vessels, widening them and protecting them against heart disease. Stressful or disturbing music, on the other hand, narrows the arteries and may be bad for the heart. The benefits of light music and love songs were even greater than that of laughter, the investigation showed.

After listening to joyful music, volunteers’ arteries opened 26 per cent wider on average during the cuff test than they did when no music was played. Playing music that participants said made them “anxious” caused the blood vessels to narrow by six per cent. In another phase of the study, laughing at comedy videos led to a 19 per cent increase in dilation, while “relaxation” sounds raised it by 11 per cent.

The findings were presented at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions meeting in New Orleans. Joyful music was thought to trigger the release of endorphins, brain chemicals linked to emotion that are known to induce feelings of well-being.

So there you go, another good reason for stopping by this site regularly!

After posting a review of Flow Dynamics’ debut album on sunday, I have the pleasure of linking you up with an hour live dj-mix form Dave McKinney recorded in Barcelona as part of the Gold Diggers Festival at the Sala Apolo on 25th October 2007. 

I’ll let him describe the set in his own words: “This is a live Flow Dynamics mashup DJ set of funk, soul, hip hop, latin, disco, beats, and breaks. I wanted to do something a little different with my dj sets on tour, so I basically had a pile of loops, grooves, songs, acapellas, and song snippets, and then used midi controllers and computer gear to trigger bits and pieces in and out. It means I could do a pile of live remixes and re-edits and make improvised mashups on the fly. Lotsa fun You can expect to hear lots of exclusive edits, live remixes and general mashup madness including Flow Dynamics favourites, old school dusty funk classics, and the latest tunes from around the globe. Funk, soul, hip hop, latin, disco, beats, and breaks. Feel good party styles all the way…”

Download the live set here!

Dj Mujava‘s “Township funk” has put South Africa firmly on the map that is house music. Now the amazing Crazy P has done a remix that really compliments the original – adding their trademark organic funk and soulful house grooves. They have been kind and put it out on their MySpace site as well, so check it out and let me know what you think about it!

If you like the music on this blog please support the artists. Buy their music, go to their concerts and loudly proclaim your love for them.

The music industry is changing, and you might not buy vinyls or cd’s anymore, but there are loads of good digital record stores where you can get the music and put it on your iPod. My favourites are Beatport and Juno Records, and of course you have iTunes and Amazon as well. In my posts I always put links to places were you can listen to the tracks to see if you like it as much as I do, and to places where you can buy the music either as a physical product or digitally.

I am happy to announce that I will be providing you with weekly music recommendations on national radio. Lt.Wee show is on the air every saturday at 20.00-22.00, with a re-run every thursday at the same time.

It is one of the most popular dance music programs on Norwegian radio and provides you with the weekly recommended dose of house music. It is just what your doctor prescribed. I will be recommending one hot new house track every week. Of course, you can still get your recommendations from the blog.You can tune in to Lt. Wee Show both through regular radio frequencies and online.

The fabulous Tirk Recordings are releasing some smokin’ comilations in the next few months. 

They have teamed up with The Unabombers to release the fourth volume in their ‘Electric Souls’ compilation series celebrating 13 years of music at their legendary Manchester club ‘Electric Chair’. I can’t wait to see the tracklisting and get my hands on it.

Furthermore, personal favourite and Norwegian disco maestro Todd Terje is to compile and mix the next ‘Press Play’ compilation.It has been three years since the first release in the series was mixed by Idjut Boys. You can expect a lot of nudisco/cosmic disco and plenty of the man’s own re-edits.