Django Django - Late Night Tales (2LP Vinyl) (Vinyl LP)

Django Django - Late Night Tales (2LP Vinyl)

Django Django curated a prestigious Late Night Tales collection, their oddball approach to music, which sounds like the rich harmonies of the Mamas & Papas beamed through a refracting prism pointing towards Bo Diddley, Chicago house and outer-space (it's no surprise to learn that Django producer/drummer Dave Maclean's brother John was in the Beta Band, who also shared the same cinemascopic view of the pop landscape).

Check out mixes that rock between two-step delights like Roy Davis Jr's 'Gabrielle' to Nilsson's lyrically winsome 'Coconut'. At one end of the Django spectrum there's James Last, the terminally unhip Teuton, whose 'Inner City Blues' shows you can never underestimate the Germans, while at the far reaches of the mix, they manage to sneak in Ramadanman ('Bass Drums') and Hudson Mohawke and Lunice collaboration TNGHT's 'Bugg'n'. You can hear the echoes of influences in some of the selections, like The Beach Boys whose peerless 'Surf's Up' makes a welcome appearance halfway through, while Seals & Crofts' 'Get Closer' show what sun-drenched pop can sound like when it's done well.

And because it's Late Night Tales there's a sparkling cover version of 'Porpoise Song', the theme from The Monkees daffily brilliant 'Head', an admirably lysergic termination to this waltz through pop's nooks and cranberries. "You should never be afraid to make a fool of yourself for art," Dave Maclean once said. Let's raise a dram to Scotland's favourite fools on the hill.

Tracklisting:

Disc 1:

1. Leo Kottke - The Tennessee Toad
2. Gulp - Game Love
3. Bob James - Nautilus
4. James Last - Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)
5. Philip Glass / Philip Glass Ensemble - Floe
6. Map Of Africa - Bone
7. Seals & Crofts - Sweet Green Fields
8. The Millennium - To Claudia On Thursday
9. The Beach Boys - Surf's Up
10. Primal Scream - Carry Me Home

Disc 2:

1. Massive Attack - Man Next Door
2. TNGHT - Bugg'n
3. OutKast - Slum Beautiful
4. Timmy Thomas - Why Can't We Live Together
5. Harry Nilsson - Coconut
6. Canned Heat - Poor Moon
7. Rick Miller - Future Directions
8. Django Django - Porpoise Song
9. Benedict Cumberbatch - Flat Of Angles, Pt. 4