Russia: Dance Your Pain Away with Dj Buddy Beaverhausen

"This is not a good time for gays in Georgia, Ukraine, Russia or — presumably — other parts of the former Soviet Union," said the Dallas Voice today. "The glasnost, or openness, that was supposed to come with the breakup of the megastate has faded on many fronts. Not the least of them is the freedom for which LGBT people had hoped and planned."

I am concerned for many of my readers in those countries, and wish them the best through these dark and troubling times. Remember, you have support globally, my friends!

AmericBlog stated: "Vladimir Putin’s Russia continues its decline into third world dictatorship and despotism today with the passage of legislation in the lower house (the State Duma) which bans the public display of anything pro-gay, including words.

"The law would also permit the government to jail foreign visitors for up to two weeks before throwing them out of the country." Jail! Isn't deportation enough already?!

Well, now, Mother Russia's a Mutha Fucka! And isn't this a violation of human rights? International law? The timing of this homophobic persecution, of course, came shortly after the US Supreme Court's historic decision on gay marriage. Holy hysteria, Batman!

So, kindly cancel my vacation plans to visit Vladivostok for the time being. I shall boycott Beluga! So long, Stoli! Down with Putin and up with pettin'!

If short-term memory serves me (doesn't always), I think Russia recently sued Lady Gaga and Madonna for making pro-gay statements. THAT is the last straw!

Even domestically in the States, the dark forces gather to oppose the Supremes' decision. Indiana just passed a law. On July 1 of next year, same-sex couples applying for a marriage license in that state will have  committed a felony punishable by 18 months in prison and a $10,000 fine. (Hey, Texas Senate was confiscating women's Tampons today! Bloody hell! ps: handguns are permitted. Cancel my plans to visit that state! (Oh, wait, I had none!))

But we shall overcome, my friends.

I offer my readers this song. We are one! And we will be victorious in our civil rights struggle. As for right now: Dance Your Pain Away with this hot 7th Heaven remix of the new Agnetha Faltskog song posted below.

Love you all! Peace, Love, Happiness, Justice, let's work for a Better Tomorrow and -- most of all -- hold on to your Pride!

Buddy B's Dish on the Latest Dance, Disco and Diva Tunes in Time for Pride

Believe me, nobody's going to accuse the latest Tony Moran/Deborah Cooper dance song, "Heartbeat," of being verbose. And its minimalist lyrics are not all that's indicative of the laziness inherent in modern house music; it has virtually no melody and relies too heavily on its calculated and clumsy beat. This producer and singer are capable of so much better, together and individually; we know because they've done so in the past. And this Heartbeat is half-heartedly cynical, released during international Pride month and hoping to exploit the credentials of its talents to a target audience. It is #6 on the Billboard dance chart, and got there in eight weeks. I think that's a sad statement about the current dance-music scene and the power of payola.

Yet, there is hope! The disco-funky "Get Lucky," by Daft Punk featuring vocals by Pharrell, hangs onto the #1 Billboard club/dance position, which is a very promising sign. In the #12 spot: the return of the simply sublime Abigail, the UK's brilliant hiNRG songbird, here in a kind of trancey, dreamy mode. The Bouvier & Barona-produced number is called "Surrender" and I believe you'll surrender to it if you give it a listen at the YouTube link below.

Canada's groovy diva, Annie, returns with a catchy dance tune, "Tube Stops and Lonely Hearts." Another biggie on Dj Buddy Beaverhausen's current play list. I love the FNM remix especially. Also rather beautiful is a promo I received for the song "Disco Compilation," a well-produced number with a virtual wall of sound surrounding songstress Serafina Steer's strong vocals. I highly recommend it and will be spinning it, especially the Jarvis Cocker remix.

I also received a dance remix of Agnetha Faltskog, essentially a bootleg remix, from her new album, A. http://djbuddybeaverhausen.blogspot.com/2013/05/agnetha-faltskogs-a.html  The song is, surprisingly, "When You Love Someone," a mild ballad on the album, but it works in this "Alias" mix as what could be a club floor filler.

Finally, there are no words to describe how fierce the Ralphi Rosario remix rework of Chaka Khan's new "It's Not Over" is! It will positively lift you to the disco floor. 

Love, peace and disco! And welcome, to the island Mauritius, to my blog!

Wrap Your Arms Around Agnetha!

Now that Agnetha is back with a whole new album (that I recently reviewed on this blog http://djbuddybeaverhausen.blogspot.com/2013/05/agnetha-faltskogs-a.html), here is an irresistible remix of her 1983 single, "Wrap Your Arms Around Me."

Beautiful song, beautiful 2013 dance mix. Enjoy!

(From YouTube; audio with image.)

Agnetha Faltskog's A

Agnetha Faltskog's new album, A, finds the diva working with producers Jorgen Eloffsen (who has famously worked with Kelly Clarkson and Britney Spears) and Peter Nordahl. It will be released tomorrow in the USA.  Eloffson wrote all the songs on this album with the exception of "I Keep Them on the Floor Beside My Bed" (no, not a song about condoms), co-written by Agnetha and Eloffsen.

The result is a sweet album tailored for Agnetha, reflecting both the shy vulnerability of her persona, and her soft yet solid vocals. "Some of you might know Agnetha Fältskog from her work with a little-known Swedish pop group called ABBA, who apparently had some hits back in the'70s," UK's The Guardian said tongue-in-cheeky-like.

Her ABBA roots are showing on A's sensational "Dance Your Pain Away," perfectly designed for club remixes. It restores Ms Faltskog to Dancing Queen status, fronting a disco beat and a melody that alternately recalls a variety of ABBA hits while not slavishly imitating any of them. ("[G]uaranteed to get your mum under the glitterball," The Telegraph snarked.) Along with "When You Really Loved Someone," it is one of the intended singles off the album.

But it is the song, "Back on Your Radio," where certainly Dj Buddy would like Agnetha to be, that is a very contemporary-sounding ballad conjuring up Madonna, as well it should because Madge is very strongly influenced by the now-63-year-old Swedish songstress (evident in Madonna's 2005 single, "Hung Up," which samples ABBA's "Gimme Gimme Gimme (A Man After Midnight)").

Agnetha Faltskog had a successful 1968 solo album before joining ABBA and finding a larger international stardom. She claims, as musical influences, '60s "girl singers" Connie Francis, Lesley Gore and Marianne Faithfull.

The numerous ballads on A (Agnetha's first album in almost a decade) convey those influences as Ms Faltskog makes her way through a number of soft ballads that are endearing if, perhaps, not displaying sufficient variety. And the aforementioned "I Keep Them on the Floor" is a tearjerker, surely, for anyone who lends an ear.

Released by Universal International. Available on cd or download. (The cd includes a pamphlet of liner notes with lyrics and photograhs.)