Total Giovanni – A Mix for The Lifted Brow by The Lifted Brow on Mixcloud
A Mixtape to Make the Walls Sweat by Total Giovanni for The Lifted Brow: Digital.
1. Fatima Yamaha – What’s A Girl To Do
Calm idyllic swaying, slowly teased into a sexual pop synth that turns the mood from slow massaging to deep moans. The clothes are still on, but the bodies are moist. Aural foreplay.
2. Free Life – Dance Fantasy
Cosmic disco delights. Fuck the moonwalk. This is how you party in space. (Billie who???)
3. MF DOOM feat. Apani B – Let Me Watch
Date-night storytelling at its best. One of my most loved female rap verses, hands down: attitude served up over a gentle caress of subtle instrumentals, making the courting deep, and the denial harsh. Fuck the man behind the mask, and fuck the mask too.
I’d rather masturbate than fuck with Vik Vaughn.
4. GQ – Lies (Theo Parrish Ugly Edit #7)
The disjointed melodies of this record are enough to majorly shit you on the dancefloor. Don’t let the glitchy cuts and volume fades get you down. Listen to this song after the debauchery of a night out, whilst the sun breaks through and starts warming your shell of a body. Theo has the power to make everything alright again. It’s where lies become truth.5. Carmen – Time To Move
Sometimes you make a tasty spread: cold meats, Quincy Jones’ paste, pickles, sun-drieds, olives, crackers, and just the right amount of cheese. Carmen brings the cheese to the picnic. Her electro tones harness the incredibly clean production. This is hygiene at it’s grooviest. She also single-handedly mothered two love children, teaching them all she knew along the way. They grew up to be Chromeo.
6. Liquid Liquid – Optimo (Optimo Remix)
Cow bells. Not just for cows. They’re also for getting loose in the raw madness created by these gorging instruments that must be high. The shamanic ramblings are felt best with big speakers on a dark dance floor. Let your limbs have a freak-out. And don’t worry about the random jabs and slaps you receive from the body next to you; they’re just busy losing their own shit too.
7. Andras & Oscar – Everytime I Go
Proof the Melbourne dance scene is in a good spot. These boys take nineties smooth house to another level, lavishing sweetened vocals over clean livin’ on a dance floor. You can’t help but smile as the swirling synths taper off into your favourite dream. Ain’t nothing but a good time.
8. Mike Francis – Night Time Lady
Giovanni guitarist Cavallo Nero recently searched his family tree and discovered that Michele Francesco Puccioni (Mike Francis) was a distant cousin. Nero has since dedicated every one of his guitar solos in his honour. This track plays up the innocence of the Florentine streets and ends with hints of how the Italian discotheque gets down.
9. The Chaplin Band – II Veliero
Giovanni member Vinnie Del told me he heard this song performed by an Italian Christian choir on the streets of Windsor one Sunday afternoon.
10. Ronnie Dyson – All Over Your Face
Ronnie knows how to party. Follow Ronnie down a hole and you come up covered in cotton candy – sticky and fun. Sometimes you find there’s more cotton than the candy lets on. Sometimes the meaning is sweeter than the candy. Ronnie tells me that every time we chat.
Total Giovanni is an experience. It is a feeling. It is the most sexually charged discothèque this side of the Tropic of Capricorn. Notorious for their highly energetic live shows, Total Giovanni create dance music to enable collective psychic liberation. With sets that move from smooth boogie to shamanic disco and heartbreak house, TG have built a reputation on whipping venues into bacchanalian frenzies. Now they bring their polyrhythmic jams and liberated masculinity into your living room with a record release imminent on visionary Melbourne label Two Bright Lakes. Free yourself…
Total Giovanni launch their new single Can’t Control My Love, December 20 at Shebeen Bandroom.
This mix originally appeared in The Lifted Brow: Digital, Volume 15, Issue 2. Get the free app and download your copy now.