Shepard Fairey's Hope/Elysian Park Obama Billboard The pro-Obama musical onslaught has finally found it's way into the realm of house music. As those of you who have been scanning the Beatport home page already know, House Music United's 'Yes We Can' is (at the time of blogging) the site's second most downloaded track. The track features snippets of Barack's 'Yes We Can' speech on the night of the New Hampshire Primary back in Februrary. 'Yes We Can' is the latest of a slew of pro-Obama tracks. Notably, reggae musician Coco Tea has been chanting the candidate's last name over his track, and Will.I.Am & Friends made their black and white tribute, also titled 'Yes We Can', in sync with the Senator's speech itself. Yes We Can was Released on Reinvent Music, a generic electronic dance music label sporting glamour DJs like Antoine Clamaran and Roger Sanchez. Not much is known about the producer(s) behind the moniker House Music United. Is this just an opportunistic record label's attempt to make a quick buck of off current events, or a genuine commemoration of what just might go down as one of the most historic speeches of our century? Clappers and Clappettes, that judgement is yours to make.

Hot damn, I can't believe we haven't done a mixTAPE Time since last year. But hey, we're finally back and boy do we have a treat for you. If you ask anyone who was there they'll tell you that the Cheap Sunglasses afterhours at PS-14 was the highlight of WMC '08 (shout out to The BLK|Market Membership and Udder Madness). I mean how can you go wrong when you have two rooms of underground beats, well actually one room and one super chill sunlit back patio, in a super intimate venue with only real music-heads (not the Space/Nocturnal meat-heads) from 8am-10pm. Basically you can't, and to top it all off Italoboyz absolutely killed it with a old-school New York influenced minimal/house/garage set in the sunshine, and now we have a recording of it for you! [audio:http://www.soulclap.us/audio/italoboyz-cheapsunglasses-wmc08.mp3] Italoboyz @ Cheap Sunglasses (PS-14) WMC '08 DOWNLOAD

Special shout out to our boy Pito from Biatch Corp for making the trek to Cambridge to play Phoenix Wednesdays. Anyone in NYC should definitely check out their parties, as the Biatch Corp crew are certainly doing it. Cnyce opens with some deep-housey-technizeness, then Pito beats it with a proper dance floor minimal vibe. DOWNLOAD | SUBSCRIBE

flyer by erik jackson

flyer by erik jackson

Continuing from where we left off, it's the crack of the 90s, and Little Louie Vega and Kenny Dope Gonzalez are well on their way to building their reputation as Masters at Work. 1993 saw them release their first album, The Album. A combination of singles released up to that point as well as some new production, it includes some early classics, like Blood Vibes. As remixers, MAW found themselves working with artists like Michael Jackson, Madonna, Ce Ce Peninston, and Donna Summer, but the best was still yet to come.

[audio:nuyoricansoul-runaway.mp3] Nuyorican Soul - Runaway [Talkin' Loud - 1997] BUY Once upon a time, way back when DJs were gathering underground popularity by extending and remixing the pop stars of the time, DJ of DJs Larry Levan had a unique concept. He dreamed of creating a studio album in which the DJ is the maestro. This album would consist of DJ-produced tracks featuring the voices and elements of that DJ's favorite singers and musicians. In the 1997 album titled Nuyorican Soul by Masters at Work fulfilled that dream. On Nuyorican Soul, MAW celebrate both their Puerto Rican and disco roots and summon the talents of musicians George Benson, Vince Montana, Jocelyn Brown, Roy Ayers, and Tito Puente to create an album that pays tribute to the artists they love. Looking back more than 10 years later it's more clear than ever that rather than sagging with the overburdening stink of excess stardom, Nuyorican Soul has established itself as one of the greatest dance albums of all time. This track is a redux of the disco classic of the same name by the Salsoul Orchestra and Lolleata Holloway, Runaway is one of the four singles off of the Nuyorican Soul album. With Louie Vega's ex-wife La India providing the vocals, they do soulful justice to the original. It was the first single to receive the remix treatment, retouched by 90s greats Armand Van Helden and Mousse T. Armand's mix (Mogoloids in Space) bumps, and Mousse T provides a more direct dancefloor translation.

[audio:maw-laindiaconlavoe.mp3] Masters at Work - La India Con La Voe (Viva Puerto Rico) (MAW Tribin') [MAW Records - 1997] BUY In case the parentheses aren't obvious enough, this tribal tune is an ode to the island of Puerto Rico. Featuring samples of a cheering concert crowd, nationalist & spiritual cries, and La India's sweet voice all over a set of lively drums, this track has Spanish Harlem Block Party written all over it.

[audio:kenlou-gimmegroove.mp3] Kenlou - Gimme Groove [MAW Records - 1995] BUY Gimme Groove is the B-side buddy to Kenlou's classic The Bounce (which happens to be amongst Cnyce's favorite tracks- too treasured to post!). Whereas The Bounce is more lively, Gimme Groove is a deeper, nine-minute mood-setter of a track that can really set the tone for a good night out. Definitely maintains the sexy.

Wowzah... So, clearly a lot going on in the world of Soulclap! As you may already know, our first vinyl (The Giraffe b/w Franco Cinelli Remix) came out last month on AirDrop Records and we're DOUBLE celebrating first with a listening party early at The LAB in Allston, and then at night with the official release party at our Midweek Techno residency at Phoenix Landing in Cambridge. The listening party at LAB (113 Brighton Ave) is 7:30-9:30p. First 50 people to ask get a free copy of our Great White Hope vol. III mixtape, which features 15 tracks of Soul Clap originals and remixes! The official record release at Wednesdays @ Phoenix Landing (512 Mass Ave) is from 10p-1a. We've got special guest DJ Die Young (Basstown) opening with a minimal set from 10-11:30 and then Soul Clap closing out. A lucky few might also get a copy the Great White Hope vol. III, MAYBE if they're luck, REAL lucky...

flyer by erik jackson this week our special guest is pito. he's from biatch corp in nyc. check the mix he did for us below. pito - midweek techno mix DOWNLOAD coming up soon: 4/23 - giraffe release party 4/30 - manzi & loren 5/7 - AGARIC

It's been a crazy month for us in the press, from Dancing On The Charles getting featured on heeb.com to The Giraffe getting selected as a WMC Track on the Beatportal blog we've been all over this place the last couple weeks. Maybe best of all though is the article that came out in Boston's stuff@night magazine's first ever music issue last Monday. Not only was it an honor to sit on a roundtable interview with some of Boston's most influential DJs, but stuff@night really let us all get our points across by printing the entire interview instead of turning it into a story (and even went one step further by posting outtakes on their website). It was such a big deal that they even interviewed us on The Sandbox Morning Show on WFNX about the article and Boston DJs in general (check the interview below for some sillyness). It's super exciting that creative, hard working and good Boston's DJs are finally getting some shine, lord knows we need it in this city. And if you're around this coming Monday (4/14) then make sure to hit the official roundtable party at The GoodLife, we'll all be playing 2 sets, 1 upstairs and 1 downstairs and it's invite only so make sure to RSVP. [audio:http://www.soulclap.us/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/wfnx-interview.mp3] Soulclap WFNX Interview

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