The air is dense and hot, charged with emotion and furious movement. Glistening torsos gyrate, you lose your shirt, you lose your mind. Sweat begins to collect at the nape of your neck and runs down the grooves of your spine. The thundering bass whips your body in time to the beat as the floor shakes in rhythm with the percussion. You can’t stop, you won’t stop moving. The sun begins to rise above Manhattan, over another long and endless night in Paradise. 

Image © of Bill Bernstein, 1979

Nights In Paradise Volume 1

From outside you hear the thump of the RLA sound system rattling the foundations, sending pulsations and echoes deep into the night sky. As you gain access to this hallowed ground, heavenly frequencies caress your synapses and you feel the intensity of the percussion inviting you further inside. As the dance ritual begins, you drop to your knees and throw your hands into the air, catching each drum hit, one by one, palm by palm. It’s only the beginning of your marathon stay, the scorching light of the morning far away. The sermon begins.

Image © of Bill Bernstein

Nights In Paradise Volume 2

Nights in Paradise - Volume 3! 

Take a sonic vacation to one endless night in 1980s Manhattan, just in time for the weekend. 

“You come with me, fly away, on a journey…”

Above your head cosmic synthetic frequencies dance from the tweeter array, the horns growl with rhythmic pulsations and earth shattering gospel. Finally the RLA bass cabinets boom and shake your body into a state of kick-drum-driven, Moog-fueled hypnosis. 

Hands come together and clap in perfect synchronicity with the crack of the snare drum as legs gyrate and spin. The crowd is one, under a divine spell, mesmerized by a groove that transcends the passing of the hours outside in the breaking pink dawn as it rises above the glistening towers. You escape deeper into the endless night, leaving your body, for one last time, on a journey you hope will never end.

NB: Listen to it LOUD. I've restored and expanded each individual track, before carefully remastering in the mixdown for maximum impact and in doing so unearthed some hidden harmonics and frequencies that really bring the music to life for a more immersive experience.

Nights In Paradise Volume 3

I haven't yet invented a time machine, but here's the next best thing - a journey to the sweaty underbellies of New York & Chicago, around 3am, somewhere in the mid to late 1980's. 

Featuring belters from from T.S Monk, Fresh, Liz Torres, Gwen Guthrie, John Rocca and so much more...there's even something by The Purple One hiding in there. Play it LOUD!

A Touch Of Love

It's bootleg time! 

Heavy on the bass, scorching hot on the voice and ice cold with the rhythms. 

Edit of RERB by SHOCK (1980) & Crash Goes Love by Loleatta Holloway (1984).

Rupert Ft. Loleatta Holloway & SHOCK - Crash! (Where's The Beef?)

It's dark, it's dirty, it's rough and ready to blow your speakers. 
Inspired by a live recording of the legendary maestro Frankie Knuckles spinning the track at Belmont Beach in 1985. I wanted to capture the boom, crack and natural distortion of the tape recording and here it is. Volume UP!

Made in U.S.A - Melodies (Rupert Bootleg)

A little something to make the sweat drip from the ceiling. 84 minutes of whiplashing post-disco, proto-house and iconic gay pounders served with a splash of amyl nitrate. Clothing optional. 

Tracklist: 

1. Aurra - Just A Little Love (Dub)
2. Felix - Tiger Stripes 
3. T.C Curtis - Body Shake (Dub) 
4. The Salsoul Orchestra - You're Just The Right Size
5. André Cymone - The Dance Electric
6. Michael Campbell & High Volt - We Are Making Music (Part 1)
7. Steve 'Silk' Hurley - I Don't Know
8. Jeancy -  U Turn Me On 
9. Solo - Dub Girls (Ah Ah Hi)
10. Jamie Principle - Bad Boy (Ron Hardy Reel-to-Reel Edit)
11. Jet Set - Love Break
12. Lefturno - Out of Sight (Dub) 
13. Weeks & Co - Your Next Door Neighbor 
13. Bunny Sigler - By The Way You Dance (Larry Levan Remix)
14. Bohannon - Let's Start The Dance (Rupert Bootleg)

S W E A T B O X

Heavy-hitting hustle classic 'Under The Skin' by The Brothers receives the Rupert treatment in this deluxe extended edit, featuring a cameo from Danny Tenaglia's iconic acappella to 'Elements'.  

"You have to let go..."

The Brothers - Under The Skin (Rupert Elemental Bootleg)

When it's cold outside, you need something hot inside. Sweating mandatory. 

84 minutes of hand chosen post-disco, pre-house, muscular, thundering dub mixes and poppers'o'clock pounders. Clothing optional. 

Tracklist: 

1. The Vels - Look My Way (Dub)
2. Loco Mia - Loco Mia
3. Yello - Lost Again (Extended Club Mix)
4. Suzy Q. - Tonight (Extended Club Mix)
5. East/West - Can't Face The Night
6. The Fantastic Aleems - Hooked On Your Love (Extended Club Mix)
7. Barbara Roy - If You Want Me
8. Ellis D ft. Loleatta Holloway - My Loleatta (Club Mix)
9. Pleasure Pump - Fantasize Me (Club Mix)
10. Liz Torres - Mama's Boy (Dub Mix) 
11. Moskwa Television - Tekno Talk
12. Phyllis Nelson - I Like You (Shep Pettibone Mix)
13. Junie Morrison - Tease Me (Arthur Baker Dub Mix)
14. The Ojay's - Put Our Heads Together 
15. Opal - Ain't No Way (Special Club Mix)
16. Thelma Houston - You Used To Hold Me (Dub Mix)

N I G H T M O V E S

Your soundtrack to the summer that just left us. Music from a palm tree lined Los Angeles avenue, reflected from a Miami swimming pool circa 1985. Enjoy!

The Beach

Obscuro oddities and mutant disco for Saturday night partytime. 

TRACKLIST:

1. CAROL-SO LOW
2. GRAUZONE-RAUM
3. CHRISTIANE F-HEIMWEH!
4. CHRIS & COSEY-MORNING
5. DAVE BALL-MAN INSIDE THE MAN (ft Genesis P Orridge)
6. BONGWATER-TALENT IS A VAMPIRE
7. BAND APART-MARSEILLE
8. LUNAPARK-LEDERHOSEN
9. SHOCK!-DREAM GAMES
10. SYLVI FOSTER-HOOKEY
11. CARLA RABB-SEXY FILMS
12. MARION-BULLE DE PLASTIQUE
13. YANNICK CHEVALIER-ECOUTE LE SON DU SOLEIL
14. RICK DELISLE-RADIO WAVES
15. TELEX-I DON'T LIKE MUSIC
16. BAGARRE-FOR YOUR PLEASURE
17. ISADORA JUICE-MUSICA MAGICA 

FRÉQUENCES MAGIQUES (Early 2016)

More dislocated disco and savage electronics for your dancing pleasure!

Note: I shall be playing many of these treasures on Friday 22nd April at Barbie Deinhoff's (Schlesische Straße 16, Berlin) from 22:00-End. Do come, and dance to this in real life!

TRACKLIST:
1. Unknown Artist-Memory Pressure
2. Conrad Schnitzler-Auf Dem Schwarzen Kanal
3. John Talabot-Zanzibar
4. Severed Heads-Adolf a Karrot
5. Abecedarians-Smiling Monarchs
6. Rabi Beaini-Tanki Tanki (Edit)
7. Monopol-Elektrischer Stuhl
8. Nuclear Interlude
9. Soft Cell-Frustration!
10. Bionda e Lupo-Le Louvre (Diana Est Cover)
11. Funky Family-Funky Is On
12. Micky Milan-C'est Une Bombe (Cette Super Fille La)
13. Barry Bryson-Going To The Party
14. Joanne Wilson-Got To Have You (Whiskey Baron's Rework)
15. Henriette Coulouvrat-Miam Miam Goody Goody
16. Patty Pravo-New York
17. Silvia-Das Ende Von Traum
18. Angela-Aus Und Vorbei

ZANZIBAR (Spring 2016)

DJ

RUPERT (b. 1991) aka Robert Paul Gardner, is a British DJ based in Berlin. Cutting his teeth from the age of 17 in the queer club scene of East London, RUPERT(then known as Alpha Deluxe) developed a reputation for a bold and eclectic style of musical curation that swung from Italo obscurities through the lavish extravagances of New York disco and over to the beginnings of house and new beat. Holding a weekly residency at Shoreditch’s infamous The George & Dragon alongside nightlife icon and DJ Princess Julia, as well as regular appearances at Dalston Superstore, Vogue Fabrics and East Bloc et al,  RUPERT covered London in a frenzy of cowbell infused euphoria.

Whilst falling ever deeper into a pool of obscuro electronica and post-disco after relocating to Berlin in 2015, RUPERT began regular residencies at Barbie Deinhoff and Cafe Futuro, opting to eschew club gigs in favour of loungier listening environments and soundtracking those smokey, endless nights.

After an extended hiatus from DJing that focused on producing the darkwave synth-pop project Szalazar, 2022 sees the return of a dancefloor-ready RUPERT. 

Dubby, synthesizer-tinged disco rubs shoulders with powerful vocals and frenetic drum machine rhythms to deliver a sound that reverently echoes and pays homage to the underground nightlife scene of 1980's New York and Chicago, allowing one to experience an element of sonic time travel. Transporting you to dancefloors you wish you’d been alive to witness.

Popular tracks by RUPERT