Monday 17 November 2008

Soul Sonic Force / LFO

Truth be told, I hated this remix when it came out originally. I think the problem was there were a further different six mixes to chose from on the CD single (only the 808 State remix which became their "Plan 9" under a slight re-tooling is worth digging out ... but perhaps another day). I think the radical minimalism and rejection of pretty much everything in the original track apart from the occasional shout out by Afrika Baambaataa probably alienated me a little.

How wrong was I ?

If anyone knows their minimalism, it's LFO. It's one of the few remixes they released, but it stands up as timeless. I can listen to this remix sixteen years after it was first released, and it hasn't aged one day. Very special indeed.

  • Sendspace Soul Sonic Force - Planet Rock (House Mix II)
  • Now why hasn't somebody got around to remixing Timezone's World Destruction yet ?

    Sunday 16 November 2008

    Genaside II / Armand Van Helden

    Blimey ... talk about taking a remix to the next level. Armand Van Helden, never one to restrain himself at the best of times, turns in a signature style remix on Genaside II's rave anthem "Narra Mine" that has all the elements we'd come to expect from Helden around 1994 - backwards wamp wamp bass, off-kilter keyboards and crisp drum beats that helped define speed garage - least we forget a movement that was largely indebted to his remixes in the first place. And then the breakbeats ricochet in.....

    You have no idea the trouble that went into sourcing this mix. Most definitely worth it I hope you'll agree however. Today's video is more of the same. Although Genaside II never quite reached the commercial level they perhaps deserved, you can't help feeling that with their credibility remaining intact, they are probably not that fussed.


    Saturday 15 November 2008

    DJ Shadow / Cut Chemist

    It's not an understatement to say I owe DJ Shadow a lot. Although it's not unusual for certain albums so soundtrack a time of life, Shadow's "Entroducing" was a little more than that for me. It proved to be the inspiration for my thesis - how many people could cite not only DJ Shadow but also Coldcut in an academic paper ?

    Sometime partner in crime, but this time on the remix, Cut Chemist takes Shadow's hip-hop party trick and repeats to the nth degree in his remix below.

    Please check out as much of Shadow's back cat as you can - even the later more hip-hop orientated stuff, generally badly received badly by the press at the time, has aged with repeated listening very well. I think this calls for some more DJ Shadow in today's video ...

    Thursday 13 November 2008

    Aphex Twin / Kriece

    Back like the bad penny. Got quite a bit disheartened to be honest with posts disappearing - especially as I only seem to average about 100 hits a day. Yup - I could kill the record industry with this kind of coverage.

    I know nothing about today's remixer - Kriece - and you'll probably know a lot more about Richard D James than I ever could. The remix however is slight but effective, bringing one of the Aphex Twin's signature pieces more towards the dancefloor (well as much as you can with him)

    I was trying to think of a good reason to link today's video to Mr Aphex, but to be honest I can't other than LFO and Aphex have both been on the WARP record label at various points.

    And they both rock.

    If you are the artist featured and prefer not to be then please contact: iprefertheremixactually@gmail.com