I Prefer The Remix

The Orb / Alan Parker

2009-10-12T22:16:00.002Z

I've never been to Watford. Mind you there's more chance of me going to Watford than there is Arizona.

Sendspace The Orb & Alan Parker - Grey Clouds

Can you believe how old King Monkey is now ? Ian Brown has another album out now, but why are you not playing Aberdeen this time on your tour. Disappointed. Classic stone Roses here .... worth watching right until the end.

Prodigy / Secret Knowledge

2009-09-25T21:22:00.005Z

God love 'em they've had their ups and downs. Regardless of the naysayers, I reckon this year's "Invaders Must Die" has been a definite return to form. No coincidence perhaps that the rave samples have started to creep back in. Rewind back to 1995 however, and it's a mystery to me why today's remix didn't seem to get a major UK release other than on this compilation.

Sendspace The Prodigy - Speedway (Secret Knowledge Remix)

Seems clear to me Liam Prodigy has been hammering The Breeders' "Last Splash" album consistently since 1993. "World's On Fire", the standout track from The Prodigy's latest album manages a couple of deft sampling tricks, but possibly the neatest is the appropriation of Ms Deal's vocal from "I Just Want To Get Along". I hope Liam gets a Christmas card at least from her in return for all the royalties. I would however urge you to check out The Breeders' Last Splash album, as it has aged very well indeed as I found out to my pleasure on recent listening.

Editors / Cicada

2009-09-22T19:11:00.006Z

Now this is an unusual one - I did a little research for a change! Turns out that Tom Smith, lead singer of Editors, guests on Cicada's new album "Roulette" which came out earlier this year (and you can buy here via iTunes). I actually bought Cicada's debut album on the strength of the two Editors remixes and a Depeche Mode remix they produced, but was bitterly disappointed with the second rate album I received. My opinion is reserved on their difficult second album at the moment but from the promotional videos kicking around, it looks like they are now travelling down the euro-pop in a cool kind of Annie / Royksopp / Robyn kind of way.

Sendspace Editors - All Sparks (Cicada Remix)

Editors have long been accused of ripping of Joy Division - somewhat cruelly it's been suggested that they're now turning into New Order on the evidence of their new single. Personally I reckon they always had a hint of Ultravox (listen to Editor's "Blood" and then listen to Ultravox's "The Voice" if you don't believe me). Not a bad thing at all I reckon, but judge for yourself. The award for daftest video of this year so far goes to Editor's for Papillon ...

I Prefer The Cover #1 / Ed Solo

2009-08-28T19:37:00.005Z

First in an occasional series where I prefer the cover version. Posting about Jam & Spoon the other day reminded me of their remix of The Age Of Love's "Age Of Love". Their "Watch Out For Stella" remix is possibly still the definitive (of many) remixes that are infrequently issued.

Sendspace Ed Solo - Age Of Dub

Ed Solo however, usually better known for his breaks tracks, serves up a corker here. Half way between a remix and a cover version as there's so many original elements in this version that I'm going to just call it a cover version. The live version however, as shown in the video below is really rather impressive and perhaps even better than the version on offer for today's download.

Transglobal Underround / Dreadzone

2009-08-26T22:47:00.003Z

Truth be told, I never bought this single for the A-Side. This remix was always the attraction - a veritable acid dub monster that renders the original somewhat obsolete.

Sendspace Transglobal Underground - Lookee Here (Dreadzone Remix)

A certain Heitham Al-Sayed was featured as the guest vocalist in this track - Around the same time however, he was better known as the male lead singer from Senser ... which brings me to the second video. Senser have reformed, have a new single out shortly, and I reckon it's mighty fine ....

Inner City / Altern8

2009-08-26T22:42:00.002Z

Back to 1991 on this track. Altern8 were let loose on what was a relatively pedestrian gospel-house track and turned it into a classic rave track that still sounds up today.

Sendspace Inner City - Let It Reign (Altern8 Know The Score Remix)

First video today - well I'm not sure if anybody, and I mean anybody has ever come close to topping this as the best techno pop song ever. Get yer suggestions in the comments in now...

Skunk Anansie / Blue Amazon

2009-08-25T21:36:00.005Z

Metaphorically digging the crates on this one for a DMC only release from 1997. Back before trance was shit. Blue Amazon turn Indie Rock on its head with a long long remix - it's 14+ minutes so you have been warned. Again, apologies for the relatively low bitrate but back then that's how I ripped 'em from the vinyl.

Sendspace Skunk Anansie - Twisted (Blue Amazon DMC Remix)

And from one DMC to another. Great great hip-hop track from 1990 that samples ... welll that would spoil it.

Grooverider / Tipper

2009-08-25T21:07:00.003Z

None so heavy as this - it takes about two minutes for the bassline to kick in, but what a bassline. Hard to believe this is now 10 years old, but this mix still stands today. At the time, this was classified as Nu-Skool Breaks - I guess it's now Old-Nu-Skool Breaks then ? This is a vinyl rip (gotta love those one sided promos) from years ago but despite the relatively low bitrate encoding it stil sounds pretty crisp, even if truth be told it sounds nothing like the original.

Sendspace Grooverider - Jack The Ripper (Tipper Remix)

Spurious link for the video below ... Jack The ripper's a Gothic tale. The Raveonettes are a great Goth group. That's the way I roll.

Orbital / Rolf Harris

2009-08-24T20:43:00.003Z

This one's for Chris. And possibly by Chris also. Somewhere, I'm sure there is a version made by P & P that has Rolf Harris on it - in the meantime this is the next best thing. And this is the version that should have been on Middle Of Nowhere, and any number of compilations since. Do it yourself - stick this in yer ipod.

Sendspace Orbital - Style (With Rolf)

One of these days I'll post the 808 State remix of Rolf Harris also. Don't care what anyone says ... this is a great song

FGTH / Jam & Spoon

2009-08-24T20:11:00.004Z

Mark Spoon. Legend.

Sendspace FGTH - Relax (Jam & Spoon Trip-O-Matic Fairytale Mix)

Blame this blog. Time to bring I Prefer The Remix back to life. Time To Burn.

The Rapture / Cosmos

2008-12-16T22:14:00.004Z

It's all about the breakdown. Just. F*ckin. Massive.

Sendspace The Rapture - House Of Jealous Lovers (Cosmos Remix)

This track has been edited slightly from its original format to give it some proper beats to DJ with at the start ...In other Rapture related news ... I've got a ticket to see The Specials next year. How Happy Am I ?

Klaxons / South Central

2008-12-08T00:37:00.003Z

Took me a little while to dig out this one - only a couple of years ago but seems to have disappeared from the net despite the popularity of the Klaxons. I suspect they covered Kick's Like A Mule rave classic "The Bouncer" as a pisstake, that somehat backfired on them as they got tagged with the "nu-rave" albatross. Kicks Like A Mule returned the favour by "covering" Gravity's Rainbow, which you can hear on their myspace. South Central managed to put the rave back into the Klaxon's version however with their illicit bootleg remix

Sendspace Klaxons - The Bouncer (South Central Remix)

Still not as good as the original though ...

Spooky / Spooky

2008-12-08T00:16:00.003Z

One of these days, I'm gonna write down my password for this blog !

Since both Acid Ted and Audio.Out did such excellent posts on Progessive House (and Spooky in particular for one part) it seemed rude not to post what is one of my all time favourite remixes. Unusual perhaps because no 3rd party remixer is involved here - it's the band remixing themselves, but boy, what a job. It reminds me a lot of Orbital's "Belfast" in certain parts, as well as Orbital in general thanks to the increasing loops of chord progression. Never once does it get dull however.

In fact ... it's so good that would pretty obviously later become the basis for "Expander" when Spooky started working with Sasha.

Sendspace Spoooky - Little Bullet (Live Version)

No better excuse really needed for a bit of Dusty...

Soul Sonic Force / LFO

2008-11-17T23:01:00.005Z

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 ?

Genaside II / Armand Van Helden

2008-11-16T15:52:00.003Z

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.....

Sendspace Genaside II - Narra Mine(AVH's West Coast Remix)

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.

DJ Shadow / Cut Chemist

2008-11-15T02:16:00.004Z

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.

Sendspace DJ Shadow - The Number Song (Cut Chemist Remix)

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 ...

Aphex Twin / Kriece

2008-11-13T17:16:00.004Z

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)

Sendspace Aphex Twin - Windowlicker(Kriece Remix)

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.

Queens Of The Stone Age / UNKLE

2008-10-24T06:17:00.001Z

Today's remix is something quite special.

UNKLE had initially been thought of as an outlet for DJ Shadow's multiple talents. It was round about the time of this remix, when Shadow had left UNKLE that it became quite clear that it was James Lavelle who was indeed steering this ship after all, and with some style.

This is a remix that changes everything, and I mean, everything.The vocals have been remixed in such a way that although the structure has not been changed, the dynamics feel completely different. The bassline has been re-arranged so much it's only just recognisable as being born from the original version. As for the arrangement - just mind blowingly different from the original without losing the impact, and in fact quite hightening the tension and theme of the original. Without doubt a stunning remix.

Sendspace Queens Of The Stone Age - No One Knows (UNKLE Remix)

Josh Homme from Queens Of The Stoneage is responsible for another fantastic group, The Eagles Of Death Metal.

Musique vs U2 / Mauro Picotto

2008-10-18T10:15:00.004Z

Not normally a huge fan of either U2 or Mauro Picotto, but here the balance just seems to be about right - a lovely techno style cut up of U2's New Years Day which has a great drop about half way through. Simple & effective .... it's what a great remix should be.

Sendspace Musique vs U2 - New Years Dub (Mauro Picotto Remix)

U2 at one point decided it would be a good idea to record a cover version of M's Pop Musik. A great excuse to post some Hexstatic really ... here's their video remix of M's Pop Musik.

Zelda

2008-10-18T10:09:00.004Z

I Prefer The Remix is puzzled by the disappearance of the last post (a lovely mix of Madonna by Orbital).

In other unrelated news, here's a nice picture of an 80's icon.

Von Sudenfed / Pilooski

2008-09-20T08:55:00.007Z

What's the difference between an edit and a remix ?

You do kind of feel sorry for all of today's artists in some respects .... Mark E Smith & Mouse On Mars (or collectively, Von Sudenfed) have always managed to stay on the left field of their respective genres (go on ... try and classify The Fall), but have never quite alligned their critical success with commercial mass appeal.

Pilooski on the other hand has been massively popular with a lot of bloggers and DJs alike. Just when you think he's going to strike a massive hit, his re-edit of Frankie Valli's "Begging You" gets bastardised in a pop-rap cover version of his edit. Life a bit crap sometimes.

Sendspace Von Sudenfed - The Rhinohead (Pilooski Edit)

Today's video is of "Telephone Thing", one of the collaboration between The Fall and Coldcut.

I Prefer The Remix will be out of office for the next three weeks or so....

The Human Leage / Humantek

2008-09-17T21:13:00.004Z

A break today - not so much a remix as a totally different track that drops a sample to devastating effect.
Just be warned, it's pretty hard techno (and all the better for it) until that drop....

Sendspace Humantek - Bang!

And here's a rather ace video of The Human League performing "Being Boiled" live

The White Stripes / High Contrast

2008-09-16T20:52:00.006Z

Rrrrramp it up. Harder. Better. Faster. Stronger .... so to speak.

Difficult to see how this could cause anything other than dancefloor devastation (mind you, the Dirty Funker remixes of the same track were pretty limp). Pretty much essential for either Drum & Bass fans or White Stripes Fans I'd say, and nothing else need be said.

Sendspace The White Stripes - Blue Orchid (High Contrast Remix)

Today's video is London Elektricity's "All Hell Is Breaking Loose" cos
a) I couldn't find any decent High Contrast Videos
b) London Elektricity are labelmates to High Contrast
b) y'all have seen enough White Stripes videos already probably and ...
c) It's rather ace, and out now.

Annie Lennox / N-Joi

2008-09-15T23:29:00.006Z

Now this really is creating a miracle. From the smallest of vocal samples, N-Joi managed to totally de-contruct the Aberdonian warbler into a rave queen.

N-Joi have been unfairly dismissed as one hit wonders (thanks to their uber-smash hit "Anthem") but it's perhaps more than a little unfair given the strength of their back-catalogue. I strongly recommend you try and track down a copy of their album "Inside Out" as well as their "Live In Manchester" EP*.

I don't believe there's much I can say about Annie Lennox that hasn't already been said. Let's just leave it at that.

Sendspace Annie Lennox - Little Bird (N-Joi Remix)

I think you should probably have some N-Joi for the video rather than Annie Lennox. You know how to use you-tube as well as I do if you really want to see the original version

*it's not really live by the way ...

Sugarcubes / Jesus And Mary Chain

2008-09-15T20:10:00.003Z

hahaha - and here's yesterday's post that I somehow managed to delete ! Don't forget to scroll down for today's entry ....

Erm .... Sugarcubes ..... Jesus & Mary Chain ... blah blah blah.

(and thanks for your comment Ctel which is now lost forever !)

Sendspace Sugarcubes - Birthday (The Jesus & Mary Chain Remix)

And seeing as I can, here's the video for the Icelandic version .....

808 State / Monkey Mafia

2008-09-15T20:08:00.003Z

Not the first time 808 State have featured on this blog, and I suspect it won't be the last time either to be honest. A band that were pretty far ahead of the competition in their early days, and responsible for more than a few early dance classics. Which brings us nicely to "Cubic".

Originally a B-Side on the "Extended Pleasure Of Dance" EP, it became obvious that the song deserved greater exposure thanks to it getting thoroughly rinsed as rave music turned away from the piano-driven rave anthems towards tougher beats and stabs. The music very much seemed to match the mood in the clubs at the time to an extent, and in many ways Cubic was a precursor to the harder techno that was to follow.

As with a lot of dance music, a re-release provided the opportunity for another remix. Thankfully John Carter in his Monkey Mafia guise was able to not only turn in a remix very much in keeping with his consistently high output, but also create a remix that captured the atmosphere that every DJ at the time knew to well - it's cheeky but accurate, but you'll know what I mean when you hear a punter half way through this remix.

Sendspace 808 State - Cubik (Monkey Mafia Remix)

And here's the video for the original version .....

Jem / Photek

2008-09-13T14:17:00.007Z

I know Photek has already been featured, but it's difficult to ignore talent when it slaps you in the face repeatedly.

Jem's been very quiet over the last few years, but her new album is out imminently ... sneaky listens have thankfully it's a little more than you may expect. For this track however, the premier single "They" from her 2005 album "Finally Woken" is revisited, and twisted beyond recognition by Rupert Parkes (for he is Photek) into a tear-up drum & bass monster, complete with Beltram hoovers and wub wub sub-bass. The oblique song lyrics (almost completely removed in this remix) refer to the fear of others' unknown feelings or intents created through the necessity of modern day anonymity. The mood created by Photek counter-plays on this theme effectively stripping the original's disarming backing and replacing with a chrome plated modern day nightmare.

Sendspace Jem - They (Photek Remix)

And here's the "Space" video version of the original mix ...

Boyz Noize / Surkin

2008-09-12T23:24:00.006Z

Erm ... it's been a while hasn't it. I mean what kind of idiot forgets their password, eh ?

Back to the programme - track 1 of 12 proposed for what I reckon makes quite a ncie little compilation album. This is the rarer of two remixes that Surkin completed, but to my mind the better of the two, making a bit of an acid techno monster in the process ...

Sendspace Boyz Noize - Don't Believe The Hype (Surkin Mix No. 1)