goldmine - mic love (raconteur box remix)

i think i heard the original "mic love" back in the 90's since it was sort a small hit but i didn't recall it until i heard it on a swedish hiphop compilation that most younger heads that grew up in the 90's went and bought. goldmine was a hiphopgroup with a whole team of guys and one girl called deetah.

she was the one that managed to get a small career afterwards and i often heard that she was featured on a 2pac song. which is correct but still not, stonebridge gave her the opportunity to add a verse for his remix of pac and biggie's posthumous single "runnin'".

anyhow, that had nothing to do with this one but i bought the "mic love" 12 inch about ten years ago in a big sale and it started my fascination with the tune. mostly because of the bobby caldwell sample but it was quite nice and catchy.

the remixes for it was something i didn't care about until i saw the cd-single in a charityshop and bought it because of the fuck of it. somehow i don't get the point of buying the same song on different format but i was buying some other stuff and it was cheap.

raconteur who did two remixes and both removed the bobby caldwell sample that stonebridge & nick nice based their original and club mix around. they both lean on the r&b side but while the 'combo version' is a bit soulful, the 'box version' revolves around a stripped down beat and a talk-box.

i really like the bassline, the subtle melodic elements and of course the robot-soul. raconteur chopped up deetah's hook to only keep the first parts and had them then repeated and resang on the talkbox. it's a really good change and i like it especially since the original hook is bad. but with a little robotics it's passable.

emma bunton - crickets sing for anamaria (atfc's samba magic vocal)

this one was discovered definitely through discogs because i really don't know what emma bunton did musically after the spice girls, apart from a jump in on the tin tin out cover of edie brickell/the new bohemian's "what i am". which was decent, captures sort of the tone of the original but not as good but the gang starr remix was a few notches better.

little sidetrack now but that gang starr remix was unreal in a few respects, mostly that premier would touch something inferior like that but also that guru mentions emma bunton's name in the adlibs for the intro. this same feeling came when i heard bunton's version of this astrud gilberto/marcos valle classic.

mostly because bunton was trying to sound like astrud gilberto and it's just bizarre really, but to be honest it wasn't for bunton i fell in love with this one. atfc captures the vibrant madness of a samba carnival and with the chords and rhythms from the original song he transforms it into a really funky tune.

the version i heard first was atfc's dub on fatboy slim's brazilian mixcd where it was excellent and i tried endlessly to get hold of that but could only find the vocal version which works. for the vocal mix atfc uses a lot from the vocal but keeps the chorus out and only uses the first parts from the first line but treated with effect and filter to segue into the bombast.

alexia - number one

on sunday a mate of mine (ian) played mixed some tunes together on a shoutcastradio session, so did i after him but this has nothing to do with it. ian was playing an assortment of drum & bass tunes and halfway in he played a blu mar ten's "nobody here".

i'd never heard that before but once the vocal hit i kept thinking "i know those lyrics" and it hit me directly, they had borrowed the lyrics and vocal melody from this song. alexia's "number one" from '96, it's one of my favourites of all time and i'm saying that as someone who actually has:
a) several favourite eurodance favourites that isn't the most popular tunes out there (i.e. "what is love?" or "mr. vain" or "rhythm is a dancer", etc etc etc)
b) likes and spun a hefty dose of eurodance over the years.

now granted i can't for 100% sure say that this song is original since eurodance was built on borrowing elements. i looked around and i can't find where robyx (who produced this track) would have taken the hook from but do correct me if i'm wrong. anyhow, the lyric lines were changed a little bit sure enough it's the almost the same.

it was a fun revelation and it's always fascinating when someone or some people (in this case) takes something from a genre less credible and work it into something that is quite serious. since normally it's the other way around but this concept is employed a lot in recent years and especially when they try to make it darker or moodier than the carefree original.

but let's get back to the original since i have no relation to blu mar ten's track besides hearing it that it on sunday and then hearing it on junodownload later again. this track just clicked with me instantly and showed me that alexia had more hits than "uh la la la" because back in the 90's i hadn't heard anything besides that.

the track itself isn't any different from other eurodance track, it employs the usual driving beats and rolling basslines and catchy melodies. i'm not going to say that it was a whole new breed of tracks because it's a robyx production as per usual but he knew how to make good tunes, especially for corona and ice mc.

that piano melody and alexia's deliverance is just great and i hold this one dear to my heart as cheesy as that sounds. and i bet it's a big contradiction for me to like this considering i was bigging up something like jan jelinek, goran kafjes and emmanuel top just a while ago but that's me. i like almost everything and i'm not afraid to tell that.

buy here (djtunes)

also well recommended is noel sanger's remixes for the us market, they are trancy and well done and can work in a trance set even in modern standards. especially the dub

buy here (djtunes)

ralphie b. - massive (d ramirez remix)

this isn't by far my favourite version of this track (that would be the mirco de govia remix) and i think it wasn't well received by most of us trancecrackers at the time. it did get some play by the people who were into the tribal prog thing but even then the version more looked at was the filterheadz remix.

i remember not getting a really big impression from the tune since it was like any other tribal technohouse type joint. the repeated "massive" vocal sample which wasn't in the original gave me a link to another remix that didn't use any parts of the original, the mauro picotto version of dj tiësto's "lethal industry". where picotto handed in a techno track with an occacional vocoded vocal sample saying, well you guess it.

d.ramirez approach to this track was to load in a heavy set of drums and let them do the working and they deliver. there is some other sounds used like some synth sounds but they are subtle and so are the uses from the original.

the overall misconception is that d.ramirez didn't use anything of the original since neither it's distinct bassline, melody or it's drumgroove are played as per usual. the bassline isn't present but elements from the melody appears and they are chopped up in a clever way.

it's these kind of thumpers that is fun to throw into techier sets for those choice subdued melodic stabs but also trancier sets where a heavy tribal groove does the job for buildups.

the cranberries - zombie (camel's hump mix)

i was given a heads up on this one through acid ted's blog when he discovered it on one of cranberries greatest hits boxes/compos. he wasn't up on it since it featured dolores singing but i found it intriguing since it focused on the bassline. this is truly one of those orb remixes that's been under rug swept and not featured elsewhere, probably because it wasn't properly released until it appeared on the cranberries 2002 box set spanning their entire career (until then).

the many times i've listened to "zombie" after 1994 i've always been captivated by that low bassline and how it's in a almost dub reggae style. i've mentioned before that a lot of times i get more intrigued by the rhythm section of a song than the guitars or vocals and especially in rock music.

i tend to like the song more if it has a great bassline rather than a lengthy guitarwanking session. songs like the beatles' "taxman", the jams' "a town called malice", the breeders' "cannonball" and nirvana's "in bloom". "zombie" is often remembered for that hook and that heavy guitar but for me it's the bassline and the chord progression.

the reason i'm talking about "zombie" and this version was because of i had the displeasure of hearing mohombi's recent song "in your head" where he very tounge in cheek like replaces "zombie" with his artist name. the original then came to mind and of course that this remix that i heard a while back.

it starts out with a funny quote "you're about to discover how to create your own music, that's right. you no longer need to listen to the dumb music they play on the radio, now you can create your own dumb music. just look what you can do with this rhythm machine" and then it goes into what can only can be described as orbular.

heavy soundscapes, some random sounds, a deep and booming bass and all the trimmings you expect from dr alex patterson in his dubbiest labcoat. o'riordan's vocal is featured in the first half and a little bit at the end and while they sound random in this shape and form, they aren't really bothersome. i quite liked what the the orb did with this track and it's well interesting.

buy here (7digital)

new order - true faith (morning sun extended remix)

i was on a huge italo kick a few years ago and i was digging into stuff that i knew my older sisters liked and things i heard when i was a little kid. i had remembered this song from mtv actually where the video was fascinating but i always mixed it up with fine young cannibal's "she drives me crazy".

the original song is amazing and is one my favourite new order songs but i guess it's kind of predictable as well since "true faith" was a big hit and i think most people have heard it about a million times. this version that was remixed by shep pettibone and what he did was he usually did at the time, he kept the integral part of the song and added a little more melody, groove and sorted it for the dj.

pettibone's version is quite italo and it's a whole load of energy, not saying that the original was not but it was focused a little more on bernard. pettibone sets up the original song a little more and much like 80's style remixing it lets the first three quarters of the song run almost in ordinary fashion. except it does included more production from pettibone.

the usual routine for that kind of remixing is right after the second chorus is to go into an extended instrumental bridge where it gets musical but simmers down to a groove. in a very release and tension style but the groove section was employed as mixouts, especially if it was a longer bridge.

pettibone actually employs this routine but keeps the bridge like the original where it was a guitar solo but loops one section of it. the mixout is actually employed at the end of the record and i think it's because the record was done in the late 80's and at that time dj's & producers started to employ the new form of track structure.

the records made by dj's had a groove in the beginning that builds up to the song and then, when the song is over it strips down to the groove again. this form would later be perverted as dj's making the music weren't that musical and kept it rawer and rawer because they didn't know how to play instruments.

the reason i love this version is that it keeps true to the original and uses all it's good parts and highlights it more. the keyword is more, more drama, more melody, more groove. it's a version i'll support for a long time.

buy here (7digital)

lovebirds - behind you

i heard about "modern stalking" ep when it was first released four years ago and it was an really good solid four tracker where every track was on point. the tracks i locked into first was "can't get along" (with it's vance & suzzanne sample) and the title track "modern stalking" with it's rising moog sounds & boogie groove.

but i was compiling a mix for my friend bassel and i was much intending to work atleast one track from the ep and this one came into play. it had a really strong groove and i liked the way it teased in the george benson samples in on the build.

it was almost kenny dixon jr-esque and it worked really well when i played it after kdj's remix of "people make the world go round". of course it's not completely kdj since he doesn't filter and effect like the lovebirds/knee deep brothers do.

buy here (junodownload)

stina nordenstam - people are strange (u.n.k.l.e. remix)

i remember hearing about this one about eight years ago and it was the combination of u.n.k.l.e. and stina nordenstam that intrigued me. i later found out that the original song was a cover of the doors and i liked their original but this remix rated higher in my book.

i heard the remix and liked it but didn't do anything substantial with it until i talked about it with my good friend jan henrik. he was one of those that caught fast onto dubstep and i remember asking him if he had a way of working the tune and he said: "pitch it up and you get something that you can play with dubstep".

i chose to talk about this one coming of the previous post with the bola remix of lamb since it is another tune that was dubstep before anyone (including me) knew that dubstep was. but it's hard of talking about things like matter without coming off as a pompous jackass but it's always fun to find progenitors.

listen here (youtube)

lamb - softly (bola remix)

i bought the softly single at a secondhand shop four-five years ago or and i hadn't heard "softly" before but i knew of lamb and the fact that you could always find quality remixes on their singles. this one had two versions of "softly" by bola and red snapper and a version of "alien" by photek.

i listened to them all when i took it home but one version caught on fast and it was quite ahead of it's time. burial's sound was hot at the time and i found something that was in that sonical neighbourhood but made ten yours prior. it has the distinct shuffled drumrhythms along with heavy atmosphere sitting on top of heavy subbass.

only thing that is the track is at 6/8 since the original was made in that and i found it harder to work along with other tracks but i did anyways and when i didn't do that i listened to it a little to much. it's just infectious and you do get the same feeling as when you heard "archangel" or "broken home" the first time.

buy here (7digital)

veronica maggio - jag kommer (mash up international remix feat. kakan)

the original track was one of the biggest tracks of the summer here in sweden and it's partly because of it's catchy lyrics. probably because of the not so discrete innuendo with the hook as well. it might have also be because the riff sounds like the strokes' "reptilia".

anyhow, i liked the tune but was fed up with it until this version appeared. mash up international's remix is a party tune with their distinct flavours. or their and their, it's kind of radioclit actually. but the biggest change apart from the new electronic groove is the verse added from club personality and blogger karin kakan hermansson.

also the fact that they edited the vocal and the lyrics to not being tongue in cheek about it's innuendo and played it up even more. kakan's verse helps even more and what she does is to spin the perspective from veronica's original where she talks about a guy into a girl on girl perspective.

this is not a stunt like "i kissed a girl" but kakan's upfront personality and the fact that she is lesbian, not bi-curious makes it more believable when she says lines such as "hon är ganska ung och hon ligger naken / reser mig up, hon kollar r&b baken / jag snodde dig från din dj-kille / han kunde inte ge dig det du ville / du vill komma i min mun, skriker för högt i ditt gamla flickrum"

(translation: she is pretty young and she's lying naked / i get up and she checks out my r&b-booty* / i stole you from your dj boyfriend / he couldn't give you what you wanted / you want to come in my mouth / screaming as loud as you can in your old girls room").

i'd like to point out that i don't care if the roleplay was reversed and it could be a guy-on-guy thing, if the track is banging then the track is banging. there is no such thing as "too gay" in music.

listen here (soundcloud)

*kakan hermansson bills herself rnb hermansson as a dj and calls her bootylicious behind as the r&b-booty.

tosca - honey (funky lowlives dub)

i bought the 'honey' remix lp along with the 'fuck dub' remix lp awhile back and i knew that there was a huge load of quality in them. both listening-wise and for djing purposes since there is a wide range of musical styles on those, and on the g-stone sphere in general.

since 'honey' sits in 100-110 bpm range the musical styles range from dubby to housey, some use a lot from the original and some use just the vocal sample/the percussion/the bassline. the rerub by funky lowlives take a lot from the original but adds more groove and beefs it up.

heavy emphasis on atmosphere and especially the drums which attracted me to it, it's also why i like faze action's version. there is a lot of vibrant percussive action set to a nice groove backed up a good bassline. this is a track that i'd pitch up a bit and work it with similar funky broken beat tunes or whatnot. lovely

buy here (junodownload)

asian dub foundation - dub mentality

i've mentioned that i love the word 'dub' and i think this was the reason i decided to listen to this one that time over ten years ago. but i heard of asian dub foundation through a book i read once and in it was a small description of bhangra. i liked that word as well but not as much as dub.

i didn't listen to any of the artists or track mentioned in that book but some names was in my head forever. i listened to this because of it's title but the lyrics made sense from the get-go. they talk about dub, jungle and the fusion of ideas and how you shouldn't limit yourself to one sound.

to be really honest the track and also to a certain extent the band sounds like rage against the machine in the hands of a london jungle producer. that thing, while it sounds corny and really bad just works on this track. it has a great bassline and a violin part that is really lovely and i like the hook. it's also somewhat corny but makes sense: "dub is the preacher / jungle is the teacher".

when i first heard the track it was the version on the 'rafi's revenge' version which is a remix with a lot more dub influence and additional production. the original version 'r.a.f.i.' is much more simpler and removes a lot of the reverb and echo effects and whatnot. i enjoy that one but i'm used to the dub haze of the original and it sounds weird in these ears.

buy here (7digital)

natacha atlas - moustahil

i came in contact with natacha atlas' music like most, through compilations and it was her voice that just did it for me. the production by the transglobal underground family was not completely lost on me but she had an amazing voice. it's a voice that sounds like if nancy ajram didn't sound so girly.

note that this is when she sings in arabic, which she does mostly but she does sing in english and it just sounds wrong. the big paradox is that atlas' isn't someone straight out egypt but someone with arabic parents and apparently someone who speaks her english with a strong london accent.

"moustahil" isn't one of those track but the second track on her second album 'halim' (named in honour of abdel halim hafez). in her concert routine this track is usually used with atlas doing her finest bellydancing in mind. the groove is quite perfect for that and it's a good interpretation of a modern arabic dance song without the over-use of western influences.

structurally it's quite in line with the traditional arabic songs & aesthetics that atlas' was trying to do. strong groove, vibrant drums, heavy use of keys and by keys i mean those very resonant synth patches prominent in music from the region.

he most apparent is the vocal arrangement which always have the main singer singing a verse or a hook and it's always repeated directly by backup-singers. a lot of times the main singer will be prominent on on the last parts of the repeat to add a vocal fill.

the structure also is have the symbiotic nature between vocal and instrumental part, especially in upbeat songs or songs obviously meant for dancing. since this music was built from a live setting and later transferred onto recording, singers know that they sometimes will take a backseat role for the groove.

as i mentioned since this is a very danceable song, in concert, atlas' has the band jam on sections and move her hips to everyone's delight. all the versions i've heard from concerts has been better than the album version but i still rate it high. it builds so much in it's first part and you have that two note bass groove just getting more intense along the way.

right after the instrumental middle eight, there is a drum fill and an "oh vocal stab" and then the track kicks in a slightly higher gear. the bass is very resonant and the tempo keeps getting faster and the keys and flute seem to fight over who can outdo each other. this chaotic coda gets more frantic and right at the peak, song ends.

she does the same structure live but while the album version goes up a few bpms it goes into double time in the span of thirty seconds or so. awesome really.

buy here (junodownload)

the future sound of london - glass

i (re)discovered this one when i popped on the dead cities album some while ago and with all the goodness on that album one track stood out and it got stuck in my head instantly. that says a lot with an album filled with quality. because seriously, there is not single bad note on the album.

that repeated note sequence in "glass" is a tease really and you think it's going to be that all the way through since it's building and building. then that weird wonderful bent sound that comes straight out leftfield and then it dies down. and introduces this rhythm that will make you knod your head or move your feet as it's quite dancable.

the beat and it's time signature always puzzles me as it sounds both like a 4/4 and a 6/8. there is enough swing to throw me off and this is what i love about the track as well. the progression is quite natural but i do want a bit more rhythm.

buy here (junodownload)

motorbass - bad vibes (d.mix)

i found the reissue of pansoul a while back and was quite chuffed to find that. i'm not going to say that i knew much about motorbass but i had heard a few tracks and liked their type of house. philippe zdar and etienne de crécy had this approach to making tracks that was almost kdj-esque.

their style of sampling wasn't as rough as their contemporaries and it had that nice druggy vibe to it. i particularity like their remix of björk's "isobel" where they built the whole thing around a huge chunk of the supreme's "my world is empty without you", compelete with ross' vocals and all. but they twist it around and overlap it with their own sounds and it sounds really nice.

this one was one of the tracks that i couldn't stop listening to when i first went through the album and it was just that nice atmosphere and groove that got me hooked. it uses a billie holiday vocal sample but i only figured that out after reading a discogs comment and hearing the original version on soundcloud.

the original is much more deep but this version adds a bit more bounce and rhythm. i know this version contradicts what i said about their sampling not being as rough but i don't care. both original and album remix are good tunes. the rhode loop that carries the track out along with the bass are quite infectious. the drums pack quite a punch and those rides and percussion grooves is saying all the good things to me.

tune is quite simply, french funk. as it should be. support and bang it out, it'll work even today.

buy here (7digital)

delerium - truly (infusion remix)

this one i heard slightly after it was released, i remember that the signum remix was the one given out first to some of the big jocks at the time. signum had a bit of a second wind at the time and armin van buuren was supporting their works.

slightly after came infusion's remix to most peoples attention and i bought the cd-single right when it came out. it was a groovy piece of thing. it uses cut up vocals and a really buzzy bass groove. much like their remix of transformer 2's "just can get enough" for positiva's 10 years release. less trancy influences on this and it's quite focused on the groove and it's a heavy one.

the vocal is introduced rather nicely and i quite like nerina pallot's effort and lyrics on it but there is a part of me that'd like a dub. or at least a part with less vocals and i have tried my hand at editing the tune but it's infuriating since i get it to flow smoothly. the only other edit i've see was by one of the minilogue/son kite guys (i think it was mullaert) and i didn't think his edit worked.

anyhow, the other reason why i'd want to edit it is that the best part of the song, the coda that has the bass & synths going frantic in a good way. it's too short really. i have done some live mixing trickery a few times when i've doubled up the track and looped it up. it's a really banging track and it's a track i'll be playing for a long time.

buy here (7digital)

theatre of tragedy - lorelei (icon of coil remix)

a mate of mine introduced me to the band over ten years ago, it was with the "aegis" album. i can't say that i listen to them often nowadays but i like that album. probably because the songs are quite easy to get into, and especially "lorelei".

i think i found out that there was a remix of this song when i googled the lyrics for "lorelei". i didn't look for it instantly but there was something intriguing. especially when i heard other icon of coil tracks and remixes. the end result is quite epic.

ishkur mentions that in his guide to electronic dance music that futurepop and epic trance are like lost cousins and with this track, it's true. it's a piece of stonking trance with great melodics and vocals by people that can hold a note. i think i gave the heads up on this tune once as, "it's good vocal trance".

the combination of the synth buzz and the guitar riffs is great especially in the hooks. another really nice thing is the piano that is tucked away in the back and is later given solo in the last two minutes. great tune.

buy here (7digital)

jan jelinek - moire

this one came around at a time i was looking for things out of my comfort zone, and then in the big cloud of genre music either known as "downtempo" (or "electronica"). that is the name(s) most people, pidgeonholers and non-pidgeonholers use for all electronic music that is not danceable in a clubby manner.

i have no idea what to define it as it is part glitch, part dub, part "idm" and part michael jackson. i don't really care what it is, so for all intents and purposes it's techno. except it's not.

musically it is a haze of very fragile sounds, a lot of enclosed dub echoes and crackles. this piece comes in three shapes and forms and what separates them as they have similar themes is the additional sound. they are called "strings", "guitar & horns" and "piano & organ" but fact is the additional sound isn't as defined as it says on the tin.

they are part of the haze and by far the composition that is my favourite has to be "piano & organ" as sample evokes all the right shades of that nice cheery gloom (if that even makes sense). i think it's more predictable for me to say the "strings" as i used it in one of my mixes but while i think that version is awesome, it just made sense for that portion.

however, all of them are great.

piano & organ: buy here (junodownload)
strings: buy here (junodownload)
guitar & horns: buy here (junodownload)

armand van helden - alienz

this was one of the tracks on armand's "2 future 4 u" album that i didn't like or understand until a few years later. i think it was because it was too noisy and too dark but once i got it, it was a revelation. to understand the track you'd have to like uk garage but maybe jungle as armand's experiment of taking jungle sounds & production aesthetics became uk garage.

it was in some interview that van helden said that noone cared for his small foray into jungle, so he decided to try to implement what he liked into his brand of house. and "alienz" is for all intents and purposes a techstep track at 130bpm. just punchy drums, dark pads and a massive reese.

that reese gave me the same shivering feeling as the first time i heard trace's mutant jazz remix. it's really rugged and the hard & aggressive nature gives any mix a right kick up to all the right places. i used it as the tail end peak for a mix i did a years ago and it was for all those reasons.

the mix starts off very disco flirting and soft and goes into deep and techy territories but goes back to some bright summery stuff and to contrast that section i unleashed this. lovely.

buy here (junodownload)

pete heller - nu acid (robert babicz remix)

this one was discovered through juno and the reason i checked it out was for it's stupid name but i saw that robert babicz had done a remix. this combination intrigued me since it's quite well known that robert babicz aka rob acid put his tb303 in storage, or at least just put away, since '06 or so.

he'd do an a track or two with some serious acid tweaking but his output mostly lacked that resonant acid wiggle. now the original is the second track acid track that heller has done for bedrock and the first one was decent at best. this is better but it rides on a gimmick.

fact is that the original is heller's take on phuture's "acid trax", it kicks along the same and the riff is near identical. unlike "acid trax" that is that groove for twelve minutes, this goes into a kevin saunderson flirt in the middle and adds a few more ideas in. however for heller's "raw mix", the modus operandi is like the track it's covering.

babicz version is a fuller version of heller's track and it works the riff initially more like a bassline. it then breaks out the higher frequencies in sections but you understand by the first three minutes that babicz isn't going to join heller and remake "acid trax" in that fashion. probably because babicz already done his grand opus named "acid!" as his moniker origin back in 1995.

instead babicz works the groove and i fail to see how anyone can listen to this and not move their butt. every idea that heller used in his original is implemented better in babicz version. the kevin saunderson flirting (that's a nicer term for using the inner city "big fun" stab soun) is worked much more naturally.

the slight moody melodics is retranslated into the small breakdown where it's a nice contrast to the groove pounding away in the back. babicz's version is named "robert babicz smiling mix", and i'm smiling as well with this wonderful piece of house.

buy here (junodownload)

a hundred birds - black water

this one i discovered a little while after hearing the a hundred birds remix of either âme's "rej" or lifelike & kris menace's "discopolis" and finding out that they did their remixes as a band/group/collective. it was kind of nice and i then heard about them making their own records and that did a cover of rolando's "jaguar" and then this one.

now "black water" is one of those detroit tunes that has become like a staple and i keep hearing that melody in a few other tunes (yunno how saunderson's/inner city's "good life" & "big fun" and derrick may's "string of life" melodies keep getting sampled and replayed all the time). this however is a quite faithful rendition but with a more groove and more focus on instrumentation.

the melody is quite present on this track like it was in the original and you hear in a multitude of ways, right from the get go it's from a vocal perspective, it's then joined by vibes and strings, i believe also a guitar and in pad form. but it's there and it's backed up by lovely percussion and drums and a punchy upright bass.

there is also a second version, here called the dub which starts off with the grand string arrangement that is the coda in the main version. it then goes into the groove but leaves off the melody but keeps some some occasional vocal stabs.

i love the main mix but i found this version to be the most useful in my sets and i tend to also pitch it down from it's 133 to the lower 120 mids for a better effect. any way you choose to work the tune or it's a fantastic version, hats off to those japanese people

buy here (junodownload)

madrid de los austrias - mas amor

this one i discovered  through a compilation and it's a big favourite of mine. it's the combination of a really good instrumentation, clean programming and a memorable hook; both vocal and piano. there is almost nothing to not like as it just hits you really nice and sticks to you, almost...

the almost comes with that while i love the track and find myself humming the tune sometimes, it's bit on the sugary side and it doesn't have enough bite. also those lyrics, let's just say that some languages give you the freedom of singing all sorts of both sweet and twisted lyrics and they will be a delight in the mix.

carol c's vocal effort on this is lovely but yeah i liked it more when i didn't figure out most of the lyrics, but it doesn't detract too much of my liking. i don't even care that the tune is something that has a cafebar/lounge compilation written all over it, i still hold a deep place in my heart for this tune and think it's excellent.

buy here (junodownload)

i also recommend the remix by sergio flores' aka scientific soul, who got the resung vocals from the "weekender mix" to work with. that version was a bit more upbeat and had more of a swing to it and flores worked the groove nicely. a stonking funky house tune with a repeated flute riff and a chunky bassline set to a danceable rhythm. lovely

buy here (junodownload)

nicola conte - fuoco fatuo (koop remix)

i think this one was though either juno or a compilation of sorts but i got interested since the names it had the names nicola conte and koop. koop i was already a big big fan of and enjoyed their remixes and wanted to hear their touch.

i hadn't heard the original before i heard the remix but found out later that it wasn't that different, koop kept the main groove and ideas from conte's original but added a bit more vibe and party into the action. another addition which leads me to like koop's version more is the fact that koop got earl zinger to do a number on their remix.

earl zinger who is rob gallagher's alter ego always does these spot on stories about clubland and dancemusic, always very tounge in cheek but they are also quite funny. most know "escape from ibiza" and "attack of the djs" and "story of the heaviest bassline ever" and i'm a big fan.

on this one zinger tells the story when he was going out to the club on rather rainy evening and finding himself trouble of getting in. zinger tries to get himself in on a couples night and he has some problems but with enough haggling and blagging, he is in.

i quite like the story and i like conte's groove and koop's additions which is a bit heavier bass and some piano. it's also a great introduction to koop, zinger & conte.

buy here (junodownload)

robin s - show me love (tonka's pianomission)

most people know "show me love", or sort of, the stonebridge remix that is which is the defacto original. i'd give a history lesson on that one but let's just say that the original versions never saw any light of the day after 1991.

stonebridge's remix is one of the favourite tunes of all-time and i've rarely taken a liking to the other versions (sans than the '93 stonebridge/nick nice version) than it and lord knows there has been countless remixes. nothing really worked with me until i heard a version in laidback luke's 2005 sensation white set.

laidback luke was rocking out with some big tunes and being his usual creative self behind the decks and then halfway into the set. right after he dropped his cutup of bucketheads' "the bomb", he went into this oldschool section where he played small bits of some big tunes and anthems and he started with this awesome version of "show me love".

i'd never heard it before but i had heard tonka's main remix and thought it was respectful but just ok, but here tonka stripped it down to the piano's and the lovely pads he was rocking throughout the main version. it became a "piano-pella" of sorts and quite frankly, one of the best set-starter/enders out there. but also a killer acapella tool in the hands of a good dj.

shame that it isn't available on digital so here is the youtube link

listen here (youtube)

louis prima & keely smith - that old black magic

i was introduced to this one through kevin smith & scott mosier's podcast that i used to listen to until i grew sick of hearing kevin smith talking about that he was an unmotivated fat stoner all the time. this track was a backing track when they riffed/discussed the harry potter books and i noticed it when i heard that drum fill.

i hadn't heard "that old black magic" before, nor any other versions of the song but with some close listening and some googling i found it and my heart lept with joy. i've mentioned before that i get excited by drums and especially with funky and weird rhythms. love those drumbreaks and i saw this track first a cool track but also a source of sampling.

after chopping it up a few times and using the drums and cymbals for a couple of beats and found that i could do much with it, an idea came into my head. i had sometimes in my sets played funk, disco, soul and danceable jazz with the house and other things (i.e. i wanted to be mr. scruff and gilles peterson). the idea was to do a subtle edit since the track moved around the 130 bpm region (sort of, it fluctuates a lot).

i had the edit mapped out in my head and first it was to time stretch the whole thing and work it like that, but after a while with ableton and audition, i gave up since i was just destroying the track. then i came up with another idea which was basically dropping a beat that filtered in the looped drum fill and running the track almost as per usual but with some additional looping at choice sections.

this idea is what i would do if i ever should finish it, i've just been lazy with it and haven't done it but after a while there was also another idea that i thought of. it came to me since there was a couple of tracks that used samples of these kind of tracks and worked them in a special manner, i'm of course talking about "we don't speak americano".

the problem was this idea really scared me since i knew exactly what to do and which parts to use effectively (it would be the drums, the piano bits and some of louis prima's louder moments). it scared me since since i thought that it was too disrespectful.

but i never made any edit and the times i have played it, i just dropped it like that since it works it's awesome as it is. i really like the vocal counteraction with smith and prima and the tight orchestration and how punchy the rhythm section is. what a lovely song.

buy here (7digital)

microwave prince - eternal light

i think this was introduced to me in 2007 and it was while i was re-acquainting myself with other older microwave prince tracks. it struck a chord with me as i was quite into longer deeper records at the time and this just fit the mould perfectly.

the track is a long 10 minute groove that picks up more elements very slowly and has a lot of atmosphere. it's one of those records that is versitile enough to be pitched down and pitched up for greater effect but i think it has it's places in the bookends of a set.

i've mostly taken the pitched down route since it works well with the dubbier deephouse records i have played sometimes. infact the basic channel aficionados could work this one also, if they don't know it already.

buy here (junodownload)

universal principles - inspirational breaks

i found this some years ago on a soma label compilation and it was something that clicked with me instantly. a quite bumping piece of funky broken beat with punchy drums, lovely strings and nice rhodes like stabs. truth be told the name of the track is quite pretentious but it's makes sort of sense if you hear the vocal 4/4 version "inspiration + light"

the drums was the thing i got attracted to the most and it was partly due to it's use of the break from coke escovedo's b-boy classic "i wouldn't change a thing", the other factor was those loud ride hats. the melodics carry out like it's 4x4 house counterpart but with more of a swing.

it's still rhythmical stabby notes that go through a couple of patterns and progressions but it carries out more naturally given the rhythm and nature of the track.

buy here (junodownload)

blundetto - nautilus

i discovered this one though soundcloud while doing a search on bob james' classic "nautilus". i had the bassline of "nautilus" stuck in my head and given the iconic status of the track and how people tend to find new ways of chop it up or recut the track, i wanted to see if there was something interesting.

i was quite disappointed sans a couple of versions; one that used reverb and effects to a decent effects, one that re-sequenced the tracks and chopped it up a nice manner, and then this version. a cover of "nautilus" and i actually know that their is a few of them around, like nuyorican soul (aka masters at work)'s version but i don't like that one.

this one came from a band i've never heard of but it was the fact that blundetto labeled it "jazz / reggae / deep soul" that got my interest. the sounds were like bob james' original but more swing and dub influenced. it did have it's weaker sides and one has to do with that the piano click with me like when james' plays the blues-y section (which if you read my post about mary j. blige's "sincerity", is my favourite part).

however it compensates that with some improvisation and a few new ideas that fits really well to the song. after a listen or three i had to see if it was available for purchasing. after looking on google, discogs and juno i found it and saw that there was also a dub which is also really good. well recommended.

buy here (junodownload)

future breeze - heulender wolf

this one is on the b-side to the single "read my lips" and it was one of those tracks that future breeze used to do before scoring a hit with the pizzicato riffing "why don't you dance with me?". all the songs on the "read my lips" ep had that acidy trance sensibility that le petit prince was known for.

which explained why they were on the label but their later tracks were on alphabet city but the thing is that it's all in the same label umbrella. the alphabet city label (who is founded by marc romboy and klaus derichs aka marc et claude) had a trick that they did on their releases.

that trick isn't limited to them but to many labels and acts (jam & spoon were infamous in doing this as well, see "right in the night"/"follow me!" and "angel"/"can you feel it"), used it with certain releases. the trick is to put out an ep or release and have a quite (or really) commercial a-side and then have a couple of cracking b-sides that were for the underground.

you can then score a hit on charts that'll give the artist/label some commercial recognition and also have some underground appeal. it should be noted that this trick also came a high price as too much of these shenanigans will destroy all your credibility as a serious producer (that is if one was trying to have the cake and eat it too),

in this case "read my lips" were joined by "heulender wolf" and "islamic nights", two stonking acid trancers that are on point and well deserving to be played out. "heulender wolf" starts with a wiggly acidline and carries on in that fashion, quite boshy but it's my kind of bosh. "islamic nights" is tamed down in relation to the former and tones the acid down but is also a good track.

listen here (youtube)

now for some reason heulender wolf isn't available for purchase since that hasn't been put up on digital yet but "islamic nights" has since that was included onto future breeze's first album "why?".

buy here (junodownload)

iio - rapture (john creamer & stephane k remix)

i know that talking about "rapture" is redundant since markus moser and made records seems to issue out new remasters and repackagings of older stuff every week or so. reason for that is that markus moser haven't made a hit record on his own back.

also ever since nadia ali figured out that moser was holding her back and her vocals and the productions from other producers she did a wise move of breaking out and becoming an own star. shame that nadia ali seems to also try to live of her old hits since "rapture" have been resung and re-released under her own name.

anyhow this record when it came out was everywhere and ministry of sound's promotional team didn't spare any expenses of ramming the track down peoples and djs throats. i think it has quite over ten different remixes in it's initial run and it didn't stop there.

i heard the original first but then it was armin van buuren's remix and later riva's and creamer & k's versions. the latter is the one that stuck with me to date with it's heavy groove, effected vocals and that bassline that correlates well with the repeated staccato riff.

john creamer & stephane k were excellent at this kind of prog and they knocked out a couple of tracks and remixes around this time that had heavy chugging grooves and deep basslines. this version however had flaws that bugs me even to this day; the breakdown and how it goes out from the break.

i think it takes the tempo down just a few notches more than it should and this is where i found paul van dyk's reworking, for his "the politics of dancing" mixcd, a nice solution since it kicked it in again more effectively and added a nice acidline to the mix.

rumour has it that van dyk did the rework since m.o.s. pushed him to include "rapture" and since none of the other versions wouldn't work he took it into the machine and beefed up the creamer & k remix.

buy all of the versions here (junodownload)

but ignore all of the first ones since they are really crap.

ananda project - secrets (king britt's sunset mix)

heard this one when it came out probably, i was into king britt and was quite into chris brann and thought version was magic, right from the sample i heard on juno. it's quite a subdued version that king britt does for this one and it's very sexy.

the original is a great track and king britt takes a lot from the original and then just works on a slightly different groove. i think the main difference is that it's not a four on the floor and uses a softer breakbeat and that the track is loaded with atmosphere.

the thing that attracted to me was that sexy vibe and how it reminded me of one my alltime favourite tracks, the miguel migs dub of britney's "stronger". it's just early night deep house at it's warmest and lushest.

buy here (junodownload)

nine inch nails - the hand that feeds (the dfa remix)

this definitely came from a heads up on some website and at the time neither nine inch nails or the dfa was on my radar. nin was something i didn't care about sans a few songs that i liked ("leaving hope" for instance) and the dfa was just something i wouldn't get until i heard their remix of justin timberlake's "my love" and a few other tracks.

what i understood from those tracks was that dfa (both the core and whole label group) worked with material that they self played and their remixes and productions could be seen as jams sometimes. this is one those remixes and it's quite disco in that edgy stripped down way.

it does borrow slight influences from moroder/belotte but i guess that whole thing is second nature since they were the starting point with that sound. but it goes beyond his synth workouts, there is live drums on here and also live bass.

while the main mix is awesome and is really good there is two versions that the dfa did that appear on promos and some slightly elusive releases of "the hand that feeds" single that are jams. obviously they were played before or after or when making the main remix and then that was edited down to make the main version.

some of the ideas presented in the main version are explored upon more and the key thing is the fact that there is a female vocal that sings lines from donna summer's "i feel love". along with that is more noodling on the synths and just more or that lovely thing. shame these versions didn't get a wider release but anyhow.

buy here (7digital)

listen to version one (youtube) | listen to version two (youtube)

steve angello - teasing mr. charlie

this track has been on my mind ever since i had the displeasure of hearing lmfao's "sexy and i know it". i believe that it's actually afrojack's "pacha on acid" which was a bigger source of inspiration for that one but the riff sounds more like steve angello's track.

now all tracks in question aren't original in one bit and people has been doing records like that since the eighties. but for all intents and purposes and considering acts like lmfao seem to sample/borrow from newer records, i'm going to say they clearly did draw ideas from these two (and other tracks).

anyhow "teasing mr. charlie" came at a point where the s.h.m had firmly established themselves in clubland and they seemed to do no wrong. i either heard it out in the club or in a set but it was a simple track that worked extremely well. one infectious acidlike bassline and a catchy rhythm and some filtering. boom.

buy here (junodownload)

goldfrapp - strict machine (benny benassi dub)

this is one of those remixes that changed my view on the benassi cousins for one inkling during the time they seemed to "satisfaction-ise" everything with their remixes and tracks. they later toned it down and kept it to having their signature sound being the sidechaining but not the other parts from "satisfaction".

i think they did two versions of this remix and that the main mix is infaction a sfaction version but the dub is the more interesting one. it's this resonant pumping piece of "not quite acid house" and "pumping clobb muzik" had it been released five years earlier.

it kicks along with a bassline that filters in the rest and it gets right into action quite fast and has a line from the original saying "i'm in love" repeated. benassi does throw a link to moroder/donna summer but so did goldfrapp sort of.

the breakdown is one of those that fades down to silence and i think i discovered this one before i went on a tirades against those kind of breakdowns which is why i haven't treated the track like leper. it also has to do that the break does sort of suit the purpose of the track since it's energy level is set to firmly on eleven in all points (sans the break).

youtube

aruba >> melo - upp till dig

bought the song and single in one of the stores on st. eriksplan (stockholm) in '04-'05, can't remember which because i've bought a lot from the three-four stores in that area. i think i picked it up on the strength that rasmus faber and alf tumble was on production. i don't remember if i'd heard of melo but i think he was starting to become a name on the scene.

the curiosity of this track however is the fact that it's 2-step with swedish vocals, the former isn't surprising (in retrospect) as i found out later that tumble and faber but mostly tumble had dabbled with 2-step around the 2000's.

but with swedish vocals and it's the same style of r&b vocals that have been cut up and shaped much like how the uk producers used to do, left me thinking "huh" on the first listen. reason being is because hearing this kind of music but not with english vocals is wierd, it was like that when people heard the first hiphop song on swedish or r&b song or soul song in swedish.

but it's only weird since the music is so associated with another country and in the case of 2-step and garage, that's the uk and this track really tries to sound the uk. but with a swedish vocal. it took a few listens to get over that but after that i was vibing to it because it was a nice bumping piece of 2-step.

the other weird thing was that i was picking up on 2-step and whatnot in 2005 when that the whole hype of that music had died and the music was becoming what is now 4x4, grime and dubstep. yeah, this track is quite an oddity but a cool one.

listen here (grooveshark)

oh since i mentioned r&b, soul and hiphop in swedish. my opinion is that swedish hiphop is awesome and was nice even when everyone wanted to sound like americans. but soul and r&b in swedish (when trying to sound american) is still a quite a joke and there has only been a few records that's been good.

hott 22 - want you

as i mentioned in the post about kmc/live element i am a fan of the gossip records production crew and i heard about this one right when it was released. loved this right from the get-go and thought it was a lovely piece of disco house. the main thing that got me hooked on it was the fact that they used vocal samples of a favourite song of mine, annie's "the greatest hit"

buy here (junodownload)

"the greatest hit" is quite known for being annie's first big hit and it was produced by tore kroknes (aka erot). erot really knew how to shape tunes and he was quite creative with samples and with the sound in general. on this one he used the bassline from madonna's "everybody".

buy here (7digital)

but much like when kanye used a vocal sample from m.i.a.'s "paper planes" (which samples the clash's "straight to hell") for "swagga like us", the end result of this sample-chain doesn't have the influence from the original track (in this case madonna's song).

what hott 22 did was to borrow two lines and set it to this filtertastic loop which has me confused since i can't identify where they used that from. i was rocking this for most part of '08 and '09 and thinks it deserves play. it's be cool to work it with the longer annie dub or original mix.

buy here (junodownload)

oh yeah, i recommend most versions on the digital ep for that annie track. especially the b-side "i will get on" which is also produced by erot and is, i think, based on taana gardner's "heartbeat"

lasgo - alone (hiver & hammer instrumental)

believe a mate of mine tipped me off on this one on the basis that hiver & hammer's remixes at the time was on point. he was right also, they were quite cracking and they saved a lot of tunes with their versions and had a really good idea on how to build tunes, sort of.

i bought the cdsingle for this one at stockholm recordstore pitch in their second location at gamla brogatan. it was on positiva and i remember that i bought it cheap and was pleasantly surprised when i took it home. reason being was while the version on the cd was billed "hiver & hammer's ground control mix" (in this case meaning the main remix with full vocals) it was the instrumental.

which was the only version worth bothering with any way, this remix takes the only good bits from the original: a sound effect. the rest is a cracking hiver & hammer track and it has found it's way into my sets plenty of times. the one thing that bugged me with quite a few of their remixes and productions was either horrible vocals or the fact that they had these great builds and everything was mintos, except for a lengthy breakdown.

to the defense their breakdowns seemed to have a rhythm behind it but it did take down the energy at a point where it wasn't needed at all. in this case it had one of these longer drops but it used a break loop for it's rhythm. i quite enjoy this track, how non-credible lasgo is and i am one of those people that find pleasure in finding good versions of cheesy tracks.

the only thing is that often these versions tend to be slightly or heavy reworked version of other their own productions and a small (or in many cases slim to none) bit from the tune they are remixing. you might aswell buy and support the original tune (that the remixes based their remix on) then.

i don't know if this one is heavily based on anything else besides a small influence from other remixes done at the same time so i'll continue support this one.

buy here (junodownload)

abdel halim hafez - gana el hawa

this was a song i thought was by george wassouf had done since i was introduced to his version first. every time i heard it on weddings, parties and all sorts of gatherings where people from the middleeast got together and danced etc. etc, it was in the arrangement that wassouf used.

later i was told that all wassouf did was update it and it was actually a song by abdel halim hafez. the thing that really captivated me with hafez version was the live version i saw on youtube. my mother mentioned hafez was a carismatic guy with enormous stage presence and sure enough the video clip showed it well.

said youtube clip

my favourite point is where he just teases the crowd and has his band play the introduction and first part and right where it's expected that he goes in he lets the band play the melody again. it's a marvelous song and thanks to youtube becoming bigger and some videos being uploaded from original sources you can see other performances as well.

like this one

that's from tunisia and it's a great performance as well. the "studio" versions that can be bought are almost as good as the live versions but they seem a bit tame. probably just me.

buy here (7digital)

kmc - i feel so fine (live element remix)

bought the cd single for "i feel so fine" around the time it came out after hearing it in a mix cd. was quite a fan of this song and am still sort of, it had a lot of versions on the cd-single and i liked most of them. however one stood out eventually and i would just focus on that one, live element's version.

it didn't use the melodics that most of the other remixes was based on and this swelling kind of rhythm, this was before i knew what sidechaining was called. the discoloop it filters around is treated with phasers and ducking and it's quite infectious.

this version started my liking towards the live element/hott 22/gossip records production team. they just have a knack of making good funky house records. records that steered just a few notches the other way could be like any insipid hed kandi track.

buy here (junodownload)

cappella - move on baby (armand's peaking mix)

this one came to me through discogs and youtube because i was looking at van helden's backcatalogue and seeing what other eurodance songs he had reworked. i've already talked about his version of urban cookie collective's "the key, the secret", but he also did rednex's "cotton eye joe" and cappella's "move on baby".

the universal theme in most of these remixes is that he used a little bit and then did what he wanted to do. in the remixes of rednex they are more of a hard house thing, the short version called the "dosey-doe mix" uses the full hook and the strings set to a backdrop of stripped down chicago hard house. the "funky trance mix" works around repeated vocal stabs and a jacking beat in that "witchdoktor" style.

do they hold up? no, not at all and they are more just a fun artifact but his remix of cappella still sort of works and is a bumping piece of music. armand's uses of the original is a sound effect and of course some vocal stabs. it's one of those 90's big room pieces that's a little bit to epic for it's own good. on the track itself armand works the usual repetitious rhythms across.

i still get a kick out of finding when certain names did remixes of artists that aren't credible, especially early on but i know with armand it was a story of he took on most of what was given. van helden has said in interviews that he doesn't know many of the poppy artists and don't care who they are and will remix things like this or sugababes and others.

it's because this was at a time when remixing often meant quick money and many producers / dj's take on anything just because. he's a bit of a paradox because while he is known for doing edits (for x-mix in the early days) and remixes, van helden claims he doesn't like remixes himself. anyhow

buy here (beatport)

note, while it says "tell me the way", it's "move on baby". armand's remix was done for london records and as a promo on the side. but was given more exposure on the "tell me the way" release.

mj cole - wondering why (recloose vocal mix)

don't remember when i heard this one first but i do know it was when i was introduced to some recloose tracks. there was a type of bounce in his tracks that was infectious and it sort of reminded me of the rhythmics of some uk garage.

this version of "wondering why" is not that however and is more boogie but it's fun none the less. i find the dub to be the best version but that's not available anywhere on the intarwebs so the vocal version will suffice. the thing that really caught my ear again to it was when i heard a song on the radio two years ago, ciara's "love sex magic"

it's not a big similarity but there is something there that connects these two tracks, i think it's just the bass notes and vocal stabs. but i found a big liking to recloose remix of mj cole again and both tunes was under my radar until i hard the ciara song on the radio again, and i remembered how good this remix is.

buy here (7digital)

malorix - belsalama

this one i was introduced to by my good friend jan henrik when he recommended me a set by american dj ripley. it was this frantic mix of everything and the kitchensink and it was quite luscious. there was a few tracks that caught my attention but one stood out.

it was this really bassheavy track sampling an arabic track. it was quite funky and i really liked how the samples was twisted around and manipulated. but the bass was the main course and was buzzing in the background and made it impossible to not move atleast one part of the body to the rhythm.

listen here (myspace)

the sample is from samira said's hit track "bil salama bil salama" and that track has a few key points which is twisted around in malorix's version. it's a production that sounds very post millennial as the arabic producers started to take notice of the both cheiron productions and shak'speare/darkchild/timbaland type bump that was the sound of the time.

buy here (7digital)

emeli sandé - heaven

i got introduced to the this one through radio and as most people i was gobsmacked by it's production. not that it was groundbreaking but it was the fact there was a record released with a backing that was just funky drummer, a bassline and strings.

you couldn't have pulled this off ten years ago since it'd been stigmatised with the wrong side of nostalgia. but now it's a whole different ballgame and it will be possible to do those records that were stripped down and sample based. it sort of started with that jazmine sullivan's "holding you down" which was just the "impeach the president" break and some vocal samples.

but then again that was a us track and i think the real kickstart for the uk was the skream remix of la roux's "in for the kill" which had that infamous ending that was nothing but an amen break, heavy subbass and vocals. skream and other jungle tekno revivalists decided to use the amen in a manner that been deemed outdated.

i.e. using it as it is with no chopping or editing. then a little while later came this song and some month after that a new track by some bloke by the name of olly murs (who i've never heard of) which has a track which is just the think break. i wondered when this magical timebarrier had been crossed when certain producers could do things like this again without being scrutinised.

now i know this honeymoon will only last for a little while but i'm glad that amidst the other junk and adele songs (not calling adele songs junk, she is awesome) there are songs like this to please us people who grew up in the 90's.

buy here (7digital)

the nu:tone remix which is heaven jacked kicked up to jungle speed and with an amen along with the funky drummer is also good and well recommended.

scott hardkiss - come on, come on (joe claussell's sacred rhythm version suite)

i think i was given a wind on this or that scott hardkiss was active through another blog. i've enjoyed his music and the hardkiss heritage for a long time now. i saw a mentioning that claussell had done a version of the song and it appearently was one of his long epics.

yeah i mentioned that i like when claussell do these kind of pieces in my entry about his remix of d*note and this one goes one step beyond that one. claussell reshapes what was a nice six minute song into a 15 minute one and he loads the track up with so much musical content.

the track has this extensive lush breakdown that starts with some ivory tickling by bennett pastor but it's claussell's brother congas that dominate the backdrop. after that he introduces backing vocals by the group called "voices of mali" that give some wailings until he brings back lisa shaw's chorus.

the suit starts out as something for the one a.m. but as it unfolds it's a five a.m. thing and claussell did some other versions as well. they are called "the dance dance version" and the "humidity dub" and they don't revel in the musical excesses that claussell did for his suite. he also used the "electro" lead that hardkiss used for his original.

buy here (beatport) | soundcloud

mini reviews #6

sixth edition now and another one really long overdue. this person was in my mind from the persons i wanted to ask in the beginning since she has a really big music interest. she's quite opinionated and on the intarwebs you can see her razzing and discussing all sorts of ideologies within music and club culture. she's a dj, producer (but i think she's put this part on the side for now) and a selfproclaimed glamazon, i've been a fan of her mixes for a long time. it's no other than avana vana

01. kaval - august night | youtube
nice rhythm and use of effects but the flute doesn't have the impact it should

02. burnt friedman - sex working class | boomkat
there is a strong funk piece underneath but the main vocal takes away from it

03. the cure - the figurehead | youtube
you can easily get lost in the bass & drums on this as it's lovely, roberts vocals are roberts vocals.

04. true widow - blooden horse | youtube
more shoegaze and i enjoyed this one, it just did nothing special for me.

05. forest swords - miarches | youtube
nice and dubby but i could do without the guitar being so prominent

06. outpost 13 - ice planet | myspace
i listened to this twice and both times i came to the same conclusion, nice bassline and soundscapes but it did nothing else for me

07. ike yard - a dull life | youtube
it sounds like funkstörung remixing throbbing gristle, not in a good way though.

08. sonic youth - i dreamed i dream | youtube
kim gordon's parts on this is nice, rest don't really give a lasting impression

09. bernard szajner - welcome (to death row) | youtube
sounded like casiocore in the beginning but i liked it a lot after that.

10. le1f - saltimore | tumblr
nice piece of abstract hiphop and that water break is awesome.

thanks for those ten avana. and as always i asked if she wanted to anything extra about his picks and her response was:

these tracks comprise a rather dark group of new and old music that I am finding myself drawn to as autumn creeps into winter.

right on.

d'angelo - chicken grease

i've mentioned before that i have a whole big load of albums and records but that i keep them in storage in the basement mostly. except for recent purchases or albums that i just feel like listening to through and through. which is something special for someone who enjoys singles more than albums.

d'angelo's second album is one of those albums and it's been said before but there is so much quality on that album. every time i listen to it i find a new favourite track but there has always been three that has been on top from the beginning. "devil's pie", "untitled (how does it feel)" and this track "chicken grease".

the thing that most will react on is that d'angelo practically raps on this one and the groove is perfect for the flow he employs. the groove itself is some drums that are very upfront and a bass underneath. all the other elements like the guitar, the trumpet and d'angelo's vocals are subdued in the mix.

the other thing that i reacted to instantly was the fact that d'angelo quotes/rephrases rakim with a classic line from "i know you got soul". he turns "but i'll wait 'cause i mastered this / let the others go first so the brothers don't miss" to "but i'll wait till i've mastered this / let the others go first so the brothers won't miss".

the slight change makes rakim's bragging (even though he was perfectly entitled to say it because rakim did master it) into a different slant and gives him an aid in his simile for fatty food as that good gunky funk. or something.

buy here (7digital)

leann rimes - life goes on (29 palms remix)

this one came to me after i heard some other 29 palms remixes and liked the sound that pete lorimer was trying to do at the time. it was the kind of circuit sound that people like hex hector and others were doing when epic trance got big in the us gay clubs. only a bit more fuller and sort of more housey but still keeping all the trancy tones.

it's been in my playlists for years since it's a really nice slab of trance and i've worked it well as a driver. however it's not in it's original form. i thought that it was really good but i thought it could do without the breakdowns. i discovered this track right around the time i grew sick of the excesses in beatless breaks and how some tracks had strong parts and then came this part in the middle which didn't make sense.

so i took out most of the first breakdown where it breaks down into half-time and goes into a lush vocal part which is good but served no point when i was playing it. i had it go in to the drop and then went straight into the part of the drop where the acid-like sound kicks right along.

the drop then became more effective worked better with the rest of the song and as for the second break i just took it out completely. the end result is some pete lorimer goodness and some dabs of leann rimes on top. now that sentence made it sound like i didn't like rimes' original, it's quite nice actually but it's not something that works with trance.

now i'm not going to give out my re-edit since i don't do that at all so see my comments as a guideline on how to do your own cutting and splicing in your audio-editor of choice.

buy here (itunes)

apollo 440 - liquid cool

naturally this one came to me with the fact one of deep forest remixes (ice cold @ the equator) was featured on sasha & diggers northern exposure set. as much as that version is good i think the other deep forest remix (trans-afrique life extension express) is better.

the second one is a bit more funky and i think the first one just seems to redo the ideas from the original and/or the rerub on the rumble ep and i think that one is much stronger but hey, if it wasn't played by sasha then it's now worth tracking down...

"liquid cool" is one those pieces of music that can be classified as progressive house or trance. i'd say it's the former because it's not quite the kind of trance that was made during the time even though it does share it's idiosyncrasies. it's kind of the trancy house with atmospheres that seemed to be reinvented about 8 years after that.

the track seems to revolve around this buzzing low-key bassline and the hypnotic chord sequence played on a piano and a few synth patches. but the other striking feature is it's reverbed out guitar that is much ignored on all the other versions except the future sound of london remix (which is the best remix of this song besides version on the rumble ep).

it's quite a subtle track and it's weird when apollo 440 as a production team are associated with all these big breakbeat and techno productions and remixes. this one is quite a gem and the way the vocals have been treated really emphasise the ethereal mood that they nailed. from elizabeth gray's hazy "fade away" to noko's speech parts.

buy here (7digital)

i should give a short word about the other remixes since i mentioned three or four of them. i'm torn about jah wobble's remix since i like all the ideas he put in and especially his bassline but i don't think it was executed well. the two space versions are the longest and the beat one is decent but the ambient version which is 24minutes in it's entirety really doesn't fill the time well.

bobby womack - secrets

this track was introduced to me through my good friend mikael forsberg when me, him and a two others were at his house before we're going to hear joel mull rocking it out in stockholm club "fabriken". as we're all musicnerds and mikael having a big recordcollection, he was playing some tracks and he went through this case of 45's.

he kept talking about this bobby womack song ballad where he was wailing through the song and right out of nowhere he mentions "some good old kentucky fried chicken". naturally we had to hear this majestic piece of music. the record was played through and we didn't hear said line and then i flipped it over and there it was.

that lyricline and simile was quite fun but fact was the song "secrets" was some bumping piece of music. it's very 80's r&b and the slap back bassline delivers quite well. i really think it's a fun song and i would love to hear an extended jam version of this.

buy here (7digital)

the chuck davis orchestra - spirit of sunshine

this one is those unbelievably rare disco records and it's been under the radar for a lot of years until about five years ago when it got dug out with the mighty disco revival. fact is that it's an amazing track and a great groove and it could easily work in any set today.

i got hipped to the track a few years ago through a blog of which i cannot remember, it may be american athlete but it's also possible it's some other as it's been hyped up on a number of blogs. the jist is that it's a west end record that hasn't been any compo or anything.

it was originally on a french label (here comes some discogs information) and there it had a different mixdown which focused more on the instrumentation rather than the groove. it also sounded a bit rawer and the structure was more compact and you got from point a to b much quicker.

when tom moulton got his hands on the record he looked at it on from a dancefloors perspective and put the focus on the groove. he reshaped the track to the sense that it still felt like the original record but made it more dancefloor friendly. the rhythm sections was extended and all the horns was taken down in the mix.

moulton's version is quite refined and i think it really shows how much of a talent he was and how he understood dance music. he really understood that there was a gem underneath all the madness and all he had to do was to polish it up.

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and it's quite mixable in it's original state but you need to be quick on the hands because it is a live drummer behind the rhythm section. there is one re-edit (that i know of) out there by super value edits and i don't like it at all. too much bas looping going on and it has this this ultra-bombastic section that doesn't pay off well and further more the kick that was placed on top is too overpowering.

i think all that's needed if one has to do edit this then it's to tweak moulton's version slighty more and just extended the groove a little bit more and maybe add a mixout section, sort of like a theo parrish style "ugly edit". otherwise, what's the point.

lenny dee - emotional response

following the previous one with another older tune i have no real relation to until someone gave a heads up on. i know sort of that lenny dee had done more than the hardcore & gabber he's associated with nowadays. he started out with house and techno and did a whole load of that but after that it was mainly hardcore and all sorts of harder techno etc.

so gather my suprise or should i say gather most peoples surpise when this is brought to the table. a deeper halftime techno track that could easily be slipped into any house set when pitched down a bit. it's a gorgeous piece of music and it really contrasts the other pieces on the ep.

but i reckon lenny dee was trying to make some more "emotional" and more melodic records with the two ep's released on the l.d. sub-imprint. for instance the second ep (named "forgotten moments") includes two very melodic and emotive tracks. not that they hold as well as "emotional response" but it's well worth checking them out also.

but this track i have forever gratitude to whomever brought it to my attention, i know it was on the discogs forum but i can't be arsed to look up that thread. i should also note that the record was made with belgian producer marcus salon and i should also note that it does tread some clichéed grounds, especially the pad work but the rest is great. from the acid in the beginning to the lovely bongo drums in the middle.

buy here (junodownload)

emmanuel top - spherique

i came across this one recently when i was looking to find if "hypnose" was available on digital download in all of it's full 15 minute glory. "hypnose" was the b-side to bbe (top is the e in bbe) and consisted of a infectious heavy and hypnotic slow technotrance groove.

the best kind of not quite techno and not quite trance music. sadly that thing isn't but the thing with emmanuel top (and bruno sanchioni for that matter) is that they made a boatload of killer tracks in that style. so i looked on discogs and found that he had recently started to put up his backcatalogue and i started digging.

i knew of a few tracks like "lobotomie", "fusion", "static" and others but there was many cuts i've never heard and many that had been missing in my life since forever. naturally i started listening to the really long ones first since that's where top shines.

and then i found "spherique" and it stopped me dead in the tracks. it reminds me "hypnose" a lot and it works that minimalistic approach to hypnotic techno & trance to the fullest. it's one groove that consists of a bassline that alternates key every four bars and on top it's very finely programmed drum hits. the most striking and interesting thing is that the clap hits only on the one and not the two and four as per usual.

the track slowly picks up pacing but then it filters down the beat and it eventually it filters off everything and then when you expect the track to end it kicks right back along. back with a bang and some acid. it's lovely and i think it's well worth reviving some of these tracks considering the versatility they have and how much quality it it is.

thank you mr. top for making the effort of uploading these gems, now try to get "hypnose" up as well and i will be very happy.

buy here (junodownload)

4hero - bed of roses (with jody watley)

this one came to me through two directions, i believe i was on a small jody watley kick at the time and i was also buzzing of some drum & bass and especially the shy fx/digital soundboy remix of lily allen's smile. amongst other things but also liking 4hero in general.

on this track you have marc mac and dego's usual high quality production with vibrant drums, soaring strings and all that jazz. it's what you expect from 4hero following "creating patterns" and the passing down of the heritage of richard rudolph etc. etc.

jody watley's effort is lovely as well and she sits on the track really well but i think the bridge section is implemented better on the shy fx & t-power remix of the track where it's in the breakdown.

buy here (junodownload)

kent - ensamheten (erase remix)

was recommended this one over irc a while ago and it came into conversation after i mentioned that i had recently seen jesper dahlbäck rocking out with just his drum machines, a tb303 unit and some effects. some other guy mentioned this guy known as erase and that he puts up videos of him rocking out with his machines.

i liked the clips and i recommend people to check them out (his youtube channel) but the person i talked to mentioned that erase done a remix of a kent song which was excellent. it was a remix of a song that i hadn't heard of but i did want to check it out.

kent is this swedish rockband who first started out very guitarbased but along the lines their 80's influences came into play and with their last music they went further more electronic and alot of remixes of their works started showing up.

erase's remix focuses on the electronic bit on the track and it's a section that really stands out on a kent song, regardless of if they decided to be more electro. it's like someone just added some berlin into the mix and erase expands on it.

what starts out as a moment of berlin in a rock-track becomes an exercise of harder techno, some flashes of acid and all sorts of lfo warbles. i really like the filterwork within the synths and machines used and i especially love when erase kicks in these small fills that sound like they wouldn't have been out of place in a megaman game.

buy here (7digital)

milky - just the way you are (full intention remix)

this one came to through a hype up when i happened to visit the swedish deejay promotions site back in '02. it was talked about how it was going to be the next big thing coming from the up & coming motivo production camp. it was not and beyond this track and one other song, this project barely had a buzz.

however this song was nice although the reason it was good because of it's samples. it was built around the beginning strums of "the streets of your town" by the go-betweens and the hook of wings' "listen what the man said". the verses from whoever actually sang on the track was flawed and while i could tolerate them before i cringe nowadays.

the singer had this awful accent and it's the same reason i got so annoyed at alexandra stan's "saxobeat", i promised myself that i would stay away slating this song because it's pointless and i don't think anyone cares about the verses in that song either.

but full intention's remix of "just the way you are" is brilliant and they focus on the two samples and do their thing with it. they build up a better and fuller backing and really work the go-betweens sample better. i think they might have even replayed it since pearn and gray tend to do that.

they also add this live bass that comes in and it's that thing that steps the track up a notch. i remember playing this one on shoutcast a while ago and a mate of mine (jan henrik) had nightmares from the original but enjoyed the remix much more.

buy here (junodownload)

lemon8 - new york, new york

discovered this track when lemon8 and/or basic beat re-released his backcatalogue on digital and it struck a chord with me. i think i had heard the much more melodic 'out of the sanctuary mix' in a few sets and probably this one as well but the sanctuary mix was the more common one.

the original just came to me in a phase where i saw the track for it's brilliance even though it's very much a track of it's era. it's very 'prog' and has a sonical kin to the bedrock remix of luzon's "the baguio track". but with more satoshi tomiie influence sort of.

what attracted me was constant driving percussive beat and something that was a really good tool to play with other tracks. it lent itself really well for longer turnovers or mashings since it's almost all rhythm.

buy here (junodownload)

lemon8's work in general and in particular from the era this track came out (early 2000's) have found their way into my sets and i really love his remix of misja helsloot & ronald k's "a different world" and kid vicious' "contagious". the former for it's darker trance vibe and that coffee percolator sound used throughout and the latter for it's groove.

buy here (junodownload)

puss - master & slave (fpu remix)

this one came to my attention somewhile after i bought the fpu (peter benisch) remix of paris' "disco fever". i saw the puss seven inch record in stockholm recordstore pitch on their old location. there was a buzz about puss at the time (i'd say early noughties) and how they made music using a gameboy and a special cartridge and cable system.

the original is a chiptune riff and a simple vocal saying: "we are synchronized by our small device / i'm the master (said by tobian hofsten aka tobi-wan), i'm the slave (said by josefin karlsson aka laydj) / when we use our cable, everything is stable / i'm the master, i'm the slave"

benisch's version beefs up the original heavily and adds some new melodies & sounds but he also puts the vocal in a vocoder and for the electro vibe. sonically the remix is very similar to the one of "disco fever" and i really love that tune and i love this one also.

i really like the combination of the chiptune, benisch's sounds and all the robofunk and it's been fun to work this one in sets even though it's been seldom. reason being because it's at 140bpm and when i'm playing at that tempo i'm more likely to play techier or trancier things. sometimes i play more bassier things and then with some breaks it tends to fun work it in. killer tune none the less.

buy here (klicktrack)

håkan lidbo - capoeira (jeff bennett's dub mix)

the name jeff bennett was shoved down my throat about five years ago by a mate of mine who said that he was the next big thing. he couldn't believe that i didn't know who he was because bennett also being swedish. i was given a crash course in his productions and i found out he made techno, house, occasionally something proggy and a lot times some thing dubby.

i like a few of his productions but nothing has stuck on me as much as a version of håkan lidbo's capoeira. the original is this lovely latin house excursion with a great groove, heavy drums & percussion and the whole nine yards. lidbo is usually really good at one of those tracks.

bennett's main mix is sort of techno but with a dub slant but it's still driving and keeps the latin influences and it did nothing for me at the time but his dub however. it takes the tempo down a notch and has this steady bongo groove carrying the track throughout.

of course it also employs the usual reverb, flange and other modulations to widen the soundscapes while it puts the horn from the original right in center. the track starts off kind of mellow but picks up some steam in the last quarter and i've had some fun trying to work this track out in sets.

at first i didn't know how to place it but it was more of a case of me where i was playing all these tracks at 130bpm and trying to work everything. my aspiration was to be versatile but it just came off awkward and sets had no flow and i constantly tried to overlap tunes for the sake of overlapping.

that also had to do with me hearing that sasha, digweed and a few others did these four minute transitions and i wanted to redo that. even when i was playing tracks that didn't enable that. ah when you are young, curious and stupid.

anyhow, this tune is wicked and so is all three versions included in the release but i hold bennett's dub highest in regards.

buy here (junodownload)

swv - right here (back to black mix)

right so in a few other posts i've made it clear that i'm not going to be one of those bloggers who constantly rant about bad music. i think there are too many of that extent, but then again there are a big amount of people on the other side of the coin but i'm going to try to be on the glass half full side for as much possible.

however it does grind my balls when i hear good things turning into bad and it was exactly what happened when i heard this song on the radio. from the initial drums i thought, nice "right here (human nature mix)", but sadly i was mistaken. chris brown's vocals came on instead the swv's.

that pissed me off sort of since i still don't like chris brown ever since the rihanna incident, the fault is that he got off too easy. that also came as a problem since i really like "look at me now" because i don't support chris brown but busta rhymes' verse is amazing. lil' wayne's verse is great as well, even though i don't like weezy either but for other reasons.

but then i came to my senses and thought fuck it, this is going to run it course and it's probably going to get a whole new generation hipped onto teddy riley's human nature mix of "right here". that song along with "anything" and "weak" are 90's r&b classics and they are awesome.

this song had a lot of remixes and it's initial run the remixes were different since the original does not have the human nature sample. it's sort of new jack swing and the versions from funkyman (lord finesse), g-man (whoever that is) and one or two others were kind of harder and hiphop/new jack swing based.

then came teddy riley which did his version completely based on mj's ballad "human nature", this version became even a bigger hit. the additional versions of "right here" now incorporated the mj sample. there were a couple of versions but none gave me a bigger "oh snap" moment than the "back to black mix".

reason being that this version has a rap by none other than pharrell williams who was a protogé of riley at the time. i think i was listening to the song one time and thought "that voice sounds familiar". williams sounded a bit younger but i had a hunch it was him and then i read somewhere that pharell is the one saying that famous "the s-s-double-double-u and the v" hook.

then it fell to place. and sure enough, looking at discogs later, it was confirmed. a similar thing happened also when i heard the sly & robbie version of the fugees' "fu-gee-la". there on the end of the song you have an (then) unknown and uncredited toaster at the end. it's no other than akon.

anyhow the back to black mix who was done by chris cuben-tatum (unknown name to me but discogs claims he's a producer that's done a few productions) and he regrooves the track into an even mellower groove. he adds a guitar and some nice bass and overall does a really good version.

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also well recommended is the beatless version called the "back to nature version" which expands the atmospherics but removes the rap by pharrell