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.

youtube

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

beanfield - close to you (maurice fulton remix)

this one was introduced to me a few years ago and it was mainly through being a fan of jonathan bäckelie who does the vocals on this one. i think i'd heard one or two beanfield tracks before that but wasn't that well invested in them.

but they were on compost so i had a hunch in the sound and to be honest the original is very much like that jazzanova/compost sound. it's a good song and it lends itself to variations and permutations. this version by maurice fulton works like an extension of the original.

it builds up this groove that's sort of boogie and robotic and it slowly but firmly introduces the chords and sounds of the original. right before it kicks into the main vocal and the jist of the song is this small break that's really effective and i like how it's executed.

fulton uses a huge chunk of the track and tries to compliment it to make it work on the dancefloor as the original is a lounge type track. it was because of this one i started to take a closer listen to fulton's work and his remixes and found that he is a great producer. well recommended

buy here (junodownload)

also well recommended is the funkstörung remix of "close to you" which i found a few months ago through spotify. it seriously rivals the fulton remix as the best version of the song and it's very funkstörung. their version takes the guitar twanging and work it onto their type of not quite electro.

it employs a fine bassline, a hefty chunk of audio tweaking and general wonkyness. but i think they should have extended that bit in the middle since it's one of the best parts of the track

buy here (junodownload)

holly valance - kiss kiss (jah wobble remix)

back in 1998 turkish popstar tarkan scored a hitsingle called "simarik" and while other europeans didn't understand a single word he said, that hook was infectious and secured him the track. i think the song or the hook still lingers on as a summer hit song in the annals of pop music. but what would happen is that a few years later an english version would be made by some american singer called stella soleil.

the producers behind that track did the track using the exact same instrumental as "simarik" but the thing was stella soleil's effort was terrible. it didn't attract much attention but the following year it came again but with australian model/singer holly valance.

this used a new backing and for all intents and purposes holly's vocals was decent. but then again no one cared about the former or the latter because the main attention of the track came from the video with featured valance scantily clad. later on in the video it transitioned it next to nothing.

now i didn't care about valance version but i do enjoy it as the remade production was better but it wasn't until i saw something on discogs a few years later that stopped me in my tracks. i noticed that jah wobble actually did a remix and i was intrigued.

now at the time i couldn't find a way to hear the thing so i was just left wondering but it wasn't until a some months ago. i picked up the cd-single for valance's "state of mind" (for the felix da housecat mix mind you) and it triggered that thing in my head going, i wonder how it sounds?

fact is when i finally heard the song i was first puzzled because it started out much like the original but after the first minute holly is removed. it then becomes an istanbul meets london thing with jah wobbles massive bass underneath.

wobble still keeps all of themes from the original tarkan song but does them all in his soundscape and the end result is just wonderful. i still wonder from which direction the initiative to have jah wobble remixing came from? i thought it might have come out of wobble knowing or maybe even have worked with some of the producers but the intarwebs doesn't seem to find a connection. the track is well recommended anyhow.

buy here (7digital)

goran kajfeš - sand boogie

the hype concerning the latest goran kajfes album has been big and it was given a whole shower of praise and back-patting. to be honest it's well deserving all since he made a really good and nice fusion album.

i've skimmed through the album a few times but i've been too much of a lazy arse to listen to the whole thing. will do it soon probably but i've really liked what i've heard. however there was one track that's been lingering in my mind since i can really see me rocking it in a mix.

the track is called "sand boogie" and it's all about the drums and people who know me know that i love drums. the rhythm section sound quite hiphop and what i mean by that is that i think goran gives a nod to herman kelley's "dance to the drummers beat". the guitars and flutes all of the other melodics however sound like something between eastern europe and anatolia.

buy here (7digital)

mini reviews #5

fifth edition now and i wanted to do this one earlier, i had thought of doing in a few more days because the fourth one was really long overdue. the person i asked for this one is the one i stole this concept from and his name is christian ciccone. more known online as sykonee and he's a music enthusiast and i quite like his reviews and his mixtapes.

01. envio - time to say goodbye (passiva remix) | youtube
the track does nothing for me. i think arksun's remix was much better

02. tranceformer - hypnotized | youtube
quite sounds like resistance d in the best way possible. i approve.

03. ice mc - take away the colour | youtube
i think this version is nice however the '95 version is far superior.

04. ice cube - once upon a time in the projects 2 | youtube
the beat isn't anything special but cube is decent even though i'm not keen. the best thing is this bass fill that appears twice in the track.

05. deep forest - cafe europa | youtube
michael sanchez can be either really good or extremely crap and derivative. this one is the latter.

06. bob marley - buffalo soldier | youtube
still appreciate this song but i've really grown sick of it over the years.

07. raekwon - knowledge god | youtube
one my favourite rza beats and the track itself is bumping.

08. malcolm mclaren - d'ya like scratchin' | youtube
it's ok but the soft jazz flirt near end is questionable but the piano and bass combo sound like larry heard.

09. audio bullys - turned away (tony senghore electric vocal mix) | youtube
there is a subtle "cübik"-influence on this one and i enjoy the track but i wouldn't buy it.

10. asura - back to light | youtube
decent track but i would liked it more with out the four on the floor beat and it would have been beatless up to the breakbeat part

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

they were randomly selected, so there's nothing especially special about them that I can think of off hand

right on.

kings of convenience - i'd rather dance with you (cornelius remix)

i think i discovered the original when it came out and i saw the video on mtv. rather charming tune and i already was a fan of erland øye/kings of convenience with the röyksopp connection. but this version came to me a few years after and i just loved it.

i knew a little about cornelius and his tracks and liked his style and thought he was very creative. the first thing i heard from him was the single "star fruits surf rider" and it shifts from sweet pop to organized chaos (i.e. breakcore). i thought it was amazing but then again that thing isn't a new concept, björk comes to mind. anyhow...

this version takes the original for a subtle re-grooving and most part of it is just øye and bøe's vocals along with guitar strums with a few accentuations. further along the guitar gets shuffled slightly but it's subtle in the beginning and gets a bit more apparent in the last bit.

i think it's quite refreshing for anyone to do a remix like this but i know you can flip the argument and say that all that cornelius did was to bust out a glorified "acoustic version". and on that statement i have to agree but i really like the song so i don't care.

buy here (junodownload)

sylver - livin' my life (filterheadz dub)

this one i discovered a few months after it was released and there was a slight buzz about it. i think filterheadz was quite hyped up at the time and was alternating techy works with more progressive stuff but the theme conveyed in most of the tracks was the tribal groove.

eventually that schtick got quite overplayed when they kept using the same loops in all of their productions. i got quite bored with their productions after that and i really have no clue on what they are doing now and really don't care.

their version of "livin' my life" was obviously meant to be the alternative to the more commercial original. they took the chord progression, a few vocal bits and rest was chucked in the bin. instead they built up this smooth track with it's base being all of these reversed effects.

then the bassline kicks in and the groove is built upon and it eventually goes into a guitar-sounding lead. it's a lovely piece of music and i got reintroduced to it a while ago when i was going through some prog-tunes that i liked. i think i would have to edit it a bit to play it in a set but i'd definitely work it any day.

buy here (amazon mp3)

lady gaga - judas (goldfrapp remix)

i went all gaga over the röyksopp remix a while ago and i have no idea on how i looked past this remix... no, scratch that. i do the reason, i was to busy hugging the remix from the norweigans so i just ignored all the rest.

but like the röyksopp remix, i discovered this on national radio station p3 and it was in a discussion on remixes. this awesomely weird remix came up when they started to talk about the trend of version that isn't meant directly for the dancefloor (since that's the usual thing for poppy tracks).

goldfrapp's invisioning is dark, slow and slows gaga's vocals down and uses all sorts of reverse vocal techniques to really over-emphasise the quasi-diabolical nature. the lyric lines chosen by goldfrapp is from the bridge and the re-contextualisation works in this sense.

however it is one bit that bugs me is that the four on the floor isn't any heavier, even for the ebm/new beat thing they obviously tried to nail. other than that it's remarkably awesome and this track is worth the second posting of a track.

buy here (7digital)

inverse cinematics - sundrops

i think i discovered this one when it came out in '08 and this track just struck a chord with me. it was some element that reminded me of some other tune and i liked it a lot. inverse cinematics was a new name for me at the time even though i'd head "detroit jazzin'" once or twice as that was a quite a big tune.

this track has a moody intro but picks up tempo and some vibrancy from the get-go and the result is a swinging broken beat cut. the drums and percussion are the main course and they really worked on the groove which makes this prime dancefloor material.

buy here (junodownload)

it has some nice melodic touches and the usual rhodes noodlings but as per usual for a dancefloor tune it does have some great bass. and it was that bassline which eventually made me figure out where they borrowed influence from.

it was from the rima (domu & volcov) remix of koop's "bright nights". this track is also a favourite of mine and it's from the remix lp of the "waltz for koop" album. amongst the many great versions (including my one of my all time favourite tracks, being the markus enochson remix of "summer sun") was this dubby late night kind of houser.

it rocked that king of shuffle which king britt would employ in many of his tunes and was the middle thing between house and broken beats. this is a track that also is very useful in a dj's hands as it's versatility makes it excellent to transition or to work it as a peak thing as that break is epic.

buy here (beatport)