röyksopp - sparks (m.a.n.d.y. remix)

i believe that the first time i heard this i did not like this at all but then again i didn't like any remixes of "sparks". anneli drecker's vocal was a part of what made the original really good along with the moody hiphop beats and atmosphere.

i later found out that the problems facing any remixer of this track to make it a dance version comes with the bpm of the original. it rolls around at 85 beats per minute and when a track originally lies with the region between 80-90 bpm it was known as to be a problem.

with certain vocals the time stretching wasn't as noticeable but if the original is sung fast or lethargic in a special manner it became accentuated when moved to a different tempo. nowadays with ableton having a time stretching algorithm that seems to do magic it is almost a thing of the past but this one came out in '03 and the mechanisms of logic, cubase and whatever programs were not cutting the mustard.

drecker's vocal is sung in a slower way but with some faster accentuation and unlike murk & losoul, m.a.n.d.y. pulled it off when handling the vocal. they also kept the chords and transform the feeling of the original into a moody techy house track. it also employs live bass or samples which i really like and it really drives the track well.

i think it's weird that i write about something like this as i know that i really hated it with a passion when i liked as it was part of the "trendhouse" i used to mock senselessly. no one really is going to understand that but trendhouse was a slur that me and a few others started to use towards the type of house that was called "electro-house" (eventually just "electro") or "minimal".

as we were music-nerds and/or enthusiasts and knew what the (then) actual incarnations of electro & minimal was we had a problem with what was referred to as what. i'm still not okay with something four on the floor being called electro but i'm less rabid about this nowadays.

buy here (beatport)

for the record roni size also did a remix that didn't have any troubles with the vocal in terms of time stretching but the quirky drumbreaks he employed were not any good.

joakim lone octet - melting blue ice (seiji remix)

this one is yet another track i discovered when i went on a crate dig with my good friends jan henrik & mikael. i found the tiger sushi remixed cd and saw some good names tweaking the original track, which for the record i have not heard until recently.

i already knew of dego's remix of "twice thinking" as i have that on another compilation but being a fan of seiji i was really interested of this one. on the first listen it gave me really good vibe as it starts with vibrant drums which for some reason i keep humming the call & response of nina simone's "see-line woman" over.

i am pretty sure that seiji did not sample those drums from it but simone or someone very similar sounding appears in this track. it was a bit of a shock of hearing that vocal sample come halfway into the track as i kept thinking of "see-line woman" in my head.

seiji takes something that is originally a moody downtempo jazz tune with some quirky rhythmical bits and reshapes it. the bass, the keys and chords are refitted onto powerful drums and it sets the tone from there. it starts of being very percussive but once the bass comes in it takes a more domineering role and i like how both rhythmical elements are really swinging.

the moody nature of the original does reflect itself when the keys and the long stringpads take part of the track and it sort of brings the track down in it's funky nature. however it does make it a more dynamic song and i really love the overall composition of the track.

listen here (youtube)

ol' dirty bastard - got your money (dj dee-kline & ed209 vocal mix)

i'm concluding the neptunes trilogy with a remix of the first tune that where i heard about the neptunes as a phenomenon along with kelis who is also featured on this track. i could babble on about some more about the original but it can be summarized as "i love it".

i heard about this remix a few years after i heard "got your money" and this was a time i didn't really understand this type of breaks. but once i caught on to the music it made sense and i love those frantic shuffling rhythms. the drums are smacking and the bass is heavy and it's really focused on those two elements as it's melodic elements are limited to warped midrangey synth-bass & a pad that plays long chords.

the only bad thing i can say about the remix is that it takes out the first verse which has the immortal line "i don't have a problem with you fucking me, i do have a problem with you not fucking me". otherwise this track is really banging and dee-kline & ed209 really took the neptunes bassline and where creative with it and made it heavier.

listen here (youtube)

backstreet boys - the call (the neptunes remix featuring clipse)

i could have picked a number of remixes by the neptunes but this one always fascinated me because of the nature of the original. my young sister liked the backstreet boys and when i first heard this track it struck me as a really odd song for them. songs from the boygroups generally had topics that were about love in one way or another but none of them talked about cheating in a somewhat positive way.

i know that the overall tone of the song and especially the second verse of this song has remorse of said cheating act. but the chorus that is repeated often has none and it really defeats that purpose in my opinion. but i don't really care that much since i'm going to talk of the music and you can say all sorts of crazy nonsensical lyric if the track is bumping.

the original was a nice max martin & rami production which delved into latin sounds and all sorts of bombast. for their remix the neptunes strip it all down and keep it to the groove with shuffled drum rhythms and a subby bass. further melodic elements is kept to the strummed guitar during the choruses and quaint synth sound during the bridges.

neptunes protoges pusha t & malice also did guest verses and malice's verse is better written and keeps sort of with the original topic. however pusha t has a much better flow and i prefer his verse at the start and it sets the tone nicely for the track.

i think it all stems to down that this version was meant for the urban clubs. just like how the neptunes made sure that one of the biggest r&b tunes was *n sync's "girlfriend" but i prefer this over that if i'm going to be honest.

buy here (7digital)

n.e.r.d. - lapdance (featuring vita & lee harvey)

now for some reason i thought of doing a the neptunes trilogy thing in posts. an original production, a remix from their side and a remix done of a neptunes production. the idea came to me when i was out walking and listened to some tracks and the shuffle was on.

the following tracks came into play the: timo maas remix of kelis' "young, fresh & new", the clipse's "when the last time" & the neptunes remix of sade's "by your side". i thought it was to much of a coincidence to not do anything on the subject at hand. so here goes and i'll start on the their debut single which was something else.

first time i heard the song was on mtv and i know what you think when i write that. of course this song got big exposure thanks to it's video but to be honest i didn't see the really dirty version of that video until months later. it's that midrangy bassline and i defy anyone to not bump their heads to that rhythm. complete with smacking pocketed drums, it's a done deal.

the way pharrell goes from a lower pitch in the verses into his higher pitched falsetto for the bridges reminds me of prince, especially on something like "the most beautiful girl in the world". i also like how they used reverse reverb effects on vita's hook. there is also a whole load of clever musical elements that's subtle and it's what i think of when someone talks about the neptunes sound.

buy here (itunes)

mini reviews #10

tenth edition and this one was meant to be done a while ago, but this person i asked had problems in picking just 10 songs and kept changing their mind in what to select. the result was that i kept on doing entries waiting on a final selection and i don't think i've got that but here goes anyways. the person doing the selection is chrissanna thomassen and is a danish woman currently pursuing field work in whatever parts of the globe. she has a deep love of music and is known for liking all sorts of music. so here goes,

01. 2pac - picture me rollin' | youtube
pac has really not been my thing but this track is nice but just that.

02. luke fair - lokitas | youtube
i've heard this before and i like it, it's very funky and has a great groove

03. i:cube - adore | youtube
that smoky groove is very nice and hypnotic, kind of reminds me of david holmes' "tess"

04. blümchen - herz an herz | youtube
already done an entry on my liking of blümchen but this isn't one of my favourites

05. amon tobin - bridge | youtube
this is an exercise of twisting jazz samples to form an own entity. it's well done and it's really good

06. earth nation - falling tears | youtube
prefer the mixes on the single but the album version is nice as well.

07. anthony rother - 10.000 dancer | youtube
nice subtle techno, it's really not what i expected from rother.

08. galaxy 2 galaxy - momma's basement | youtube
reminds me of incognito's later material and i quite like it

09. bugge wesseltoft - many rivers to cross | grooveshark
i really don't like jimmy cliff's original and this piano version did not improve it at all

10. jónsi - grow till tall | youtube
never heard it before but love how the way it grow from silence into noise with jonsis sweet vocals in the middle of it all

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

what we have is a couple of songs I've loved "forever" (Picture Me Rollin', Grow til Tall, and Many Rivers to Cross for example) versus some that I just recently came across on my own (Lokitas, Adore, Bridge, Falling Tears, Momma's Basement for example). As always, I value your thoughts and I'd like to hear what you have to say about these.

right on.

culture beat - rendez-vous (jazz version)

the original was a song that i heard on radio in occasions back in '98 and the name of the song escaped me for years. it still lingered in my mind for a while but i had no clue about it until i heard it on youtube a while back and it all made sense again.

in terms of eurodance culture beat was an act that i liked but i wasn't on their radar when fenslau wasn't producing. but i fail to see how i missed this as kim sanders is on lead vocals and she is without a doubt my favourite singer when it came to eurodance. or any type of music as she's done jazz and electronic music but i know her most for "tell me that you want me" which is one of my favourite eurodance tracks.

anyhow, after hearing the original i wanted to hear some of the remixes and the one that popped up as the oddest of the bunch was this one. to be honest i prefer this to a type of version that could have been done a few years after, being "the candlelight mix". which is a glorified downtempo mix of any dance track where the beat is either taken off or done in halftime and the vocals being really upfront.

this comes with a complete different backing and sets the song in a smooth jazz setting which is without a doubt cheesy but i love this song so i'm swallowing the gouda. but bear in mind that it isn't for the kenny g-esque noodling saxophone that i'm highlighting this track, it's sanders vocal take.

she delivers a fairly trite lyric about conditional love in a way that is gorgeous and way she does those adlibs where she mimic the melody is great.

buy here (7digital)

pet shop boys - go west (ming's gone west: second movement)

i heard the original as a kid watching mtv and i liked the song and i've been a fan of the pet shop boys work since then. i didn't know the lyrical significance of it when i was younger but i quickly found out since everyone kept referring to it as the gay song.

fact is that i've already gone on record saying that i don't care and in most respects homosexuals do the best music and the most groundbreaking music. to put it in a recent hip-hop meme (and a really stupid one might i add): yes homo. i'm into women and never been tempted onto the same sex in that manner, but yes homo.

anyhow the original had this part in the end, right after the orchestral coda where it went into this nice trancy house thing. when i was younger it was called "the techno part" but i always loved that part of the song but it was too short. my heart leaped with joy about twelve years ago when i found the extended mix on filesharing program kazaa.

i used to always download the longest versions and henceforth i found it's existence and a few years later when i got into buying music again, i eventually bought the cd single with the remixes of "go west". the version that quickly got my attention was the "ming's gone west" version done by brothers in rhythm. they did additional work on the original track which ended up being the version landing on the video, single and album and they did a separate remix which they did under their ming moniker.

it's a two-parter where it plays fairly like the original for the first half but the second half is much more interesting. it breaks down and starts again and you hear the synth melodies and bass rhythms sounding like that end part of the original. it now is much more like how the brothers in rhythm would imagine it and they get creative with it and add an electric piano and expands on the general theme.

i love this part of the remix and it's a pity that it's only five minutes since seaman and anderson pours in so many new ideas into the track. there is really a sense of a 10 minute brothers in rhythm epic lying there in a compact form. but i don't lay awake at night wanting that as it's current state is great as it is and what i always wanted. sort of..

listen here (youtube)

also i find it weird that i'm doing an entry about this one rather than "being boring" which is one of my all time favourite songs, but i don't know what to say else than "i love this track so much".

hardfloor - reverberate opinion

until i head something else than "acperience 01" and ilk from hardfloor's side i thought all of their productions were on that wavelength. already explained that in a previous entry but this track also opened me to a hardfloor that i didn't know.

it sounded more like they were channeling richie hawtin and i'm saying this coming of listening to plastikman's "musik" lp quite a bit. i'm maybe talking out of my arse but it's a much denser and deeper production and they did more to atmosphere and there is a sense of minimalism within the machinery.

"reverberate opinion" was one of the tracks that stunned me the most when i took a listen to "trance europe express 2", after i had bought that and volume one at a charity shop. there isn't any extravagance within the acid but there is a vicious groove that is nothing short of hypnotic.

the way they made the one instance of the roland tb-303 sound like a didgeridoo is amazing and i love this track. i just wished they'd gone a little more richie and left the hardfloor track template with regards to the last drop.

buy here (junodownload)

lisa lindebergh - one week

for some reason certain songs or pieces of culture, that one may have consumed over the years, pop up in your head from being oblivious to it for years. this certain song was a case of this and i really don't know where it came from. it is not really not a song that was known outside of sweden and even then it was a moderate hit-song.

i heard it on radio back when i young and stupid and thought that the only radio station that mattered was nrj.  listening to it now i know why it was a hit as it's ridiculously catchy and i can hear clear parallels between "one week" and a current song like carly rae jepsen's "call me maybe". even though the chord progression reminds me more of jackson 5's classic "i want you back".

i really don't know much of what happened with lisa lindebergh after this song and for any other song as i'm still torn about if i dislike this song. the week this came into my head again i did some minor google work and found her personal youtube account and a soundcloud so i know that she is still writing music.

on another day i would have gone longer about that for now i'll just keep it to this.

buy here (7digital)

fc/kahuna - hayling (chicken lips remix)

i discovered this version when i bought the cdsingle two years ago and i think under different circumstances or hearing it before that, i'd dismiss it completely. mainly it's about chicken lips taking the song down a route that doesn't fully coincide with what the original was doing. super furry animals also did a remix that changed the completely but they kept the mood for the first half of theirs.

chicken lips version sounds more like their big hit "he not in" than "hayling" but with a heavier slant. it strengthens the influences of lipps inc.'s "funkytown" and it goes in that electric boogie meets italodisco sound. they do however keep the chordprogression of the original but keep the first bars going a little bit more before going into the chord changes

hence with some of the changes for the melodic side, the vocal is refitted for the song and has been pitched down a semitone or two. but it does it's way because the driving bassline is keeping the song going for the most of the track.

this remix may not be "healing" as fc/kahuna imagined (that goes with ils and later on max cooper who kept the original vision) but it's a damn good piece of music and i'll keep support it.

buy here (itunes)

mr. scuff - fish

i don't remember the first time i heard this track but it's one of the nuttiest ones coming from scruff. he generally has a sense of humour in his music but this sits on the fence of idiocy and brilliance.

the plan was probably make a track consisting of all the vocal samples he could find about fish and work it all together. it's a song that sort of tells it's story in somewhat disjointed form but you don't care about that since it has a chorus that is nothing short of genius.

it rivals lemon jelly's "nice weather for ducks" in how a random sentence or a set of words can become that catchy and will order a room in  your head for weeks. "nice weather for ducks" has the sentence "all the ducks are swimming in the water" and "fish" has a rhythmic annotation of the word "fish". the pattern is sort of bo diddley but it also adds a vocal fill saying "eating fish".

scruff's collaging on this is great and it all stays in place with a track that consists of a chopped up drum break & a filtered bassline. the track also goes into a tempo change once the first chorus kicks in. remarkable is that with that change the song goes sort of into a danceable rhythm but i don't know if anyone would actually bust this out in that sort of environment.

buy here (junodownload)

infiniti - think quick

i know in advance that this is highly regarded as one juan atkins best tracks in the 90's but i had no clue about it until a few months ago. i bought the kickin records' 1995 compilation "trance central volume 2 - the trip" and it wasn't actually one of the tracks i got it for. it's a good compilation with a boatload of 90's techno, trance & house and includes the likes carl cox's remix of "it's our future" and josh wink's remix of "supernatural".

this gave me an amazing experience on the first listen and it wasn't in an environment that these moments happen often. fact was that i was doing the dishes and had some music on in my headphones and then it came on. it struck me really hard and the track really commanded attention in it's rhythmic motion.

it's really hypnotic and uses both repetitious melodies and dubby sounds along with drum patterns & rhythms that aren't properly quantised. it blew my mind the same way theo parrish's "dusty cabinets" gave me a big lesson of what is rhythmical.

but to be back on solid ground it isn't a new concept of using a straight drum rhythm and swung melodic elements/bassline and vice versa. but it's when you take it further on from swing and/or the use of triplets, the music gets a different element as it's challenging you.

the track is essentially an excerise in repetition but it is a club track and it's best described by the acid part in the middle. there shuffled drums gets a backseat for a grounding four on the floor that takes command with the acid going deeper in tone.

i know that i really slept on this track but better late than never. by the looks of it since tresor re-released it in may, along with a new sleeparchive remix,  i am yet another person to discover it.

buy here (junodownload)

i should note that moritz von oswald did an really amazing remix and sleeparchive's remix is a harder rendition of the former. it's nice and has it's place but it's just that.

esperanza spalding - i can't help it

i had first heard of esperanza spalding either on of national radio p2's jazz programs or online, possibly on ameobas what's in my bag segment. i took a liking towards her music but i do have to say that her stature as female jazz bass player who sang beautifully as well worked as taking interest in her music.

she released an album in march and i have listened to parts of it and thought it was really good. i really liked a few songs (like "crowned & kissed", "hold on me", "let her" & "smile like that") on it but my eyes & ears kept focusing on the cover of michael jackson's classic "i can't help it".

the original of that was a song that i had missed completely when i rediscovered it through todd terje's rework. i thought i was fairly knowledgeable about jackos best songs since i grew up with a sister who loved and listened to jacksons music extensively. but terje brought it back in a big way and the hipsters and dancefloors payed attention when he did something that was simple as a 12" mix of the song.

esperanzas rendition keeps the quiet storm type r&b groove but takes a deeper look on the original's jazz roots. with versions of songs done by jazz musicians, there is always either a new arrangement or heavy/little improvisation and on this it's the former. it does it way with its peaks and valleys and goes in out of the original song on a few occasions.

there are a few reasons on which this version goes on par with the original and first of all it's spalding's bass playing, i would extend on that but she is brilliant at her instrument so it's goes without saying. secondly it's her brilliant vocal perfomance and the way she enunciates and her phrasing that is sort of minnie ripperton doing erykah badu.

thirdly is the vocal harmonies and ad libs that are spread out through the track and i really love the arrangement. especially the way it feels that it's going head into a deep blues and then you get musician punch to kick you right into the groove again.

buy here (7digital)

monkey mafia - the whore of babylon

i did not know a whole lot about jon carters music when i, a few years ago, saw the "15 steps" ep in a secondhand store. i'd heard the almighty club hit "blow the whole joint up" and new that the name of the game is big beat, in the best way possible.

i fell in love with this project after hearing more than just "lion in the hall" and "work mi body" & "blow the whole joint up". now when someone says something like that, it's usually with a noting that the rest of the project sounds nothing or little like them. in this case it doesn't, infact it's very much rooted within sample driven breakbeat music.

naturally after getting hold of singles and some remixes done by mr. carter as monkey mafia, i was trying to get hold of the album. i'd heard a number of tracks of it and wanted it badly for a little time but it fell out of priority. but when i went cratedigging a month ago with my good friends jan henrik and mikael, jan henrik found the album in the box of cd's that he was going through.

he handed it over to me and i was really pleased since i managed get hold of the album as i think it's a really solid piece of work. carter built his album well and showed a little more range but i knew that he had a dubby side which showed in tracks like "ward 10" and the cover of clearence clearwater revival's "long as i can see the light"

but the highlight of the album is this track by the name of "the whore of babylon" and while that's a biblical reference there is nothing christian about the track. the track consists of two distinctive parts, where the first is the long and excellently tension building build and the second part is the drum & bass part.

this track blew my mind on the first listen but i don't know why as it isn't that original but it was just something else. the first two minutes are just heavy soundscapes and it slowly teases in the midrangy bassriff that is driving the track. it then goes into this drop where the riff is soloed and then it builds from there and it's a whole haze of hypnotic melodic elements, reverbed out sounds and this thick bed of bass.

i heard the track again after buying the album and when playing it fairly loud on a good soundsystem, the track showed it's capabilities. it could be this intro piece for a driving jungle set or an epic closer but if one would pitch it down a bit, it'd be excellent in bass music. now this is because i heard the song with a dj's ear but fact is that i wouldn't play it in any set except for a closer with limited mixing.

listen here (youtube)

i also found out that jon carter resurrected his monkey mafia project a few months ago, which is a good thing. while i'm not that big on the comeback single "royal ascot", it's up to par with his previous work and i'm eagerly awaiting more material from him.

niko - let me go

for this one i hadn't heard of niko before picking up her album a while ago but quickly found out who she was. she was a talented musician studying jazz and classical and taking part of various projects before taking a plunge into a different field when she guested on mr. scruffs “come alive”.

she signed onto grand central records and further on came collaborations with only child and aim on which the latter became a frequent partner. that included taking part in his live band and producin a big part of her first album. but it also included production from the likes of scruff, mark rae, rhys adams, lance thomas and martin desai.

on this track it’s rhys adams who is responsible for beats but i can honestly say that i don’t really know who he is. discogs tell me he’s a mark rae collaborator and has been involved in other grand central productions.

“let me go” reminds me of something like amy winehouse’s “in my bed” but with difference that it was released before it. it has that hard kind of jazzy hiphop beat and niko being angry but singing soulfully in her fury.

when i thought about doing an entry about a song from this album it was going to be about “an echo of quiet and green”. it comes before “let me go” on the album and had that swanky wonk that scruff’s beats is associated with but i think this song is a better song. also that intro with some hard drums & a great bassline just sealed the deal.

get this song in your head and get the whole album while you are at it. it’s quality stuff and i think it’s a shame that it was released prior to lily allen and ilk blowing up as it would have gained bigger success then.

buy here (junodownload)

minus 8 - snowblind (the amalgamation of soundz remix)

this was a track i discovered shortly after hearing the amalgamation of soundz' "eric" a few years ago. i sort of liked their drum & bass material but i thought their broken beat stuff was more interesting and quite liked their change in tempo from 160bpm to 120bpm.

while the original is a nice shuffle with prominent bongos, nice lively percussion and a driving bassline the amalgamation of soundz flip the original. they harnest the use of the flutes and pads but they bring in better drums. they tone down the more colourful percussive side to have the drum break dominate the track but they program the drums so it sounds like an actual drummer playing.

what they also did was to recontextualise the vocals and took them out of their lowkey nature where they were imbedded into the groove. harbottle & thompson elevate them and give them the treatment of more air & reverb to make them more divaesque to fit the stature of the production.

i loved what the did with this track and i think it's essentially a lush jazzstep track done at the 120bpm region and that excites me.

buy here (junodownload)

each - street wise (jussi-pekka laidback mix)

this was another track that was given a heads up on it's release by mr alon klein, who is a big acid music fanatic. i wasn't that on to jussi pekkas production at the time but i knew he was making techno at the beginning but shifted towards house and that's where i started noticing his productions.

i'd say that i know a little part of his catalogue since i've heard his material and spun a few of his tracks but he goes in and out of my conciousness. for me i like his deeper house material and i really liked when he started implementing some acidlines into his productions.

i took a liking towards this one after a few listens but i liked it's sort of deeper funky house groove and the sounds used in it. i know i have heard the original since i do have the record but to be honest, it's not that good and it's a sort of retro house thing. jussi pekka keeps a part of it but works a better groove for the track.

the acid on this of course a big part of the track but it doesn't dominate the soundscape fully. the bassline keep the groove going well and the sparkling arpeggiated synth sounds work with the shuffling percussion. the lush pad that is heard for most of the track is really nice and the way it's soft sound coincides with the resonant acid sound is a great combination.


this track used to be available for purchase online on digital download on amazon, itunes, beatport & djtunes but i have no idea what happened since it doesn't appear on those stores anymore. it's listed on amazon but it's available for purchase.

but i do also recommend jussi pekkas remixes of "the funk miracle" by ministers of the music and "more trouble" by baeka. the former has a really funky groove and the latter is a driving acid dominating thing.

little boots - headphones (dimitri from paris remix)

i heard about this one through soundcloud since i follow both dimitri from paris and little boots and i originally didn't think much of "headphones" or todd edwards' rerub which was offered for listening first. it was decent and i liked the lyrics but it needed that something and dimitri knew exactly what to do with it.

dimitri use a slightly different groove and he took advantage of refitting an edit that he did a while back onto this his remix. he refixed the shep pettibone remix of madonna's classic "into the groove" and i believe that dimitri used the version on either "you can dance" or on "the immaculate collection".

i love sheps rework of "into the groove" but i didn't like what dimitri did with his edit since it was perfect in the first place. but when borrows the bassline and the aural aesthetics of it for the "headphones" remix it's perfect in every way. dimitri labels his remix as cutesy pop on his soundcloud page and to be honest he is correct with it but it's the right kind of cute.

buy here (beatport)

i do know it's alarming that i talk about these new songs & tracks that essentially stem from 10-30 year ago. simon reynolds talks about this in retromania and i'm well aware of it but i do want to fool myself of thinking that i don't completely obsess of obscure songs from '83 or '76 and how it was better then. because it's not but i will listen to that and the newer hyper modern stuff as one should do.