Archive for December, 2012

Dispatch From China: Some Like It Hot

Wednesday, December 26th, 2012

As I write this post I am sitting in my room, drinking whiskey and listening to Erasure. However when you read it I will be in motherfucking China, probably freezing my ass off on the Great Wall or exploring the city’s burgeoning punk and metal scenes (I am so stoked to hear Chinese punk, you have no idea). Oh the magic of “post on date.”

However, since I have just spent the past four hours writing various other words for various other articles, blog posts and emails, I am officially out of things to say! So this one will be brief. Good stuff though, at least I think so.

The Power Station
Some Like It Hot And The Heat Is On 
This version of The Power Station’s biggest hit is a megamix of sorts that combines the original album version of the track with “The Heat Is On,” the dub mix of the song. It’s good, but all I could think about while listening to it is the video for the song. It’s 80s as fuck.

The following things happen in this video:

  • A rotoscoped woman dances.
  • An extremely tall female model walks up to a space heater while Robert Palmer sings “feel the heat.
  • Plastic trees burst into flames!
  • The same model from before returns and shaves her already shaven armpit on camera.
  • Robert Palmer (dressed as a priest) sings to a statue of a bird.
  • Stock footage people clap.
  • The model puts on pink lipstick while a statue of a tiger watches.
  • Guitar solo by the dude from Duran Duran, he is clad in ammo belts and 80s metal hair.
  • Model puts a lamp up to her face when Palmer repeats the lyric “feel the heat”
  • Model sunbaths in a black light, with shaving cream on her face.
  • Rotoscoped lady re-appears from lightening!
  • Freeze frame!
  • Song ends.
  • PS: bolo ties.
  • PPS: Neon green eyeliner
  • PPPS: The 80s yo.

Erasure
Always (Extended Mix)
You guys! I almost went an entire year without posting an Erasure remix! What the fuck! If that happened I would have lost my fabulousness (and fuck you Chrome, that’s a word). This is from a 12″ single.

Oh god I just thought something: what if there is there is a club in China that plays vaguely gay synthpop? Oh god I hope there is. I’ll dance my ass off. Fuck punk bars, that’s where it’s at.

 

Posted in B-sides, Erasure, Power Station, remixes | 3 Comments »

A replica of a remix of a re-release.

Thursday, December 20th, 2012

Yeah, so I spelled “R2D2” wrong in my last post. Shut up. Did you record the 45, clean up the audio, rip it into MP3s, tag the MP3s, upload the MP3s to a server you paid for, and then write about the song?

Didn’t think so!

Seriously though, thanks to the person who pointed out the typo while not being a dick. That was nice.

This will be my last post before Christmas, so if you’re celebrating/recognized/being forced to observe Christmas, I hope you have a happy holiday. For the rest of you, I hope your Tuesday doesn’t suck. Additionally, this will be my last post before I embark on my trip to China and Japan! I have some posts lined up to go during my absence, and I hope to get a lot of stuff up here during my time in Tokyo. Hopefully you all will barely notice a break in my posts.

The train never stops at Lost Turntable. Notice how so many websites pretty much shut down during the Christmas/New Year’s break? Not this place! Not only am I going to continue to update the site during the break, but I’ll even be doing it while I’m on another fucking continent!

So what I’m basically saying is that everyone else is lazy. And I’m awesome.

And modest. So very modest.

 

Roni Size/Reprazent: Selections from Replica The Remix Album
Brown Paper Bag (Photek Remix)
Heroes (Origin Unknown Remix)
Share The Fall (Grooverider’s Jeep Style Mix)
New Forms (Krust’s Wide Screen Version)
Brown Paper Bag (Nobukazu Takemura Remix)
Heroes (Kruder Long Loose Bossa)
Down (Bel Air Remix)
New Forms (Roni Size Remix)
Western
Electricks

So, Roni Size is the person, right? And Reprazent is the group? But..Roni Size is also in Reprazent? Well then why not just call themselves Reprazent? Or maybe Reprazent featuring Roni Size? Why the extraneous slash? Motherfuckers have to be special, it’s like how Trent Reznor’s new band How To Destroy Angels is supposed to be spelled “How To Destroy Angels_” that’s with an underscore at the end. I love Trent Reznor and will pretty much defend to the death anything he does, but that’s dumb with a capital U (see, the wrong letter is capitalized, that’s how dumb it is).

Okay, I’m going off topic. Replica is, to date, Roni Size/Reprazent’s only compilation remix album. It was originally released in Japan in 1997, got a release in Australia the following year, and that was it. The album was never put out on disc in the US or the UK, and as of 2012 the album has yet to make appearance on digital marketplaces like Amazon or iTunes. You would think that with the massive success that Roni Size/Reprazent had with New Forms they would want to release this remix album in as many territories as possible, but whatever. Their lack of international regard is your gain today.

The only song from Replica that I am not sharing is the album closer “Electriks.” It’s not a remix, and it can also be found on most versions of New Forms, including the versions that can be bought on iTunes and Amazon’s MP3 store.

Speaking of versions of New Forms, holy shit there are a lot of versions of that record. First there was the original 2CD version that first came out in the UK.  Later on, the UK also got the first disc of the 2CD album as a single disc release.

Meanwhile in the US, we got the complete 2CD version that also included “Electricks” (which was not available on the original UK version). Then Japan got their own single CD version with an altered track listing that included the awesome rap single edit of “Brown Paper Bag.” And then there are the vinyl versions; a 4LP edition that is an approximation of the first CD, and a freakin’ 5LP edition that is based mostly on the second CD. And I haven’t even mentioned New Forms2, the remix/remake of the album that the group released in 2008.

So what I’m basically saying is that there needs to be Super Deluxe edition of New Forms that includes all of that shit. we got like four years before the album’s 20th anniversary  Let’s make this happen people.

 

Posted in remixes, Roni Size | 5 Comments »

Jon Bon Jovi is R2D2’s Secret Santa

Wednesday, December 19th, 2012

It’s really been a watershed year for The Lost Turntable when it comes to posting stupid ass bullshit.

For real. I mean, in the course of these 12 months I’ve posted remixes of both the themes to Demolition Man and the Flintstones movies; remixes to “Satellite Of Love;” an entire album of latin love songs redone on the Moog; and a dance mix of Alice In Chains’ “Man In The Box.” There was even a post earlier this year with the title “My Tongue Hurts, Here are 32 Madonna Remixes.” Am I am pretty certain that I wrote that one while sober. So that stupidity is all on me.

That being said, with all that taken into account, and with a full year of incredibly idiotic posts behind me, I feel that tonight’s brief foray into sci-fi themed Christmas music may in fact be the dumbest thing I post all year. Godspeed.

Meco
What Do You Get A Wookiee For Christmas When He Already Has A Comb
R2D2 We Wish You A Merry Christmas
Goddamn.

What kind of person would think that a Christmas album about Wookiees, droids and Jedis would be a good idea? Why, Meco of course!

Meco, for those who do not know, has pretty much spent his entire professional life milking Star Wars and other sci-fi films, reconstructing music from them for his own disco/electronic releases. His first taste of success came in 1978, with the album Music Inspired By Star Wars and Other Galactic Funk.  That album is a masterpiece of disco cheese, with the first side being entirely dedicated to electronic disco interpretations of Star Wars themes, and the second featuring three original compositions (brilliantly titled “Other,” “Galactic,” and “Funk.”) If you have to own a Meco record (and let me be clear, you really don’t have to own a Meco album) this is the one to get.

After the release of Star Wars and Other Galactic Funk, Meco released Encounters of Every Kind, an album of original music that also included a discofied take on the theme to Close Encounters of The Third Kind. A year later he released his interpretation of The Wizard Of Oz, and I take back my previous statement, if you only buy one Meco record, snag that, because it is batshit fucking crazy.

Other sci-fi disco releases followed, but none apparently caught the pop world on fire like his first release, so in 1980 he returned to a galaxy far far away and released Christmas In The Stars: Star Wars Christmas Album, apparently unaware of the televised abortion that was the Star Wars Holiday Special.

Christmas albums, as a whole, are pretty atrocious affairs. And even from the standards of those, Christmas In The Stars is an utter and complete train-wreck clusterfuck, with its blatant cheapo cash grab status made all the more obvious by the fact that the only original cast member from Star Wars to make an appearance on the album is Anthony Daniels, who reprises his role as C-3PO. The only other characters from the films who make a substantial appearance are RD2D and Chewbacca, probably since both can be re-created without having to use original cast members.

While the album is utterly atrocious, it is notable for who worked on it if nothing else. The record was mixed by Scott Litt, who would go on to produce albums for R.E.M., The Replacements, Nirvana and many more. If I’m not mistaken, it is his first professional credit, although he actually shares a mixing credit with Tony Bongiovi.

Tony Bongiovi is the cousin of one John Bongiovi, who provides the lead vocals to the track “R2D2 We Wish You A Merry Christmas.”

Who the hell is John Bongiovi? Well, that would be the birth name of one Jon Bon Jovi, the lead singer of the multi-platinum hair metal act that shares his last name. This is actually Jon Bon Jovi’s first credited appearance on an album, coming four years before the band would release their self-titled debut record, and six years before the band would become the biggest name in 80s pop rock with Slippery When Wet. I wonder how often he thinks back to his days of singing about R2D2’s holiday cheer?

The complete Christmas In The Stars album has only been widely released twice, first on vinyl in 1980, and then again on CD in 1996. Both versions are well out-of-print and go for a fortune online, no doubt because of die-hard Star Wars fanatics with too much disposable income (being a lifelong single bachelor who lives with your parents will do that).

I don’t own the album, I don’t hate myself that much. However, I do apparently hate myself enough to have once bought the “What Can You Get A Wookiee…” single. So enjoy that and the B-side, the Jon Bon Jovi fronted “RD2D We Wish You A Merry Christmas.”

Okay…maybe not enjoy. But you know what I mean.

 

By the way, some quick site news!

On Sunday I leave for Toledo. Yay. But then on Wednesday I leave from Detroit for Beijing! And then after spending about a week in Beijing I will be traveling to Japan for 10 days of OMG FREAKING OUT at all the amazing shit in Tokyo. I want to get one more post out before I depart, but I don’t what day that will go up. I also plan on having something written to go up automatically while I am in Beijing. I will not be blogging while in Beijing. Long story. I’ll share it after I get out of Beijing.

However, expect me to blog the shit out of Tokyo. I’ve never been, and I’m sure that the sights and sounds of the neo-metropolis will cause my nerdy head to explode.  I don’t know how much music you can expect from me during my time in Tokyo (I’m not bringing a turntable, so I’ll only be sharing stuff I get on CD), but you can bet that I’ll be writing a ton about record stores, live music, and all the other crazy shit I’ll be taking in during my trip. I”m super-excited.

And don’t forget, if you want constant updates on what’s coming up on this blog/unedited vulgar ramblings, be sure to follow me on Twitter!

 

Posted in Jon Bon Jovi, Meco, Star Wars | 5 Comments »

More Madonna. More Hosting Woes.

Thursday, December 13th, 2012

So I guess I should probably elaborate on this?

Okay, I transferred my site to Nearly Free Speech (NFS) last month because I heard a lot of good things about them, most of which I detail in this post.

I resolved a lot of the financial issues with them, but now I’m finding that they aren’t all that cracked up to be when it comes to the technical side of things either.

I was going to try and be civil and rational with this, but I guess I’m not good at that. So I’m just going to come right out and say it.

NFS is apparently run by a group of paranoid idiots.

They’re servers are jacked up with so much excessive and redundant security systems that upgrading, modifying or altering anything on my end is nearly impossible. Under NFS’s default settings, I cannot upgrade WordPress, install plug-ins, remove plug-ins, modify anything, or even upload pictures. It’s a mess. And what makes it all worse is that there’s NOTHING on NFS”s site to explain this, and that there is NO free customer support to help users sort all of it out. If you have an account with NFS and you need help, your only option is to turn to their forums, which are staffed by both NFS employees and other users who try their best to help each other navigate the magical land of bullshit that is NFS’s server system. Pretty convenient for them huh? Make a system that no one can understand and then charge the users to help them!

Assholes.

And to make matters worse, this is effecting my upcoming site as well, so I have to postpone launching that AGAIN. I vow to get that shit up before I go to Tokyo, and it will happen. But I think it’s going to be close now.

Is NFS a cheap web hosting solution? I mean, maybe? It’s not for me. I’ve already had to go to a third hosting provider for my files, because NFS’s system is straight up broken if you want to host large files. It’s pathetic. But even without that taken into account, NFS isn’t really affordable or a good deal. Why?

Because your time is worth money. A blog without any large files would probably be able to be hosted on NFS for less than $40 a year. But you know what? My time is worth money too! And when I have to spend dozens of hours just figuring out how to do basic things that every other hosting provider on the planet does automatically, then any value that NFS’s low-cost hosting may have had is immediately lost.

Screw these mofos. I’m never using Nearly Free Speech again, and I really recommend that no one else does either. They are scam artists who exploit their convoluted, broken service for a quick buck from those who don’t know better. They suck.

Now let’s listen to Madonna.

Madonna
Don’t Cry For Me Argentina (Miami Mix Alternate Ending)
Don’t Cry For Me Argentina (Miami Spanglish Mix)
Don’t Cry For Me Argentina (Miami Mix Edit)
Don’t Cry For Me Argentina (Miami Dub Mix)
Don’t Cry For Me Argentina (Miami Mix Instrumental Version)
Don’t Cry For Me Argentina (Miami Spanglish Mix Edit)
Love Don’t Live Here Anymore (Extended Journey)
Love Don’t Live Here Anymore (Hot Mix Edit)
Love Don’t Live Here Anymore (Hot Mix Radio Edit)
Love Don’t Live Here Anymore (Edge Factor Dub)
Love Don’t Live Here Anymore (Early Morning Dub)
Express Yourself (Shep’s ‘spressin’ Himself Re-remix)
Oh god that’s a lot of Madonna what have I done? I have one more Madonna single I want to post sometime soon, but this should be the last of the Madonna for a while.

A year or two ago I had a post with some remixes of Madonna’s much-maligned “American Life,” where I dubbed it one of the worst songs of all time. That may have been a bit harsh, so I’m going to try to avoid such hyperbole tonight.

However, that being said…wow holy fuck do I hate “Don’t Cry For Me Argentina.” I hate it. I hate it so much. Seriously. It’s like, unhealthy how much I hate this goddamn song. I hated the original version, I hate these remixes and I hate the fact that I even own the 12″ single, something I bought solely because I have to be a completist and own one version of every single Madonna 12″. Why? I don’t know, because I have weird problems. But hey, if you like this song, go nuts. Seriously, if you like this song, good for you! Have fun with these remixes! Download all of them and have yourself an Andrew Lloyd Weber dance party!

Just don’t invite me.

Now, “Love Don’t Live Here Anymore,” that’s a song that I can get behind. And it’s a song that I didn’t realize was a cover until about five minutes ago! Research! It’s a wonderful thing! Madonna’ first covered it for Like A Virgin, but it wasn’t released as a proper single until 1996, when it was re-recorded/reworked for inclusion on her ballads compilation Something to Remember. As I said before, I’m not a huge fan of Madonna’s ballads, but I do enjoy this one, and I especially like these more upbeat dance mixes that inject some life into the downbeat number. I got these mixes from a weird red label promo 12″ that I guess is kind of rare. So I got that going for me. Which is nice.

And finally, “Express Yourself”! I don’t feel that I need to explain, extol or exclaim the virtues of this one. It’s a bona fide classic, and is probably in my top five list of Madonna songs, behind “Vogue” and before “Hung Up.”  This remix is by Shep Pettibone and it was included as a b-side to “Justify My Love.” It’s a pretty out there mix too. A lot of the elements from the original version are stripped out and about half of its 9 and a half minute running time is dedicated to an extended breakdown in the middle that features more stutters than a class full of kids with speech disorders (I can make that joke! I have a stutter and a speech impediment!) It’s really different and worth a listen. I hope you like it.

 

Posted in Madonna, remixes | 2 Comments »

Jive Presents In-House Volume 1

Wednesday, December 12th, 2012

I used to think Jive Records was dogshit, but that was just as much their fault as it was mine. Shit, you know what? It was way more their fault than it was mine.

They’re the ones who subjected the world to Britney Spears, the Backstreet Boys and N-SYNC. As a teen in the late 90s it was nearly impossible to turn on MTV and not see their name at the bottom of some video I found atrocious by some vapid pop act who I thought was sucking the lifeforce out of popular music. They didn’t do much to improve their image for me in the 2000s either, signing artists like T-Pain, Eamon (fuck you Eamon, I don’t want you back), Joe, Nick Carter and probably dozens of other shitty pop acts I can’t even remember. In 2011, when it was announced that their parent label RCA Records would be dissolving the label and shutting it down, I didn’t shed a tear for their demise.

It wasn’t until recently that I discovered their important role in the history of new wave, hip-hop and dance music. They were the first label to new wave/big hair pioneers Flock Of Seagulls, and they were also the home to golden age rap legends Whodini. As their influence grew in the late 80s, they signed other important hip-hop artists like KRS-One, Schooly D and A Tribe Called Quest.

Digging through their discography on Discogs, it seemed to be around this time that the label also got into the habit of releasing compilations geared towards the clubs and the dance floor. At first these records were mostly hip-hop focused, but as time went on, the label eventually started to embrace the then new sound of house music.

I focused on one of these releases a few months ago, the awesome Jive Presents Acid House, but tonight I’m going to put the spotlight on the labels’ very first house compilation, 1988’s Jive Presents In-House Volume 1. While Jive had yet to attach the “acid” moniker to the music on this compilation, many of the tunes on the In-House album are clearly some of the earliest examples of the acid house sound making its way into the pop dance scene. It’s not all the way there yet, much of In-House lacks the edge and attitude of acid house that would come just a year later, but it’s clearly hear, and its fascinating to hear a genre really finding its footing, getting ready to claim the first half of the 90s for its own.

Enjoy, and if you have any insight as to other super-early acid house compilations or releases (aside from “Acid Trax,” I am aware) please let me know!

Samantha Fox
I Wanna Have Some Fun
While it’s not credited as such on the linear notes, this is a remix of Fox’s biggest hit, one that is double the length of the original and has an overall production feel that is less “poppy” and more pure dance. It’s still a silly, cute song though.

Culture Clash Dance Party
Love Fever (Fever Mix)
THIS SONG IS AWESOME AND I LOVE AND IT’S REALLY GOOD AND I WISH I KNEW MORE ABOUT CULTURE CLASH DANCE PARTY BECAUSE THEY SEEM PRETTY RAD.

She Rockers
Get Up On This
The She Rockers aren’t the world’s best rappers, but they got attitude that more than makes up for it. This shit sounds like an edgy Technotronic. I love it.

The Wee Papa Girls
We Know It
The worst named act in late 80s acid house is back! The Wee Papa Girls also appeared on the Jive Presents Acid House album, but this song is much better than the tune the contributed to that album. Expect some more from the Wee Papa Girls next week.

Children Of The Night
It’s a Trip (Tune In, Turn On, Drop Out)
Children Of The Night contributed one of my favorite tracks to the Jive Presents Acid House album, so it’s not surprising that they deliver another great banger here. This is the first track on the album that really sounds like acid house in both style and lyrical content (especially thanks to its parenthetical title). A great song, the best on the album if you ask me.

Adonis And The Acid Slaves
House Will Never Die
Adonis and the Acid Slaves is Michael A. Smith, a DJ/producer who first started releasing music in the late 80s. According to his Discogs page he has about a billion aliases, including Black Balls, Jack Frost, Percy Richblood and The Circle Jerks (no, not the punk band). He is also responsible for the mixes of “Love Fever” and “Get Up On This” that appear on this very album. Of all the tracks on this record, this is the one that sounds the most like acid house, complete with squelching “acid” sounds and constant references to acid slaves. It also has the best lyric of the album: “Do you want house? Or do you want bluegrass?”

If I saw this dude live back in the day I would have been the asshole to say “I want bluegrass!”

Posted in Adonis And The Acid Slaves, Children Of The Night, Complete Albums, Culture Class Dance Party, remixes, Samantha Fox, She Rockers, The Wee Papa Girls | 2 Comments »

Nearly Free Speech.Net is a rip-off run by assholes and you shouldn’t use them.

Wednesday, December 12th, 2012

That is all.

Post with music coming tonight.

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Justify My Madonna

Monday, December 10th, 2012

I am definitely the only person on the planet who spent their Sunday afternoon crafting a semi-intelligent analysis of Madonna while watching footballs.

Madonna
Justify My Love (Orbit 12″ Mix)
Justify My Love (Hip Hop Mix)
Justify My Love (The Beast Within Mix)
Erotica (Kenlou B-Boy Mix)
Erotica (Jeep Beats)
Erotica (Madonna’s In My Jeep Mix)
Erotica (W0 12″)
Erotica (Underground Club Mix)
Erotica (Bass Hit Dub)
Remember when these songs were controversial? Oh, the 90s seem so long ago now.

I still maintain that both of these songs would have been far less controversial if they were, well, better. Neither “Erotica” nor “Justify My Love” are particularly great, especially compared to the stuff that Madonna was putting out just a couple years earlier (“Vogue,” “Like A Prayer,” “Express Yourself”). Shit, “Justify My Love” is barely a song, it’s more of a spoken word rant with some trip-hop grooves tacked on. I’ve always thought that if you want to challenge your audience with your message or lyrics, then the music that accompanies it better be damn good, or at least be catchy. As interesting, experimental and brave as these songs are musically, they completely fail as pop recordings. No one, not even Madonna, can challenge their audience both thematically and musically and expect to get away scott free, especially when the thematic challenges are as controversial as the ones found in these songs.

As uneven as these songs are, I will say that their minimal and sparse nature certainly help lend themselves to some interesting remixes. All of these mixes are pretty good, and some, like William Orbit’s “W0 12” mix of “Erotica” are great reworkings. Even if you’re like me and don’t really dig on the original versions, you should still check out these mixes, you might be pleasantly surprised.

Posted in Madonna, remixes | 4 Comments »

Prince! And Prince Related Material!

Friday, December 7th, 2012

Prince!

Prince
Somebody’s Somebody (Ultrafantasy Edit)
Somebody’s Somebody (Live Studio Mix)
“Somebody’s Somebody” is a lesser Prince work, released in 1996 as a single for the 3CD epic Emancipation. I think I listened to that album in its entirety at some point in my life, I’ll have to re-visit it sometimes. At three hours in length and with 36 tracks, I’m sure that there has to be a few winners hidden in there.

While I’m having a hard time hearing any major differences between the single version and the “Ultrafantasy Edit,” I am loving the “Live Studio Mix” of the song. It sounds way more organic and funky than the final version, no doubt due to it’s live nature. It also tones down the ridiculous overpowering bassline of the original. That shit is just too much, I prefer when a song lets you find its funk, instead of thrusting its funk upon you.

Did that make any sense? I’m tired.

Mazarati
Player’s Ball (Extended Version)
Mazarati was another in a long line of Prince “associate” acts, and they were a lesser one at that, at least in terms of popularity and critical acclaim. Mazarati’s self-titled debut album came out in 1986 to little fanfare or sales, despite Prince’s involvement as a producer and songwriter on a few tracks. The group soldiered on without Prince, releasing the follow-up Mazarati 2 in 1989, but it apparently had even less of an impact than their debut, and the group hasn’t released anything since (although apparently a new album remains in the works).

If the wiki for the band is to be believed, then probably the most interesting thing about Mazarati is the two songs they recorded but weren’t released as Mazarati songs. One was “Jerk Out,” which was re-recorded and turned into a top 10 hit by The Time. The other was “Kiss,” which Prince literally took, added his own vocal track and guitar solo, and put on his own album Parade (although they received credit on the release). Damn. I guess you run that risk when working with the Purple One.

I took this version of “Player’s Ball” from the 12″ single for the song. It’s out-of-print, of course, as is everything else by the group. I dig the tune though, so if anyone out there has a digital copy of the band’s first album that they are willing to share, let me know please. I’ll do you a solid in return.

Posted in Mazarati, Prince, remixes | 6 Comments »

Madonnarama Continued

Tuesday, December 4th, 2012

A quick news update on the news I mentioned a few weeks ago.

I am still planning on launching my new site very soon. I was actually planning on launching it today, I have articles ready and everything, but I ran into some technical snafus that have forced me to postpone it a week or so. It’s definitely coming along though, and I think I’ll be able to get things rolling there relatively soon. I’m pretty excited about it and I hope you all like what I have in store.

I’m actually pretty happy with how things are going right now with both the new site and this one. I got some cool stuff lined up here, and my readership has gradually been increasing for the past few months, which is pretty rad. My last post, the one with the Alec Empire mixes, was actually one of my most popular posts in months, no doubt in thanks to Alec Empire himself, who retweeted a link to the post. I always love it when I get some sort of approval from the artists I’m posting. Makes me feel somewhat validated, especially since the number of posts I’ve gotten approval on more than doubles the number of posts that I’ve had to remove because of DMCA notices.

Although I doubt Madonna would be one of those artists. Just a hunch. So no one tell her!

Madonna
Secret (Allstar Mix)
Secret (Junior Luscious Club Mix)
Secret (Junior’s Luscious Club Dub)
Secret (Junior’s Sound Factory Mix)
Secret (Junior’s Sound Factory Dub)
Take A Bow (InDaSoul Mix)
Take A Bow (InDaSoul Instrumental)
Take A Bow (Instrumental)
Take A Bow (Silky Soul Mix)
More Madonna! And these mixes of “Secret” are some of my favorite.

I’ve always found these remixes to “Secret” interesting from a production standpoint, for a variety of reasons. First of all, they’re vastly superior to the original album version, which is way too slow and subdued. Secondly, the vocals on a few of them  are sped up in a very unique way. Typically when a song is remixed and they want to change the tempo, the pitch of the vocals is affected as well, giving the whole song a “chipmunk” feel. Here, they do some interesting audio editing, snipping out bits here and there, to make Madonna’s pace slightly faster all while keeping her vocals sounding the same otherwise. It’s fascinating to me, and I bet it was even harder to do back then, with digital production techniques just starting to become more sophisticated.

As far as the mixes for “Take A Bow”…man, remember New Jack Swing? These mixes New Jack Swing the fuck out of that song, which was already kind of New Jack Swingy to begin with, Babyface did produce and co-write it after all.  They’re pretty dated. Still a good song though.

Posted in Madonna, remixes | 3 Comments »