Archive for the ‘remixes’ Category

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Tales of Synthpop and Homeless Fat-Shaming from Canada

Sunday, August 18th, 2013

Shit!

I didn’t update this blog at all last week, did I?

It’s not my fault! I was in Canada. Blame Canada! (That South Park reference was entirely unintentional I swear.)

But what the hell was I doing in Canada, you ask?

Well, funny story…I’m not going to tell it. It’s top secret. But I will share with you some songs off of crazy weird CD singles that I bought whilst in the land of the rising moose.

Gary Numan
This Wreckage (Metalmorphosis Mix)
Are ‘Friends’ Electric? (Metalmorphosis Mix)
Toronto isn’t really my kind of city. The traffic is hellacious, and despite their “oh, we’re just a bunch of nice people in denim that love hockey, eh?” reputation, big city Canadians are just as dickish as their American counterparts. Example: while I was walking around the city looking for record stores, a homeless guy asked me for some change. Not having any Canadian money on me, let alone change, I walked on by, at which point he said “hey,why you so fat?”

That, of course, led me into a yelling match with a homeless guy, because I’m classy like that, that ended with me saying something along the lines of “yeah, I got this way by eating food! I can buy food because I have money. And since I have money I’M NOT FUCKING HOMELESS YOU HOSER!”

Sure, that might not have been one of my finer moments, but seriously, fuck that dude.

Oh yeah, these remixes are from a CD-single to “Rip.” I like most of the industrial remixes of early-era Numan, so I dig these.

New Order
Crystal [Digweed & Muir Bedrock Radio Edit]
Behind Closed Doors
Sabotage
Someone Like You (Funk D’Void Remix)
So after my lovely confrontation with the smelly homeless man in a Blue Jays jacket (hah, Blue Jays) I ducked into a bar, lured in by the promise of half price wings. The wings were good. The bloody marys were better. The place was pretty dead, so I got into a conversation with the bartender. The bar was playing some pretty rad funk (lots of George Clinton and Morris Day) and I commented on the quality of the radio station. She said, “yeah, you can tell it’s satellite and not a Canadian station.”

I know that Canadian stations have some “Canadian content” laws, meaning that a certain percentage of the music they play must be Canadian. So I asked, “Oh? Not a lot of good funk from Canada?”

To which she replied, “You ever hear of ‘Canadian funk?'”

Point taken.

These are from some CD singles that I also found in Canada. I may have posted the “Funk D’Void” mix at some point, but this copy sounds better.

Posted in B-sides, Gary Numan, New Order, remixes | 3 Comments »

A Japanese Woman Covering a Weezer Song Just Seems Super-Meta

Wednesday, August 7th, 2013

Sorry for last night’s random foray into drunk self-loathing. It won’t happen again…for at least a few more months.

Totally didn’t plan for another all-Japan post tonight. It just kind of worked out that way. I actually should have some interesting 80s/British/New Wave/dance stuff in the coming weeks. Grinding through a major backlog of records right now.

Pizzicato Five
Love’s Theme (Automator Mix)
Love’s Theme (Saint Etienne Mix)
Maybe someone more in the know can than me explain this to me: How the hell did Shibuya-kei music get ever-so-briefly popular in America during the mid-90s? Why that genre? What was so special about it? Remember when Cibo Mato and Pizzicato Five were on American MTV? How the hell did that happen?

Don’t get me wrong, I love both bands, but what made them the breakout stars? How come America couldn’t get behind X Japan? Or YMO? Or Boom Boom Motherfucking Satellites? Did someone from the Beastie Boys really dig Shibuya-kei or something? I assume it had to be a “this American artist likes this foreign music so let’s all like it now” kind of thing.

These remixes are from a 12″ single I found last week. I’m really digging them both, super chill. I need more stuff like that right now.

Akiko Yano
Tong Poo
Dogs Awaiting
Coloured Water
Say It Ain’t So
Akiko Yano is a singer who first starting releasing music in the mid-70s. While I don’t think she ever achieved super pop star idol status in Japan, she’s managed to maintain some level of success throughout her career, continuing to this day – a rarity in the Japanese pop scene. Throughout her career she’s also collaborated with countless other musicians of note, including Little Feat, David Sylvian, Thomas Dolby and Swing Out Sister.

One of her most notable collaborations, at least in my opinion, was with Yellow Magic Orchestra, who worked with her extensively on her 1982 album Dinner Is Ready. All three members play on the record, and Sakamoto produced the album (the pair also married around this time), pretty much making it an unofficial YMO album with a different lead singer. The album even featured a cover of YMO’s “Tong Poo,” which I’m featuring here, as well as a pair of other songs from the album that I especially love.

I’m also including her 2010 cover of Weezer’s “Say It Ain’t So,” because damn.

Posted in Akiko Yano, Pizzicato Five, remixes | 2 Comments »

Last Night A DJ Saved My Blog

Wednesday, July 31st, 2013

I wrote review of Rolling Thunder, a crazy movie you can watch on Netflix if you like disgusting-yet-oddly-satisfying revenge flicks with questionable moral lessons.

And I got a ton of stuff on eBay, in case you might have forgotten.

Trying to get some money together for something big, if you were wondering why I was unloading so much stuff. That, and I came upon the realization that there’s too much stupid shit in my house, and I got to make room for the good shit, like my Japanese import copy of Styx’s Kilroy Was Here.

Y’know, the real gangsta shit.

As for what the “something big” is, you’ll just have to wait and find out.

Linda Imperial & Patrick Cowley
Diehard Lover
Diehard Lover (Instrumental)
More rare Cowley classics. Linda Imperial is no Sylvester, but she has a hell of a voice. Found these from a random 12″ single I bought in a budget bin.

Sylk 130
Last Night a DJ Saved My Life (Last Night The S-Man Saved The Mix)
Last Night A DJ Saved My Life (DJ Saves The Dub)
Last Night a DJ Saved My Life (Prophecy Mix with Rap)
Last Night a DJ Saved My Life (Prophecy Mix Instrumental)
Last Night a DJ Saved My Life (Prophecy Mix)
Last Night a DJ Saved My Life (Prophecy Mix A Cappella)
Sylk 130 is apparently someone named King Britt, whose real life actual name is…wow, it’s King Britt. Damn, his parents sure felt highly of him.

Anyways, I know little about King Britt. Apparently he’s released a ton of stuff, served as a producer on a ton more stuff, and remixed tons and tons of stuff. I didn’t buy these two separate 12″ singles of this song because of him, I bought them because “Last Night a DJ Saved My Life” is one of the ultimate late-era disco club bangers of all time, regardless of who’s performing it. We need more songs about DJs. There’s this, that weird David Bowie song and…”Request Line” by The Black Eyed Peas, and that’s it? Well, at least all of them are fucking fantastic.

Yes, that Black Eyed Peas song is fucking fantastic. I will not hear anyone say otherwise. The Black Eyed Peas used to be good, and don’t forget it.

Well, maybe forget it, it’s just easier that way.

Posted in King Britt, Linda Imperial, Patrick Cowley, remixes | 7 Comments »

Hot Rap Tracks from Movies that even Steve Guttenberg Turned Down

Thursday, July 25th, 2013

Tonight’s post is going to be rather brief, but I think the quality will make up for the lack of quantity.

Oh, did I say quality? I meant, “complete and utter fucking stupidity.”

But if I don’t post the 12″ remix to the theme song to Police Academy 6: City Under Siege, then who will?

Probably some asshole. Fuck that.

123

Grandmaster Melle Mel & Van Silk
What’s The Matter With Your World (Club Mix)
What’s The Matter With Your World (Radio Mix)
What’s The Matter With Your World (Instrumental Mix)
Grandmaster Melle Mel was an original member of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. He was the primary songwriter and performer behind the hits “The Message” and “White Lines (Don’t Do It).” He was one of rap’s first true stars, and one of the first to take rap and help to inch it towards the mainstream.

Nine years later, he was rapping the theme song to Police Academy 6: City Under Siege, and they couldn’t even bother to spell his name right on the cover to the 12″ single.

Life can be really harsh sometimes.

And by the way, I found this while scouring a bargain bin soundtrack section looking for the soundtrack the Village People movie, Can’t Stop The Music.

I am history’s greatest monster.

Posted in Melle Mel, remixes, soundtrack | 2 Comments »

Mo’ Sakamoto

Monday, July 22nd, 2013

I reviewed the 12″ single to “Get Lucky.” Because if I don’t who will?

Another post dedicated entirely to Ryuichi Sakamoto. I should just turn this site into a Yellow Magic Orchestra fanpage.

Ryuichi Sakamoto
Forbidden Colours
The Last Emperor
Little Buddha
Wuthering Heights
Replica
El Mar Mediterrani
All of these tracks are live, taken from the album Cinemage.

The first four are excepts from musical scores and soundtracks that Sakamoto worked on. “Forbidden Colours” being the theme to Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence, while the others are all self-titled from the films they appeared in. This version of “Forbidden Colours” does feature Sylvian’s vocals, but I suspect they were dubbed in later and not performed live with the rest of the music.

“Replica” is the only track on the album that is not taken from some sort of project, it is lifted from the Japanese version of Sakamoto’s solo album Illustrated Musical Encyclopedia. Next to “Forbidden Colours,” it’s probably my favorite track on Cinemage, thanks to its regimented, minimalist feel that echos Phillip Glass.

Finally, there’s “El Mar Mediterrani,” which was composed for the 1992 summer Olympic games. It’s 17 minutes long and crazy. That Olympic theme that John Williams did doesn’t have shit on this.

Bonus Sakamoto!
Jungle LIVE Mix Of Untitled 01 – 2nd Movement – Anger
I put up a ton of remixes from Sakamoto’s album Dischord a few weeks ago and since then a reader sent me along this mix, which he snagged off a promo CD. I love it, it’s just barely removed from pure noise at parts. As a narcoleptic who has built up a near-immunity to caffeine, I really find that comes in handy at times.

Posted in Complete Albums, live, remixes, Ryuichi Sakamoto | 5 Comments »

Mission Beat Manifesto

Wednesday, July 10th, 2013

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what I do, what I want to do, and how I should do it.

I recently launched that other website to expand my writing a bit (and make a super tiny bit of money along the way) and that’s been great, although I still think that has a lot of growing pains to go through. I need to update that site a lot more, along with this site. New posts have been scant for a bit now, and I apologize for that, family stuff and some extended travel have really put a crimp in my writing schedule as of late.

Additionally, the shocking death of Ryan Davis really got to me in a way that I did not expect. That man (and all of the Giant Bomb crew) has been a massive influence in what I do for the past few years now, and losing him has been pretty brutal on me.

And, not to fall into the most horrible of all cliches, it kind of made me think. I got to get going on my goals, you never know when your time is going to be up.

Journalism has been on the skids for a while now. Shit, the demand for writing as a whole has been on a pretty steady decline for years now. I’ve been trying not to accept it, but it’s pretty hard to deny. Like a silent film star faced with talkies, I have to look at the future head on and realize that for the most part, people aren’t interested in reading one man’s views about random movies, video games and music anymore.

That’s not to say that I want to quit doing that. People might not be interested in what I have to say about new wave bands and acid house acts, but that doesn’t mean I’m no longer interested in writing about them. If my sites both peak out at a few hundred readers a day, then whatever, I’ll live with that. Writing has always been an outlet for me, and it will continue to be.

But pride, and my unending desire to create something that people actually fucking care about, have made to to decide the time is right to try something new. Maybe it’s time I sit down in front of a camera.

So stay tuned…I guess? I got some ideas.

If my timetable with Mostly-Retro was any indication though, expect something around late 2015.

Meat Beat Manifesto
Dog Star Man
Still Falling
Dog Star
Dv8
Transmission (Stately Pleasure Dub)
Transmission (Burning Fire Mix)
Mad Bomber/The Woods
Semi-serious mission statement about my own personal future follwed by tracks by a band whose name is a disgusting masturbation reference.

The Internet is stupid.

Posted in B-sides, Meat Beat Manifesto, remixes | 5 Comments »

Electro > Most Other Things

Tuesday, July 2nd, 2013

Music music music music.

Mark Shreeve
Legion (Razor Mix)
Legion (Single Edit)
Legion (Satan Mix)
Legion (Space Mix)
Mark Shreeve was an early electronic musician/composer who put out a lot of stuff on Jive Electro during the 80s. He also wrote a lot of Samantha Fox’s stuff from that time period as well, which I assume made him a shitload more money than anything with his name on it.

This is a damned weird song. It’s like Afrika Bambaataa by way of Hellraiser. I don’t know if the “Call me Legion!” snippet at the beginning of the track is a sample from a film, or something that Shreeve recorded himself, but it’s creepy nonetheless, although not as creepy as the freaky-ass laugh that pops up from time to time. Seriously, this sounds like break-dancing music from hell.

You think Pinhead could do the worm? I’d pay to watch that.

Oh, and also apparently a version of this song is in the 1986 film The Jewel of The Nile, which is pretty damn random. I actually saw that move in the theaters when it came out, but I was six at the time, so I don’t remember much. Doesn’t Danny DeVito walk on hot coals or something like that? Whatever, flick was a total Indiana Jones rip-off.

These next four tracks I snagged from a vinyl copy of Disco Not Disco 2, a compilation album that features more “leftfield” dance tracks from the late-70s and early-80s. I’m only featuring these four because everything else on the album is in-print elsewhere.

Alexander Robotnick
Problems d’Amour
Alexander Robotnick (of no relation to Sonic villain Dr. Robotnick, at least I don’t think so, he was MIA for most of the early nineties…) is a godfather of 80s electro, thanks in large part to this amazing track, which is a killer combination of electro and disco. It’s great, but if you want to hear something that’ll really melt your brain out of its pure awesomeness, check out Robotnick’s “Analog Sessions” project, his collaboration with Ludus Pinksy. Just two old dudes in a cabin rocking out with a mountain of old-school analog gear. Shit is epic.

Material
Ciguri
Material is yet another side-project of mega-productive bassist Bill Laswell, who has been in more bands and produced more records than I care to count. Some of his highlights include his production work with Herbie Hancock during his electro phase of the early 80s; and Praxis, an experimental supergroup that featured him, Buckethead and Parliament’s Bernie Worrell.

Material appears to be a Laswell-centric project, with other members coming and going through the years, including Bootsy Collins, Sly & Robbie, Fred Firth, Buckethead, the Jungle Brothers, William S. Burroughs, Ginger Baker and even Whitney freaking Houston.

Material’s genre, as you can imagine, is pretty hard to pin down, but if I had to name it I would probably go with “music that James Murphy ripped off 30 years later.”

The Coach House Rhythm Section
Timewarp
According to Discogs, The Coach House Rhythm Section was an alias for Eddy “Electric Avenue” Grant. And if that’s the case, then damn, I have to give that dude some credit for range. This sounds nothing like his reggae work, and is straight-up avant-garde, new-wave inspired dance music that’s really unique still.

But it’s no “Electric Avenue.”

OY!

Connie Case

Get Down

Is “lo-fi electro/disco” a genre? Because that’s what this sounds like.

I got no clue as to who this is. So if anyone wants to help me out go for it. All I can find on her is that she worked on an album called Extra Funky that featured not one, but two versions of a song called “”Haven’t Been Funked Enough.”

I guess she never met Sylvester, he would helped her out.

Posted in Alexander Robotnick, Connie Case, Mark Shreeve, Material, remixes, The Coach House Rhythm Section | 6 Comments »

Disco > Hate

Wednesday, June 26th, 2013

Other website news:

Wrote up a review of David Yow’s insane solo debut.

Did a mini-rant on how I think limited editions are fucking it up.

And in case I didn’t mention it before: YO, THIS IS A SONG ABOUT DIG DUG BY THE MAN WHO SANG DREAM WEAVER. 

I’m moderately stoked about that one, sorry.

Also, since everyone else on the Internet seems to hate me for this one, a while ago I wrote a thing on Doug TenNapel’s Kickstarter, and why you shouldn’t support bigots. With his Kickstarter hitting the tail end of its fundraising, I would appreciate it if you read it, and if you agree, share it.

And now on a completely unrelated note: some fabulous motherfucking disco.

All of tonight’s songs are all taken from DiscoNet Volume 6, a 1979 DJ-only 2LP set meant for club play.

Afrika Bambaataa/Kraftwerk/Lipps. Inc
Planet Rock/Tour De France (Extended Edit)/Choir Practice
Like most DJ-only compilations I’ve managed to come across, the first side of DiscoNet 6 is a non-stop mix. However, unlike most every other DJ-0nly compilation, this one kicks ass. This set came out in 1983, which was really a great time for dance music. Disco was finally dying out, and being replaced by the Moroder-influenced electronic dance music that would go on to dominate the rest of the decade. Producers and engineers were discovering crazy new ways to use synthesizers and digital equipment, and DJs were taking the art of the mix to places it had never been before. Pretty rad stuff all around, and I think these tracks show that pretty well, starting with this mix that combines American rap, German electronic music and some good old-fashioned disco that still kicked ass.

The “Planet Rock” part of the mix is pretty minor, just the first few seconds honestly. Most of the track is dedicated to “Tour De France,” in an awesome extended edit form that really draws it out to awesome epic length. The closer by Lipps. Inc is also great, and shows that their categorization as a one-hit wonder may have been a bit unjust. Great stuff here.

Valerie Oliver
Get The Money (Extended Club Mix)
I have no idea who Valeria Oliver is. She apparently released just three singles, this being her first, before vanishing from the pop music scene in the mid-80s. This song is pretty silly, an ode to getting yo’ cash from yo’ man, but it’s fun. And I love the Blondiesque rap breakdown about halfway through.

Stefano Pulga
Love Taker
I LOVE THIS SONG.

I love disco sung through a crazy thick Italian accent. I have no idea why. Couple that with the awesome 808 (or possibly 303) squelching and goddamn I’m in love with this Italian man and his amazing hair. I also don’t know what the hell a “Love Taker” is aside from a wicked burn that rhymes well with “Heart Breaker,” but hey, I’m not a songwriter so I can’t judge.

Pamala Stanley
I Don’t Want To Talk About (Extended Edit)
Pamela Stanley has an unreasonably long Wikipedia entry that I highly suspect was created, edited and moderated by either Pamela Stanley or someone who knows her personal phone number. She put out one album in 1979 and had a handful of minor hit singles, but that was about it for her mainstream success. Glad to see she’s still going at it tho. The world is always in need of more disco divas, no matter the decade.

Posted in Pamela Stanley, remixes, Stefano Pulga, Valerie Oliver | 8 Comments »

Terri Nunn is Cooler Than You

Tuesday, June 18th, 2013

First and most important order of business: Everyone go listen to this song about Dig Dug by Gary Wright. It will change your life.

Okay, now some other pressing matters: I want this.

Unfortunately, Death Waltz can’t ship it to the US (sidenote: Death Waltz needs better lawyers). Anyone want to help me out? I’ll pay for it of course. Cover shipping too. Be your best friend, buy you cake, you name it.

I got a copy! Thanks everyone for your help.

Now, a strange combination of remixes.

Aerosmith
The Other Side [Matt Dike ”Honky Tonk” Version]
The Other Side [Club Mix]
Theme from ”Wayne’s World”
For a rock band, Aerosmith sure as hell has a lot of remixes. At one point in my life, I had remixes of “Love In An Elevator,” “Dude (Looks Like a Lady),” and even “Rag Doll.” I wonder what the point of these mixes was? I can’t imagine people in the clubs were ever really clamoring for Aerosmith dance mixes. And if they were, then where the fuck is the dance mix of “Mama Kin”?

Of these two mixes, the “Club Mix” is exactly what you’d expect. However the “Honky Tonk Version” is really…something. It transforms the tune into a country-flavored rock tune. Very, very odd.

And finally, yo “Wayne’s World” theme. Live. Awesome.

Terri Nunn
89 Lines (Club Mix Edit)
89 Lines (Blurring The Lines Remix)
Terri Nunn is the lead singer of Berlin. She is fabulously awesome and amazing, and no one bought her single solo CD because the world is a dark horrible place and we’re not allowed to have nice things.  I found this promo CD-single in a dollar bin at a record show last week and it was like a beacon of light surrounded by used Jimmy Ray and Constantine CDs. Say what you will about Terri Nunn (I fucking dare you) but she deserves better than that.

Posted in Aerosmith, B-sides, remixes, Terri Nunn | 7 Comments »

Sulking In Pittsburgh

Friday, June 14th, 2013

Who wants an update in my continuing adventures in audio insanity?

Okay, so when I left off last time, I discovered that my my new computer did not like my previous setup of hooking my turntable up to my computer via my Art USB Phono Plus. It was creating a muddy sound that cut off a lot of high frequencies. I then discovered that if I used my Art USB as a traditional pre-amp, and hooked it up to my computer via my line-in, then I got rid of that problem.

The downfall there was that I was getting increased line noise. A problem that I could then reduce by editing the file using the excellent DeNoise program. It was still there, but not in a way that bothered me significantly.

Well, for at least a week or two.

Anyways, before I figured that out, I went ahead and ordered another stylus to see if that was the problem, picking up an Audio Technica AT 120E/T from Amazon, a decent mid-range cartridge comparable to my Nagaoka MP-110. Even though I had solved the problem, I went ahead and gave that cartridge a go with my new setup. I liked how it sounded, just a little fuller with a little more treble, and decided to keep it.

So tonight, I was having problems recording my Blade Runner vinyl. It’s a great-sounding record, but it’s also very quiet, I was having a hard time getting rid of the line noise in the recording. On a whim, I decided to hook up my Art USB to my computer via USB once more, and see how that sounded with the new cartridge.

Holy shit! The “muddy’ problem was gone! Apparently there was something about my cartridge that was angering either the Art USB or my computer. I don’t know how that works, but whatever, now I got a setup that has the best of both worlds; no muddy sound from my previous USB connection, and no line noise caused from a crummy line-in connection.

I’m sure I’ll find something about it that’ll piss me off in a week or so though.

By the way, these were all recorded a while ago and are not indicative of any audio revelations.

A Guy Called Gerald
Voodoo Ray (Extended Mix)
Voodoo Ray (Gerald’s Rham On Acid Remix)
Voodoo Ray (Paradise Ballroom Mix)
Voodoo Ray (Penthouse Mix)
Voodoo Ray (Voodoo Raydio Mix)
A Guy Called Gerald is Gerald Simpson, who at one point was a member of the legendary dance act 808 state. I do not know who Voodoo Ray is.

Now that I think about it, I don’t know what Voodoo Ray is. Perhaps Voodoo Ray isn’t a person, but a raygun that attacks people with the powerful force of motherfucking voodoo. And I saw Serpent and the Rainbow. That shit is fucked up.

Bran Van 3000
Drinking In L.A. (Dave One Remix)
Thinking In L.A. (Zoobone Remix)
Sinking In L.A. (Dub)
Drinking In L.A. (Who Mix?)
Drinking In L.A. (Fink Mix)
I grew up in Toledo, and we had a Canadian-based alternative station called 89x, so I actually heard this song when it first came out in 1997. Later that year, a 17-year-old me went to L.A. for the very first (and last) time to tag along with my dad for an industry convention. Within about about two days I thought, “yup, that Bran Van song has this city pegged pretty well, Hell A.” This is the Canadian hip-hop version of that one Tool song.

That was a weird sentence.

Anyways, these mixes are from a 12″ single. And if you’ve never heard of Bran Van 3000, check them out, they’re pretty fantastic.

And yo, don’t forget that I’m once again trying to get rid of some records! Check out this post for more info.

Posted in A Guy Called Gerald, Bran Van 3000, remixes | 7 Comments »

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