Archive for the ‘remixes’ Category

Grace Jones and dope electro beats

Monday, March 19th, 2018

I’ve listened to I don’t know how many records this week and have added well over a hundred songs to my music library as a result. I bought so many Moog albums it was ridiculous. I’m actually working on something about Moog albums for my other site that I hope you’ll find interesting.

I was going to write a guide to Osaka record stores, but I just didn’t have enough time to really dig into that place. I don’t want to half-ass it. I’m going to try and re-visit that city sometime soon, hopefully with a couple of visits under my belt I’ll be able to piece something together. There are a lot of amazing stores there, but also a lot of crap stores as well. Fortunately, most of the worst stores looked relatively new, so hopefully they’ll get their shit together or go out of business before they sully the good name of that wonderful city.

Now electro.

 

Grace Jones
Party Girl (Extended Remix)
Party Girl (Dub)
This was the one track by a mainstream artist that I found while shopping for records in Osaka. While my interest in crate digging for 12″ singles has waned in recent years (mostly because I literally have nearly every 12″ single I could ever want), I’m always on the lookout for more epicness by her majesty Grace Jones. In what turned out to be a theme for tonight’s post, “Party Girl” is a sparse electronic dance jam, very typical of Grace’s awesome 80s work. It was produced by Nile Rodgers, so yeah, it’s good.

Mya & The Mirror – Hesitation
Gina & The Flex – I Wanna Believe
I found both of these excellent tracks on a compilation called Fuzz Dance. The 12″ had four tracks in total, the other two being “Problemes d’Amour” by the legendary Alexander Robotnick and the absolutely brilliant “Check-Out Five” by Naif Orchestra. Both of those tracks have been re-issued many times over and are actually in-print at several digital storefronts, so I suggest checking them out.

These tracks haven’t had the same fortune, and have fallen into an even greater level of obscurity than the other ones. And that’s a shame, they’re dope electro/italo-disco cuts from the mid-80s that really exemplify how fun and wonderful that genre can be. Super upbeat, great grooves, amazing production, these tracks are tight as hell. I miss this type of dance music, it’s one of the reasons I’ve fallen hard off of the current EDM scene. It’s so big and the beats are overpowering. I feel that dance audiences today feel like they need a constant BOOM BOOM BOOM beat in order to dance. But they don’t! Minimal tracks like this prove that sometimes less is more. You just need a groove, man. I wonder if any gay dance clubs in Tokyo have a retro night…

Both of these acts didn’t really exist. They were manufactured names for producers. Mya & The Mirror is actually producer Maurizio Dami, featuring vocals by Mya Fracassini. Dami’s done a shitload of stuff over the years, while it appears that Mya went on to work in opera. The people being Gina & The Flexix were Gianni Sangalli, Marzio Benelli, and Giancarlo Bigazzi. Like Dami, they all produced, wrote and worked on dozens of dance tracks under countless aliases an in countless group projects.

The Konami Famicom Super Medley

Sunday, March 11th, 2018

Osaka was amazing. I saw incredible castles, temples, shrines. I went to two amazing aquariums. I ate so much wonderful food that my stomach is still angry with me. And, of course, I went to as many record stores as possible and bought a billion records and CDs.

Almost everything I bought was obscure and out-of-print. It looks like I have plenty of material for this site for the next few months if not a year. However, very little of it was “traditional” Lost Turntable content. Only got one 12″ single of an artist any of you have probably heard of. The rest of what I found was either obscure electronic music, Japanese prog, Japanese jazz/funk or video game soundtracks. So I hope at least some of that sounds interesting to you, because that’s what you got coming up for the next few months most likely.

Y’know, stuff like this.

Konami
Famicom Arranged Medley
Famicom Original Remix Medley
Famicom Super Medley
All of these are “arranged” and/or “remixed” so I don’t understand the names behind these tracks. The opening “Arranged Medley” is probably the worst of the three though. It just takes a bunch of arranged versions of Konami tracks and mixes them together while an horribly bland backbeat plays throughout. I mean, it’s not terrible, the source material is certainly great, but when compared to the tracks that follow it certainly falls flat.

Because the other tracks are really great. The “Original Remix Medley” is a much more pure presentation of the source material, using the original game audio alongside some added sound effects and beats. It’s not as smooth as the “Arranged Medley,” some of the cuts are a bit jarring, but the overall experience is much better. The original tunes are so strong that they stand on their own, they don’t need the lame backbeat of the “Arranged Medley’ to support them.

That’s not to say they can’t benefit from the remix or arrangement treatment, because they certainly do with the “Super Medley.” This track takes the most liberties with the original songs, re-recording them entirely with new instrumentation and accompaniment. Of the three, it is the most fun, and works the best as a proper medley. The segues between the tracks are smooth and natural, lacking the out-of-place cuts of the “Original Remix Medley” and not relying on a tired backing track like the “Arranged Medley” does. It’s also super energetic, almost like a stadium house track. If The KLF were given orders to rework Famicom tracks, I think it might sound something like this track. Dope shit all around.

Blue Fukamachi

Tuesday, January 30th, 2018

Somehow, for whatever reason, some five months after the fact, I got my damn Twitter account unsuspended. I have no idea how I did this. I sent them countless emails over these past few months, pleading my case from every possible angle I could think of. During that time, I’m happy that I never succumbed to the urge to send vulgar insults or baseless threats. Trust me, many an unsent message contained both.

Maybe my restraint paid off. Maybe someone finally realized their mistake. Maybe someone just pushed the wrong button. I don’t care. I’m just happy I got my fucking account back after all this damn time. Not because I really like Twitter all that much, but dammit it’s important for me to stay on brand. UnLostTurntable was a shitty replacement name.

Anyways, @LostTurntable, follow me for random things. Mostly art.

Blue Pearl
Mother Dawn (Buckateer Mix 1)
Mother Dawn (Buckateer Mix 2)
Mother Dawn (Buckateer Mix 3)
Mother Dawn (Lunacy Mix)
Blue Pearl was a side-project of Youth from Killing Joke and featured Durga McBroom on vocals. The group also sported guest appearances from David Gilmour and Richard Wright from Pink Floyd, albeit not on this track.

All of these remixes are by The Orb and sound very much like remixes by The Orb, so your mileage may vary depending on how excited that sounds to you. Me, I’m not a big fan of The Orb’s remix work. They often fuck up with source material too much, and to me that’s the problem with these remixes here. They just sound like ambient dub Orb tracks, save for the Lunacy Mix, which has an actual beat and vocals.

Jun Fukamachi’s 21st Century Band
Shin-Ku
This is jazz fusion but please keep reading.

I went bit of a buying spree of Japanese jazz fusion as of late, trying to figure out which albums in the genre appeal to me and which ones don’t. I’m super hot and cold on this stuff. I either think it’s the best stuff ever or it makes me want to slam spikes in my ears, and I wanted to figure out why. What makes “good” jazz fusion to me? I think I was able to pin down the criteria:

  1. Absolute minimum vocals.
  2. Guitar or keyboard-centric
  3. Fast tempo
  4. The most synthesizers the better

With all these components, I really dig this stuff. It takes on a funky vibe that I hella get behind, like this track by piano virtuoso Jun Fukamachi. It has a jazz core, that’s for sure, but it branches out from that really quickly. It has a weird prog bent, some bizarre electronic accents, and more a few dope solos. And whoever the drummer is, wow. They really kick it into gear in the second half. It’s about 10 minutes long, but it still has structure, it doesn’t feel like a bunch of guys in the room just jamming nonstop. At least, it doesn’t to me.

I get that this isn’t the kind of stuff that people come to this blog for, and that’s cool. But if you don’t like it…just, don’t tell me? No one is making you download this free music, after all.

If you do like it, or have recommendations based on it, let me know! Leave a comment or you can contact me on my motherfucking back from the dead Twitter account.

Damn that feels good to say.

Heat Up With Pop Will Eat Itself

Sunday, January 28th, 2018

Things. I wrote them.

First up, a guide to buying city pop in Tokyo. I know I said I’m not the world’s biggest fan of city pop, but I am the world’s biggest fan of Tokyo record stores, so I think that should be enough to be of help to people looking for this stuff.

Second, I went to a dope Space Invaders exhibition and wrote about it for Retronauts! So go read that!

Pop Will Eat Itself
92° (Boilerhouse ‘The Birth, The Death’ Mix)
The Incredible PWEI Vs Dirty Harry
92° (Boilerhouse ‘The Birth’ Mix)
Finding a 12″ single of a song I don’t own by a band I like is a rare event in Tokyo. That has less to do with the fact that 12″ singles aren’t really that big here and more to do with the fact that I own a fuckton of 12″ singles. This is a track off of Wise Up Suckers, and I had totally forgotten about it entirely until I listened to these remixes. Wise Up Suckers isn’t the greatest PWEI album, that award obviously goes to “This Is The Day…” but it’s still a damn fine listen and a great time capsule of the era from which it came. These remixes (and the B-side in between) great, can you dig them?

Also my copy was signed? So that’s weird.

EPO
恋はハイ・タッチ-ハイ・テック (Hi-Touch Hi-Tech)
I’m not going to lie and say that I know a shitload about this artist. They could be a lost legend of the 80s Japanese synthpop scene, although I doubt it. I’m just going to say that I really like this cheesy as hell dance tune and I thought that yinz might like it too. It’s not like, great, or anything. I feel like I found the Japanese equivalent of Pretty Poison of something, but it’s a good jam for happy times.

Unfortunately Named Japanese Bands and Bambi Remixes

Sunday, January 21st, 2018

Lots of updates and news to get out of the way first!

Firstly, I was offered to be interviewed on a Japanese TV show and talk about my love of Japanese record stores and Japanese music! How exciting, right?

Well, I turned them down. Go to my other blog to find out why. Spoiler: it sucks.

Also, I’ve had a few comments recently both here and on Twitter regarding my health, as I complain about that a lot. Figured I should mention that a bit and say that, thankfully, I’m starting to feel moderately human once more. I had a bad combination of some kind of lung infection, a major fibromyalgia flare-up, and aggravated herniated disc. All of these problems are beginning to subside and I’m starting to feel like my old self again, slowly but surely. Of course, I’m sure I’ll catch the flu that everyone in Tokyo seems to have at the moment, but until then, I feel super(ish), thanks for asking.

Colored Music
Colored Music
A few months ago picked up the compilation More Better Days, which collects some of the highlights that could be found on the Better Days label. I’ve heard Better Days described as an “avant pop” label, which I guess is good enough. They were very jazzy, but understand that Japanese jazz (especially from the 80s) was a bit more on the wild side than you’d probably guess. Don’t forget that the entire Japanese synthpop scene was born out of the jazz scene of the late-70s! So when I say that the music on More Better Days has a jazz feel to it, understand that it also travels into punk, new wave, ambient, electronic and pop territories, sometimes all on the same song.

Anyways, More Better Days is like 90% bangers, and is 100% worth you time to pick up. Be warned though, that it may set you down a rabbit hole of hard-to-find and exceptionally out-of-print obscure Japanese music that’ll cost you an arm and a leg.

Example: Colored Music, who have two tracks featured on that LP. Their music is damn hard to describe. The track I’m sharing tonight reminds me heavily of Talking Heads or Material, new wave with a disco groove you can dance to. But its off-kilter in a way that neither of those bands ever were. Like, the breakdown halfway through is odd enough, but the way that segues into a Fripp-eqsue feedback-laden solo? What the hell is that? This shit is dope as fuck. Thankfully CD copies of Colored Music aren’t impossible to come by. You can find it online for about $40 or $50 new. That sounds like a lot, but CDs retail for nearly $30 in Japan, so you’re not really paying all that much of a mark-up when you think about it.

Anyways, however you want to get it, get it. I won’t judge you. This shit needs to be heard by more people.

Hajime Tachibana
Bambi
Bambi (Fashion Photograph Mix)
Bonus Bambi Groove
XP (I Love You Mix)
Bonus Whistle Groove
I had no idea that Tachibana went full electronic house in the early-90s, even going as far as to collaborate with Towa Tei for a few tracks. These are from the 12″ single to “Bambi,” the title track from the 1991 album of the same name. These don’t sound like the Tachibana songs I know. They’re decidedly less insane and have things like a recognizable song structure and melody, but they’re groovy as hell. They really feel more like Towa Tei tracks, to be honest. And that’s not really a bad thing let’s be real here.

One Part Funk and Three Parts Groovy

Tuesday, January 2nd, 2018

My computer, which had served me well for many years and across two continents, kicked the bucket a few weeks back. And it was rather sudden, so I had to move fast in choosing a replacement. I think I got a good one though, a beast of a machine from a local gaming PC shop called G-Tune. It plays games super great, audio editing is faster than ever, and it’s by far the quietest PC I’ve ever had. I love it.

But it really can’t play music all that well.

Although I suppose that’s really not the computer’s fault. In this situation, iTunes is entirely to blame. On my old PC, I never updated iTunes, I think I was rocking a three or four-year-old version of the program. And it was a slog and slow as hell and had all kinds of problems, but it played music well, and that was kind of the point.

On my new machine, with the newest version of iTunes, music sounds like shit. If I have just a handful of applications running, it starts to pop and crackle, almost non-stop. And I’ve tried mucking about with various settings, both in Windows and in iTunes, all to no avail.

So I thought I would try some alternative programs. The first one that I gave a try was MusicBee. I had heard good things, and it was supposed to be easy to use. And it was at first, but how that programs handles rips (or any new files in my library for that matter) is just atrocious. Simply put, they don’t seem to show up, at least, not in a matter that I would deem punctual. I add an album and have to wait several minutes for all the songs to propagate in my library. And when I would play new songs the song order would get all wonky for no damn reason. Every problem I had with the program just seemed nonsensical and beyond hope. Fuck it.

Now I’m trying MediaMonkey. Allegedly, this program is made special to handle super-large media libraries. In my experience so far, that hasn’t been the case. Constant hangups and lag whenever I try to sort anything. And searching my library often creates delays as well. The interface is just a clusterfuck. So hard to make your way around anything.

Can anyone out there recommend a media manager/music player that just fucking works? One that makes adding new media easy. One that can rip CDs. One that allows me to make playlists and gives me plenty of sorting options. I don’t even care if I have to pay for it. I have no problems paying for a program that works!

Suggestions would be welcome, thanks.

Sheila E.
Glamorous Life Medley
This is from a German 12″ single and includes truncated versions of “The Glamorous Life,” ‘Sister Fate” and “A Love Bizarre.” Medleys are sometimes good, it’s like getting a concentrated version of your favorite artist. And any excuse for me to post more Sheila E. is a good thing.

Pizzicato Five
The Audrey Hepburn Complex (Extended Stanley Donen Mix)
The 59th Street Bridge Song – Feelin’ Groovy (Club Mix – Night Owl)
Let’s Go Away For Awhile (Club Mix – Cafe Bizarre)
I haven’t talked about Pizzicato Five much, I think I’ve only written about them once on this blog. Truth be told, I don’t know all that much about them. They were kinda-sorta a little popular in the States for a brief period in the 90s, but they’ve actually been around much longer than that. They’re almost contemporaneous with YMO, with their first releases coming out in the mid-80s.

This is actually their very first single, and it really sounds ahead of its time, in an entirely retro kind of way. I mean, it’s ahead of its time in what it’s references, that mainly being music from the 60s and 70s. They were definitely throwing back to that retro sound before it was cool. Their jazzy club sound is certainly more reminiscent of acts from the 90s, with Saint Etienne being the most obvious comparison.

This shit is groovy, that’s what it is. Makes sense, as the Shibuya-Kei scene from which they came was heavily influenced by 60s and 70s pop music (I mean, one of these tracks is a Simon & Garfunkel cover after all). PIzzicato Five own some Leslie Gore albums I know it.

Save Me Japanese Nu-Jazz Rock Rap Fusion

Sunday, December 3rd, 2017

What the fuck do I say?

This is the year that just keeps on shitting. The President of the United States of America is a recluse who sits behind his phone, tweeting out racist propaganda to encourage ethnic cleansing, while the GOP work in the middle of the night to pass criminal “tax” codes that work to dismantle health care and destroy the global climate. The rest of the world needs to pass economic sanctions on the US for human rights violations.  The citizens of America to brush up on their carpentry skills and build some motherfucking guillotines. I feel like that’s the only way that things are going to get any better at all.

In the meantime here’s a 16-year-old song that perfectly defines how I feel right this minute.

Boom Boom Satellites (Featuring Chuck D)
Your Reality’s A Fantasy But Your Fantasy is Killing Me (Coldcut V.Steinski Going Under Mix)
Light My Fire (Live At Fuji Rock)
It’s been a bit over a year since we lost Michiyuki Kawashima to brain cancer and to be honest, I had to take a break from the group’s music for a bit. Some of it, especially Shine Like a Billion Suns and their final EP, just made me too emotional. I strongly associate Boom Boom Satellites with some of my greatest moments in my life, from the Moby concert I went to on my 20th birthday where they were the opening act, to my first visit to Japan where I gorged on their music while traveling the side streets of the city that would eventually become my home.

For me, Boom Boom Satellites are an encapsulation of every kind of music I’ve ever liked. Part hard rock, dub, big beat, synthpop, hip-hop and even progressive rock. They did it all and they did it all well.

I like all their albums, but the one I’ve probably re-visited the least is their 2001 sophomore effort Umbra. It definitely qualifies as a “difficult second album” with diversions into downbeat electronica and even some jazz that are honestly hard to digest at times.

The album does have a standout shoulda-been classic though, “Your Reality’s A Fantasy But Your Fantasy is Killing Me.” Rad live drums and programmed beats accompany guitar noise and dissonant sax. It’s cyberpunk jazz serving as a backdrop for a viscous rap by none other than Chuck motherfucking D. Segueing from nearly nonsensical word association to blistering verses attacking white liberals who want to pretend everything is okay alongside black leaders who aren’t trying hard enough, it’s even more fucking relevant and brutal now than it was when it first came out.

Umbra is not available in the states, but the song is. You can get it on the 19972016-19972007 Remastered greatest hits collection, which is available on most digital storefronts. I recommend that entire album, it’s a fantastic, epic-length introduction to a band everyone needs to recognize.

Another album that isn’t on iTunes is the group’s Remixed compilation, which features a fantastic remix of the track by Coldcut, which is the version I’m sharing here tonight.

From what I can tell, there are no live recordings of the track, but it was often incorporated into the group’s live performances of another track called “Light My Fire,” where they would take the beats and heavy guitars of that song and play Chuck’s rap over them. The combination worked wonderfully, and the fierce nature of the group’s always intense live shows made the rhymes by Chuck sound even more brutal.

Annoyingly, no live version of “Light My Fire” ever made it to a proper BBS live album. However, it made it to plenty of their live DVDs, all of which I’ve ripped and converted to MP3s. The live version I’m sharing tonight is from the group’s 2005 Fuji Rock performance. It’s rad as shit.

In the interests of my own mental health, my next post might be nothing but Japanese new age/ambient music and I apologize in advance.

Back from the hospital and laying down dope beats

Thursday, November 23rd, 2017

So this weekend I found out that if you’re six and a half feet tall and…not thin, and rush to the Japanese hospital complaining of shortness of breathe and chest pains, they see your giant ass immediately, because no one in the country will be able to pick you up off the floor.

I was fine, by the way, ended up just being some weird bronchial infection. But that’s why I was MIA for a bit. But I’m back! I’m not dead, I feel happy.

Well, that’s not true, look at the news, but I’m back to normal at least and ready to post obscure music no one cares about so let’s get to it.

Arrested Development
United Front (Noises In My Attic Remix)
United Front (Acapella)
Fun fact, Speech from Arrested Development is big in Japan. Seriously, he plays solo shows here in respected (if not large) venues that usually sell out. He’s the Mr. Big of hip-hop.

I have no idea why this is. In fact, I always wonder how/why any hip-hop artist makes it big in Japan in any capacity. Rap is such a lyrical medium, and if you don’t understand the lyrics, there’s no way you can get as much out of it. Lyrics are obviously important in other forms of music too, but let’s be honest, you don’t need to understand the meaning of a song like, let’s say “Pour Some Sugar On Me,” to really appreciate it.

I think that explains, at least in part, why some acts make it big in Japan though. In my time here, I’ve noticed that really technically-proficient acts, like Mr. Big, Steely Dan, and Asia have large followings here, while more famous Western artists known primarily for their lyrics and songwriting, such as Tom Petty or Bruce Springsteen, are barely ever mentioned here. The language barrier makes appreciating their music much harder. Of course, Bob Dylan is really popular here so what the fuck do I know?

Rob Base & D.J. E-Z Rock
Joy And Pain (World To World Remix)
Joy And Pain (No-Rap-Attack-Dub-Track)
Joy And Pain (Rob-A-Pella)
I don’t think that Rob Base & D.J. E-Z Rock are exceptionally more popular here than they are back in the states, but I could be wrong.

Acid House Dollfuckers

Saturday, November 11th, 2017

Any of your heroes, idols, or creative inspirations get accused of gross sexual misconduct yet? Don’t worry, we still got a month and a half or so left in this year. Anything goes.

This is the upside to only caring about hyper-obscure bullshit that no one else in their right mind would care about. I’m not saying my musical idols and/or favorite filmmakers are saints; I’m saying that they’re all so irrelevant that no one is going to bother doing an expose on their alleged disturbing behavior. With how horrible the past two years have been, sometimes I willingly embrace ignorance for even the slightest bit of bliss.

Anyways, apropos of nothing, some songs about fucking a doll.

Lords of Acid
Rubber Doll (Latex Love Bazaar Mix)
Rubber Doll (My, But You’re A Fine One Mix)
Rubber Doll (I Love It When you Squeak Mix)
Rubber Doll (Do You Mind If We Dance With Yo’ Dates Mix)
Rubber Doll (Back Off The Bitch Is Mine Mix)
I actually found this single in Japan and bought it in a heartbeat. As I’ve lamented before, it’s really hard for me to find the kind of 12″ singles I like to buy – unnecessary remixes by now-irrelevant B-grade pop acts – in this country, so I was pretty stoked by this find.

Did “Rubber Doll” need five remixes? No. No it did not. But I’m certain that it no doubt that there are various 2×12″ promo singles and various CDs out there that feature even more remixes of the track. Because 90s.

Also, holy hell those are some bad remix titles.

Rain with Beck

Wednesday, November 1st, 2017

I wasn’t washed away in the typhoon last week, so I guess I got that going for me. Funnily enough, I actually got to work early, with every single train running perfectly on time somehow. Of course, once I got there, my sole student for the day canceled and I just had to head back home.

Doubly of course, that’s when all the trains decided to shit the bed and leave me stranded halfway between my work and my home for half an hour.

Who could’ve predicted that? Oh yeah, that’s right – me. I predicted that.

I’d like to say that “making your employee trudge to work in a motherfucking typhoon for a customer who surely won’t come” is a specifically Japanese business trait, but we all know that fucking over the working man is an international tradition.

Beck
Mixed Bizness (Cornelius remix)
Mixed Bizness (Nu Wave Dreamix by Les Rythmes Digitales)
Mixed Bizness (DJ Me DJ You)
Mixed Bizness (Dirty Bixin Mixness Remix by Bix Pender)
Dirty Dirty
Saxx Laws (Night Flight to Ojai)

I posted a lot of these tracks before, eons ago and on a substandard vinyl ripping setup. These versions are taken from a CD-single I bought last week. So if you happen to have to old versions I shared back in 2011 and 2012, respectively, you’re gonna wanna download these regardless.

Beck is coming to Tokyo next month, but I will be skipping that show. I’m sure his new album is fine, I think it’s gotten good reviews, but I just don’t care. Until he announces a Midnite Vultures anniversary show where he plays that album from start to finish, count me out.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again (and again and again), Midnite Vultures is Beck’s best work ever. Neo-funk classic. Sea Change? Fuck that shit. That’s mopey sad bastard bullshit for mopey sad bastards.

The Klaxons
Golden Skans (Sebastian Remix)
Golden Skans (Surkin Remix)
Golden Skans (Erol Ekstra Special Remix)
One day I am going to buy another album by this group I mean it. Judging on how quickly I’ve moved on these impulses in the past, I suspect “one day” will come by approximately 2028. Give or take.