No more dance stodge now as I get a bit more grittier with the coming selection. Whitby approaches!!
It was nice to listen back to some of the mixes from the CD this was released from, “Remix Dystemper” from 1998. This saw a whole load of the current industrial artists have a go at adding their own flavour to a Skinny Puppy track. Here were 4 examples off the album. Rhys Fulber from Frontline Assembly and Delerium gets his hands on “Worlock” and improves it, with added guitar from the excellent Devin Townsend. Adrian Sherwood remixes Tin Omen, making it sound like a mid-90’s Ministry track. KMFDM’s Günter Schulz mixes “Addiction” who lightens it up and even tries to clean the vocals in a very trippy mix. The last rack is a remix of Rodent by Ken “Hiwatt” Marshall, a definite “headphones” mix with some serious acid shredding and added heavy guitar. (It actually appears in the video game Little Big Planet 3 and the SAW II film soundtrack !!!)
A camp Halloween party tune up next from 1992. The Worldwide, Abba sounding, hit appeared as a double A-side with “Ride The Bullet” in the States. All mixes were done by DNA (UK producers Nick Batt and Neal Slateford) in a high camp, Eurohouse style. The interesting mixes are the bands own; hip hop beats on the slower “Teknostalgia Mix”, the Paul Dakeyne “Crucifixion Mix” is the harder of the mixes with acid bleeps and rave overtones and minimum vocals, the funky drummer breaks on the “Yherushalaim Mix” is the best of the bunch.
“Ride The Bullet” is more of a mid-paced groover, reminds me of Dee-lite. With a slight disco element and powerful diva vocals. The video reminds me of the TV show Eurotrash.
Strangely this year’s Autumn trip to Whitby is not on or near Halloween but coincides with Bonfire Night ? This track is my little tribute to Whitby and it’s dark visitors who are the most friendliest bunch I know. This is one of my favourite Damned tracks, from 1985, produced in the same light hearted vein as a Goth Madness by Bob Sargeant, slightly extended for your listening pleasure. B-side , “Edward The Bear” has a definite Who influence via The Stranglers with that constant organ riff.
As it is Halloween all links have been resurrected for that date from the past years . So expect Skinny Puppy, Grace Jones, Phil Fearon and Galaxy, (!)
I’ve had fun with this for over decade. Tino were a record label set up by Jack Dangers and Ben Stokes (both from Meat Beat Manifesto) and Mike Powell. For fans of layered break beats and samples this will not disappoint. Weird and off kilter with plenty of Halloween and Horror film samples. Put it on in the background for your evenings entertainment.
For both fans of mid-90’s House and 90’s remixes of classic 80’s tunes. (Personally, I think I’m at saturation point!) Here are whole raft of mixes of an obscure Police track which was the “Zenyatta Mondatta” album from 1980. Roger Sanchez provides some deep ,tribal beats for his “Loft Mix” and builds and builds on his “Classic Mix.” The “Underground Voices” strips everything down adding jazz keys and space synths. The E-Smoove mix is formulaic house with added Diva vocals. The “8AM ‘Rulin’ Mix” by Ashley Beedle and DJ Harvey is truer to the original and the pick of the bunch.
Featuring the single “When We Dance” to promote a “Best Of” compilation this was released in 1995 with a huge amount of remixes of “If You Love Somebody….” from House to Hip-Hop in style. The main single itself is a gentle, warm Sting classic produced by Hugh Padgham.
Bizarrely all the remixes (all 9 of them!) were carried out by the same Dutch production duo Soulshock and Karlin. (No pressure then trying to please Mr. Sting!)
Also quite odd is their remix of “Demolition Man” giving it a Ragga feel over a smooth, jazz beat.
So Mike sent me this over, I think he wanted me to upload the accompanying video 🙂
Doing a bit of research on Samantha Karen Fox she was the first (only?) British female to have 3 US top singles in a decade!!! Over in the UK she was first and foremost a topless model (especially in the Super-Soar-away Sun newspaper) However this was off her 5th Album, “21 st Century Fox”
Here she does a great Kylie Minogue impression with a dose of synthy Eurodance written and produced for her by the mysterious Team 3. She even gets a by German Trance producers Michael Urgacz and Tobias Beckhoff for a harder dance mix on the flip, complete with saucy sighs!
Nope never heard of it, nope can’t remember ever hearing this! So Fool’s Garden were a German Soft Rock who had a massive European hit with this track. Originally from 1995, the album sounds like it nicked The Police’s “Wrapped around My Finger” (via “Orinoco Flow”) before it heads into Beatles-inspired psychedelia. So along with the album version are the remixes, they don’t even resemble the original! Cheesy Euro-Trance/Rave at a 100 m.p.h. on all the mixes…Big Fish, Little Fish, Cardboard Box!!! (You even get a massive Acid breakdown on the “Gardeneden Mix”No evidence on who was to blame for the remixing, guess the band didn’t sue. CRAZY FROG-Tastic!!
Quite a rare one for Erasure fans now from Mike. Off the ill received “Cowboy” album (for many this was the start of the dip as the duo began to lose their magic.) and released in 1997. Speeded up from the single release Richard Dekkard turns it into a tough, Progressive House track keeping very little , if any, of the original on his instrumental mix. The Dub adds some brief Andy Bell’s vocal snippet’s, quite repetitive and annoying. Thank God the “Espirit” mix leaves most of the vocals and lightens everything up with added piano flourishes but it is very long.
Some INXS (there is a lot on here!) from 1990 and the US twelve, which has a different B-side from the one that’s on this blog. They get the balance of rock guitars and blissed out beats just right, there is even a funky flute on the Pete Lorimer remixes. The B-side is a piano-led, orchestrated instrumental that appeared again as the B-side of “By My Side.”