Wednesday 27 April 2022

The World Keeps Spinning And Spinning

Side 2 of a mixtape, originally compiled 10th August 1994 and featuring remixes of Orbital, Saint Etienne, Lemon Interupt and Stereo MC's.
 
My previous post for Side 1 in October 2021 was a nod to my brief time living and working in Derby, as all of the featured 12" singles had been bought there. In August 1994, I had recently moved back into the centre of Bristol. I was still living in a crappy bedsit, but I was earning considerably better money, working more sociable hours and continuing to feed my hunger for clubbing and buying music.

Of today's selection, I think Like A Motorway was the only record I bought in Derby, this time on CD single. I'd also bought the Radiccio EP on CD but it didn't feature this remix of The Naked And The Dead. By the recording of this mixtape, I’d subsequently managed to pick up a second hand copy of the Japan CD single. The latter import contained all of the tracks from both Radiccio UK 12" singles, as well as a radio edit of Halcyon and the 12" edit of Deeper from 1990's Chime single. The Naked And The Dub is almost twice the length of the Scott Walker-sampling original and almost twice as good.
 
Like A Motorway came with four remixes on the CD single - all excellent - by Underworld's Rick Smith, Ed Simons and Tom Rowlands (back when they were still trading as The Dust Brothers) and Autechre. The remix by David Holmes included here can only be described as a relentless monster of a track, with no discernible trace of Saint Etienne but a compelling, urgent groove that builds and climaxes to great effect.
 
Underworld are more than up to the task of following up on this, with a track released under their alias, Lemon Interupt (as intentionally misspelt on the original 12" singles). Dirty is such a brilliant song that, when Rick Smith, Karl Hyde and Darren Emerson decided to stick with the Underworld name, it inevitably made the transition - with vocals and renamed Dirty Epic - to 1994's defining statement, dubnobasswithmyheadman. I didn't have the original Lemon Interupt 12", but the version featured on this mixtape was the sole electronica/dance contribution to Gimme 5, a freebie cassette given away with Melody Maker in March 1994. This just about nudges it as my favourite version.

Both sides close out with Andrew Weatherall - who else? - along with Jagz Kooner and Gary Burns, this time with an aptly named 'Everything Grooves' remix of Stereo MC's. And groove it most certainly does for over 10 minutes. This is the best of the two-part mixes, and was available on the CD format of the Ground Level single, their third (a fourth to follow) UK Top 20 hit in February 1993.

1) The Naked And The Dub (Full Length Version): Orbital (1992)
2) Like A Motorway (The David Holmes Mix): Saint Etienne (1994)
3) Dirty (12" Version By Underworld): Lemon Interupt (1992)
4) Everything (Everything Grooves Part 2) (Sabres Of Paradise Mix By Andrew Weatherall, Jagz Kooner & Gary Burns): Stereo MC's (1993)

Side One available here

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