Dayve Hawk, an artist you may never have heard of, remixing artists you (mostly) may never have heard of...
In the late 2000s, my main source of finding about new music had shifted dramatically from magazines to online, sites like RCRD LBL (RIP) and The Hype Machine (still going!) opening the door to artists, remixers and music blogs that allowed me to tap into scenes and sounds that would otherwise have passed me by.
Dayve Hawk is a prime example, back then a self-described "stay at home dad" who also recorded and released music at home as Memory Tapes, Weird Tapes and Memory Cassette.
Memory Tapes is perhaps the most well known of the three, with three albums between 2009 and 2012. The latter two can be found on Bandcamp, along with various singles up to and including what seems to be the last release to date in 2015.
Dayve was also a prolific remixer during the same period and I've collected ten for a C90-friendly side, one as Weird Tapes, the rest as Memory Tapes.
Dayve's work was frequently categorised as chillwave, glo-fi, "the sound of 2010" (though presumably not in 2011), along with artists like Washed Out and Neon Indian. The music has transcended and outlived most of the appellations and I struggle with labels anyway.
Elements of the music sound very much of their time, in a good way, but I also like the psychedelic elements of Dayve's work, the sudden dips into uptempo bangers alongside moments of beautiful serenity. Also, these are remixes in their purest form: vocals and elements of the original are present, but bent into new sonic shapes so that the finished version often bears little relation to the source material.
If you've never heard of Dayve Hawk and like what you hear, there's a fair bit more to check out. I've read that there's even an official remix of a Britney Spears single out there, which I've never heard. My curiosity is piqued!
1) This New Technology (Memory Tapes Mix): Midnight Juggernauts (2009)
2) Lions In Cages (Memory Tapes Remix): Wolf Gang (2010)
3) I Think (Memory Tapes Remix): Demon (2010)
4) Give It Up (Weird Tapes Version): Datarock (2009)
5) Suffocation (Memory Tapes Remix): Crystal Castles (2010)
6) Ambling Alp (Memory Tapes Remix): Yeasayer (2009)
7) Drive-In (Memory Tapes's B-Live Mix): Thunderheist (2010)
8) Real Life (Memory Tapes Remix): Tanlines (2010)
9) Feels Like We Only Go Backwards (Memory Tapes Remix): Tame Impala (2012)
10) Crystals (Memory Tapes Remix #1): Fixers (2011)
Your opening sentence is entirely accurate. I only scored 3/10
ReplyDelete