It's Happened Before

If like me you've had a week to forget, then a bevy of beauteous, bouncy beats is just what the doctor ordered....

....as long as the doctor is Dr. Syntax, that is, former Fluke fellows Mike Tournier and Jan Burton, whose remix of AIR-adjacent Gallic gents Mellow gets today's selection off to a rollicking start.

Staying in France briefly, Fred Falke invites German chums Axel Bartsch and Asem Shama aka VanGuard back to stay at his, the results a stuttering, juddering night in the studio.

Purple Penguin was a record shop, a label, a recording artist and a way of life in my beloved birthplace Bristol. Whilst they were never as massive as, er, Massive Attack, Tricky or Portishead, they were purveyors of mighty fine trip hop music, as debut single Passion attests.

The music of Cantoma aka Phil Mison was a relatively recent discovery for me, though the song selected here - a remix of North Shore by London boys Conrad McDonnell and Dan Tyler aka Idjut Boys - was released as a 12" single way back in 2010. Like a Balearic breeze blowing through your mind.

Pet Shop Boys really need no introduction, neither should DJ and producer Danny Tenaglia, but their coming together for a remix of 1996 single Before was really rather inspired. One of my favourite PSB tracks from that period and inspiration for the title of today's selection.

Hot Chip have been circling around in my consciousness since my post on Alexis Taylor's current single on Wednesday. In 2011, Dan Snaith took time out from his Caribou day job to put out music as Daphni. Dan was invited to remix Hot Chip's single Night And Day, a Record Store Day 12" single in 2012 which hits hard and doesn't give up.

The Other Two is a tongue-in-cheek, raspberry-blowing reference to the fact that whilst New Order stalwarts Bernard Sumner and Peter Hook were getting attention for their projects, Gillian Gilbert and Stephen Morris quietly got on with making music of their own. Ashley Beedle is on typically fine form on this dub remix of 1993 single Selfish.

Closing this collection are The Woodentops and, in keeping with today's title/theme, it's happened before. The remix of A Pact by Skyscraper HiFi aka Jon Dasilva and Jonas Nilsson originally featured last March on the Dubhed selection It's A Glamorous World, but that feels long enough ago to justify another appearance here. A chuggy, huggy masterpiece.

I hope that's got the blood flowing and the head cleared. If not, you may require urgent medical assistance!

1) Paris Sous La Neige (Vox Remix By Dr. Syntax) (Edit): Mellow (2000)

2) Back To Stay (VanGuard Remix): Fred Falke (2009)

3) Passion (Vocal) (Single Version): Purple Penguin (1995)

4) North Shore (Idjut Boys Version) (Instrumental): Cantoma (2010)

5) Before (Danny Tenaglia's Underground Mix): Pet Shop Boys (1996)

6) Night And Day (Daphni Mix): Hot Chip (2012)

7) Selfish (The East Village Dub): The Other Two (1993)

8) A Pact (Skyscraper HiFi Remix B): The Woodentops (2025)

It's Happened Before (45:58) (GD) (M)