Dusted Off And Remixed

Another delve into the vaults for a review of Remixed by Mari Boine, first published on 8th April 2006, with newly added video and Bandcamp links.

 

Taken from the latter's artist biog, Mari Boine Persen is a "singer, musician, songwriter and activist from Sápmi, Norway. Her music is infused with her Sami roots (joik), jazz, rock and electronic sounds. Mari has worked with artists like Jan Garbarek and Bugge Wesseltoft, and participated in the breathtaking video clip One World One Voice. Her solo album 'Gula Gula' was released (internationally) on Peter Gabriel’s RealWorld label in 1990."

 

This is what I had to say about Remixed eighteen years ago.

 

 

I confess to a habitual acceptance of remixes and a borderline obsessive desire to track down reworks by artists as much as a band's original material. The result is a vast collection of obscure remixes by the likes of Andrew Weatherall, Slam, Fluke and Orbital, which often make the proverbial silk purse from a sow's ear. 

 

However, it will also frequently lead me to discover more artists and remixers, or just simply appreciate the record in it's own right. Such is the case with Norwegian artist Mari Boine's Remixed. 

 

I picked up this promo CD for a couple of quid, simply because it featured Jah Wobble, Bill Laswell and Biosphere, and thought that any other listening pleasure would be a bonus. What can I say? Ten tracks and just over an hour later and I've been playing it frequently ever since. 

 

 

Chilluminati provide an atmospheric opener in Gula Gula, neatly leading into Jah Wobble's distinctive bass on Cuovgi Liekkas, which roughly translates as 'Radiant Warmth', appropriately enough. 

 

The tempo then picks up with Those Norwegians' funky take on Gulkan Du, before taking it back down for the spine-tingling Alddagasat Ipmilat by Biosphere. Regardless of my familiarity with the artists, each of the remixes complement each other and use Boine's vocals to great effect, wisely tending to leave them intact. 

 

The notable exception is album closer, Ahccai by Phono*, which weaves a single note vocal into a pulsating beat that ensnares the listener. 

 

 

* If you're wondering why the description doesn't match the music via the Bandcamp link above, it's because I've belatedly discovered that the tracklisting on the promo CD I purchased was incorrect. 

 

Phono didn't remix Áhččai (track 10) but in fact Mun Da Han Lean Oaivamos (track 8), which samples Nelson Mandela.

 

Here's the version of Áhččai that I referred to, actually remixed by Future Prophecies aka Richard Thomas and Tony Anthun.

 

And to close my 2006 review:

 

I'm not sure that I'm curious enough to seek out Mari Boine's other releases, but Remixed will be troubling my CD player for some time.

 

 

Truer words rarely spoken. I still rate Remixed in 2024 but to date it remains the sole Mari Boine album in my collection.

In Wob We Trust

Jah Wobble today, or at least songs that he has either remixed or been a guest on. He's been on my mind (and playlists) a lot recently, in part due to the excellent In Dub compilation that I purchased just after Christmas. 

I've a couple of mix CDs that I did for my friend Dave in 2004 as a companion piece to the (also excellent) I Could Have Been A Contender anthology, so I've avoided using any tracks that appeared there. Even so, you get an eclectic, unusual and one or two downright bizarre selections, all featuring that unmistakable Wobble bass.

In 1997, record label Mute decided to invite a number of artists to remix Can's back catalogue, including Brian Eno, Sonic Youth, A Guy Called Gerald, Pete Shelley, U.N.K.L.E. and Bruce Gilbert, as well as usual suspects The Orb and System 7. The Secret Knowledge Mix closes the Sacrilege remix album, Kris Needs drafting in Jah Wobble to add his loping bass magic, to great effect.

I was reminded of En-Tact, without a doubt my favourite album by The Shamen, in a post by The Vinyl Villain last week. I'm talking here about the original UK CD issue, rather than the good-but-not-as-good En-Tact USA that superseded the original a year later. In part, this because the former includes the full length version of Evil Is Even, a 13+ rumbling monster of a track, featuring a sonic duel between Darren Millhouse on didgeridoo and Jah Wobble on bass. The winner? The listener.

 

If Love City Groove sound vaguely familiar, but you can't quite place them (or too embarrassed to admit it), they represented the UK in the 1995 Eurovision Song Contest. With the hindsight of a quarter of a century, finishing tenth was a relative success. The single also did well in the UK, reaching #7 and shifting over 200,000 copies, although this proved to be their one and only hit. There were 7 mixes in all, mostly by the band, and there's no obvious reason why Jah Wobble was approached. However, he transforms the rather cheesy original into an 11-minute beauty. Another bit of trivia: rapper Q-Tee aka Tatiana Mais (who featured with Saint Etienne in Friday's post) has a songwriting credit. She was originally approached to provide a rap for the song, but on the record this was subsequently picked up by incoming band member Yinka Charles aka MC Reason. Yinka also performed as The Voice Of Reason, collaborating with Paul Haig on his 1991 single Flight X (as featured by The Vinyl Villain in 2019).

Holly Valance will of course be forever remembered by many as Felicity 'Flick' Scully in legendary Aussie soap Neighbours from 1999 to 2002. Like Kylie Minogue before her, Holly left to pursue the pop star dream. Unlike Kylie, she had released her second and final album by 2003. Kiss Kiss was her debut single, reaching #1 in it's first week and spending 8 weeks in the Top 20. Again, Jah Wobble is an unusual choice of remixer alongside the more obvious Stargate and Agent Sumo, and it's unlikely that the rush of Wobble completists contributed in any way to the chart position. However, it's a good remix and - on this promo only version, you get relatively little Valance and plenty of Wobble, so again it's a win-win.

I know very little about Evil Eye, other than than it appears on a USA compilation, Ambient Extractions, Vol. 2, that I picked up secondhand in a record shop (probably Replay in Bristol) in the late 1990s. It's worth tracking down, including No Man, His Name Is Alive, Steve Jansen & Richard Barbieri and Boymerang. Divination is another collaborative project/alias for Bill Laswell. The compilation includes an edit of a 1993 track, featuring Jeff Bova (Material) and Mick Harris (Napalm Death, Scorn) as well as The Wob.

I know next to nothing about Madredeus, having discovered them via the 1997 Worlds Collide: Global Remixes compilation. They are one of Portugual's most successful bands apparently and are still a going concern.

Closing the compilation, Jah Wobble has collaborated with The Orb on many, many songs over the years, and Blue Room remains a highwater mark. Rather than go for the 40-minute original, I've opted for the rarer Blue Lamp Mix by The Orb, taken from the various artists album Taking Liberties, released as a protest against The Criminal Justice And Public Order Act 1994. No prizes which political party was in government when this was introduced. 

 

More Wob to follow in the not-too-distant future...

1) Oh Yeah (Secret Knowledge Mix By Kris Needs & Henry Cullen): Can ft. Jah Wobble (1997) 

2) Evil Is Even (Album Version): The Shamen ft. Jah Wobble (1990)

3) Love City Groove (Seek Understanding Beyond Immediate Perception Mix Long Version By Jah Wobble): Love City Groove (1995)

4) Kiss Kiss (Jah Wobble Remix) (Promo Full Length Version): Holly Valance (2002)

5) Evil Eye (Edit By Bill Laswell): Divination ft. Jah Wobble, Jeff Bova & Mick Harris (1993)

6) Pregão (Moçárabe Mix By Jah Wobble): Madredeus (1997)

7) Blue Room (Blue Lamp Mix): The Orb ft. Jah Wobble & Steve Hillage (1994)

1990: En-Tact: 2 

1994: Taking Liberties: 7

1995: Love City Groove EP: 3

1996: Ambient Extractions, Vol. 2: 5

1997: Sacrilege: 1

1997: Worlds Collide Global Remixes: 6

2002: Kiss Kiss EP (promo CD): 4

In Wob We Trust (1:13:43) (KF) (Mega)

Now Is The Time To Lose All Control

The mighty ZE Records today, perhaps most famous (& commercially successful) due to Kid Creole & The Coconuts, but also a key player in the No Wave movement, with artists such as James Siegfried (aka James Chance aka James White) and the label's legendary compilation, Mutant Disco: A Subtle Discolation Of The Norm. 

 

Partnerships with other labels such as Island, Elektra and Antilles saw releases by musical forebears Alan Vega, Suicide and John Cale. It was all over for ZE Records by 1985, but co-founder Michel Esteban resurrected ZE in 2002 as a reissue label, still active today. 2009 saw the release of ZEvolution: ZE Records Re-Edited, with 11 reworkings by the likes of Idjut Boys, Pilooski, Leo Zero and Richard Sen, in addition to those included in this selection.

 

The only vinyl I own is the 12" of Coati Mundi's Me No Pop I (pictured), which I found at Music & Video Exchange on Smallbrook Queensway in Birmingham about a decade ago. Coati was a member of Kid Creole & The Coconuts and I seem to remember this song having quite a bit of airplay on Radio 1, although it only reached #32 in the UK charts. I didn't pay any attention to the lyrics as a kid, though the refrain of "Me No Popeye / You No Olive Oyl" was an earworm. I'm not quite sure what sense I would have made of the actual narrative of the song, including this choice verse:

When I came from the VD clinic
I thought our love was finished
How could you be so crude
Makin' love to so many dudes

 

Underneath the upbeat tune, it appears that ol' Coati aka Andy Hernandez was feeling somewhat emasculated...

 

Topping and tailing the compilation is the wonderful Cristina Monet Palaci. Cristina was a very belated discovery for me, via the reissued Mutant Disco compilation which I picked up about 10 years ago and which included the 7" version of Drive My Car. However, I only heard her version of Is That All There Is? after reading an excellent tribute by Post-Punk Monk, following her tragic death from COVID-19 in March 2020. 

A great label that shone brightly for a relatively short time, ZE Records continues to illuminate today.

 

1) Drive My Car (Long Version) (Cover of The Beatles): Cristina (1980)

2) My Male Curiosity (Remix Version): Kid Creole & The Coconuts (1984)

3) Que Pasa / Me No Pop I (12" Version): Coati Mundi (1981)

4) Contort Yourself (Album Version): James White & The Blacks (1979)

5) Fast Money Music: Suicide (1980)

6) Hungry For Love: John Cale (1984)

7) On A Day Like Today (Todd Terje 'Friendly Children' Edit): Gichy Dan's Beachwood #9 ft. Beachwood Kids (2009)

8) Out Come The Freaks (Dub Version): Was (Not Was) (1982)

9) Spooks In Space (Filthy & Foolish Edit By Felix Dickinson & Luke Howard): Aural Exciters (2009)

10) Wipeout Beat (Extended / Album Version By Ric Ocasek): Alan Vega (1983)

11) Busting Out (Long Version) (Edit): Material ft. Nona Hendryx (1981)

12) Tell Me That I'm Dreaming (Greg Wilson ZE-Edit): Was (Not Was) (2009)

13) Is That All There Is? (Single Version) (Cover of Georgia Brown): Cristina (1980)

1979: Off White: 4

1980: Cristina: 1

1980: Is That All There Is? (12"): 13

1980: Suicide: Alan Vega · Martin Rev: 5

1981: Me No Pop I (12"): 3

1982: Tell Me That I'm Dreaming (USA 12"): 8 

1983: Saturn Strip: 10

1984: Caribbean Sunset: 6

1984: My Male Curiosity (USA promo 12"): 2

2003: Mutant Disco: A Subtle Discolation Of The Norm (Expanded Edition): 11

2009: ZEvolution: ZE Records Re-Edited: 7, 9, 12

 

Now Is The Time To Lose All Control (1:14:10)