Four Hundred And Seventy Times Six

A six song selection for Saturday, some strange bedfellows, but all committed to the groove.

Fortran 5 were formed from the ashes of I Start Counting, record label Mute perhaps hoping for a smidge of commercial success, given the proliferation of sample-heavy dance music in the popular charts. 

It didn't happen, and Fortran 5 remain an under appreciated gemstone compared to the diamond brightness of Orbital or The Prodigy. Crazy Earth was Fortran 5's debut single, one of many songs inspired by Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd, specifically The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn. The sample here is from The Gnome. Isn't it good?

The Men was an experiment by The Human League Mk. I, aka Philip Oakey, Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh, to see if they could have a hit single. The disco-inspired 7" single I Don't Depend On You featured Phil backed by Katie Kissoon and Lisa Strike, wasn't heavily promoted and failed to dent the charts, but remains an ear-pleasing curio. 

In 2011, gkugno from Italy addressed the three-decade lack of a 12" version of I Don't Depend On You by creating an edit from the A-side and instrumental B-side aka Cruel, then posting it on YouTube. I think he did a pretty good job.

The mysterious mind behind MATDMixes has a similar M.O. What is less of a mystery is who their favourite artist is, as the YouTube page is dedicated to re-edits and remixes of music by Marina Diamandis aka Marina & The Diamonds aka Marina. 

I've featured their 2020 extended mix of Living Dead in a Marina-themed Dubhed selection, but it stands just as well in this mixed crowd. I'd recommend checking out the many, many MATDMixes available online.

Circuit, Lap 2 is the sole EP in my collection by Paris-based David Rubato, though he only seems to have released a handful of singles in the late Noughties and these days practices as a music teacher.

Circuit, Lap 2 is a companion piece to 2008 single Circuit, this one containing remixes by DJ Mehdi, Steve Moore, Siriusimo and - featured here - Aeroplane.

Personal Jesus has become one of Depeche Mode's best known songs. Even back in 1989, it marked a change of direction for the Basildon boys, and a precursor to their global smash album Violator.

François Kevorkian was their go-to for remixes at this point in time and as Depeche Mode singles came in two 12" vinyl varieties by default, there were multiple FK versions of this song, including the Holier Than Thou Approach and Telephone Stomp Mix. I've gone for the Pump Mix on the limited edition remix 12", the longest of the three and stretching out that pulsing electronic groove and dropping in a TV evangelist sample here and there. Great stuff.

Betty Boo may be an unexpected choice to close this selection. However - and with apologies to the fabulous Alison Clarkson - this remix by David Morales doesn't feature her voice at all....

Catch Me was a single from second album Grrr! It's Betty Boo in 1992, which couldn't match the chart success of her debut, but was a decent attempt to expand her songwriting and performance. Happily, albums #3 and #4 arrived thirty years later and the world is a brighter place for having Betty Boo back in it.

I will endeavour to keep the happiness going tomorrow....

1) Crazy Earth (Full Greenhouse Effect Mix By Edson Arantes Di Nascimento): Fortran 5 (1990)

2) I Don't Depend On You (Extended Re-Edited Version By gkugno): The Men (2011)

3) Living Dead (Extended Mix By MATDMixes): Marina & The Diamonds (2020)

4) Circuit (Aeroplane Remix By Stephen Fasano & Vito De Luca): David Rubato (2008)

5) Personal Jesus (Pump Mix By François Kevorkian): Depeche Mode (1989)

6) Catch Me (Def Version By David Morales): Betty Boo (1992)

1989: Personal Jesus EP: 5

1990: Crazy Earth EP: 1

1992: Catch Me EP: 6

2008: Circuit, Lap Two EP: 4

2011: I Don't Depend On You EP: 2

2020: Living Dead EP: 3

Four Hundred And Seventy Times Six (46:39) (GD) (M)

D:Ream Time

D:Ream aka Peter Cunnah and Al Mackenzie released a mammoth collection, Broken Hearts & Messed Up Minds: The Remix Album, on 1st September. A companion to D:Ream's fourth album Open Hearts Open Minds, it's continuing their purple patch of quality tunes and top notch remixers.

There are 21 songs on the current compilation, the majority of which are new and exclusive to this release so I could easily have focused today's selection on that alone. However, I've gone down the same path as the previous Dubhed mix, with versions spanning 1993 to date. The previous selection was just over an hour; my challenge this time was to compile a C90 cassette-friendly side coming in at the three quarters of an hour mark. 

Half a dozen songs later, I think I cracked it. What do you think?

Happy Friday, everyone!

 

1) Gods In The Making (Brassneck Dub) (Remix By Al Mackenzie) (2011)

2) I Like it (Ramp New Game Dub) (Remix By Shem McCauley & Simon Rogers) (1993) 

3) Pedestal (Al Mackenzie's Pop Tart Remix) (2022)

4) I Used To Believe In Love (Pete Herbert Remix) (2023)

5) U R The Best Thing (Mo Bass Part II) (Remix By David Morales ft. D'Borah Asher) (1993)

6) Look At The Stars Now, Mama (Hardway Brothers Meet Monkton Uptown Deep Dive) (Remix By Sean Johnston & Duncan Gray) (2023) 

 

D:Ream Time (45:19) (KF) (Mega)

You can find my D:Ream Dubhed Selection from December 2022 here *

 

* I noticed that the KrakenFiles link isn't working and despite attempts to re-upload this morning, I'm still getting an "unknown error" response. Please bear with me and the link will be available at some point!

** KrakenFiles is having none of it as far as the 2022 D:Ream upload is concerned so I hope you'll be happy to make do with Mega for this one. Sorry!

*** KrakenFiles issue now resolved and the 2022 D:Ream selection is available again.

On The Soul...De La, That Is

A tribute to David Jude Jolicoeur aka Plug 2 aka Trugoy The Dove aka one third of hip hop legends De La Soul, 21st September 1968 to 12th February 2023.

Another sad loss, all the more tragic that Trugoy was 54 years old, barely any time in the scheme of things. But what he achieved in his life cannot be underestimated. 

 

I can't pretend that I was so on it as a teenager that I immediately switched on to hip hop and rap music and got 3 Feet High And Rising as soon as it hit the record shops in 1989. But I really liked De La Soul. Over three decades later, their impact on music as a whole - not just genres - is perhaps only just beginning to be fully appreciated. After many years of legal entanglements, the release of De La Soul's early albums on streaming services next month will bring their music to a new generation.

I'm definitely not qualified to write about De La Soul's influence or Trugoy The Dove's contribution to establishing a new narrative and form of expression, but I can share a selection of songs that I love. In my usual cobbled-together-at-the-last minute style, this 10-track selection mostly draws from the earlier singles, throwing in a few songs from a budget De La Soul compilation I picked up a while ago. 

 

I also had to include their contribution to the Judgement Night film soundtrack, itself made up of collaborations between rap and hip hop artists and guitar bands, be it indie, thrash or grunge. Teenage Fanclub were the unlikely partners with De La Soul, but somehow it works. 

Gorillaz took it to it's logical next step in the 21st Century. Where else would you see De La Soul performing on stage with Damon Albarn, Gruff Rhys, Mick Jones and Paul Simonon?

Rap in power, Dave, Plug 2, Trugoy, all of you.

 

1) Eye Know (7" Mix By Prince Paul): De La Soul (1989)

2) Oooh (Rae & Christian Remix): De La Soul ft. Redman (2000)

3) Superfast Jellyfish: Gorillaz ft. De La Soul & Gruff Rhys (2010)

4) The Magic Number (1-2-3 Mix By Chad Jackson): De La Soul (1989)

5) It's A New Thing (It's Your Thing) (D-Nat & Onda Reconstruction): The Isley Brothers ft. De La Soul (2004)

6) Me Myself And I (Extended Version By Richie Rich): De La Soul (1989)

7) Long Island Degrees: De La Soul (1995)

8) A Roller Skating Jam Named "Saturdays" (Radio Home Mix By David Morales): De La Soul ft. Vinia Mojica (1991)

9) Fallin' (Faded Album Version): Teenage Fanclub & De La Soul (1994)

10) All Good?: De La Soul ft. Chaka Khan (2000)

 

On The Soul...De La, That Is (44:20) (Box) (Mega)

Loop Da Loop

Side 2 of a mixtape, cobbled together in 1999, and capturing my love of rolling beats. Darren Emerson has produced a 2021 highlight with his remix of That Time Of Night by GLOK, which got me digging back into his excellent remixes from the late 1990s, presaging his departure from Underworld at the start of the 21st century. This was jumping on point for today's selection.

 

This selection opens with Ben Watkins aka Juno Reactor, with a single that I was surprised to discover actually made it to #45 in the UK singles chart back in February 1997. This song particularly appealed to me at the time as it sampled Watkins' previous band Sunsonic, who I also loved. The song in question, Kind Of Loving, only made it #83 when it was released in May 1990.

I won't pretend that I was a huge fan of Sasha at the time, although I vaguely recall seeing him DJ once at Renaissance at The Conservatory in Derby around 1994. However, I really liked his remix of Talk To Me by Hysterix and his own single Magic featuring Sam Mollison (a #32 UK hit single, no less).

 

By the 1992, Thompson Twins were finally down to the core duo of Tom Bailey & Alannah Currie and had 'gone dance'; the following year, they had teamed up with Keith Fearnley to become Babble. The Saint (#53 in January 1992) isn't bad, but I think I would have bought the single more for the David Morales mixes, which elevate the song considerably.

 

I love Everything But The Girl and Walking Wounded was a revelatory album when it came out in 1996. Before Today must have been the third or fourth single, managing a respectable #25 in March 1997. Darren Emerson did a couple of mixes and this is the best of the two, even at nearly 10 minutes, feeling too short. 

 

Go was Moby's global Twin Peaks-sampling smash, hitting #10 in the UK in July 1991. This remix, under his Barracuda alias, appeared in 1992 on The Ultimate Go EP, which I got a few years later on a German import CD single.

 

Age Of Love by Age Of Love first came out in 1990 but I don't think I would have become aware of it until I heard the Jam & Spoon remix around 1992. It eventually became a hit single in the UK in July 1997, peaking at #17, and has been remixed and re-released numerous times since. This version dates back to the original Belgian release and, at only a smidge over 5 minutes, feels like it should go on for at least twice as long.

1) Jungle High (Original Mix): Juno Reactor (1997)

2) Magic (Sasha's Voodoo Dub): Sasha ft. Sam Mollison (1994)

3) The Saint (8th Street Dub) (Remix By David Morales): Thompson Twins (1992)

4) Before Today (Darren Emerson Underwater Remix 1): Everything But The Girl (1997)

5) Go (Barracuda Mix): Moby (1992)

6) The Age Of Love (Boeing Mix By Roger Samijn): The Age Of Love (1990)

Side Two (45:52) (Box) (Mega)

101

When I started this blog on 7th December 2020, I didn't really have any thought of how often or how long I'd keep going with posting music. After a fairly relaxed start, I gradually built up some momentum and started posting daily from mid-May and today I bring you post #101. Even a casual glance around at the many blogs that I enjoy and have been inspired by, who have been going for years, decades even, and have thousands of posts to enjoy, means that this is no big deal in the scheme of things. If anything, getting this far has made me admire them even more. I really appreciate everyone who stops by to visit and read my offerings to cyberspace and it's great to receive your comments. Thanks to you all.

On that note, here's a little 101-themed playlist. Yes, arguably another excuse for yet more Andrew Weatherall. My positive bias aside, Weatherall's prodigious work as an artist, remixer, producer and DJ is such that you could probably play Six Degrees Of Separation with my music collection and find him in three. As a counter for Weatherall's ubiquity on this blog, I am pretty confident that this is the only time you'll see Sheena Easton here. Unless there's a Prince-themed post at some point in the future.

 

1) Electribal Memories: Electribe 101 (1990)

2) 101 (101% By Scooby Doo & Shaggy 2): Finitribe (1991)

3) Karma Sitar: 101 Strings (1972)

4) 101 (Def House Mix (Extended Club Version) By David Morales): Sheena Easton (1989)

5) 101 (Intensity Mix By Andrew Weatherall) (Full Length): Finitribe (1991)

6) 101 Rainbows Ambient Mix: Caustic Window (1994)

7) The Golden Age (CD101 Version) (Cover of Beck): The Flaming Lips (2002)

8) Desert Wind (Interstate 101 Mix): Banco De Gaia (1994)

9) Bossa Nova 101: Money Mark (1998)

10) Keys To Your Heart (Khayem's Reverse Reprise): The 101'ers (2021)

 

101 (1:01)