Was It That Obvious?

Rounding off my 3-day celebration of Australia, what better way to get the weekend started than with Kylie?!

 

If Dubhed was a prize-giving blog, then Charity Chic would have cleaned up yesterday with his astute prediction. Unfortunately, it's not but hopefully the crushing disappointment will be offset by the prospect of nearly 90 minutes of Ms. Minogue.

This being Friday, I've often tended to feature selections of 12" mixes and slightly more 'up' music so in Australian terms, it was always likely to be Kylie over Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, wasn't it? Although they did collaborate back in 1995, including a memorable appearance on Top Of The Pops, when the pop princess reinvented herself as Indie Kylie.

Today's selection however focuses solely on Disco Kylie, spanning three decades and showing no sign of slowing down now we're midway through the 2020s. 

Although her music career exploded from the Stock, Aitken & Waterman hit factory, Kylie moved on in the early 1990s and has followed her own course ever since, working with some dynamic producers and remixers along the way.

 

I've never particularly considered myself a Kylie fan, I've bought a few singles here and there mainly for the remixes but never any of her albums. I thought the 'country' songs a few years ago were a misstep, but that's the beauty of Kylie. If you don't like what's she doing right now, there will either be club-friendly remixes to compensate, or another change around the corner with her next album.

 

This is one musical pleasure I don't feel guilty about in the slightest. And even if my primary reason for buying a single or compilation was to get that remix by DNA, The Chemical Brothers or Tom Middleton, so what?

Today's selection reflects some early favourites: Je Ne Sais Pas Pourquoi is cheesy perhaps but I love it; What Do I Have To Do? and Shocked were the big hits whilst I was in Australia; The Chemical Brothers remix of Slow is twice as good as the original. And I would have bought the Soulwax remix compilation anyway - they're brilliant - but their scuzzy, fuzzy overhaul of Can't Get You Out Of My Head was worth the price alone.

In a half-arsed attempt to dodge the sniffer bots and a DMCA takedown notice, I've avoided any reference to Ms. Minogue in the post title and have named the selection SmileyKylie in the hope that it similarly avoids unwanted attention on KrakenFiles or Mega. As usual, the download links will be up for roughly a month, so get in there now!

 

1) Too Much Of A Good Thing (12" Mix By Phil Harding & Ian Curnow) (1992)

2) Into The Blue (Yasutaka Nakata (CAPSULE) Remix) (2014)

3) Finer Feelings (Brothers In Rhythm 12" Mix By Dave Seaman, Steve Anderson & Alan Bremner) (1992)

4) Red Blooded Woman (Whitey Mix By Nathan White) (2005)

5) Confide In Me (Justin Warfield Mix) (1994)

6) It's No Secret (Alternative Extended Version By Dave Ford) (1988)

7) What Do I Have To Do? (Extended Album Mix II By Phil Harding & Ian Curnow) (1991)

8) Falling (Farley & Heller Alternative Mix By Terry Farley & Pete Heller) (1994)

9) Slow (Chemical Brothers Remix By Ed Simons & Tom Rowlands) (2003)

10) Shocked (DNA Mix By Neal Slateford & Nick Batt) (12" Version ft. Jazzi P)  (2001)

11) Je Ne Sais Pas Pourquoi (The Revolutionary Mix By Phil Harding) (1989)

12) Chocolate (Tom Middleton Cosmos Mix) (2004)

13) Dancing (Initial Talk Remix) (2018)

14) Can't Get You Out Of My Head (Soulwax Kyluss Remix By David Dewaele & Stephen Dewaele) (2001)

 

1989: Hand On Your Heart EP: 6 

1989: Je Ne Sais Pas Pourquoi EP: 11

1991: Shocked EP: 10

1992: Celebration EP: 1

1992: Finer Feelings EP: 3

2003: Kylie Minogue (Special Edition) (2x CD): 5 

2003: Slow (promo 12"): 9

2004: Chocolate EP: 12

2005: Red Blooded Woman EP: 4 

2007: Most Of The Remixes We've Made For Other People Over The Years...: 14

2010: What Do I Have to Do? (The Original Synth Mixes) EP: 7

2014: Kiss Me Once (Japan only bonus track): 2 

2016: Confide In Me: 8

2018: Dancing EP: 13

SmileyKylie (1:28:22) (KF) (Mega)

* Or, to give the Soulwax compilation it's full title,

Most Of The Remixes We've Made For Other People Over The Years Except For The One For Einstürzende Neubauten Because We Lost It And A Few We Didn't Think Sounded Good Enough Or Just Didn't Fit In Length-Wise, But Including Some That Are Hard To Find Because Either People Forgot About Them Or Simply Because They Haven't Been Released Yet, A Few We Really Love, One We Think Is Just OK, Some We Did For Free, Some We Did For Money, Some For Ourselves Without Permission And Some For Friends As Swaps But Never On Time And Always At Our Studio In Ghent.

Chemical Dust

If you like your beats big, then you can't wrong with The Chemical Brothers.

Today's selection is three quarters of an hour of remixes circa 1994 to 1996, when Manchester Uni pals Ed Simons and Tom Rowlands were breaking big as The Dust Brothers and inevitably drawing attention from Michael Simpson and John King aka the original Dust Brothers. Some legal chit chat, a handshake and a name change later, and Ed and Tom continued as The Chemical Brothers.

Something big was happening (and I don't just mean Big Beat) but even then could the pair have imagined that they'd become even bigger, release albums into double digits and still be a significant musical force, three decades later? Quite something, when you think about it.

To these ears, whilst the music takes me back to experiences in a past, younger life, I still get the rush of the new when listening to these tracks.

 

Ed and Tom did a whole bunch of remixes for Manic Street Preachers and whilst La Tristesse Durera raised the bar impossibly high, their rework of Everything Must Go is an underrated banger. 

Likewise, there was a quid pro quo with The Sabres Of Paradise, Weatherall, Kooner and Burns remixing the Brothers and vice versa. Tow Truck was a speaker shredding monster from an EP of remixes from the Haunted Dancehall album.

Justin Warfield pops up twice, firstly with Bomb The Bass and the seminal track Bug Powder Dust, then on his own with Pick It Up Y'All. I really enjoyed the Rap/Hip Hop/Big Beat crossover that was firing up around this time and these two areb prime examples.

 

I missed The Chemical Brothers' remixes of Republica first time around as a vinyl-only issue. Thankfully, the mid-late 1990s were a time of multiple formats, with 2-3 CD singles per release offering remixes, rarities and live versions to prise your pennies away. This rather fine dub of Out Of This World resurfaced on the Drop Dead Gorgeous single.

A standout from The Chemical Brothers debut album was Life Is Sweet which featured The Charlatans' Tim Burgess on vocals (Ed and Tom were also at the forefront of the Indie/Dance revival). Again, multiple formats for the inevitable single release but I've opted here for a rarer remix which featured on the essential Trance Europe Express compilation series. It's a Big Beat frenzy with a smattering of Tim's vocals left in for good measure.

The selection closes out with what I still think of as one of their finest moment as either The Dust Brothers or The Chemical Brothers. In 1994, they dusted up Saint Etienne's Like A Motorway. The competition was tough: David Holmes and Autechre both submitted remixes at the top of their game. However, Ed and Tom's Chekhov Warp mix is something else entirely, nine minutes of acid-drenched bleeps and squiggles, samples and dirty beats that leave you wanting to hear it all over again. There is a vocal version available but for me, the dub is the essential mix.

Pick it up y'all, we can make it to the weekend!

 

1) Everything Must Go (The Chemical Brothers Remix): Manic Street Preachers (1996)

2) Out Of This World (Chemical Brothers Dub): Republica (1995)

3) Bug Powder Dust (Dust Brothers Remix): Bomb The Bass ft. Justin Warfield (1994)

4) Tow Truck (The Chemical Brothers Mix): The Sabres Of Paradise (1995)

5) Life Is Sweet (Delik 1) (Remix By The Chemical Brothers, Steve Dub & Tim Holmes): The Chemical Brothers ft. Tim Burgess (1995)

6) Pick It Up Y'All (Dust Brothers Dub): Justin Warfield (1994)

7) Like A Motorway (Chekhov Warp Dub) (Remix By The Dust Brothers): Saint Etienne (1994)

Chemical Dust (45:21) (KF) (Mega)

 

You can find Shake This Feeling, another 45-minute selection of The Chemical Brothers from July 2022, right here.

Six Degrees Of Kevin Bacon

A little Friday fun and not to be taken too seriously...

Six Degrees Of Separation is the idea that a person can have six or less connections to any other person in the world. Six Degrees Of Kevin Bacon jokingly took the idea further, positing that any actor could be linked to the Hollywood legend in six or fewer steps.

I thought I'd have a go at applying it to my music collection. How hard could it be? Surprisingly easy, it turned out (although purists may disagree). Here goes...

1) Neneh Cherry's debut solo single in 1988 was Buffalo Stance, produced by Tim Simenon aka Bomb The Bass.

2) Bomb The Bass released Bug Powder Dust in 1994 as the lead single for third album Clear, featuring Justin Warfield and a slew of remixes, including one from DJ Muggs.

3) DJ Muggs aka Lawrence Muggerud first came to prominence as a founder member of Cypress Hill. In 1992, he also formed The Soul Assassins collective. That same year, Muggs used the Soul Assassin alias to remix Beastie Boys, aka Ad Rock, MCA and Mike D.

4) Mike D. aka Michael Diamond has provided his unique vocals and raps to many other artists' songs over the years. In 2016, he teamed up with Cat Power to appear on Action, a single by French duo Cassius aka Philippe Zdar Cerboneschi and Hubert Blanc-Francard.

5) Hubert Blanc-Francard's father is Dominique Blanc-Francard, who has also enjoyed a long and varied career in music production. In 1983, Dominique mixed Robert Palmer's cover version of You Are In My System and returned to remix it in 1992.

6) Robert Palmer was apparently a fan of The Comsat Angels and facilitated their signing to Island Records in the mid-80s, executive producing sixth album Chasing Shadows and providing vocals on the closing track of today's selection. And the bass player and founding member of The Comsat Angels is of course... Kevin Bacon.

This may be #1 in a series of one but it was fun to do. 

Happy Friday, everyone!

1) Buffalo Stance (Extended Mix By Bomb The Bass aka Tim Simenon): Neneh Cherry (1988)

2) Bug Powder Dust (DJ Muggs Remix): Bomb The Bass ft. Justin Warfield (1994)

3) So What' Cha Want (Soul Assassin Remix Version By DJ Muggs): Beastie Boys (1992)

4) Action (Video Version): Cassius ft. Cat Power & Mike D. (2016)

5) You Are In My System (Addictions Mix By Dominique Blanc-Francard) (Cover of The System): Robert Palmer (1992)

6) You'll Never Know: The Comsat Angels ft. Robert Palmer (1986)

 

Six Degrees Of Kevin Bacon (28:20) (KF) (Mega)

Still Watching, Yet Not Wanting

Side 1 of a cassette compilation, compiled 8th August 1998. If Side 2 stretched the C90 capacity to it's limit, Side 1 must surely have snapped the tape...

Your ride begins with Trust by Money Mark, from his 1998 album Push The Button. I knew of Money Mark from his association with Beastie Boys but this record saw him veering into - in my mind, at least - Elton John territory at times. Though thankfully by that I mean Elton's imperial 1970s phase, not the then-contemporary Something About The Way You Look Tonight/Candle in the Wind 1997, which remains the all-time best-selling single in the UK. Money Mark's track is building, rabble-rousing instrumental, much more in keeping with what follows.

 

Barry Adamson versus Skylab, Kid Loco taking on both Pulp and Saint Etienne. I previously described the mixtape as "dirty, downtempo beats" and this was very much the style du jour in the late 1990s.  

 

Theo Keating continues to release music as Fake Blood but when I recorded this cassette, he'd released a single called Ooh La La as The Wiseguys. It entered - and peaked - the UK chart at #55. The song's subsequent use in a Budweiser commercial saw it released a year later in June 1999, where it did rather better, entering at #2 and spending 5 weeks in the Top 30. His remix of Desire by Mulu is really good but had little positive impact on it's own chart placing, managing just 1 week at #84 in November 1997. 

 

My introduction to Trembling Blue Stars came by my jangly indie music-loving girlfriend, who was a big fan of The Field Mice and followed Bobby Wratten's subsequent band. I'm very glad she did. I'm only familiar with Trembling Blue Stars' two albums from the 1990s (there were two more before they disbanded in 2010) and they're both things of understated beauty. The Rainbow was released as a single and really shines in it's longer (album) version.

 

A small confession #1. The original cassette featured an alternative mix of A Little Soul by Pulp, from the CD single. I haven't unearthed and uploaded the shiny disc, so swapped it out for the Kid Loco. It's to blame for the ridiculous running time though I think the segue into Desire by Mulu works better than the original sequence.

 

A small confession #2. This is the second appearance of The Box (Part Four) by Orbital, following a previous appearance in my Boxing Day selection in December 2021. However, as the link for that one is long dead, I'm glad to represent the song here.

Also making a second appearance on this mixtape is Justin Warfield. On Side 1, he's hiding in plain sight as One Inch Punch; here, he's a guest of Cornershop. 

Moby ups the ante with a remix of Honey, his 'comeback' single in 1998 following his thrash metal phase. I've not counted, but I'm assuming the 118 in the mix title refers to the beats per minute. Try making a cup of tea whilst dancing to this one and not making a complete mess. Maybe that's not what Moby intended.

Bringing things to a close is Leila with a track from her astonishing debut Like Weather. It's typical of the album as a whole: beautiful, simple yet stirring chords and synth washes with moments that push the needle way into the red, just in case you were getting complacent.

I'll sign off with an apology to Walter at the excellent A Few Good Times In My Life blog. He left some very kind comments on my original post in April 2022, to which I replied, "I'll try not to leave it too long before posting Side One...!" I think at a little over ten months later, it's fair to say I tried and failed. Sorry, Walter, I hope it was worth the wait...

 

1) Trust: Money Mark (1998)

2) What It Means (Skylab A Smokin' Japanese We're Chicken In Moss Side Mix): Barry Adamson (1998)

3) A Little Soul (Lafayette Velvet Revisited Mix By Kid Loco): Pulp (1998)

4) Desire (Wiseguys Remix By DJ Touché aka Theo Keating): Mulu (1997)

5) 4.35 In The Morning (Talkin' Blues Mix By Kid Loco): Saint Etienne (1998)

6) The Rainbow (Long Version): Trembling Blue Stars (1998)

7) The Box (Part Four) (Vocal Reprise): Orbital ft. Grant Fulton & Alison Goldfrapp (1996)

8) Candyman: Cornershop ft. Justin Warfield (1997)

9) Honey (118 Mix): Moby (1998)

10) Piano-String: Leila (1998)

 

Side One (47:37) (Box) (Mega)

Side Two here

In A Season Of Light We Can See Forever

Billy MacKenzie introduces today's long song selection, down on the tempo, up on the electronic emotional dial. 

 

Recorded and released with Loom in 1996, the opening song actually dates back to the aborted Associates reunion with Alan Rankine in 1993, the song initially demo'd as Edge Of The World and appearing on the Double Hipness compilation in 2000. Billy would revisit the song several times, with versions titled Anacostia Bay or At The Edge Of The World appearing on various posthumous solo compilations, including last year's essential Satellite Life: Recordings 1994-1996

 

Despite the mix title, this is the only version of Eagle to appear on Banco De Gaia's 1995 Last Train To Lhasa, which is still a satisfying, immersive ambient experience, nearly three decades on. 

 

Blue Pearl were good but never quite as good as I wished/hoped they would be. Youth aka Martin Glover at the controls and Durga McBroom's vocals which, to be honest, were an acquired taste. However, the trio of remixes by The Orb on the Mother Dawn 12" single are pretty great; this is the first, clocking in at 12 minutes and 45 seconds and still not the longest of the three!

 

Today's loose theme easily presented an excuse to post yet another version/remix of Smokebelch by The Sabres Of Paradise. Is there a bad version of this song? I've yet to hear one.

 

As a coda to this selection, a brief burst from Justin Warfield, vocal free and hinting at another party about to kick off next door. 

 

Five songs, fifty minutes, play through headphones for the maximum experience.  

1) Anacostia Bay (At The Edge Of The World) (Original Version): Loom ft. Billy MacKenzie (1996)

2) Eagle (Small Steppa Mix): Banco De Gaia (1995)

3) Mother Dawn (Buckateer Mix 1 By The Orb): Blue Pearl (1992)

4) Smokebelch II (Exit) (Remix By Andrew Weatherall, Jagz Kooner & Gary Burns): The Sabres Of Paradise (1993)

5) Tequila Flats (Ghosts Of Laurel Canyon): Justin Warfield (1994)

 

In A Season Of Light We Can See Forever (50:00) (Box) (Mega)

Preacher Beats

Today's selection is a David Holmes mix CD that I did for my friend Dave way back in March 2005. Dave and I met in 1998 when I joined the careers service in Bristol; he was one of the ICT team. We immediately bonded over a shared love of music, clubbing and gigs and over the years swapped a ton of mix CDs and DIY rips. David Holmes was a particular favourite, although in hindsight gifting Dave with 5 different homemade CD-Rs might have been a little excessive...

This is the third in the series, mostly collating Holmes' remixes of other artists from the years 1994 to 1999, and I love it. It's a good example of how exciting David Holmes was back then and why he's still up there today, creating music and DJ sets that make you pause and wonder at the brilliance of it all. I saw him perform live several times in the 1990s and 2000s, including a gig by The Free Association which I wrote about in a previous post. David Holmes' latest single, Hope Is The Last Thing To Die, is one of my personal musical highlights of 2021.

The other thing that Dave and I have in common is the same birthday, today. Dave sadly succumbed to cancer in 2009 and I think of him and miss him a lot. We knew each other for a little over 10 years and I will be forever grateful for that. Every birthday, I raise a drink to him and listen to music, some which came out after he passed, but which I know would make him smile and move. This one's for you (again), Dave.

1) Talk About The Blues (For The Saints And Sinners Remix By David Holmes): The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion (1999)

2) Wish You Were Here... (David Holmes Vocal): The Aloof (1996)

3) Blow The Whole Joint Up (Let's Slash The Beats Mix By David Holmes): Monkey Mafia (1995)

4) Smoked Oak: David Holmes (1995)

5) Die Laughing (David Holmes Mix 1 By David Holmes, Jagz Kooner & Gary Burns): Therapy? (1994)

6) Failure (David Holmes Remix): Skinny (1998)

7) Hoops (David Holmes Mix): Ruby (1996)

8) I Thought I Caught (David Holmes Remix): Delakota (1998)

9) Live From The Opium Den (David Holmes Main Mix By David Holmes, Jagz Kooner & Gary Burns): Justin Warfield (1994)

10) This Is Fascism (Experimental Plastic Racism) (Remix By David Holmes) (Cover of Consolidated): New Fast Automatic Daffodils (1996)

11) The Holiday Girl (Don't Die Just Yet) (Remixed By Arab Strap): David Holmes (1997)

Preacher Beats (1:19:18)

What’s Ya Flava, Flavor Flav?!

Mix CD from April 2003, compiled for my friend Paul. A hip-hop/rap/dancefloor sample-heavy mish-mash.

1) American Household (Front Hug Mix By Her Space Holiday): Logic (2001)

2) 1,2 Mic Check: Smith & Mighty ft. Kelz (2002)

3) Television, The Drug Of The Nation (Ultimatum Remix By The Stereo MC's): The Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy (1991)

4) Never Again (Extended Mix): JC-001 (1993)

5) The Worst MC: Gonzales (2000)

6) Killer Inside Me (Killer Long Version): MC 900 Ft. Jesus (1991)

7) Pick It Up Y'all (Dust Brothers Vocal Mix By The Chemical Brothers): Justin Warfield (1994)

8) Concrete Schoolyard (Album Version): Jurassic 5 (1998)

9) Mr. Wendal (Perfecto Mix By Paul Oakenfold & Steve Osborne): Arrested Development (1992)

10) Stoned Island Estate (Les Rythmes Digitales Remix By Stuart Price): Glamorous Hooligan (1998)

11) What Time Is Love? (Live At Trancentral) (12" Version): The KLF ft. MC Bello & The Children Of The Revolution (1990)

12) World Tour Sessions (Album Version): Public Enemy ft. Kyle Jason (1999)

13) Bashment Boogie (Shadowless Tomz Remix): Roots Manuva (2002)

14) Bug Powder Dust (Radio Mix): Bomb The Bass ft. Justin Warfield (1994)

15) New New York: Tes (2003)

16) Bonita Applebum (12" Why? Edit By CJ Mackintosh): A Tribe Called Quest (1990)

What’s Ya Flava, Flavor Flav?! (1:20:34)
 

Ain't Hip Hop To Be A Hippie

Happy hip hop Monday, with just over half an hour of beats and rhymes to shake off the weekend.

 

1) Volcano (Four Tet Remix): Anti-Pop Consortium (2009)

2) Hazy Shade Of Criminal: Public Enemy (1992)

3) Ain't Hip To Be Labelled A Hippie (Single Version): De La Soul (1989)

4) Bucky Done Gun (Album Version): M.I.A. (2005)

5) Bad Boy (The Real Heat Remix): Young Fathers (2014)

6) Straight Outta Compton (Album Version): N.W.A. (1988)

7) Metaphysics: One Inch Punch (1996)

8) Don't Play No Game That I Can't Win (Radio Edit): Beastie Boys ft. Santigold (2011)

9) Pro Nails (SMD Minimal Remix By Simian Mobile Disco) (Edit): Kid Sister (2008)

10) Gravel Pit (Radio Version): Wu-Tang Clan ft. Paulisa Moorman (2000)

 

Ain't Hip Hop To Be A Hippie (35:53)