Worlds Without Words

An hour of instrumental music by David Bowie to massage your mind. 

There's at least one commercially released compilation of Bowie instrumentals, and probably dozens of bootlegs out there, so I've tried to avoid creating a selection that just feels like a retread of previous efforts.

Low (perhaps inevitably) fares best, with three songs; everything else ("Heroes" included), gets just the one. 

I've not been purist about it, so there are also several tracks that are an instrumental version, remix or re-edit of an original vocal song.

And whilst there are a few mood pieces, there are also a fair few uptempo numbers, to provide light and shade.

Sometimes, the music says all that needs to be said.
 

1) A New Career In A New Town (Album Version By David Bowie & Tony Visconti) (1977)

2) Little Wonder (Junior's Club Instrumental) (Remix By Junior Vasquez) (1997)

3) Plan (Album Version By David Bowie & Tony Visconti) (2013)

4) When The Wind Blows (Instrumental) (Remix By David Bowie & David Richards) (1986)

5) Moss Garden (Album Version By David Bowie & Tony Visconti) (1977)

6) Sound And Vision (808 'Lectric Blue Remix Instrumental) (Remix By 808 State) (1991)

7) Young Americans (Dublin Bus Disco Instrumental Edit) (2010)

8) Crystal Japan (Single Version By David Bowie & Tony Visconti) (1980)

9) Speed Of Life (Album Version By David Bowie & Tony Visconti) (1977)

10) Hallo Spaceboy (Instrumental) (Remix By Dave Ball & Ingo Vauk) (1996)

11) Brilliant Adventure (Album Version By David Bowie, Reeves Gabrels & Mark Plati) (1999)

12) Art Decade (Album Version By David Bowie & Tony Visconti) (1977)

13) Pallas Athena (Gone Midnight Mix By Meat Beat Manifesto / Jack Dangers) (1993)

14) The Mysteries (Album Version By David Bowie & David Richards) (1993)

1977: "Heroes": 5

1977: Low: 1, 9, 12

1980: Crystal Japan EP (Japan-only 7"): 8

1986: When The Wind Blows EP: 4

1991: Sound And Vision Remix (David Bowie vs 808 State) EP: 6

1993: Pallas Athena EP: 13

1993: The Buddha Of Suburbia OST: 14

1996: Hallo Spaceboy EP: 10

1997: Little Wonder EP: 2

1999: Hours...: 11

2010: Young Americans EP (bootleg MP3): 7

2013: The Next Day Extra (ltd 2x CD + DVD): 3

Worlds Without Words (1:00:32) (KF) (Mega)

If all that has left you wanting to hear Bowie's pipes, then I've reposted both sides of my 1999 mixtape here and here.

Citizen Kane

Celebrating Jonathan Saul Kane, on the devastating news yesterday of his death at age 55. 

 

I'll aim to add some comments and notes in the days to come. For now, here's a selection of a dozen remixes from 1988 to 2004, mostly as Depth Charge, which is how I first discovered his music.

Rest easy, J.

Post Script / Sleeve notes, 20th November 2024

The first record I owned with a J. Saul Kane credit was by accident in 1990. I'd bought Nothing To Lose on 12" by S'Express in the reduced crate at a local record shop, with a pile of other records. When I got home, I found that although the sleeve was the standard issue, the vinyl inside was the remix 12". 

 

I loved the original version of Nothing To Lose, but J. Saul Kane and Yashiki Gōta's reworking transformed the song from a rousing club anthem to a melancholy imaginary film soundtrack. With beats. It was great and I held onto it. The version here is an edit featured on the 8th volume of the Deep Heat series, which I guess at the time was the 'dance' equivalent of Now That's What I Call Music. Sonique's vocal remain the anchoring point, but the remix takes it on a wildly different journey.

I became quickly familiar with Depth Charge in the early to mid-1990s, not a great surprise perhaps, given my love of Andrew Weatherall, Jack Dangers and Red Snapper and the many points of reference and crossover between these artists, musically speaking. Perhaps no surprise then to find that J. Saul Kane has remixed songs by all three during the 1990s.

The Depth Charge remix of Tow Truck by The Sabres Of Paradise originally appeared on a 12" double A-side with Chemical Brothers providing the other version. Various other reworkings of music from the album Haunted Dancehall were released on 7" and 10", but I held out for the Versus EP compilation on CD, with gathered them all together and threw in a second Depth Charge remix for good measure. All fantastic.

J also offered up two mixes of Acid Again for Meat Beat Manifesto's 1998 single. I've picked the second one mainly because it's shorter running time meant that the selection as a whole didn't push too far over the hour mark. Mix 1 is equally wonderful, believe me.

J has remixed Red Snapper twice too, though different songs, seven years apart. I was tempted to include 1996's Son Of Mook from the Son Of Mook EP, but ultimately went for Regrettable from 2003's Redone album, one of three early 21st century selections. No regrets here, it means business!

Planet Telex is a beloved Radiohead song in any version, but the Depth Charge remix seems to have appeared as a one-off on the 2CD compilation Altered States as I've never seen any reference to it being released as a promo or official single. A shame, as it deserves better than it's relative scarcity.

Midi Rain completely passed me by at the time in the early 1990s, but I subsequently traced them years later during a hunt for J. Saul Kane/Depth Charge remixes. I discovered that Midi Rain was a project/alias for John Rocca, better known to me in the 1980s as the main man with Freeez, who had a massive hit with I.O.U.

J was clearly a fan, as he provided mixes on all five Midi Rain singles and co-mixed the sole album One in 1994. Lots to choose from then, I've picked the Depth Charge remix of Eyes, Midi Rain's 2nd single in 1991.

I could go on, but it's all in the listening. And these are just a few remixes. There's plenty more to delve into and I've not even touched on J. Saul Kane's own catalogue, not least the phenomenal albums Nine Deadly Venoms (1994) and Lust (1999), the latter so huge that it had to be spread across two separate releases. 

Gone, but J's legacy will remain.

1) Dream On (Octagon Man Mix): Depeche Mode (2001)

2) Acid Again (Depth Charge Mix 2): Meat Beat Manifesto (1998)

3) Nothing To Lose (Remix By J. Saul Kane / Gota) (Edit): S'Express ft. Sonique (1990)

4) Woke Up This Morning (Depth Charge): Alabama 3 (1997)

5) Tow Truck (Depth Charge Mix): The Sabres Of Paradise (1995)

6) Beat Dat (Freestyle Scratch Mix By Tim Simenon & Jonathan Saul Kane): Bomb The Bass (1988)

7) Out-Side (Depth Charge Remix): The Beta Band (2004)

8) Eyes (Depth Charge Mix): Midi Rain (1991)

9) Planet Telex (Depthcharge Remix): Radiohead (1995)

10) Regrettable (Depth Charge Remix): Red Snapper (2003)

11) Knowledge 'n' Numbers (Depth Charge Mix): Screaming Target (1991)

12) Fear (Original Mix With Bats) (Remix By Eon & J. Saul Kane): Eon (1991)

 

1988: Into The Dragon: 6

1990: Deep Heat 8: The Hand Of Fate: 3

1991: Eyes EP: 8 

1991: Fear: The Mindkiller EP: 12

1991: Knowledge 'n' Numbers EP: 11

1995: Versus EP: 5 

1996: Altered States: Distorted Dance & Remix Rock: 9

1997: Woke Up This Morning EP: 4

1998: Acid Again EP: 2

2001: Dream On EP: 1 

2003: Red Snapper Redone: 10

2004: Out-Side EP: 7

 

Citizen Kane (1:02:45) (KF) (Mega)

Subsonic Sarnie

AKA Meat Beat Manifesto's 1996 two-hour magnum opus Subliminal Sandwich, re-sequenced and re-edited for a C60-friendly cassette experience.

The compilation which I recorded on 23rd February 1997 was pretty crude: I loosely drafted two 30-minute 'sides' and. apart from the opening and closing tracks of side two, I'm pretty sure I then hit the 'shuffle' button on my CD player and 'record' on my tape deck. The result was an interesting sequence of music, albeit with jarring jumps from one track to the next.

I wanted to try something different with today's recreation, particularly as the original compilation pretty much only covered the first of the two CD "limited edition double album". I've kept the 18-track and (more or less) hour-long running time; the beginning and ending is also identical. 

This time, however, there's a more balanced mix, with a third of the choices coming from the second, more experimental CD. I've also used Audacity this time - I didn't even have a PC at home in 1997 - to sequence the selection and provide a slightly smoother segue between tracks. You can still spot the joins at times but I'm happy that it's a more complete, immersive experience.

It's also allowed me to listen to the album again with fresh ears. Not one of Jack Dangers' most loved MBM albums, it appears, but I was impressed by it then and am probably more so now, not least because I recognise more of the samples and studio wizardry than I did over a quarter of a century ago. 

Oh, and that's supposed to be a brain on the cassette cover, by the way, a crude rework of the album artwork. I was working in a call centre in 1997 and this reminded me that I designed and drew several C90 sleeves 'on the job'. Sometimes the work was so mind-numbingly awful that this I guess was a mindfulness task before it was labelled as such. I don't miss the job itself at all but I met and worked with some great people and we managed to have a great time, in and out of work. Happy days.

 

1) Future Worlds (Album Version)

2) Sound Innovation

3) Tweekland (ft. Mark Pistel)

4) What's Your Name? (ft. Hell Louise)

5) 1979

6) Asbestos Lead Asbestos (Album Version) (Cover of World Domination Enterprises)

7) Long Periods Of Time (ft. Mike Powell)

8) United Nations (E.T.C.)

9) Set Your Receivers

10) Nuclear Bomb (ft. Daddy Sandy, Papa Levi & Tippa Irie)

11) Teargas

12) Mass Producing Hate

13) The Utterer (ft. Mark Pistel)

14) Assasinator (ft. Daddy Sandy, Papa Levi & Tippa Irie)

15) Plexus

16) Radio Mellotron

17) Cancer

18) We Done

Subsonic Sarnie (1:09:58) (KF) (Mega)

The Vividly Imagined Experience

A belated happy birthday to Jack Dangers aka John Corrigan and mainstay of Meat Beat Manifesto, who turned 58 on 11th January. 

I've been a fan ever since I heard Love Mad, MBM's contribution to the first issue of the Volume book/CD series in 1991, followed shortly by the discovery of Andrew Weatherall's incredible remix of Psyche-Out released the year before.

Since then, I've picked up many MBM/Jack Dangers remixes and the occasional album through the 1990s and early 2000s, losing track as we moved further into the 21st Century.

Today's selection then mainly focuses on the 1990s with a single nudge into the 2000s courtesy of a mega-rare promo 12" (reportedly 25 copies) remix of Freddy Fresh that thankfully turned up on a CD compilation for we Johnny Come Latelys.

Those glancing ahead to the tracklisting below can be reassured that the remix of The Shamen's notorious hit single Ebeneezer Goode has removed any trace of Mr. C's cheesy rap!

1) Euthanasia: Meat Beat Manifesto (1992)

2) Killer Inside Me (Meat Beat Manifestation Version 2): MC 900 Ft. Jesus (1991)

3) The Circular Cosmic Spot: Meat Beat Manifesto ft. Wyndham Lewis (1992)

4) Ebeneezer Goode (MBM Instrumental) (Remix By Meat Beat Manifesto): The Shamen (1992)

5) Party Right (All Terrain Mountain Mix By Jack Dangers): Freddy Fresh (2002)

6) I Am Electro: Meat Beat Manifesto (1997)

7) Pallas Athena (Gone Midnight Mix By Meat Beat Manifesto): David Bowie (1993)

8) Mindstream (Psychedelically Speaking) (Remix By Jack Dangers): Meat Beat Manifesto (1993)

1991: Volume Two

1992: Ebeneezer Goode EP: 4

1992: Edge Of No Control EP: 3

1992: Satyricon: 1

1993: Mindstream EP: 8

1993: Pallas Athena (promo 12"): 7

1997: Radio Babylon EP: 6

2002: Party Right (promo white label 12") / Brooklyn Music Presents Pro.File 1: Meat Beat Manifesto/Jack Dangers Remix Collection: 5

The Vividly Imagined Experience (41:18) (Box) (Mega)