A Series Of Realisations...

...the first of which was that all of the music on today's selection is twenty years old. Gulp.

In 2003, I was married but Lady K had yet to arrive. Mrs. K and I were living in central Bristol. We lived very close to the Hen & Chicken pub, which hosted the fabulous Comedy Box which we went to a lot. It was (and still is) a fantastic place to catch up-and-coming performers as well as well established names who would use the venue for Edinburgh Festival work-in-progress shows. In 2003, we saw Ed Byrne, Tommy Tiernan and Dara Ó Briain, the latter for the second time having first seen him support (and surpass) Emo Phillips.

Musically speaking, 2003 appears to have been a gig-free desert. However, i listened to and discovered a lot in that year as in any other year since the mid-1980s, although there would have been a bit of culling, trading and adjusting my physical vinyl and CD collection. In 2003, there were already boxes in the loft that would involve specific trips to rummage, retrieve and record for mixtapes to support my daily walk to work.

A fair few of the music here can be tracked back to that period, some I acquired much later, but I'm struck by how fresh it all still sounds. Some are sadly no longer with us, some are still actively recording, performing and arguably producing some of the finest music of their career, all gave me a warm, fuzzy feeling inside after listening to them again.

The final realisation (more a reminder, really) came whilst putting this post together. The closing track - and inspiration for today's title - is California Sunshine by Abakus aka Russ Davies, son of Dave Davies and nephew of Ray Davies of The Kinks. This is an earlier/original version of a track that subsequently appeared on his debut album That Much Closer To The Sun in 2004. Beautiful.

 

1) Good Luck (Tim Deluxe Dub) (Remix By Timothy Liken): Basement Jaxx ft. Lisa Kekaula (2003)

2) Sister Saviour (DFA Dub) (Remix By James Murphy & Tim Goldsworthy): The Rapture (2003)

3) Nebulus (Vox): Fluke (2003)

4) Microtronics Five: Broadcast (2003)

5) Blue Room (CocoDaBank Remix By Chris Coco & Rob Da Bank): The Orb ft. Jah Wobble (2003) 

6) The Conductor (Remix By Thin White Duke aka Stuart Price): The Faint (2003)

7) Familiar Feeling (Martin Buttrich Remix Edit): Moloko (2003)

8) Still My World: Andrew Weatherall & Keith Tenniswood (2003)

9) Soul Shakedown Party (Gaudi Dub Remix By Daniele Gaudi): Bob Marley & The Wailers (2003)

10) California Sunshine (Original Version): Abakus ft. Ranajit Sengupta (2003) 

 

2003: Blue Room (promo 12"): 5

2003: Danse Macabre Remixes: 6

2003: Familiar Feeling EP: 7

2003: Good Luck EP: 1

2003: Microtronics Volume 01: 4

2003: Sister Saviour EP: 2

2003: Still My World (Japanese promo CD): 8

2003: Switch EP: 3 

2003: Youth In Dub: Orchestra Mystique: 10

2020: Gaudi: Remixes 1995-2020 (25 Years Special Edition): 9 

 

A Series Of Realisations... (54:48) (Box) (Mega)

Been Tryin' Hard Not To Get Into Trouble

Listening to 4 Hero's remix of Nuyorican Soul sidestepped me into Photek's remix of 4 Hero and so to today's selection. Rupert Parkes began releasing music under numerous aliases in the early 1990s, Photek emerging in 1994 and being the most enduring of these, still in use today. Part of the hideously named genre, intelligent drum and bass, like his contemporaries Roni Size, LTJ Bukem and Goldie, what really appealed to me was the complex rhythms and jazz inflections. As a nod to the latter, a track on Photek's debut album, KJZ, was an acronym for Kirk's Jazz. By the start of the 21st Century, Photek's sound had taken a turn into house and techno, though as this selection highlights, there is an identity and character linking all of Photek's music. I've lost track in the last few years, and I have read that Parkes has subsequently produced music for films, TV and games, his last album release being the soundtrack to EA Games' Need For Speed in 2016.

 

For this selection, I've focused solely on Photek's remixes for other artists. It's great to listen to these in one go, personal favourites being Loose by Therapy?, Destiny by Zero 7, I Miss You by Björk and the one that started this all, Star Chasers by 4 Hero. The remix of Paul Simon was a welcome return in 2018 and one of the few redeeming tracks on the otherwise questionable Graceland: The Remixes album. I hadn't heard Photek's remix of The Faint in 5 years and it struck how well it would sit in a mixtape next to songs from John Grant's latest album, Boy From Michigan, particularly The Rusty Bull or Your Portfolio. And how else to end but with Single by Everything But The Girl? The original version is sublime; Photek's remix provides a similar shiver down the spine. Twenty five years old and still sounding like it could be out right now.

1) The Lonely Night (Photek Remix): Moby ft. Mark Lanegan & Mindy Jones (2013)

2) Destiny (Photek Remix): Zero 7 ft. Sia & Sophie Barker (2001)

3) Alien (Photek Remix): Lamb (1999)

4) Total Job (Remixed By Photek): The Faint (2003)

5) Loose (Photek Remix): Therapy? (1995)

6) Ride (Photek B21 Edit): Lana Del Rey (2012)

7) Lie Down In Darkness (Photek Remix): Moby (2011)

8) All Around The World Or The Myth Of Fingerprints (Photek Remix): Paul Simon (2018)

9) I Miss You (Photek Mix): Björk (1996)

10) Star Chasers (Photek Remix): 4 Hero (1998)

11) Single (Photek Remix): Everything But The Girl (1996)

Been Tryin' Hard Not To Get Into Trouble (57:51)