Happening

Strange Things Are Happening, Richard Norris' memoir of a frankly incredible life, dropped through my letterbox last weekend. I ordered it back in October 2023 so to say that I have been eagerly awaiting it's arrival is an understatement. 

I ordered the book via Heavenly so not only is it signed by Richard, there's a bonus CD featuring "Mixes and Collaborations 1988-2023". Of the 14 tracks, half are completely new to me, but when the ones I already own include remixes of Floatation by The Grid, Roscoe by Midlake, Disco/Very by Warpaint and Willow's Song by Katy J Pearson, then it's wonderful to have them all together on one shiny disc.

I've not started reading Strange Things Are Happening yet, as I'm (now hurriedly) trying to finish another book that I'd not long started but I'd still have no hesitation in recommending it. Given the sheer breadth and depth of Richard's contribution to music, which has been ever present for more than two thirds of my life, I am looking forward to experiencing those moments through his eyes, memories and words. 

I've tried a few times before to present Richard's music via a Dubhed selection, whether Beyond The Wizards Sleeve, The Grid or an attempt to encapsulate his wider work. An impossible task really but nature loves a trier so I've had another go.

This time, it's a mammoth 22 tracks, clocking in at exactly one hour and forty five minutes. In respect of sequencing and segueways, it's an absolute mess: if you've come here for amateurish crossfades, jarring edits and incongruous tracklist partners, then you've come to the right place. If I tried this in person in a public place, I'd be out on the pavement, my hard drive bouncing off my skull as the proprietor lobbed it after me.

However, focus past my ham-fisted attempts at mixing and marvel at the ambition and creativity of the artist at the heart of it all. Whether his own compositions, partnerships with Dave Ball, Erol Alkan, Finnur Bjarnason or more recently with Rachel Thomas and Stuart Carter as The Order Of The 12, Richard has the uncanny knack of tapping into something special. This transcends genres, hitting the sweet spot whether aimed at  club, dub or ambient heads, to name but a few.

Many of these are significantly edited - the original version of Ultramarine is twenty minutes long - but all are worth tracking down in digital or physical formats. A good starting point is Richard's Bandcamp page. I've been a subscriber for over a year and it's worth every penny.

 

1) Couldn't Do (The Time & Space Machine Remix By Richard Norris): Cheval Sombre (2014) 

2) Promises (Beyond The Wizard's Sleeve Reanimation By Richard Norris & Erol Alkan): Badly Drawn Boy (2007) 

3) Winter In June: Beyond The Wizards Sleeve ft. Percy Thrower (2007)

4) 10 Killer Hurtz More (Remix By Little Annie, Richard Norris & Skip McDonald): Little Annie (1994)

5) Texas Cowboys (Low Plains Prankster Mix By Justin Robertson): The Grid (1993)

6) Ultramarine (Edit): Richard Norris (2023)

7) April (Edit): Richard Norris (2021)

8) Ghost Dance: Richard Norris (2021)

9) This Too Shall Pass Away (Album Version By The Grid): World Of Twist (1991)

10) Morning Velvet Sky (Richard Norris Dub): Gulp (2018)

11) Meet Every Situation Head On (DJ Jackmaster Tab Fitness Mix By Richard Norris): M.E.S.H. (1988)

12) I Love I Hate (Lakeside Mix By The Grid): Neil Arthur (1994)

13) Pagan Dub (Edit): Richard Norris (2024)

14) Inner Communication Dub (Edit): Richard Norris (2024)

15) Find Yourself (Richard Norris Remix): Jacco Gardner (2015)

16) Lundi Bleu (The Grid 'Praise The Lord' Mix By Dave Ball & Richard Norris) (Cover of 'Blue Monday' by New Order): The Times (1992)

17) House Of Love (Single Version By The Grid): Billie Ray Martin (1993)

18) Abide With Me (Holy Dub - Remix By The Grid) (Cover of traditional song): Vic Reeves (1991)

19) Finally (The Time & Space Machine Re-Edit By Richard Norris) (Cover of Ce Ce Peniston): Cherry Ghost (2010) 

20) Somewhere Nearly Gone: The Order Of The 12 (2022)

21) Before Tomorrow (Richard Norris' Avalon Remix): Hollow Hand ft. Tim Smith (2023)

22) Hotel Du Lac 66º N2 (Edit): The Long Now (2018)

 

1988: Meet Every Situation Head On EP: 11 

1991: Abide With Me EP: 18

1991: Quality Street: 9 

1992: Lundi Bleu EP: 16

1993: 4 Ambient Tales EP: 17

1993: Texas Cowboys EP: 5 

1994: I Love I Hate EP: 12

1994: In Dread With Little Annie EP: 4

2007: Promises EP: 2

2007: West EP: 3 

2010: We Sleep On Stones EP: 19

2014: Couldn't Do EP: 1

2015: Find Yourself EP: 15

2018: Morning Velvet Sky EP: 10 

2018: Restoration EP: 22

2021: Music For Healing: January-December: 7

2021: Music For Soundtracks, Vol. 1: 8 

2022: Lore Of The Land: 20

2023: Before Tomorrow EP: 21

2023: Music For Healing: Colours: 6 

2024: Oracle Sound Volume Two: 13

2024: Oracle Sound Volume 3: Dub In Progress: 14

 

Happening (1:45:00) (KF) (Mega)

For your further listening pleasure:

Beyond The Wizards Sleeve: How Do We Start? (23rd July 2021)

The Grid: Think For Yourself And Question Authority (3rd December 2022)

Richard Norris: Clarity (6th August 2023)

Birthday Dub

Another belated happy birthday, this time to Richard Norris, who celebrated his 58th on 23rd June by recording and releasing a new track called Birthday Dub. It's a monster and available as a name your price digital download on Bandcamp.

 

 

I'm a few months into my first year as a subscriber via Bandcamp. It's been an immersive experience. Not only do I get new music (like Birthday Dub) on release, there are subscriber-only releases (the similarly bass-heavy album Oracle Sound Volume One, for example) and access to Richard's full digital discography. And there's a lot, including his Music For Healing series and the rather wonderful Lore Of The Land by The Order Of The 12. 

 

The original 'Music For Healing' version of June is twenty minutes long. Here's the edited version to give you a flavour.

Richard is also a prolific remixer, not just as The Grid (with Dave Ball) and Beyond The Wizard's Sleeve (with Erol Alkan) but hundreds (thousands?) under his own name. This is a particularly fine example from last year, a transformative remix of Sundowning by Mark Peters featuring Dot Allison.

 

Here's another, Richard's 2021 remix of Machine Girl, a track originally from Perry Farrell's 2019 album Kind Heaven and co-starring his wife Etty Lau Farrell.

 

Speaking of remixes by The Grid, I've always had a soft spot for their rework of Am I Right? a 1992 hit for Erasure. The Unofficial Erasure Club clearly agreed and compiled a video montage for the remix in 2015.

As for The Grid themselves, Floatation and Swamp Thing are perhaps the defining tracks, but I loved pretty much everything they did. Another early favourite was the single A Beat Called Love, song and video featuring the rather wonderful Sacha Souter.

 

If Sacha looks familiar it's because she adorned the cover of Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs top notch compilation from last year, Fell From The Sun: Downtempo And After Hours 1990-91, featuring the original album version of Floatation which (if memory serves me correctly) is ironically one of the few versions not to include Sacha's sublime vocals!

 

I was tempted to cap this off by reposting a link to a Richard Norris-inspired Dubhed selection from 2021, but I'm going to hold fire on that for now as I have a few ideas for another post. In the meantime, many happy returns Richard and thanks for all the music, past, present and future.