Daylight Saving

Seventy four minutes of Ultramarine aka Ian Cooper and Paul Hammond.

I think the first music I heard of theirs would have been the single Kingdom featuring Robert Wyatt, released in the summer of 1993. It was like nothing else I'd heard: an adaptation of a 19th century song, sung by the man I'd first encountered on Top Of The Pops, performing Shipbuilding, backed by music that was contemporary electronica yet pastoral and folky. I was hooked.

Ian and Paul have been making music together for over four decades now, initially as part of 5-piece A Primary Industry, who released a trio of singles and a sole album in 1986 titled, you guessed it, Ultramarine. Their debut album Folk emerged in 1990, they had a 13-year 'break' between 1998 and 2011, and their most recent release was a remix EP of $10 Heel (featuring Anna Domino) in 2022. 

 

In between, there have been multiple albums, EPs, remixes and collaborations. Far too many to reliably cover in a 12-song selection, but here's my attempt to capture the sunshine.

 

Robert Wyatt collaborated on several songs on 1993 album United Kingdoms. Happy Land featured here in April 2021 and was also released as a single, remixed by Aswad founder member Drummie Zeb as a glorious vocal and dub reggae sunsplash anthem.

Chris Coco remixed Ultramarine on the Nightfall In Sweetleaf EP way back in 1992. Nearly quarter of a century later, Ultramarine repaid the favour with a remix from his album How To Disappear Completely.

Japanese artists (and/or their labels) have a particular fascination with electronic artists reworking their back catalogue: Yellow Magic Orchestra, Fantastic Plastic Machine, Soft Ballet have all got in on the act. Tokyo-based female pop group Nav Katze released two volumes of Never Mind The Distortion in the 1990s, both worth looking up. Ultramarine opened the first of these in 1994 with an excellent remix of Nobody Home.

 

Black Hearted Brother are a super group of sorts, a 4-piece formed around the core of Mark Van Hoen (Locust) and Neil Halstead (Slowdive). There was a sole album - Stars Are Our Home - in 2013 and Got Your Love received the remix treatment from Ultramarine the following year.

Iain Ballamy is a noted composer and saxophonist. In 1996, the compilation Music With No Name Volume One (also highly recommended) included Ultramarine's remix of All Men Amen, the title track of Iain's 1994 album.

I discovered Tranquility Bass aka Michael Kandel via an Astralwerks sampler CD. We All Want To Be Free was remixed from the 1997 album Let The Freak Flag Fly and is the longest track on this selection, nine minutes of blissed out beats and circular vocals. Sadly, Michael passed on 17th May 2015. You can find some of the final Tranquility Bass releases on Bandcamp.

Woo are brothers Clive and Mark Ives who have been making music even longer than Ultramarine. However, their worlds finally converged in 2020, Ultramarine providing a remix of Arc II to close Woo's album Arcturian Corridor.

 

The selection began with a prog legend and so it ends in the same way, with fellow Soft Machine alumni Kevin Ayers, er, covering one of his own songs.

Hymn originally appeared on Kevin's 1973 album Bananamour and Ultramarine recorded their own version, until legal bullshit nearly put paid to the single's release, full stop. Happily, Hymn finally saw the light of day in 1996 with two CD singles packed full of songs and remixes. The 'lead' version and several reworks feature the gorgeous vocals of David McAlmont. However, it could only ever be Kevin's version to bring this selection to a fitting close.

If you like what you hear, you can find many of the more recent Ultramarine releases via the Real Soon label on Bandcamp.

 

1) Happy Land (Remixed By Drummie Zeb): Ultramarine ft. Robert Wyatt (1994)

2) It An Tells Ya (Ultramarine Remix): Chris Coco (2016)

3) Nobody Home (Ultramarine Mix): Nav Katze (1994)

4) Hooter (Album Version): Ultramarine (1993)

5) Got Your Love (Ultramarine Remix): Black Hearted Brother (2014) 

6) British Summertime (Album Version): Ultramarine (1991)

7) All Men Amen (Ultramarine Remix): Iain Ballamy (1996)

8) Citizen: Ultramarine ft. Pooka (1995)

9) $10 Heel: Ultramarine ft. Anna Domino (2019)

10) We All Want To Be Free (Ultramarine Remix): Tranquility Bass (1997)

11) Arc II (Ultramarine Remix): Woo (2020)

12) Hymn (Ultramarine - Kevin Ayers Version): Ultramarine (1996) 

 

1991: Every Man And Woman Is A Star: 6

1993: United Kingdoms: 4

1994: Barefoot EP: 1

1994: Never Mind The Distortion: 3 

1995: Bel Air: 8 

1996: Hymn EP: 12

1996: Music With No Name Volume One: 7 

1997: We All Want To Be Free EP: 10

2014: Got Your Love EP: 5

2016: It An Tells Ya EP: 2 

2019: Signals Into Space: 9

2020: Arcturian Corridor: 11

 

Daylight Saving (1:14:09) (KF) (Mega)

Far Too Much Trouble And Not Enough Time!

Side 1 of a mixtape, originally compiled 8th February 1997 and liberated during lockdown in 2021.

 

As mentioned when I posted Side 2 in July last year, this is possibly the closest I got to a "Now That's What I Call Dance Music" hits compilation, with all of the songs (bar two songs) enjoying success in the UK singles chart.

 

Insomnia by Faithless has troubled the charts multiple times: #27 in December 1995, it's highest placing of #3 in October 1996 and a return at #17 in September 2005. Further remixes and reissues, including a trademark rework by Avicii in 2015, have been less successful commercially speaking, but nothing detracts from the sheer majesty of the song. The album version is essentially a re-edit of the Moody Mix. To get around the cross-fade from the previous track and to align the running time with Side 2's duration, I've spliced the introduction from the single version of the Moody Mix, so you get a slightly extended take on the original mixtape opener.

 

Tori Amos had dabbled with remixes before - I've previously enthused about the epic remix of 1994 single God by The Joy - but it was another radical remix that finally got her to the UK #1 spot in January 1997, this time courtesy of Armand Van Helden. The garage overhaul of Professional Widow actually appeared first as a double A-side with the more characteristic Hey Jupiter, managing a first week peak of #20 in August 1996, before drifting down the charts. However, the growing popularity of the Van Helden remix was enough to convince label EastWest to re-release it in its own right, with additional (good, but not as good) remixes by Mr. Roy. History was made.

Likewise, Common People was the song that broke Pulp, perhaps in more ways than one. Smashing into the singles chart in June 1995, it spent the first 2 weeks at #2 and 10 weeks in the Top 40. Follow up double A-single, Mis-shapes/Sorted For E's & Wizz, achieved a similar first 2 weeks at #2 in October 1995, no doubt bolstered by the controversy surrounding the latter track and "drug wrap instructions" sleeve. By "controversy", I mean the Daily Mirror getting into a ill-informed media frenzy, but that's for another post. This follow up single also included a couple of remixes of Common People for good measure, including the Motiv8 Club Mix featured here. An odd one, in that it didn't seem particularly loved by my indie- or club-centred friends, who preferred the original version if at all. It sounds dated now, but I still like it.

 

Like Going South by The Wolfgang Press on Side 2, Lazarus by The Boo Radleys really should have been their breakthrough hit. Creation obviously believed so too, as they tried twice, first in 1992 and again in June 1994 with a slew of remixes from the likes of Saint Etienne, Secret Knowledge and Augustus Pablo. The record-buying public disagreed: it entered the UK chart at #54 and 3 weeks later dropped out of the Top 100 altogether, never to return. Lazarus is frequently my favourite Boo Radleys song and a key part of the stunning Giant Steps album. I saw them live in Derby around this time and they just couldn't do the song justice. I like all of the remixes, even the Augustus Pablo take. Martin Carr allegedly thought Pablo was taking the piss (& the money) by simply laying some reverb and echo over the original 12" version, but nevertheless it works. Even better is the remix by Ultramarine. I was big fan of theirs and this version did not disappoint. 

Ultramarine also provided an excellent remix of Missing by Everything But The Girl, albeit on the initial "flop" single release in August 1994, which scraped in at #69. Just over a year later, it was a completely different story, as Todd Terry's remix took off and the re-released single got to #3, spending a phenomenal 14 weeks in the Top 10. Great though it is, I prefer the original remixes, especially this one by Ben Watt.

Adored And Explored was the lead single from Marc Almond's 1996 album Fantastic Star. Not one of his better albums, though I've come to appreciate it more in recent years. I tended to buy the singles less for the lead track and more for the generous helpings of B-sides, session versions and remixes. Adored And Explored (#25 in May 1995) remains a Marc Almond highlight, however, and I enjoyed the remixes by Messiah, Beatmasters and X-Press 2. Andy Meecham, fresh from Bizarre Inc and a bright future with Chicken Lips and as The Emperor Machine ahead of him, delivers a brace of excellent remixes. This is my favourite of the two, with a beautiful clash of guitars and beats and an irreverent approach to Marc Almond's vocals, chopping them up and slowing them down. This song also supplies the mixtape's title.

 

Today's photo is another snapshot of my nostalgic wander around Bristol on Tuesday. I used to go to Lakota a lot back in the day, though I pretty sure that I would never have heard any of the songs on this mixtape played there. The club itself had been under threat many times over the years and there was national coverage in April 2020 of plans to close the club and convert it and the surrounding space into offices and flats. As at March 2022, the threatened demolition and further gentrification doesn't appear to have happened, but Lakota itself looks very much dead and gone. As ever, revisiting the past elicits mixed emotions.

1) Insomnia (Moody Mix By Rollo & Sister Bliss) (Album Version w/ Extended Intro): Faithless (1995)

2) Professional Widow (Armand's Star Trunk Funkin' Mix By Armand Van Helden): Tori Amos (1996)

3) Common People (Motiv8 Club Mix By Steve Rodway): Pulp (1995)

4) Lazarus (Ultramarine Mix): The Boo Radleys (1994)

5) Missing (Little Joey Remix By Ben Watt): Everything But The Girl (1994)

6) Adored And Explored (Andy Meecham's Slow Fat Dub): Marc Almond (1995)

Side One (46:32)

Side Two here

Scratch The Surface

I was devastated to read that Richard H. Kirk died yesterday (21st September) at the age of 65. His achievements with Cabaret Voltaire alone secure a place in music history, and his prodigious output as a solo artist, aliases including Sandoz, collaborations such as Sweet Exorcist (with Richard Barratt) and many, many remixes kept him at the cutting edge of electronic music. Richard H. Kirk re-established Cabaret Voltaire as a solo venture in the late Noughties with remix albums/EPs for Kora and The Tivoli and, in 2020, released the first Cabs album in 26 years with Shadow Of Fear. A couple of drone albums and an EP followed this year, proof if needed that Richard H. Kirk was creatively in rude health. I can't express how much his music has meant to me and this hastily compiled selection doesn't even begin to scratch the surface.

 

1) The Arm Of The Lord: Cabaret Voltaire (1985)

2) Diskono (Alternate): Cabaret Voltaire (1982)

3) In Slumber (Richard H. Kirk Mix): Anne Garner (2005)

4) Brain, Whisper, Head, Hate Is Noise (Remix By RHK aka Richard H. Kirk): Buck-Tick (1994)

5) Yashar (John Robie Mix 2): Cabaret Voltaire (1982)

6) Tripping On Your Love (Sweet Exorcist Mix By Richard H. Kirk & Richard Barratt): Bananarama (1991)

7) Shadow Of Funk (Edit): Cabaret Voltaire (2021)

8) Do Right (Album Version): Cabaret Voltaire (1984)

9) Kino 5 (C/V Western Re-Work: 92): Cabaret Voltaire (1992)

10) Geezer (Sweet Exorcist Remix By Richard H. Kirk & Richard Barratt): Ultramarine (1992)

11) Cockpit Country: Sandoz (1998)

12) Baader Meinhof: Cabaret Voltaire (1979)

13) Nag Nag Nag (Single Version): Cabaret Voltaire (1979)

 

Scratch The Surface (1:09:07)

 

Raindrops Keep Falling

Thirteen songs to sail through a soggy Sunday. Select cuts from some of my favourite EPs, albums and remixes from the last couple of years, several purchased on Bandcamp Friday, which will be continuing for the rest of this year. It won't be a great surprise to see Dan Wainwright, Andy Bell/GLOK or Pye Corner Audio here, but there have been a few unexpected 'comebacks' from Ultramarine and D:Ream, which I've really enjoyed.

 

1) I Love You: Dan Wainwright (2021) 

2) Ride Or Die (Single Version): Boys Noize ft. Kelsey Lu & Chilly Gonzales (2021)

3) Parallel 6: Four Tet (2020)

4) Meet Me At Midnight (Dan Wainwright Remix): D:Ream (2021)

5) In My Sleep (DJ Nature Remix By Milo Johnson): Margee (2021)

6) Lagrimas De San Lorenzo (Coyote Remix): Chris Coco & George Solar (2021)

7) That Time Of Night (Single Version): GLOK ft. Shiarra (2021)

8) Memory Of Rave: Pye Corner Audio (2020)

9) Fledgling Sun: The Future Sound Of London (2021)

10) Rickie's Alibi: Andres Y Xavi (2021)

11) The Commune (Pye Corner Audio Remix): Andy Bell (2021)

12) Spark From Flint To Clay: Ultramarine ft. Anna Domino (2019)

13) The County (Revisited By Dylan Henner): Valgeir Sigurðsson (2020)

 

Raindrops Keep Falling (1:16:19)
 

Happy Land

From 1993, Ultramarine with Robert Wyatt on vocals and lyrics adapted from a parody of the popular patriotic Victorian song of the same name.

My favourite version is the remix by Aswad's drummer & founding member Angus Gaye aka Drummie Zeb, with it's vocal and dub halves. You'll find it on the Barefoot EP from 1994 and 2011's expanded digital version of the United Kingdoms albums.

Happy Sunday!

 

Ultramarine - Happy Land (promo video) 

Ultramarine - Happy Land (Remix By Drummie Zeb)