L'art De La Discothèque, Volume 1

A 90 minute master class in the art of the remix, courtesy of François Kevorkian. 

Monsieur K is now his sixth decade (!) as a remixer, producer and DJ and although his work rate is proportionately smaller than in preceding years, if you collected his credited work alone, you would have a pretty large music collection.

It would harder to list the artists that François hasn't worked with, than the other way around and, particularly in the 1980s, it seemed that no 12" single was complete without a Kevorkian remix.

So, where to start with a Dubhed selection? I've picked a dozen remixes, spanning 1982 to 2021, taking in Yazoo and Depeche Mode, Arthur Baker and Arthur Russell (as Dinosaur L), GusGus and Underworld, The Cure and Echo & The Bunnymen, Kraftwerk and Coldplay, Perry Farrell and Jimmy Cliff.

As eclectic as it sounds, what binds the music together is the man at the controls, a master at work, quality running through like writing in a stick of rock.

And yes, "Volume 1"...

1) Jumbo (Rob Rives & François Kevorkian Main Dish): Underworld (1999)

2) Lips Like Sugar (12" Mix By François Kevorkian & Michael Hutchinson): Echo & The Bunnymen (1987)

3) Enjoy The Silence (Bass Line) (Remix By François Kevorkian): Depeche Mode (1990)

4) On A Mission (FK 12" Mix By François Kevorkian): Arthur Baker & Rockers Revenge (2018)

5) Hot Hot Hot!!! (Extended Remix By François Kevorkian & Ron St. Germain): The Cure (1988)

6) Tour De France (Remix By François Kevorkian): Kraftwerk (1983)

7) #5 Go Bang! (Mixed By François Kevorkian): Dinosaur L (1982)

8) Roots Radical (12" Version By François Kevorkian): Jimmy Cliff (1983)

9) Very Important People (François K Vocal Mix By François Kevorkian & Rob Rives) (Full Length): GusGus (1999)

10) Talk (François Kevorkian Remix): Coldplay (2006)

11) The Solutionists (François K Brave Vocal Mix By François Kevorkian): Perry Farrell's Satellite Party (2021)

12) Situation (U.S. 12" Mix By François Kevorkian): Yazoo (1982)

L'art De La Discothèque, Volume 1 (1:30:06) (GD) (M)

Ride The Train

Spring time is clearly a time to be inspired by Underworld's music, as this is the third Dubhed selection that I've posted between March and May.

Having posted about their spectacular remixes of Shakespears Sister a couple of days ago, I've been digging around and dusted off seven of their remixes, for themselves and others, circa 1992 to 1995.

No request stops on this one, you're in for a long journey, 90 minutes of Karl, Rick and Darren in fine form. The opening track is the longest, at nearly 18 minutes, the closer is the shortest at 10 minutes and 1 second. And take it from me, not a second wasted along the way.

Enjoy the ride!

1) Dark & Long (Spoon Deep): Underworld (1994)

2) Passion (D. Emerson Mix): Gat Decor (1992)

3) Cowgirl (Alt Cowgirl C69 Mix From A1564) (Unreleased Demo): Underworld (1993)

4) Harlequin - The Beauty And The Beast (Underworld Remix): Sven Väth (1994)

5) Cool Kids Of Death (Underworld Mix By Rick Smith) (Full Length): Saint Etienne (1995)

6) Black Sky (Dub Extravaganza Part Two): Shakespears Sister (1992)

7) Dirty Guitar (Remix By Underworld): Lemon Interupt (1992)

Ride The Train (1:29:30) (KF) (Mega)

And, for the return journey:

Who Fans The Flames? (April 2022)

Darren In The Underworld (March 2023)

Tune Into The Light

Shakespears Sister's (and/or London Records) contribution to Record Store Day 2025 was a re-release of 1992 song Black Sky on glow in the dark 12" vinyl.

Arguably the real attraction, unless you have a particular fetish for glow in the dark vinyl, was the inclusion of the contemporary Dub Extravaganza remixes by Darren Emerson and Rick Smith aka two thirds of Underworld, plus a pair of re-edits by Leo Zero.

A visualiser rather than a video has been posted for the four-minute edit of the latter

as well as the Extended Re-Edit, running at just under nine minutes.

The Underworld remixes of Black Sky were originally available on promo 12" single only, which frankly I couldn't get a sniff of back in 1992. Both got a commercial release, but as bonus tracks on two separate single releases.

The vocal-heavy Dub Extravaganza Part 1 was renamed The Green Eyed Dub and featured on the UK CD single of Goodbye Cruel World, clocking in just shy of six minutes. All ten and a half minutes of Dub Extravaganza Part 2 was one of three remixes bolstering the CD package of follow up single Hello (Turn Your Radio On). 

Both are deserving of the label 'epic' and Leo Zero also does a fine job with the updated re-edits.

 

In 2022, to mark the 30th anniversary of second album Hormonally Yours, Shakespears Sister released remastered and expanded digital versions of Stay, I Don't Care, Goodbye Cruel World, Hello (Turn Your Radio On) and Black Sky.

Black Sky offers up 10 versions for a cent under 5 Euro, including both of the Underworld remixes, five further remixes, dubs and edits by Marcella Levy and Siobhan Fahey with Alan Moulder, as well as the original album version.

There's also a live version, recorded at The Town & Country Club in London, 24th March 1992, featured on the mammoth vinyl, CD and DVD box set Our History and released on my 50th birthday in 2020. I didn't ask for it and I didn't get it and at £200+ for a pre-loved copy on Discogs, it's unlikely I ever will.

The version heading up this post is from Shakespears Sister's concert at Brighton Dome on 20th November 2019 and ample evidence of what a formidable pairing Marcy and Siobahn are, then and now.

Decadance IV: 1996

Side 1 of my imaginary mixtape meander through the Nineties. 

1996 saw David Baddiel, Frank Skinner and the Lightning Seeds top the UK charts with Three Lions, proclaiming "Football's Coming Home". It wasn't the last time they'd hit #1 with the song or prove that the proclamation was a tad on the optimistic side.

At least Bristol could properly lay claim to the phrase. After a decade in the wilderness (well, Twerton near Bath), Bristol Rovers were indeed coming home. Their original home had been turned into a whacking great Ikea and 1996 saw them find a new, permanent home at the Memorial Stadium in the north of the city. And that's where they've been ever since.

I was a bit more transient, moving from one rented dive to another close to the city centre, before taking the plunge and moving for the first time just south of the river. It was a big deal, not least because I was moving from a squalid bedsit (though nothing to match Ernie Goggins or C) to a terraced house. It was also the first time that I co-habited with a girlfriend. Both of these continued to the end of the decade, but not much beyond, but that's a whole other story.

Everything was great, apart from the parking. Skill at parallel parking in the tightest of spots was a must, with a continuous row of static vehicles on each side of the not-very-wide road. Bin day was a squeaky bum moment, as the rubbish lorry made it's way slowly down the middle, invariably smacking off a few wing mirrors or scratching a few doors along the way. 

I eventually sold the car. It was largely redundant anyway: I worked in the city centre, which was at most a twenty minute walk; there were loads of shops and decent pubs within an even shorter walk and Temple Meads train station was also pretty much on my doorstep, enabling those wider excursions and adventures.

Gig-wise, a mere handful for me, and no Julian Cope, who played Reading Festival and a few other shows, but nothing in Bristol. Instead, I got to see Stereolab and Tortoise play a double headliner at the Bierkeller. I also went to the Bristol Community Festival at Ashton Court, where Renegade Soundwave stole the show, yet sadly didn't make the cut for the final dozen here.

The only other three gigs that I remember/retained tickets for were all at The Fleece (or Fleece & Firkin, as it was known then) and my first time seeing all three. Cardiacs were every bit as brilliant and bonkers as I thought they would be, better in fact. 

And 1996 was the year that my jangly-music loving girlfriend managed what friends (and John Peel) had failed to do, that is, convince me that The Wedding Present were actually a really, really good band. Of course, many of you will point out - and reasonably - that 1996 wasn't necessarily peak period Weddoes, but I was introduced to the full catalogue in one go and there's no denying that David and the band put on a bloody good show that night.

Moby also played at The Fleece & Firkin, and I was there. If at a glance this seems like an odd venue for the techno baldie then I must point out that 1996 was Moby's "hair metal" phase, albeit without the hair. After the success of Everything Is Wrong, Moby followed up with Animal Rights, ditching beats for thrash dirges, which pretty much everyone hated and nobody bought. Except me, and a few hundred people squashed into the sweaty confines of The Fleece. I'll come back to it another time but personally I had a great time.

Moby's included in today's selection with his #73 smash Come On Baby. The CD single came as a limited edition double pack in a rubberised gatefold sleeve, and a 'Death Metal' version of Whip It by Devo. I'm assuming Mute and Moby didn't make their money back on this one, but it's a lovely product to own. Moby covered the James Bond theme the following year and the hits resumed.

Another act blending Bond and beats, albeit a year before and with even greater success, was The Prodigy. Not that you'd recognise the jangly-sounding guitar providing the calm-but-sinister interludes as a John Barry sample. Firestarter was a turning point for The Prodigy though personally Breathe - both song and video - ramped things up even further, and deservedly became their second UK #1.

Not just one but two #1s this time, the other being Ready Or Not by Fugees. I'll be honest with you: I couldn't bear their cover of Killing Me Softly in 1996; I don't feel a lot different about it now. In fact, I was largely indifferent to Fugees, collectively or solo. Apart from Ready Or Not, which I love unconditionally. I say unconditionally, as I think it's mostly down to the beats and samples and Lauryn Hill's delivery of the chorus, rather than her at-times excruciating rap. But what a song.

More by accident than design, I seem to have skipped the first half of 1996 entirely, as all twelve songs were hits between July and December. I won't dwell on what may have been so bad about January to June 1996, other than to note that the period started with Earth Song by Michael Jackson at #1 and ended with the aforementioned Three Lions and Killing Me Softly jostling for the top spot. Other chart toppers in between were Babylon Zoo, Mark Morrison and Gina G, so maybe it's best I just give it a wide berth...

I've managed to squeeze in Julian Cope's last year of UK hit singles. Both I Come From Another Planet, Baby and it's follow-up Planetary Sit-In managed a peak of #34 before rapidly disappearing. Parent album Interpreter also managed to scrape the Top 40 (just) at #39. After that, the Arch Drude permanently moved to self-releasing music on his Head Heritage, to a more select (and adoring) audience.

Quite a few songs got more than one crack at the charts. Sneaker Pimps released 6 Underground in September 1996, peaking at #15 a couple of weeks later. The song was re-released the following year and did even better, crashing in at #9 in June 1997. I've decided to stick with their relatively modest first placing in 1996 for the simple reason that it included a rather fine remix by Two Lone Swordsmen aka Andrew Weatherall and Keith Tenniswood, and therefore qualifies for today's MAW.

Born Slippy by Underworld failed to make much of an impression when it was first released as a single in 1995, entering the chart at #52 on 7th May, dropping to #75 the following week and then into seeming obscurity the week after that. And then a little film called Trainspotting came along, and everything changed.

Both the album and the soundtrack became the essential experience of 1996. I'm assuming many rushed out to retrospectively buy and read Irvine Welsh's novel too. The music was fantastic though and Born Slippy re-entered the singles chart at #2 in July and pretty much refused to leave the Top 100 until April the following year. It's still like nothing else at the time, even by Underworld, let alone anyone else.

CJ Bolland also delivered a surprise hit with Sugar Is Sweeter. Up to then, an artist that I considered to offer up more serious, 'intelligent' dance music (though I hate that term), the decision to take a different route, employing the sublime vocal talents of Jade 4U aka Nikkie Van Lierop, was inspired.

Another surprise, though only in the sense that I realise with shame that this is their first appearance in this series, is Pet Shop Boys. Ten years on from West End Girls, Neil and Chris proved beyond any doubt that they could deliver songs with the same pop hooks and lyrical bite, that kept in step with shifting musical trends. Single-Bilingual was their third and final single of 1996 and my favourite af an admittedly strong trio.

Baby Bird make their first and only appearance in this series (and the Top 10) with You're Gorgeous, which got all the way to #3 in October 1996. As so many before and after, this was a lovely pop song which, on closer listen, revealed a darker narrative streak running through. Steven Jones' tale of an exchange between the narrator (a model) and their subject (a photographer) gains further meaning if you switch and swap the character's genders. Subversive pop at it's best.

Oh, and a parental advisory for a potty-mouthed song by Super Furry Animals, which was just too good to leave off.

Manic Street Preachers returned with their first album as a 3-piece, following the disappearance of Richey Edwards. It was all captured in the sound and feel of Everything Must Go, melancholy and reflective in places, though Australia was a reminder of their capacity for rousing, energetic romps. The latter got in under the line in December as the fourth single and Top 10 hit of the year.

Rounding off today's selection is a return for Justin Robertson and Roger Lyons aka Lionrock, teaming up with MC Buzz B for Fire Up The Shoesaw. I was pleasantly surprised to find that this got to #22, as it never quite felt that Lionrock releases got the respect and commercial success that I think they should have. Fire Up The Shoesaw is tons of fun, with a superb drum break sample for the bridge, consumate wordplay from Sean Braithwaite and a scuzzy, squally bit of guitar/amp feedback to finish things off.

1) Breathe (Edit): The Prodigy

2) You're Gorgeous (Re-Recorded Version): Baby Bird

3) Born Slippy.Nuxx (Short): Underworld

4) Single-Bilingual (Single Mix): Pet Shop Boys

5) Sugar Is Sweeter (Radio Edit): CJ Bolland ft. Jade 4U

6) 6 Underground (Two Lone Swordsmen Vocal Mix) (Edit By Khayem): Sneaker Pimps

7) Come On Baby (Eskimos & Egypt 7" Mix): Moby

8) The Man Don't Give A Fuck (Single Version): Super Furry Animals

9) I Come From Another Planet, Baby (Album Version): Julian Cope

10) Australia (Single Version): Manic Street Preachers

11) Ready Or Not (Album Version): Fugees

12) Fire Up The Shoesaw (Vocal Edit): Lionrock ft. MC Buzz B

7th July 1996: Born Slippy EP (#2): 3

21st July 1996: Fire Up The Shoesaw EP (#43): 12

21st July 1996: Interpreter (#34): 9

15th September 1996: The Score (#1): 11

29th September 1996: Sugar Is Sweeter EP (#11): 5

6th October 1996: Ugly Beautiful (#3): 2

13th October 1996: 6 Underground EP (#15): 6

10th November 1996: Come On Baby EP (#73): 7

17th November 1996: Breathe EP (#1): 1

17th November 1996: Single-Bilingual EP (#14): 4

8th December 1996: Australia EP (#7): 10

8th December 1996: The Man Don't Give A Fuck EP (#22): 8

Side One (46:19) (GD) (M)

Speeding Train

At the weekend, Underworld shared another song from their current album Strawberry Hotel.

Techno Shinkansen is three and a half minutes of perfection, speeding along like it's namesake and reaching it's final destination far too soon.

Until the inevitable mega (mega) extended version, here's evidence of Underworld's previous form with the train, on this rather fine version of Dark & Long from - can you believe it?  - thirty years ago. 

There's Always Help, If You Know Where To Look

Side 1 of a mixtape, recorded sometime in 1998. 

 

If it's Tuesday, it must be time for trance, with four epic slabs of sonic bliss. I posted side 2 back in February 2022, commenting that I'd discovered the track listing whilst sorting through a box of paperwork, the original C90 long since lost or given away. 

 

Starting things off is one of the best remixes that Underworld ever produced, Sound System by Drum Club stretched out over nearly 12 minutes with vocals from Wonder Schneider dropping in. 

Visions Of Shiva aka Cosmic Baby and Paul Van Dyk up next with a remix of L'Esperanza that ups the ante (and the tempo). The first Sven Väth record that I ever bought, fact fans.

The video for Liquid Cool by Apollo 440 was featured here in May, along with a YouTube posting of the 2CD single release with 9 - count 'em, 9 - mixes. Here's one of 'em, the 14-minute Space Colonization by Rhythm Of Space.

Finally, Suzuki K1 aka Keiichi Suzuki with Satellite Serenad, which I originally bought on CD without hearing a note, as it included a couple of remixes by The Orb which was reason enough to buy back in 1994. This version also came as a pair with - you guessed it - the Sunday Mix, both by Ryoji Oba and Simon Posford. All good, but I don't think I've heard any of Suzuki's music apart from this one song.

 

1) Sound System (Underworld Mix By Darren Emerson & Rick Smith): Drum Club ft. Wonder (1993)

2) L'Esperanza (Hope Will Move Mountains Mix By Visions Of Shiva aka Harald Blüchel & Paul Van Dyk): Sven Väth (1993)

3) Liquid Cool (Space Colonization Remix By Rhythm Of Space aka Steve Musham, Simon Lord & Jonathan Podmore): Apollo 440 (1994)

4) Satellite Serenade (Saturday Mix (With Japanese It's All Right Song) By Oba & Simon Posford): Suzuki K1 (1994)

 

Side Two (45:37) (KF) (Mega)

Side One here

Someone Needs A Shower

Underworld x Kettama kicked off March with Fen Violet, their second collaboration in the past six months. It's a pummeling slab of classic Underworld beats and esoteric lyrics, pierced with precision tooled piano stabs. Currently available in a four-minute full length version and two-minute fifty-two edit, this one's crying out for an eight, nine, twelve-minute and is easy to imagine tearing the place apart in a live setting.

The first fruits of Underworld aka Rick Smith and Karl Hyde and Kettama aka Evan Campbell in the studio emerged in December 2023 with G-Town Euphoria (Luna).

As the sub-title suggests, G-Town Euphoria (Luna) is a reworking of the Underworld track Denver Luna, released a couple of months previously. 

Up to then, I'd never heard of Kettama, who hails from Galway and has gained a formidable reputation via Soundcloud and live DJ sets. I can hear his influence on the Underworld collaborations and there's a compelling energy to the tracks and mixes I've heard so far. Heady stuff.

How Are You Feeling? It's A Beautiful Morning!

Keeping with yesterday's uplifting vibes, today's selection is a clutch of songs (mostly) from the early 1990s, packed into an open top car and taken on a remix road trip. Feel the sunshine.

Any such compilation and Andrew Weatherall is almost certain to be found. Here he, Jagz Kooner and Gary Burns pop up twice as Sabres Of Paradise. First up is their masterful collaboration with One Dove on Transient Truth, seven minutes of sonic sweetness underpinning Dot Allison's voice. 

Secondly, all double bass funk and squelchy synths, is Red Snapper's classic Hot Flush from 1995. The music couldn't be more different from One Dove, yet Andrew, Jagz and Gary lend both an emotional heft that just can't be described in words. Well, not be me, anyway. This track originally featured on the EP of the same name, collected the same year on the Reeled And Skinned compilation which is an essential introduction to Red Snapper.

Either side of these tracks are a couple of groovy numbers. In reverse order, Fortran 5 are rinsed good and proper by Alex Paterson and Kris 'Thrash' Weston of The Orb. I loved the original album version but The Herbal Supper Mix is a feast of heavy bass, SFX and samples ("one spliff a day keeps the evil away") with Shola Phillips' sweet vocals weaving through. 

Fluke serve up Groovy Feeling, the 1993 single offering half a dozen remixes all named after ice cream varieties. The version here retains the vocal licks and bubbling beats that characterise the Fluke sound.

They pop up again later in the selection with a sublime remix of Beautiful Morning by Sensation, one of my favourites of theirs. The original song was a lovely indie-pop number but Fluke transform it into an energising, irresistible uptempo anthem that has me involuntarily shouting "yeah!" along with singer Johnny Male pretty much every time. Which can be embarrassing if I'm wearing headphones in a public space.

Also feeling the groove are Finitribe, who were so impressed with Justin Robertson's remix of their single Ace Love Deuce that it was the definitive version used on 1992 album An Unexpected Groovy Treat. The additional treat is that the album version is a minute or so longer than the one found on the 12" and CD single. If you're a fan of Justin Robertson's work from the early 1990s, you will not be disappointed.

Underworld come in towards the end of this mix and in such style. I can't remember which came first but their remixes of Water From A Vine Leaf (included here) and Human Behaviour by Björk just blew me away when I first heard them. Twelve minutes of beautifully structured electronic music that was built for the dancefloor yet for me has always worked as songs in their own right, away from the club environment. In both cases, the addition of a unique female vocal is that little push over the edge. In this case, it's Beth Orton (though I think I can hear Karl Hyde in there somewhere too, deep in the mix) joining William Orbit on an epic journey.

Sticking with William Orbit and taking a slight step back into the last year of the 1980s with a mix that pointed to the future. Balearic beats before I had a clue what that even was. Les Negresses Vertes were a Parisian band that I'd seen pop up on TV (the last gasps of The Tube, I guess) but I didn't know much about. I got this remix of 1989 single Zobi La Mouche on a secondhand copy of Beat This! a compilation of dance label Rhythm King originally given away as a cover-mounted CD with Sky Magazine in 1990. William Orbit is joined by fellow Torch Song collaborator Rico Conning, all acoustic strums and rousing calls that scream 'party!' I feel like I've glugged a bottle of red wine and jumped up on the table to dance just listening to it...

 

1) Transient Truth (Album Version By One Dove & Sabres Of Paradise): One Dove (1993)

2) Groovy Feeling (Nutty Chip Cornet): Fluke (1993)

3) Hot Flush (Sabres Of Paradise Remix): Red Snapper (1995)

4) Groove (The Herbal Supper Mix By The Orb): Fortran 5 ft. Shola Phillips (1991)

5) Ace Love Deuce (Justin Robertson Mix) (Album Version): Finitribe (1992)

6) Beautiful Morning (Fluke's Magimix): Sensation (1993)

7) Water From A Vine Leaf (Underwater Mix Part 1) (Remix By Underworld): William Orbit ft. Beth Orton (1993)

8) Zobi La Mouche (The Fly) (Club Mix By William Orbit & Rico Conning): Les Negresses Vertes (1989)

 

1989: Zobi La Mouche EP: 8

1991: Groove EP: 4

1992: An Unexpected Groovy Treat: 5 

1993: Beautiful Morning EP / Welcome To The Future²: 6

1993: Groovy Feeling EP: 2

1993: Morning Dove White: 1 

1993: Water From A Vine Leaf EP: 7

1995: Hot Flush EP / Reeled And Skinned: 3

How Are You Feeling? It's A Beautiful Morning! (57:27) (KF) (Mega)

Dripping Onto My Tongue

Side 1 of a mixtape compiled 11th January 2003. Back to the old school - well, early 1990s at least - for today's selection of end-of-week bangers.

Bolting from the gate is Apollo 440 with Liquid Cool, which came with a plethora of mixes, including The Future Sound Of London and Jah Wobble and several from French duo Deep Forest. I wasn't a huge fan of the latter's music at the time but they turned out some pretty satisfying if safe remixes of this standout from the Millennium Fever album.

Dutch DJ/producer Patrick Prins was the brains behind Subliminal Cuts, originally releasing Le Voie Le Soleil in 1994. It was re-released in 1996 with further remixes, including this one by obvious fans of The Simpsons, Itchy & Scratchy. A duo of Seb Fontaine and Julian Peake, the latter had further chart success as Jules Vern, one half of Stretch & Vern.

 

Volcano were a trio of Norwegian DJs/producers, Ole Mjøs, Bjørn Torske and Rune Lindbæk, who teamed up with Sam Cartwright for a few singles on the Deconstruction label. Only Bjørn Torske and Rune Lindbæk are familiar to me from their later output. If you're into re-edits of 1980s classics, Rune Lindbæk offered up a 50-track smorgasbord including Thomas Dolby, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Amanda Lear and Toto. The whole collection is available as a name your price download from Bandcamp. 

 

Edinburgh meets Glasgow on the next track, Botany 5 representing the former, the legendary Slam the latter. Love Bomb is a match made in heaven, well, Scotland but what's the difference really? Botany 5 sadly didn't get beyond a debut album and handful of singles but it would be an understatement to say that Slam have done pretty well since then. 

 

Speaking of which, William Orbit was already well on the way to global domination when Water From A Vine Leaf was released in 1993. Featuring Beth Orton on vocals (although not noticeable here) and a stunning remix from Underworld (one of two), both of whom had even greater things ahead of them. This remix comes in at just under 12 minutes and really, just isn't long enough.

 

Keeping it short and sweet for the closer then is 808 State, with a scuzzy mix of Open Your Mind, a double A-side with Lift which just about cracked the UK Top 40 (#38) in August 1991, continuing their on/off relationship with singles-buying public. I bought this on CD single for pennies a couple of years later from a music stall in the Eagle Shopping Centre in Derby. Great times...!

 

1) Liquid Cool (Deep Forest Trans-Afrique Life Extension Express) (Remix By Eric Mouquet & Michel Sanchez): Apollo 440 (1994)

2) Le Voie Le Soleil (Itchy & Scratchy Mix By Julian Peake & Seb Fontaine): Subliminal Cuts (1996)

3) More To Love (K-Klass Pharmacy Dub): Volcano (1994)

4) Love Bomb (The Slam Production) (Remix By Stuart McMillan & Orde Meikle): Botany 5 (1990)

5) Water From A Vine Leaf (Underwater Mix Part 2 By Underworld): William Orbit ft. Beth Orton (1993)

6) Open Your Mind (Sound Garden Mix): 808 State (1991)

Side One (46:11) (KF) (Mega)

Could I Have Some Mash To Go With This Banger, Please?

Earlier this month Underworld released a new track, And The Colour Red, one of four new songs that they debuted at The Marble Factory in Bristol on 19th March 2023. An edit/official video was released just over a week ago.

 

It's a deceptively simple tune, menacing beat, deep bass and minimal vocals from Karl Hyde. Like the shorter edit and unusually for an Underworld track, the longer version also fades out at the end.

The version that was premiered at the Bristol gig on 19th March - a relatively intimate (1600 capacity) warm up for their show at the Royal Albert Hall for the Teenage Cancer Trust the following night - plays out for an identical duration (5:42) with a rather more sudden fade out/stop. One of those 'wish I was there' moments.

With thanks to @RichardSmith_ZA, whose comment/reaction to the official video on YouTube inspired today's post title.

Darren In The Underworld

Inspired by Swiss Adam's return visits to some classic Darren Emerson and Underworld tracks and mixes over at Bagging Area and the coincidental inclusion of an Underworld remix on the cover-mounted Depeche Mode compilation CD available with the current issue of Mojo magazine, I've thrown caution to the wind and jumped on the bandwagon.

I've cherry picked half a dozen remixes from 1993 to 2003, classics all, and generous with beats and breaks. It's impossible for me to pick a favourite from this bunch.

 

1) Human Behaviour (The Underworld Dub (1)): Björk (1993)

2) Harlequin - The Beauty And The Beast (Underworld Alternative): Sven Väth (1994)

3) Sunset (Bird Of Prey) (Darren Emerson Remix): Fatboy Slim ft. Jim Morrison (2000)

4) David (Darren Emerson's Underwater Remix): GusGus (2003)

5) Schmoo (Underworld Mix): Spooky ft. Heather Sian Wildman (1993)

6) Risingson (Underworld Mix): Massive Attack (1997)

 

Darren In The Underworld (54:39) (KF) (Mega)

The Original Debutante

Sides 1 & 2 of a Björk cassette compilation, recorded 23rd February 1997.

 

Confusingly, I posted another Björk selection called Debutante last September, an all-video recreation of her Debut album. This is the original though, "a selection of mixes and alternate versions" culled from accompanying singles and other sources and put on a C60 cassette.

The Underworld remix of Human Behaviour that appeared on the vinyl and CD single was a 12-minute epic and remains one of the finest reworkings that Darren Emerson and Rick Smith delivered as a partnership. The version here is an eight-and-a-half minute edit that appeared on the Welcome To The Future² compilation. Yes, it's considerably shorter but loses none of it's impact.

 

Mykaell Riley was/is more familiar to me as a member of Steel Pulse but by the early 1990s had further success as the founder of Reggae Philharmonic Orchestra. I prefer the original version of Venus As A Boy, but this is a very radio-friendly mix.

 

There's More To Life Than This appeared as a B-side to Venus As A Boy. The single version is great but serves to highlight how inspired and brilliant the 'toilet' interlude in the original album version was.

 

There are a trio of songs from 1986, recorded by Björk when she was a member of The Elgar Sisters with Guðlaugur Óttarsson. On the original cassette, I cut the third song, Glóra, to 40 seconds to fit it onto the 30 minute running time. I've restored the full version, still under 2 minutes and essentially a lovely flute solo from Björk.

 

Back in 1997, I didn't have an alternative version of Björk's cover of Like Someone In Love so I had to stick with the album version. For this selection, I've swapped it for the MTV Unplugged version from 1994, her band for this performance comprising Talvin Singh, Leila Arab, Guy Sigsworth, Dan Lipman, Ike Leo and Tansay Omar.

 

Big Time Sensuality got a whole new lease of life when Fluke got their hands on the song and their remixes of the song are my favourites of the lot. Björk evidently agreed as it was an extended version of The Fluke Minimix that was used for the memorable video, Björk dancing around on the back of a flatbed truck driving through New York.

 

Side 2 kicks off with Andrew Weatherall, Jagz Kooner and Gary Burns transforming One Day into a thing of even greater beauty. I can remember being stunned when I first this mix on a freebie NME cassette and being delighted when I was finally able to get it on CD a year later on "The Best Mixes..." EP.

 

Play Dead doesn't feature on my original CD of Debut but was tacked on to the end, following the success of the single and the soundtrack to Danny Cannon's film The Young Americans. Whilst I don't think it fits with the album, it's a great single. Then again, with David Arnold, Jah Wobble and Tim Simenon involved, the odds were in it's favour.

 

I'm guessing that I Remember You was in consideration for inclusion on Debut before Björk ultimately went for Like Someone In Love. It's covered in a similar style and sits comfortably with the other B-sides on the Venus As A Boy single.

 

The Black Dog, at the time a trio of Ken Downie, Andy Turner and Ed Handley, were producing some incredible music for Warp Records and their remixes were no less exciting. Their recreation of Come To Me is much more unsettling than the original but is one of my favourite Björk remixes ever.

 

Fluke return for a remix of Violently Happy, at the time not a personal album highlight and as a single, feeling like the record label were squeezing every last drop out of Debut's success. However, Fluke delivered the goods again and I grew to love the song in all it's variations.

 

Closing the selection, as with the original album, with The Anchor Song. Black Dog again, with a looped sample that evokes (for me, at least) a ship's engine, providing an additional element to the song. Wonderful.

 

I'm pretty sure I recorded a similar alternative version of Björk's follow-up, Post, but I can't find it in my cassette collection so I may start from scratch with a new selection in the future. 

Side One

1) Human Behaviour (The Underworld Mix) (Edit) (1993)

2) Venus As A Boy (Mykaell Riley Mix) (1993)

3) There's More To Life Than This (Non Toilet) (Single Version By Nellee Hooper & Jim Abbiss) (1993)

4) Sídasta Ég: The Elgar Sisters (1986)

5) Stígðu Mig: The Elgar Sisters (1986)

6) Glóra: The Elgar Sisters (1986)

7) Like Someone In Love (MTV Unplugged) (Cover of Dinah Shore) (1994)

8) Big Time Sensuality (The Fluke Minimix) (1993)

Side Two

1) One Day (Endorphin Mix By The Sabres Of Paradise) (1993)

2) Play Dead (Tim Simenon 12" Remix): Björk & David Arnold ft. Jah Wobble (1993)

3) I Remember You (Cover of Jimmy Dorsey) (1993)

4) Come To Me (Black Dog Productions) (1993)

5) Violently Happy (Fluke (Well Tempered)) (1994)

6) The Anchor Song (Black Dog Mix) (1993)

1993: Big Time Sensuality EP: A4, A6, A8, B4

1993: Björk Cut By The Sabres Of Paradise (promo 10" single): B1

1993: Play Dead EP: B2

1993: Venus As A Boy EP: A2, A3, A5, B3, B6

1993: Welcome To The Future²: A1

1994: The Best Mixes From The Album 'Debut' For All The People Who Don't Buy White Labels: B1, B4, B6

1994: Violently Happy EP: B5

2001: MTV Unplugged & Live (DVD): A7

Side One (31:20) (GD) (M)

Side Two (30:10) (GD) (M)