Don't Get Stuck In The Past

Today's 2021 retrospective highlights some great remixes from various singles and albums. The post title is the opening line of track 1, but also slightly tongue-in-cheek: a quick glance at the track listing and it's like an old school reunion, with Soulwax, Darren Emerson, Mark Ronson, UNKLE, Groove Armada and - bloody hell! - Kris Needs. My other challenge was avoiding making this a Hardway Bros. 'best of 2021'. Sean Johnston has delivered so many fantastic remixes, several of which have featured in previous posts; for this selection, I managed to whittle it down to two. Also making two appearances is Jesse Fahnestock: remixing Spacemen 3 as 10:40 in April, which led me to many more subsequent Bandcamp purchases, and November's single Thrill Me, as Jezebell (Fahnestock & Darren Bell), which includes a suitably whacko retro sample. This is barely scratching the surface, and I've a long list of this year's music that I still want to get, as 2022 and even more new sounds approach.

 

1) A Hero's Death (Soulwax Remix): Fontaines D.C.

2) That Time Of Night (Darren Emerson Remix): GLOK ft. Shiarra

3) Sail We Must (Hardway Bros Remix): Wet Signals

4) Thrill Me (Darren Darko Mix): Jezebell

5) Flying Tiger (The Mole's Slower Remix By Colin De La Plante): Dreems

6) New Love Cassette (Mark Ronson Remix): Angel Olsen

7) Hegel Dialect (UNKLE Reconstruction): Krust

8) They're In Our Head (Kampong Glam Mix): Rude Audio

9) First Class Bitch (Groove Armada's Confidence Trick Remix): Confidence Man

10) Point And Kill / Fear No Man (mindtrix music Remix): Little Simz ft. Obongjayar

11) Walking In The Sun (James Bright Remix): Andres Y Xavi ft. Rolo McGinty

12) Obey (Hardway Bros Stereo Odyssey Mix): Rheinzand

13) Love Comes In Waves (Pye Corner Audio Remix): Andy Bell

14) Weekend (The Judas Triangle) (Dom Beken & Kris Needs Remix): The Orb

15) How Does it Feel? (10:40's Terrace Moonshine Dub) (Remix By Jesse Fahnestock): Spacemen 3

Don't Get Stuck In The Past (1:39:08)

 

A note on yesterday's post: track-by-track comments still to come. Early visitors may have noticed that I dropped Show Your Face by The Anchoress into the mix for a second consecutive day. Oops! That was a mistake: much as I love the song, it was supposed to be Let It Hurt instead, but in my half-awake state I pulled the wrong track. After a shower and a strong coffee, I've corrected and replaced the selection and link. Slipshod DJ licence currently under review and may be revoked.

Your Consciousness Is The Only Censorship

Ten long songs, all bubbling under the ten minute mark and mostly from the mid 1990s, before leaping into the 21st century. The opening track was originally released as a Mark Van Hoen side project, though I first heard the remixed versions released under his more familiar Locust moniker in 1998. I really like the Biff & Memphis remix of New Order for the nod to Blue Monday and the cheeky cameo from Divine tucked away in the mix. The Apollo 440 song is from their excellent first album, Millennium Fever, was co-written with Howard Devoto, and provides the title for today's post. Underworld deliver a brace of excellent remixes, of Dreadzone and themselves, whilst Wet Signals aka Coventry DJ, musician and producer Carl Platt released a self-titled EP back in April, which I'm currently enjoying very much. I (re)discovered Archive relatively recently, having only previously been aware of their 1996 debut Londinium. They've had at least a dozen albums since and this selection's closing track is taken from their (I think) sixth album, Noise. Immerse yourself and enjoy.

 

1) No-One In The World (Edit): W.F.O. ft. Wendy Roberts (1993)

2) Touched By The Hand Of God (Biff & Memphis Remix By Richard Stannard & Matt Rowe): New Order (1995)

3) Pain Is A Close Up: Apollo 440 (1994)

4) Tong Poo (Planet Of The Crossing Mix By The Orb): Yellow Magic Orchestra (1993)

5) Zion Youth (Underworld Mix): Dreadzone (1995)

6) I Dig Your Ass (Remix By Derrick Carter & Luke Solomon): Secret Knowledge (1996)

7) Born Slippy.Nuxx (Deep Pan): Underworld (1996)

8) Crimes: Wet Signals (2021)

9) Blue Drive: Oneohtrix Point Never (2009)

10) Waste: Archive (2004)

 

Your Consciousness Is The Only Censorship (1:39:14)
 

My Converse Look Like They've Had A Hard Life

There has been so much good music coming out this year and the monthly Bandcamp Friday has seen me splurging on a regular basis. I'm still immersing myself in purchases from the last few months, but here are a dozen gems. Amongst them are a couple of nods to my birthplace (the Slack Alice compilation and James Dyer aka Chez De Milo), a couple of legendary producers delivering the goods (Dennis Bovell & Hugo Nicolson) and artists that I've belatedly discovered this year (SAULT, Rheinzand, Dan Wainwright, Andres Y Xavi). 

1) I Hope You Die A Painful Death: Fever 103° (from Slack Alice: 5th Birthday Compilation)

2) You From London: SAULT ft. Little Simz (from 'NINE')

3) Tres Freak: Gene Kennedy & Matt Prehn (from The Wild Army Vol.5 EP)

4) Strange World (Richard Sen Remix): Rheinzand (from Remix EP 1)

5) Spandau Mechanix: Bad Tracking (from Slack Alice: 5th Birthday Compilation)

6) All I Have Known (Dan Wainwright & Massey Remix): Super FU (from Cocoons EP)

7) Swanky Modes (Dennis Bovell Mix): JARV IS... (from Swanky Modes (Dennis Bovell Mixes) EP)

8) Bushwa (Smagghe & Cross Version By Ivan Smagghe & Rupert Cross): Chez De Milo (from Bushwa EP)

9) Railton Ruckus (Hugo Nicolson Remix): Rude Audio (from Railton Ruckus EP)

10) The Disco Dragger: Wet Signals (from Wet Signals EP)

11) Sparking Plugs (Hardway Bros Sueno Cosmico Remix): Deo'Jorge (from Robotic Souls EP)

12) Walking In The Sun (Coyote Higher Vibration Remix): Andres Y Xavi ft. Rolo McGinty (from Walking In The Sun EP)

 

My Converse Look Like They've Had A Hard Life (1:17:49)