I’ve written a long post comparing (despairing) most, if not all of the modern Bowie masters currently available. They range from ‘good’ to ‘unacceptably bright and digital’. David Bowie “The Next Day” as you no doubt know, is his latest album. The mastering is much better this time, although clearly digitally mastered for CD, it’s not fatiguing or brittle sounding as the later Bowie discs. It’s a reasonable attempt at making a post modern rock master. The vinyl, however is mastered by someone totally different, and seemingly with a little more care.
David Bowie “The Next Day”
This is then, should enable us to hear the difference between the CD master and true vinyl master of the same record (I say true because to my ears a lot of vinyl are pressed from the CD master now, totally defeating the purpose of the big black disc).
Here, presented to you for curiosity sake, is a totally unscientific comparison of the CD and vinyl. I’ve chosen track 3. The Stars (Are Out Tonight) because it seems to have the largest sonic difference. Play them back-to-back, see if you can spot the difference.
David Bowie “The Stars (Are Out Tonight)” Vinyl Master
David Bowie “The Stars (Are Out Tonight)” CD Master
To be honest, I don’t find the vinyl that much more dynamic, but I do like it’s driven bass and softer treble. The 180g vinyl comes with the CD anyway, so it’s not like you need to choose between them.
Two interesting links popped up today on VladislavDelay.com – “Ripattimusic (Label)” and “Ripattimusic (Artist)”. I have little to no clue about either of these, but if I had to guess I’d say that Sasu is either setting up a new label or imprint for his music focused on digital distribution, or it will be an offshoot used primarily for installations and film projects. But as I said, purely a guess.
There are very few arguably perfect pieces of music. Music that effectively ends a genre by providing the final answer that everyone else searched for. It was Luomo who perfected modern house music with “The Present Lover”, and Bowie’s “Hunky Dory” perfected rock/pop. Miles Davis’ ‘Kind Of Blue’ is an undeniable example of perfection wrapped in jazz, just as Underworld’s ‘Second Toughest In The Infants’ perfected the techno genre in one fell swoop. Nas showed us in 1994 that hiphop need search no longer for flawlessness, while back in Scotland, The Rhythmic State “Soap On A Rope (Hype Remix)” was released.
There’s also the less celebrated examples of perfection, made redundant by existing in genres that were passing trends and fashions. The Artful Dodger “Rewind” single-handedly introduced the world the crazy fucked up two-step garage as Mark Morrison perfected the UK R&B sound (yes, I’m serious).
But underneath even these, obscured and hidden away from anyone fortunate enough not to be stuck in the West Of Scotland in the early 90’s (which can only be remembered only with a bitter/sweet fondness) is something of equal perfection.
Ladies and gentlemen, I kindly present to you what is in my opinion the epithet of perfection in hardcore. This is The Rhythmic State “Soap On A Rope (Hype Remix)”. Yes, it’s called Soap On A Road, and no, unfortunately I don’t know what that means.
The Rhythmic State “Soap On A Rope (Hype Remix)”
Enjoy five and a half minutes of bouncing, chomping silliness and remember – music like this can’t be made now without a sense of irony and self-awareness that never seemed to exist in the 90s, and that even now that only the hippest of hipsters possess.
Just like Davis’ “Kind Of Blue” or Nas’ “Illmatic”, Soap On A Rope (Hype Remix) cannot be replicated in any way. The difference is, it’s a forgotten piece, forever lost in time and long out of fashion. In both a blessing and a curse, it won’t appear on the “Best Of the 90’s” CD, nor will it be used in TV adverts to nostalgia-rob 30-somethings.
Did the Jai Paul album just leak? Was it released? What’s going on? I’m confused.
Edit: No one seems to know. XL Recordings are desperately trying to take it down, the FLAC is a lossy master, and Jai’s website says nothing about it. So to be honest, I have no idea. I’ve thrown in my £7 for a copy, and I’m quite please with it. I’ll be even more please if it turns out to be a giant ‘fuck you’ from Jai to XL Recordings. Nothing personal against XL, it’s just always nice to see 😉
Broadly speaking, I’m not a fan of remixes nor the culture that built up around them. They’ve always been a cynical marketing ploy to try to get big name producers on marketable material, or a shallow disguise to push the latest generic pop trash into the clubs, neither of which interest me greatly.
But hey, I survived the “mash-up” craze of the late 90s, and I can survive this.
You know it’s good because it says ‘remix’ on the cover eleven times.
There’s currently three types of remix as far as I can tell. The first is possibly the worst, but certainly the most prevalent remix-type; “use an upcoming trendy producer to push my shit into the clubs and try to give it some credentials remix“. This generally consists entirely of stealing the hook and melody from a pop tune and pasting it over modern drum samples. That’s it really, it’s that primitive.
Clear examples of this are Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Call Me Maybe Remixes”, featuring such gems as “Manhattan Clique Remix”, “10 Kings Vs Ollie Green Remix”, “Coyote Kisses Remix”. Producers so fresh and trendy, even I don’t know who they are. Each one of them is an example of approx. 10 minutes work in Ableton. The “Coyote Kisses Remix” isn’t even in the right fucking key… Disastrous.
The second remix type commonly found is “pay an extremely popular dj-type to remix my rubbish track, and hope his name brings customers remix“. Here a ‘big name’ producer receives a few thousand quid to remix something they’ve probably never heard. Olav Basoski, Jan Driver, FatBoy Slim, Basement Jaxx, Moby are all guilty of this… It’s their bread and butter. It’s how they pay the mortgage.
Lastly, we have the “oh shit, I forgot I was supposed to remix that remix“. This can occur in either of the two situations posted above, and results vary greatly. What seems to happen is the producer is so uninterested in remixing the material that they completely forget to do so. Panic then sets in as the deadline approaches, they can almost see the money leaving their bank account.
So what do they do? Send in an utterly unrelated work, of course! Good examples would be Pub’s “Summer (They Can’t See Us In The Dark) Delay Configuration 1”. 19 minutes of wobbling dub craziness, and one of the best pieces of music I own. Sadly, it’s not a remix of “Summer”, not in any sense of the word. It is magic though. Poor examples include Antipop Consortium’s “Volcano (Four Tet Remix)” or Underworld’s “Beautiful Burnout (Pig & Dan Remix)”. Irrelevant dance tracks, plopped on a disc in the hopes that the title will be enough to fool a listener.
One of the worst records I’ve ever bought.
As you can see, there’s really no middle ground in which good remixes occur frequently. We can quickly score off the first remix type, because trendy new producers do what trendy new producers do – produce trendy bullshit. The next two types are somewhat less predictable, and this is where we can occasionally find some gems, albeit in a greatly diluted ratio.
What do I think makes a good remix? That’s a very good question.
There’s no formula, but good remix I think is something that enhances or reshapes what’s already there. It creates something new while respectfully adhering to some segments of the original material. There should be enough of a relationship to the original to make to connection, but done with a new slant. It doesn’t pander to an audience or particular market segment (yuk!). It doesn’t just enhance what’s there, it creates some new from it.
Now, after six-hundred odd words of rambling bullshit, we can get on point. What is the best remix of all time? I’ll bet at this point you’re expecting me to say something gruelling and pretentious like the afore mentioned Pub’s “Summer (They Can’t See Us In The Dark) Delay Configuration 1”. Well I’m not.
Instead I’m suggesting that the little known and commercial unsuccessful Frankie Goes To Hollywood’s “Two Tribes (Olav Basoski Tiberium Power Mix)” is the best remix of all time. That’s right, the man with over 100 ‘remixes-for-money’ to his name finally struck gold.
The entire original track is here, beautifully decomposed and broken down while a thick Olav beat, heavy with bongo accompaniment, drives the whole thing along. External tracks are beautifully filtered and scattered haphazardly, appearing and vanishing at will. Sirens scream, percussion is heavy and reverb laden. The track builds and escalates expertly – in nine and a half minutes, almost half is occupied by breaks, both large and small. It perfectly captures the mood of the original piece (even the gayness), and projects it into something modern and contemporary (well, for 1999 anyway).
Frankie Goes To Hollywood – “Two Tribes (Olav Basoski Tiberium Power Mix)” break snippet
It remains recognisable enough to hear the original, yet different enough to be a worth while listen. It’s larger than the original but more focused – albeit narrowly dance floor focused. It’s fresh, yet somewhat uninspired. It does something new via iteration not revelation. It’s everything a remix should be, right down to the flaws.
And there lies the problem of remixes. If it’s good enough to be an original production, shouldn’t it be one? And if it’s not good enough to be an original production, is there a need for it at all?
Remixes happen now predominantly because they are easy to do. You ship some samples off, someone loads then up in a DAW, a derivative track pops out. No one takes them seriously and no one should. It’s part of a culture that remains steadily content with taking credit for, and claiming self-expression through, others works. Have you ever looked on Facebook/MySpace/Bebo/Twitter/Google+ and been taken back by how many people express themselves through music they’ve never been involved with? Violently defend films they’ve only watched? Harp on about how one art form is better than another, even although they participate in neither?
This remix culture is a part of that, or maybe a product belonging to it. Few creators, lots of critics, and even more wannabes. Right now it’s easier to make music than it’s ever been. If you own a PC you now have the most complete and versatile studio humanity has ever seen. The possibilities for new creation are endless, yet what do we occupy ourselves with? Putting new rhythms under old tracks. Nostalgia driven footering. Longing for good results while putting in the least required efforts.
We got lazy and content, and this is only exacerbating the situation. I don’t like remixes, and you shouldn’t either.
Ok, I’ve changed my mind, the best remix ever is Pub’s ridiculously named “Summer (They Can’t See Us In The Dark) Delay Configuration 1”. Oh wait, I forgot about Armand Van Helden’s “Professional Widow” remixes! Shit. Look, I’ve fuckin’ written myself into a corner here.
There are very few truths in this world, and even fewer of those can be considered universal truths. In fact, the only one I’m 100% sure everyone can agree on is that we all love Bob Marley vs. Funkstar De Luxe. You may not like house music, you may not know who Funkstar De Luxe is, Christ – you may not even like Bob Marley. But we all loved the summer of ’99 because it gave birth to “Sun Is Shining”.
I’m not really into Marley myself, but two things struck me about the track – the bass line and the chord progression. Both are welded to each other over a 4/4 kick, and both were executed in an immaculate manner. So much so, that it’s difficult for me to separate them in my head.
However, facing that fact that I’ll more than likely need to sell my little collection of synthesizers soon, I thought I would sit down and dissect these elements while I still had the tools and enthusiasm to do so. Needless to say, it’s all 4/4, 130BPM
First up, that lovely cascading chord progression.
Sun Is Shining Piano Chord Progression
Starting from an inverted E Minor 1st Inversion, G Major, A Major 2nd Inversion, C Major First Inversion. Quite an unusual progression, but really has a lot of feel, especially when strapped into a 4/4 rhythm.
I’ve created a quick facsimile of the original done on my Waldorf Microwave XT.
Sun Is Shining Synth Chord Progression
Next up, the bassline
Sun Is Shining Piano Bassline
I find the bassline to be especially interesting. On first listen you don’t think it would sit particularly well with the previous chord progression. But it do. It has a driving, almost dub feel that accents the tempo and rhythm very nicely. It speaks of sunshine but with a lowly demeanour.
Again, I created a quick facsimile of the original done on my Novation Super BassStation.
Sun Is Shining Synth Bassline
Now, using magic, we can combine the two into (indulge me here)…
There are many reason to hate Daft Punk, but here I’m mainly going to focus on the main issue I have with them – sampling. I’ve never been a fan of sampling (or Daft Punk for that matter). It seems like a lazy way to make music, and has long been a thorn in the heel of electronic music. Any kid with Ableton can put a 4/4 kick beneath a two-bar disco loop and “create” the next radio annoyance.
Daft Punk, however, are much worse than that. They don’t credit samples in album sleeves, pretend they’re magical music geniuses, and actively deny sampling. That’s right, they deny it. I’d go as far as to suggest that 90% of Daft Punks repertoire is entirely lifted from old obscure records.
For a long time I tried to think of a sample based piece of music that had some integrity. I couldn’t do it. I tried to think of a sample based piece of music that was in fact better than the record it sampled. I could not.
I’ll probably be adding to this list as time goes on, but for tonight here’s a few reasons I don’t like Daft Punk.
Breakwater – Release The Beast / Daft Punk – Robot Rock
Edwin Birdsong – Cola Bottle Baby / Daft Punk – Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger
George Duke – I Love You More / Daft Punk – Digital Love
10CC – I’m Not In Love / Daft Punk Nightvision
The Imperials – Can You Imagine / Crescendolls
Ronnie Jones – Video Games / Daft Punk – Technologic
Chaka Khan – Fate / Stardust – Music Sounds Better With You
Eddie Johns – More Spell On You / Daft Punk – One More Time
Sister Sledge – Il Macquillage Lady / Daft Punk – Aerodynamic
Oliver Cheatham – Get Down Saturday Night / Daft Punk – Voyager
Rose Royce – First Come, First Serve / Daft Punk – Too Long
I’m not an obsessive compulsive. Seriously, I’m not. However after discovering a beautiful old 45 of Labi Siffre “Watch Me”, I had the compulsion to go to discogs.com and obsessively buy every single Labi Siffre 45 that has non-album tracks. I’m sure lots of people wake up in the morning to find they’ve purchased 14 second-hand records during the night. Right?
Well here’s my justification; Labi Siffre happens to be the most beautiful singer I have ever heard, as well as one of the most prolific writers ever to live. He’s the gentleman responsible for “It Must Be Love”, “I Got The” “(Something Inside) So Strong”, “Bless the Telephone” and more masterpieces than anyone will ever truly appreciate. Despite this, his music isn’t exactly easy to come by. Siffre seems to exist (quite happily it would seem) in this space between the edge of memory and totally forgotten.
Labi Siffre “Watch Me”
For example, just try to find a copy of “Watch Me” on-line. Sure, there’s a YouTube copy of a live version, but the recorded version is nowhere to be found, and that’s the case for a great deal of his material. I don’t advocate piracy by any means (unless its some fucking David Guetta bullshit), but at this level of importance it’s not piracy, it’s archiving, it’s sharing. Every day we wait is another day of damage that’s done to these records. Every day we wait is another day spent in a world almost void of these beautiful recordings. Labi has stated that he has no interest in the music industry any more, choosing to focus his efforts on poetry of a political and human nature, so I really doubt we’ll see his work re-issued any time soon.
In fact, Labi once told me he has “another two or three albums worth” of material recorded, but he doubts it’ll ever see the light. It’s heart breaking, especially considering the outstanding quality of his last album ominously entitle “The Last Songs”.
So as I buy, clean, restore and catalogue as much of Siffre’s music as I can financially withstand, I’ll give you a little snippet of why I am doing so.
Here is Labi Siffre “Watch Me”, the first 45 rescued from a life in a crate.
I love 45s, but I’m not entirely sure why. The sound like crap, come with cheap and nasty artwork, and are a hindrance to care for (don’t fit in record boxes, some need spindle adaptors…). With that said though I’m a sucker for a bargain, and nothing is cheaper than old 45s.
half n’ half
There’s something about 45s that encourages me to buy music I’d never collect in any other format. Junk, really. Here’s a selection of what I picked up this week, with a nice fifty-fifty split between junk and music.
In 2012 K.West change the title of “Theraflu” to “Cold” because some bullshit cough-syrup company complained. In 2008 Nas removed the title from his album “Nigger” so he could sell it in Wallmart.
In 1969 Davis entitled his album “Bitches Brew”, not giving a fuck.
