Wrestling on the big stage

Kieran Hebden & Steve Reid, “The Sun Never Sets” (James Holden remix)

Substance & Vainqueur, “Immersion”

Vladislav Delay, “Huone”

Pet Shop Boys, “Flamboyant” (Michael Mayer mix)

Your body holds you back

Cortney Tidwell, “Don’t Let Stars Keep Us Tangled Up” (Ewan Pearson remix)

Maurizio, “M4.5″

SebastiAn, “Greel”

Stefan Goldmann, “True” (Riton Rerub)

Sometimes it takes stacks

It seems as though Ripperton isn’t going to let up on releasing quality singles anytime soon. “Skilift Upstairs The Sleeping City,” out on Marc Romboy’s Systematic Recordings, doesn’t stray far from the elements which have gained him so much acclaim. Crafted from an entrancing pathway of rapidly shifting and repeating pads, a climbing and descending vibes arrangement echoing the serenity of an airborn trip over fresh snow, and an electron-infused vapor which crackles contently to itself, “Skilift” is a blissful excursion. For me, it easily ranks among Ripperton’s best and I can’t wait to purchase it.

Ripperton, “Skilift Upstairs The Sleeping City” (purchase @ Juno here)

Sia, “Numb” (Paradise Soul remix)

Heidi vs Riton, “Vejer” (Jesse Rose remix)

Carl Craig, “A Wonderful Life”

Daniel Taylor, “M.O.R.D.” (Loco Dice remix)

Over the weekend Resident Advisor received a much-needed makeover which makes it easier on the eyes, more functional and also easier to navigate. Definitely check that out. Also over the weekend, the folks at French blog jaws tight! made its last post. I’m not sure why, thanks to Babelfish’s wildly inconclusive translation, but they have a new blog going called Get the Curse, which is entirely in French and appears to be completely reviews-based. Hopefully my French readers get something out of it.

My friend DJ Tornado sent me his latest drum ‘n bass mix, which sounds great to me despite my utter ignorance of the genre. You can download that here (March 2007 set); tracklisting is provided there as well.

Entrance exam

Picture found in the space_ghetto (often NSFW, so be forewarned)

Markus Müller, “Chateaubriand”

Kraak & Smaak, “One Of These Days” (Balearic Soul remix)

Shiloh, “Cafe Del Mariachi”

Metro Area, “Nerves”

Which way did you come out?

Art by Jen Stark

Misstress Barbara, “Barcelona” (original mix)

Tony Rohr, “Db’s Revenge” (Camea remix)

Chic, “Happy Man”

Laurent Garnier, “Sweet Mellow D”

Château Flight, “Baltringue”

Thanks to Joe for his .mp3 birthday present!

Rendition

It always fascinates me when a producer remixes a tune and swings its mood and tone in the complete other direction. Is it the mood they’re in, or perhaps the mood in which they feel the song belongs? Is it a playful challenge or a reliance on a tried and true aesthetic? When considering Henrik Schwarz’s remix of Camille’s “Ta Douleur,” a quirky and up-beat bopper, I feel like the latter question applies. By discarding the original’s entire beat (in this case, no real loss) he’s both freed himself from its pop construction and added the task of writing his own instrumental with his favored tonal setting. He starts relatively simple and neutral with a spring-loaded twang beat and atmospheric chords, gaining a deep, uncertain tone at the addition of a grainy synth pattern and muted bass runs. When Camille’s ruddy vocals drop in, her flair is muted but no less pleasant (thanks to Schwarz’s careful selection of verses), cautiously intoning in French over criss-crossing piano lines. The belated addition of string section swells seems a little overboard for a well-established overcast mood, but provide a decent safety net for Schwarz’s plinking runs. With each spin of this remix my preference changes: At times I really like the darkened mood, the opposite side of the coin; other times I wish we could see Schwarz flex his production muscles and give us something chipper. And if any tune was grist for such an occasion, “Ta Douleur” would have been it.

Camille, “Ta Douleur” (Henrik Schwarz remix)

Camille, “Ta Douleur”

Thanks to Psycho BBQ for the remix.

Your world, delivered

Gui Boratto, “Atol” (Hardfloor remix)

Larry Heard, “The Sun Can’t Compare” (long version)

Mudd & Chico Hamilton, “Kerry’s Caravan” (Ray Mang mix)

Line up

Beck, “Cell Phone’s Dead” (Ricardo Villalobos Entlebuch remix)

Naturally, right? A thick sandwich of rhythmic parts calling out to be picked apart, “Cell Phone’s Dead” is in good, steady hands with Ricardo Villalobos’ pulling motifs Operation-style from the original — just enough to build a fourteen minute arc around. It’s evident the last minute and a half or so of “Cell Phone’s Dead” was of most interest to him: cavernous oohs and ahhs, each parsed down to only two octaves of Beck, stretched through tune, floating around the tune as apparitions. Villalobos’ new handclap-lead beat starts out a little dry until flecks of the original’s percussive slices — woodblock, timbale, shakers and the occasional fried circuit reverb bursts — are sewn back in. Some guy’s free verse poetic rap filters in and out throughout the tune’s length, which provides an unhinged conversation for Beck’s wordplay to interact with. As with his ominous and highly adored “Sinner in Me” remix, Villalobos keeps things interesting throughout the tune’s expansive length, delivering listeners’ heads into the clouds and beckoning for everyone else to ride the elevator up. This track is included on Beck’s new two-disc deluxe edition of The Information (more stickers, yay!), which could have easily been its own remix EP. I find it interesting but not altogether surprising Beck chose this Chilean, along with Dave Sitek, Jamie Lidell, Ellen Allien and the awful Bumblebeez, getting names from all sorts of fields. I have a feel we’ll be seeing this remix played out and slipped into mixes quite often, and soon.

Big thanks to JBH for his crucial donation.

Good looking out

Agaric & Lawrence, “Place to Be”

Sister Sledge, “Lost In Music” (1984 Bernard Edwards & Nile Rogers remix)

Blotnick Brothers, “Taxi Simulator 2000″

Carl Craig & Pépé Bradock, “Angola” (Carl Craig mix)

Please don’t do that again

Nôze, “Piano” (Dop remix)

Mabik, “Der Flossenmann”

Ark & Mikael Weill, “Caribou Et Bigorneau”

Rok & Mijk, “Jack Your Ass” (Mijk van Dijk remix)