Most dancefloor monsters with lyrical depth have got there by
being remixes of something else, Sarah McLachlan had a spate of
remixes and even ended up with a whole remix album being produced.
If a tranced up candy kiddie ever trys to whisper sweet nothings
to their love of the moment there's pretty good odds that it'll
borrow wholesale from Sarah's work. Hey it could be worse, they've
probably graduated from 'Genie In a Bottle' since discovering
trance.
Underworld have an interesting place in all of this, Karl Hyde's
lyrics are frequently complete gibberish which conjure up all
sorts of wierd images. Listen to Cowgirl, take a few sylables
and repeat, layer some other phrases over the top -
"I'm Invisible", "An Eraser Of Love", "I wanna give You everything,
I wanna give you energy" - you could make all sorts of arguments
about htis being modern poetry or something, but the production
is largely part of the lyrics, it doesn't stand up on its own.
Dirty Vegas of course made it big with Days Go By, a record which I'm proud to have played for 6 months before Mitsubishi got ahold of it and played it to death. But there are plenty of half decent vocal tracks which haven't been played to death - so here's my list of recommendations. By no means the best, but just good enough to give people faith in the state of dance music.
Scott Manley
| Artist | Track | Label | Buy? (readme) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bassbin Twins | ESW | Marine Parade | |
|
This is the intro track we play
at the start of every show. Slammin Beats!
|
|||
| Krafty Kuts |
Come Alive | Finger Lickin' | |
|
From the insanely good Finger Lickin' Funk EP this is a hip-hop track at house tempo,
and damn good it is too. Krafty Kuts is such a good producer and DJ it makes me hurt
with jealousy.
|
|||
| Junior Senior |
Move Your Feet | ||
|
Spookily enough Krafty Kuts provides an exceptional remix in this MTV friendly track,
but this is the original version with it's cheeziness intact. Check out the video
if you get a chance, it brings me back to my 8 bit computer days.
|
|||
| One Armed Bandit |
Kinky Party | Airdog | |
|
Taken from the fantastic 'Play It Rough' mix album which also includes the
Dave London remix of Trinity Hi-Fi's "Turn The Lights Down". This is to most
laid back track on the album, nice simple slow functional breaks.
|
|||
| King Unique |
Lighters Please | Junior | |
|
This sounds like an electro house number, a big change for King Unique who
has been producing some excellent House tracks, his remixes of Underworld
and Luke Slater are top notch. But this track sounds like Gary Numan meets
house music, which can't be a bad thing.
|
|||
| Miss Kitten and Golden Boy |
Rippin Kitten | Illustrious | |
|
This record is just plain evil, and yet Miss Kitten delivers the lyrics like a
teenage schoolgirl.
|
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| Chauffeur |
Broken English | White | |
|
Very straight laced reworking of Broken English, this was a white label
I found in the 'Wierd Ass German Shit' section of BPM records in SF.
There's something abotu the lyrics I've always liked, both the Marianne
Faithful and the Sunscreem versions are in my collection, but this one
is more up to date, if that's possible.
|
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| Psycho Radio |
In The Underground | Oxia | |
|
Single sided slice of electro-house
goodness from Italy, the lyrics are complete nonsense but everyone always
starts singing along anyway.
|
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| Q-Ball |
Edith | Bald Freak Records | |
|
He's a New York based producer, who runs a record label with a name I dig,
and he sent me a copy of his album. The rest of the album is more vocal
orientated and is just begging for a remix.
|
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| Placebo |
Passive Aggressive (Brothers In Rythym Remix) | Virgin | |
|
I love the lyric 'Can you find me space
inside your bleeding heart?', and the bassline gives this a great big room feel.
I seem to make a habit of playing remixes of rock artists.
|
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| Trisco |
Ultra | Positiva | |
|
This came out last year but I never quite realised how good it sounded until
I heard it on a promotional video for BBC Radio 1, not the most complicated
record in the world, but it doesn't have rock the joint when I play it.
|
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| John Creamer, Stephane K & Oliver Twisted |
I Love You (Hybrid Remix) | Pipeline | |
|
This is really getting on in my collection, I love the whole disturbing stalker feel
and it stands out whenvere I play it, there's also the original house version and
an ambient mix. But this breakbeat version has a 2 minute breakdown where Oliver
does his best stalker impression.
|
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| Stish |
Beat Shop | Dorigen | |
|
I found this on the safe breaks compilation on Dorigen Music -
The same label as this weeks guest DJ. I really like the synth
that sounds like power chords on a guitar, probably because that's
the extent of my guitar skill.
|
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| Moguai |
Get On (Club Mix) | Hope | |
|
Even more guitar samples in this mix, if you remember 'U Know Why' from
the same artist then you'll probably agree that Moguai is definately a
wannabe punk rocker.
|
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| Donna Summer |
I Feel Love (PLump DJ's Mix) | Fabric | |
|
OK, I'm cheating here, this is the last track from the PLump DJ's mix
album on Fabric, as usual for the Fabric series it's absolutely stellar.
I really love this relatively simple remix of this tune which is something
of a blueprint for trance. Get the Mix album if you have a chance, you
won't regret it.
|
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Stay Funky....
see ya Next Week.
Scott Manley 12/04/03