LET US HAVE ANOTHER MIX

oonce oonce oonce oonce

What the hell. I finished this up a couple of days ago and it's good enough to meet myyyyyy high quality-control standards and so, to reiterate, what the hell.

http://www.divshare.com/download/6888740-c6d

(n.b. that you can stream this through DivShare if you don't want to download a 150mb file)

1. Laughing Light of Plenty, "The Rose"

I was a little taken aback to hear a bunch of people delicately asking me if I'd reverbed this track up in the mix when I posted it to the ILX mix competition thread; to my ears, "The Rose" is one of the least-obstreporous nu-disco songs I've ever encountered from start to finish, like an exsquisitely-balanced alchemy of the Steve Miller Band's "Rock 'n Me" and the Talking Heads' "I Zimbra" (well, sorta, anyway). Some day I'll invent that time machine I'm always talking about and take a copy of this record back to 1978. Then you'll all see. (Actual copies of "The Rose" are pretty hard to come by these days; your best bet is either GEMM or the Discogs marketplace.)

2. Chaz Jankel, "Glad to Know You" (Todd Terje re-edit)

Still never heard the original of this (for whatever reasons, Ian Dury & the Blockheads never really took root w/ me), but Todd Terje's gauzy, dreamlike re-interpretation kinda makes me wary of digging any deeper and ruining my currently-immaculate preconceptions about this song. I mean, it's going to be next to impossible for me to not flip out over anything with a piano like that, isn't it? (Your best shot at this song is, again, probably the Discogs marketplace - prices aren't too painful, though.)

3. Sebastian Tellier, "Kilometer" (Aeroplane Italo '84 remix)

Despite the kerfluffle it caused when it leaked (and then subsequently got taken down) a few months back, I'm pretty this is actually my least-favorite Aeroplane remix, mostly because Tellier's original really isn't anything worth speaking about in the first place; I've come to realize that I can pretty comfortably ignore his music completely aside from "La Ritournelle" and Danger's remix of "Divine" and his allegedly-discomforting live shows. Of course, since "the worst Aeroplane remix" is still roughly eleventy billion times better than most everything else out there, it took me about .0000002 seconds to decide on including it, especially when I realized how well it led out of "Glad To Know You", but especially when I realized how well it transitioned into... (The "Kilometer" single is forthcoming on Lucky Number; in the meantime, you can buy digital copies from Nuloop.)

4. Mr. Flagio, "Take A Chance" (extended 12" mix)

I'm pretty sure that either this or Pineapples' "Come On Closer" is my favorite old-school Italo song outright; there's just something about the interplay between chintzy Italo arrangements and bombastically vapid lyrics, I guess. Of course, "Take A Chance" has the added advantage of those disarmingly icy autotuned verses, which are probably my favorite part of the song (especially when the shrieking chorus comes in on the bridge to play counterpoint); I also love how the guitar line just pops up every so often almost as a sop to crusty rock fuxxx who got dragged to the club by their girlfriends. Of course, to focus on that would be to miss the entire point of the song's existence, but hey, that's what crusty rock fuxxx are for, right? ("Take A Chance" came out in 1983 and italo-hoarders have snapped up most of the outlying copies by now so obviously this isn't the easiest record to get ahold of these days; try eBay or GEMM for the least-ridiculous prices.)

5. Grace Jones, "Williams Blood" (Aeroplane Rejected mix)

Have I mentioned that I kinda like Aeroplane yet? With the possible exception of Black Leotard Front's vaporware full-length (le sigh), there's not a record on earth which I'm anticipating more than their debut LP (which is being co-produced by motherfuckin' SOULWAX! EXCLAMATION POINTS, PPLS), mostly because their catalogue of remixes points towards Steven Fasano and Vito de Luca having the most alarmingly complete control over their breakdowns of anyone working in music today. I mean, just get a load of the way they get "Williams Blood" to first pick itself apart and then reconstitute itself as some Jacques-Lu-Cont-in-2004-or-2005 disco monolith - sheeeeit, even the breakdown has a breakdown. Just masterful stuff all around. (Blah blah blah GEMM and Discogs marketplace. Seriously, this came out pretty recently, so if there's a legitimate link to buy this out there somewhere, plz do let yr boy know.)

AND NOW LET'S SHIFT GEARS A LITTLE

6. Who Made Who, "The Plot" (Discodeine remix)

I've posted about Who Made Who in the past, but I don't think I've ever loved them as much as I do on this remix. Discodeine get completely out-of-pocket here, ripping the original track to shreds and then expertly using the violin as thread to stitch it back together into a gloriously messy-sounding sinuous disco burner. It sounds lush and broken at the same time, and that's one hell of a balance to strike. (Click here to buy "The Plot Pt. 2" from a Gomma-sponsored link)

7. Holy Ghost!, "Hold On" (Blackjoy Mazego Groove)

I heard the original version of "Hold On" for the first time in one of Tim Sweeney's Beats in Space podcasts a couple of years ago; I then heard it for the last time once I got my hands on the 12" and discovered that Blackjoy's ecstatically goofy handbellstravaganza on the flip rendered the (quite good) original more or less moot. I mean, the violin stabs and that super-warm Stevie-Wonder-sounding bassline certainly have their charms, but as far as my ears are concerned this track is alllllllllll about the syncopation of the percussion; one's almost half-tempted to mix straight into a David Shire song just to keep it going. (Click here to buy the "Hold On" single direct from the DFA)

8. Empire of the Sun, "Walking on a Dream" (Treasure Fingers remix)

I normally find both Empire of the Sun and Treasure Fingers tiring to the extreme, but this remix right chear pretty much leaves me without anything else to speak about on that subject. I mean, my main complaint about the original of "Walking on a Dream" is that it just sorta seems to meander along until it's done, so here come Treasure Fingers to add in a whole bunch of swooping breakdowns and neat little touches (the bit with the second bridge to the chorus may be my favorite section of this entire mix, no lie); meanwhile, EotS' indomitable pop chops help stave off the usual YES YES YES YOU HAVE MADE A TRACK OF THE HOUSE-MUSIC VARIETY response Treasure Fingers' remixes typically inspire in yr boy. Of course, it's a completely unofficial remix and you'll probably never be able to pay money for it, but oh well. (Click here to buy Empire of the Sun's debut album Walking on a Dream from Amazon)

9. The Supermen Lovers, "Starlight" (Luca Agnelli sax remix)

I yield to nobody when it comes to the subject of gloriously faggy, turn-of-the-millennium vocal-house crossover attempts - seriously, don't even get me started on the virtues of Modjo's "Lady" unless you've got a couple of hours to spare. As such, I'm immensely satisfied with Luca Agnelli's approach to updating it, by which I mean his decision to basically let the track play unmolested and rock the fuck out on his saxomaphone over the top. I've listened to it about a thousand times by now and I'm still not sure how to put into words what it adds to the track; all I can really do is reiterate that I've listened to it about a thousand times by now, and as soon as I finish typing this sentence I'm about to make it a thousand and one. (Click here to buy MP3s of "Starlight" from Amazon MP3)

10. Golden Silvers, "True No. 9 Blues (True Romance)"

During my blog sabbatical (sabblogical?), I stumbled across a copy of the Golden Silvers' "Arrows of Eros" and enjoyed it thoroughly; several months later I stumbled across their second single and figured well that's the end of that. Well, as it turns out, I'm a ridiculous jackass; their full-length album's leaked and holy shit is it ever a winner, like a more-jangly late-period Blur record or words to that effect. "True No. 9 Blues" is currently getting pushed as the LP's lead single, probably because it is AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME; I genuinely loved "Arrows of Eros" (and really ought to get around to uploading the vastly-superior original 7" version one of these days), but this song's light-years more accessible in every way that counts. I also ought to cop to loving the everliving bejesus out of the synth tones on this record, both the gargantuan Remain in Light-era one punctuating the chorus and the tropically warm bassline underpinning the track. Top-shelf stuff, and I'll have a lot more to say about these dudes as soon as I find out which songs from the full-length I'll be able to share. (Click here to preorder "True Romance" from Amazon.co.uk)

11. The Juan Maclean, "Happy House"

Speaking of invitingly warm tones, here's "Happy House", because I presume you're like me and haven't even come close to growing tired of this song yet. And yes, I'm making you sit through the acid-y part at the end too, both because it's awesome and because it leads so well into... (Click here to buy "Happy House" direct from the DFA)

12. Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, "Who Loves You" (Pilooski re-edit)

I've spoken before about how much I love Frankie Valli, but I love him roughly a sesquillion times more whenever Pilooski rips into one of his songs. I mean, I love his take on "Beggin'" as much as anyone else with ears or a soul, but from an objective standpoint surely this is just as good; somehow he manages to both respect the song's original simmering, skittering tension eventually just go "fuck it" and cut loose with something to which the kids might hurl themselves about thither and yon. And plus, the original in this case is GREAT, a claim I'm not necessarily willing to make about "Beggin'". (The best place to find this track is on this compilation, but it's a little difficult to find - try eBay or GEMM)