This is a remix out just now via Beatport, a little re-twisting of a gorgeous track by my good friend Brett Johnson. Maybe the ante gets up’ed when working with good friends as this turned out to be one of my personal favorite remixes I’ve ever done. I’m crazy about it.
The press release for this describes it best: “Imprisoned studio warlock Q-Burns Abstract Message was on hand to complement “Missing You” with a suspiciously spacious remix. Drawing inspiration from a pile of broken King Tubby records, Q-BAM’s version rattles within a moisture-soaked cell block, building into an analog epiphany further enhanced through a steaming, dusty spring reverb box. Totally slinky for the dancefloor, it aims to beguile the rarely hypnotized.”
As stated above this is out right now on Beatport and will be available everywhere else on March 2. It’s been released by the exquisite deep house label EIGHT-TRACKS. You should also check out Brett’s original on the release (as well as other remixes by Alland Byallo and Brett himself) … you can do so by clicking HERE.
On April Fools Day 2002 I set out to record a simple DJ mix for some friends. Things got a little out of hand and I ended up with a marathon four hour mix spanning all the cool tracks that I was playing at the very beginning of this century. Other sections of the mix will be posted on Mixcloud as well, so look for ‘em. Enjoy!
In the late 90’s I did a 2 month US tour with the Icelandic band GusGus. This was my first big tour, doing shows every other night, living on the tour bus, the whole deal. Good fun. A year or so later the second GusGus album This Is Normal was released and my newfound friends in the band asked me to remix the track “V.I.P.” Here’s the result:
A few fun facts (to me, at least) about this remix: I had just discovered the program Metasynth and the repeating sound loop that opens this is the vocal line manipulated through that. This mix started my predilection with recording fake stand-up bass lines which I still sort of have to this day (see my “Mouth” remix from a couple weeks ago). The second part of the mix was meant to be a ‘bonus beats’ version but it’s timed so it can be played as an epilogue to the actual mix (and appears like this on the UK vinyl version). When I later did my live shows (on the Meat Beat Manifesto and Lo-Fidelity All Stars tours) I would usually do this ‘bonus beats’ bit as the last song of my set. The weird little ambient ‘crackling’ noises that are on this mix (and pretty much all my remixes from this period) are from a preset on a Roland JX-8P that was purchased from Dave Allen (of Shriekback/Gang Of Four fame).
I don’t think this was ever released digitally … as far as I know it’s vinyl only, folks. The UK 12″ version with my mix complete with bonus beats can be found on Discogs.com HERE. There was also a US version which has the shorter version of the mix, sans bonus beats, which you can find HERE. This second 12″ is quite the curiosity in my career as I share remix credits with Francois K. and Masters At Work. So cool.
I’m still in touch with some of the members of GusGus. Their new album, titled 24/7, is quite good.
The 8DPromoRadio show is changing its name to Invisible Airwaves. With the change, the format of the show will bend to focus more on the mix and flow, making each episode more like a new 2 hour Q-Burns Abstract Message DJ set.
Here’s the first one. Cool tracks within that I’ve been enjoying this month. I hope you like it.
Just released is a somewhat dreamy remix I produced for San Francisco duo Cubik & Origami, of a cool track titled “Bought & Sold.” I’ve always liked Origami’s vocals (check him out on the EIGHT-TRACKS single “Beyond The LIne” by clicking HERE) so I was well up for this remix project.
I basically just used the vocal hook, repeated, and a couple of synth pads from the original. I wanted a bayou-like flow to define the track, to give an aural impression of calmly reaching some destination. The mid-section is a bit I’m particularly happy with … it’s quite the patient build. I’ve had some DJs tell me this part can be a bit frustrating but, trust me: try it on a loud system with a dancefloor inhabiting the deeper zone and the track is quite effective. Have a listen here:
The January episode of my 8DPromoRadio show is airing this week. This one came out really good and there are quite a few special selections within my two hour mix. If you’d like to tune in to have a listen then here are the times & places:
If you miss the show then the stations will be repeating it throughout the month. Play.FM will also have the show available on demand after its first airing. I’ll also be posting the mix to my Mixcloud page towards the end of the month.
Remix Wednesdays return for 2010 with this manic re-work of the Iz & Diz anthem “Mouth.” It’s a remix in two parts … we’ve got the opening bit which consists entirely of Diz’s mouth sounds (save for the main drum part), then we get the “Let’s start over” part replicating some otherworldly timpani/vibraphone jazz and possibly my favorite bassline that I’ve played. Not sure of the overall concept here, but it all seems to work and, if you couldn’t tell, I remain a bit enthusiastic about it. This track also makes me wonder if Diz had this book when he was a kid like I did.
I’m giving you something a little different this week for ‘remix Wednesday.’ Mercy Machine is a band I’ve collaborated with a few times, previously contributing a couple of remixes for their In My Bed remix collection. The band sought reinterpretations of their songs once again for their stark, religion-themed album The Devil I Know and I was certainly up for attempting a couple more. The fruits of our labor are below (and they are well-suited for these gray winter days).
As you’ll hear if you check out The Devil I Know album (click HERE to give it a listen) these are hardly what you’d call easily remix-able dance tracks. Many of the songs are percussion-less, featuring just the singer’s voice and some guitar. So indeed this was a remix challenge … and I like remix challenges. Here was a chance to try out some new tricks and draw from my somewhat eclectic musical background.
Around the time I was doing these remixes I was actively experimenting with the idea of creating contexts through sonic ‘mini-movies’ in music, an idea I was turned on to years ago by the singer/songwriter Jim White who I was doing some production for. The lyrics for both these Mercy Machine songs easily lent themselves to various mentally visual situations. The opportunity to remix these tunes fit right in with what I was experimenting with at the time.
First up, “The Devil I Know” in which I only used the vocal and created all the other sounds and music myself. I’ll leave it to you to imagine what is happening in this song but I will hint that a lonely singer is joined by quite a few (un?)welcome visitors by the end of the track:
The second remix I did for Mercy Machine was for the album track “I Need A New Jesus” (a Wise Blood reference, perhaps?). I based my mix around a piece of the original’s guitar melody and created a sort of ‘dub’ around the vocal. I added some slide dobro, bass guitar, and a cheap xylophone I bought at a market in Bogota, Colombia. I like that the result kind of sounds like a gothic early-80’s post punk band. Spooky stuff, I think. Anyway, there’s a ‘plot-line’ going on in this version as well but, again, I’ll leave the interpretation up to you.
I’m sort of a sucker for guitars in dance music. It’s probably from a youth immersed in all those Manchester bands but I do indeed like how chiming guitars and electronic drum beats go together. Thus I was immediately drawn to South African combo Bang Bang and their “Bikini Days“, a cool and gentle track certainly evoking some sort of beachside romp. Quickly snatched up and released on my Eighth Dimension label, I dug the song enough to partake in a remix of my own. You can hear the result here:
I kind of went for a psychedelic, Balearic feel making the aforementioned guitars all twisty and using the vocal verse of the song as if it were the chorus. The rhythms build a bit and the full brunt of the bass doesn’t really kick in until over halfway through (an exercise in patience on my part). I like the idea of the focused bits interchanging with the atmospheric sections, sort of like a camera lens in close-up suddenly pulling back for the wide shot.