Friday, February 27, 2009
Welcome Back
Alongside, the likes of Transmat, Warp and Underground Resistance, R & S is one of a handful of dance music labels truly deserving of the title 'legendary'. Just scrolling down their list of releases on Discogs takes an age in itself but when you start to dig around to see what's in there you really start to remember what classics they were responsible exposing to the world. Sure, the real stars are the producers themselves but the label's owners are no doubt more than a little proud of providing the homes to such greats as Beltram's Energy Flash, Jaydee's Plastic Dreams and CJ Bolland's awesome Horespower as well as classic albums from Model 500, Derrick May, and Aphex Twin plus of course not forgetting their In Order to Dance compilation series and whole host of other quality stuff.Anyway, after having being largely dormant for the past few years, 2008 saw them come back to life by not only remastering some of their classic albums but also unleashing brand new material on the world with a 12" from Radio Slave and some remixes from the likes of Redshape and Audion for a new compilation.
As well as planning to put out more new music, 2009 sees the label finally go digital and will ultimately reissue its entire back catalogue on mp3. Given the amount of tracks to encode its perhaps not surprising that this is going to be a phased release and to help entice people on board the label is offering a free download to people joining its mailing list with promise of more offers in the future.
No doubt there was some debate within the R&S camp as to which track to select from such a quality list as the one that was going to entice people to sign up for their mailing list and while their are numerous worthy candidates, it's fallen to Aphex Twin's Xtal to provide the honey pot.
Aphex Twin - Xtal // R & S Records
Labels: Aphex Twin, Audion, Beltram, Derrick May, Jaydee, Model 500, R and S Records, Redshape, Techno
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Windowlicking Games
What is the link between Chris Issak and Aphex Twin? The Answer: Anders Trentemoller. Both artists have had bootleg mixes of their tracks done by Mr Trentemoller. I was wanting to do a post about a new mix of 'Take Me To Your Skin' by Trentemoller, so I decided to dig a little deeper. I knew that Trentemoller had done a version of 'Wicked Games' by Chris Issak under the name Businessman which appeared in his Radio 1 Essential Mix. What I didn't know however was that he is also responsible for a track I have had in my collection for some time. (I was probably informed about this fact but promptly forgot) Run Jeremy's version of Aphex Twin's classic 'Windowlicker' is also the handy work of Trentemoller.Trentemoller - Take Me To Your Skin (Nu Disco Edit) // Beatport Exclusive Buy
Aphex Twin - Run Jeremy's Window Licker (X Rated Lick) // Aphex Twin (White Label)
Of course 'Wicked Games' is best know for that video staring sex kitten Helena Christensen (above) and directed by legendary fashion photographer Herb Ritts. It has always been a guilty pleasure of mine as I can imagine it is of most red blooded males. However I have also got another version of the track which you won't have heard, by none other than this blog's favourite DJs and club promoters, Optimo. Their version is actually older. I have had an MP3 since '05 but I'm sure this was done before the Trentemoller track.
Whereas Trentemoller's is a deep dubby house version, Optimo strip the track right down to it's bare naked elements (hmmm Helena) and produce a sparse minimal Electro version which adds to the dark undercurrents of the vocal. There is not much to choose between the two versions, but let me know your favourite.
[Edit: Apparently this is not the work of Optimo at all, but one member of Renegade Soundwave. Utilising the Richie Hawtin remix of La Funk Mob. Check HERE for full info.]
Businessman - Dubby Games // Balearic Biscuits
Optimo - Wicked Turntable Games // White [Not Optimo but Play A Few]
Labels: Aphex Twin, Bootlegs, Electro, Electro House, Mashups, Optimo, Pokerflat, Trentemoller
