System 7 - Sirènes Remixes

It took me a while to get used to the concept of System 7, considering the whole Steve Hillage element. Got their first album and to be honest it was all a bit "poor man's Orb with shitey guitars" for me. I wanted it to be so much better. The second album was much better and sure enough there were a few great tracks on it. But hey - it was all about the remixes, maaan.

Acid Ted posted the Alpha Wave mixes a while back, so here's the companion 12" for Sirènes which I got free with the album (I think) - it's got a carefully 'peeled off the shrink wrap' sticker saying 'Includes Ltd Edition Sirènes 12" anyway...

Check out the remixers - three really good tracks which actually live up to their billing for once.



System 7 - Sirènes Remixes
A1 - Sirènes (Marshall Jefferson Mix)
A2 - Sirènes (Laurent Garnier Mix)
B1 - Sirènes (System 7.1) (Carl Craig)

Buy it here

Clementine - Time Explored EP

... aka Luke Slater's DJAX moniker.

Rather than the full-on techno of Planetary Assault Systems, this sees Luke, if not exactly in 'electronic listening music' mode, then certainly less pounding-pounding-techno-music. Well, on some of it anyway... Lots of nice flange on A1 (we like the flange round these parts).



Clementine - Time Explored EP
A1 - Approaching Fulfilment
A2 - Drifting Signs
B1 - Ram Rod
B2 - Dream
B3 - Groove Me
B4 - Untitled

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Sven Väth - L'Esperanza (Hope Will Move Mountains Mix)

Hmmm, today seems to be developing into a kinda Euro-frenzy. Fuck it - here's the definitive mix of L'Esperanza by Visions Of Shiva. Two Paul Van Dyk mixes in the one day? I must be on rocky ground now, credibility-wise...

Forget any mental picture you might have of the mecca/ned-infested superclub cheese you'd associate with the PVD of the last 10 years or so - for about six months in 1993 he was my source of melodic euphoric trance, before I got bored. Hmmm. Not really selling it but go check it oot, this mix is FAB.



Sven Väth - L'Esperanza (Hope Will Move Mountains Mix)

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Basscult - Paradise Place

After ripping a Paul Van Dyk track (see below), I feel a wee bit Euro-trancey (only a wee bit). I'd recommend this tune, as it's got a great organ-hook with a fab drum fill-in and great hi-hats & percussion. This was release #1 on the excellent Save The Vinyl label - those ones where the label took up much more space than necessary. The 'Paradise Vocal' Mix couldn't be more appropriately named, as the vocal consists of a singy-woman singing 'pa-ra-diiise' while whispery woman whispers 'paradise'. Dammit - the track just ended and the needle just skidded across the extra bit of label.

B1 mix? You guessed it - it's exactly the same, only minus our two lady friends. The track on B2's a bit Hardfloor so it's quite well-titled as well...



Basscult - Paradise Place
A - Paradise Place (Paradise Vocal Mix)
B1 - Paradise Place (Paradise Trance Mix)
B2 - Acid '93

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Secret Knowledge - Sugar Daddy Remixes

It's not often that a remix is as good as the original, but I reckon that at least one of these remixes comes close. Check out the remixers: Sabres Of Paradise, Disco Evangelists and pre-cheese Paul Van Dyk (with Johnny Klimek - odd combo or what)!! I had to get the MFS import rather than the UK Sabres release to get the 'exclusive' PVD mix, but it ruined my 'collect all the Sabres releases' pattern.

The first time I heard the Sabres mix, I couldn't believe what I was hearing after having been so used to the original mix. That final 'oooooohhhh' build up gets me every time. It's the pick o'the bunch for me but the other two are well worth checking out. Must be the only occasion that Paul Van Dyk crossed paths with the Weatherall/Holmes/Needs gang, surely to fuck...?



Secret Knowledge - Sugar Daddy Remixes
A - Sugar Caned (Sabres Of Paradise)
B1 - Out Of Our Brains On The 5:15 (Disco Evangelists)
B2 - Trip Across The Moon Remix (Paul Van Dyk & Jimmy Klimek)

Buy it here

Simple Synth In Flash - Bassline Synth Experiment

Not a download, but a great Flash application that'll have you fannying about relentlessly for hours.

Some people (thankfully) have way too much talent/spare time on their hands. Magnificent!

You'll need Flash Player 10 to run it. Go check it oot.



Simple Synth In Flash - Bassline Synth Experiment

Cap'm Stargazer Vs Commander Mindfuck - EP

This record is completely nuts. It came out of the American West Coast on the Exist Dance label in 1994. What starts off quite calmly as a nice wee trippy San Francisco-style EP soon degenerates into insanity. They've done the order of tracks very appropriately.

Check out those track titles...



Cap'm Stargazer Vs Commander Mindfuck - EP
A1 - Battle On The Tundra (The Initial Citrus Earthquake Confrontation)
A2 - The Mindfuck Introspective Ancestral Channeling Pilgrimage
B - Allied Against Nivar The Floor Killer

Buy it here

Peace Together - Be Still (Sabres Of Paradise Mix)

Here's the brief:

Get a cast of cunts: Therapy, Feargal Sharkey, Peter Gabriel, Sinead O'Connor & Nanci Griffith
Get one token good guy: Jah Wobble
The task: write and produce a record which will make all the 'Troubles' in Ireland go away after everyone has listened to it and heard the 'message'
Get flavour of the month to provide a 'cutting edge' remix: step forward Sabres Of Paradise

A bizarre record indeed, but not half as bizarre as another Sabres mix I found the other night, will stick it up sometime next week.

Actually the mix is really good, I squirmed the first time I heard the 'Celtic' riff at the start but it's a grower. If anyone feels the need to hear the non-Sabres version you can check it out on YouTube.



Peace Together - Be Still (Sabres Of Paradise Mix)

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Black Dog Productions - Black Dog Productions E.P.

This EP is a bona-fide classic, and sits nicely with the Bytes album which came out shortly afterwards. Each of the four tracks was so ahead of its time, this came out in 1992 - fuck me!

This was quite early in my dance/electronic music indoctrination and I didn't know that music like this existed. Made a point of buying up all those Artificial Intelligence albums afterwards, but on CD which was a mistake. Disks are now fucked and don't play properly, unlike this beast of a 12". I ditched all my CDs to mates/2nd hand/charity shops last year as I realised that I had no emotional attachment to them. Every flat move has an increasing amount of record boxes which seem to get heavier with age, but I wouldn't have it any other way...



Black Dog Productions - Black Dog Productions E.P.
A1 - Balil - Flux
A2 - Balil - Flux (D Mix)
B1 - Atypic - Otaku
B2 - Atypic - Pillars & Mirrors

Buy it here

Jeff Mills - Java EP

This is the first release on the Purpose Maker label by the man whose name seems to mean more in rhyming slang than it does for music nowadays. Or maybe that's just amongst my friends...

The first time I saw Jeff Mills DJ at Pure I think he played about 50 records in the first 5 minutes. Maybe a slight exaggeration, but he was flinging them about like a loony. I loved it, and returned to see the Jeff Mills show a few times after that.

The last time I saw him was in Rub-A-Dub where he was signing a DVD release. I got him to sign my iPod, a sign of the times...



Jeff Mills - Java EP
A1 - The Dancer
A2 - Gift Of The Hills
B1 - Java
B2 - Outsiders

Buy it here