Category Archives: album

Chris Joss: I Want Freedom 12-Inch Remixes

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There are groups that are vastly improved by remixes, artists who are turned to complete slurry, and then there are the ones like Chris Joss who get their original works of deliciousness garnished with all sorts of new flavors and spices. The four track 12-inch remix vinyl for I Want Freedom is a worthy investment even in a crap economy. Do without that gallon of gas, buy this instead.

The I Want Freedom Myagi remix throws in a deep analog synth riff underneath making this a track you really ought to hear at “call the cops” volume in order to get the full benefit of the mix. Side A also features an extended mix of the original, but sounds fairly unmolested and sort of anti-climatic on the heels of the Myagi mix.

The B-side Smokey Bandits remix takes a while to find its legs, but once the extra vox and horns kick in, it’s smooth sailing on this Basement Freaks/Quasamodo version. The Atfunk remix kicks this track into funkier heights, I love this version. Myagi and Atfunk win the battle of the remixers, two badass reworkings of one of the standout tracks from Chris Joss’s latest, Teraphonic Overdubs. Hear all this stuff at the ESL site, click the links and you’ll get a nice sampling of all this and more. RECOMMENDED.

Thievery Corporation Supreme Illusion 12-Inch Single

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I’ve been digging this Thievery Corporation track since hearing it on the ESL Remixed CD. That’s a disc I strongly recommend, but for the vinyl 12-inch single junkie, here’s a must-own. Thievery Corporation’s Supreme Illusion is remixed by Nickodemus in a great Near-East vibe that mercifully sidesteps all the groan-inducing cliches lesser remixers resort to when trying to impart some of those “mystic East” touches.

This is some flawless, ultra-polished post-club listening. The ESL Remixed version was non-stop on the player for two solid months–quite a feat given all the music I consume on a daily basis. If these releases were cigarettes, I’d be dead by now.

Supreme Illusion is a great track and the B-side, Thievery Corporation’s remix of Crazy Stranger by Nickdemus is no slouch, either–but I prefer the A side, hands down. For those who don’t dig singles, pick up the ESL Remixed CD instead, there’s a glorious load of tasty sounds there.

Aquaserge 12-Inch EP “Tahiti Coco”

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Oh YES, dear friends, we’ve got a genuine, unclassifiably cool anomaly on our hands here. Aquaserge starts off with a bit of the old Vampyros Lesbos soundtrack vibe crossed with a dash of Mellow (that Air side project band that did the soundtrack for Roman Coppola’s movie, CQ ) thrown in for good measure. Already I am hooked, but then this veers off into Miles Davis territory circa the Cellar Door sessions in 1970–it’s those gloriously dated keyboard sounds.

Prog, psych, and groovy all mixed together in a glorious melange all the way from the south of France where Aquaserge resides. Chris Joss, Air, Aquaserge…what is it about France that keeps me coming back for more?

I am loving this group and I have only heard the one track, La Femme De Tahiti. This is so utterly required listening that I’m not going to rant and rave about it except to say that this is my favorite accidental find in a long time. I haven’t loved an accidental find of this nature so well since I stumbled across Gang Gang Dance.

The label this is on, Manimal Vinyl is definitely worth exploring, this band is not the lone anomaly of the lot…but I’ll be damned, this is the track I’ll be stuck on for a WHILE. Aquaserge needs to come to Chicago so I can get the full skinny and bring it to you…solid stuff, this. Check out the MP3 of La Femme De Tahiti in the audio player at the Manimal site. RECOMMENDED.

The Mops: Psychadelic Freakouts from the Far East

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My first introduction to this crazy Japanese “Group Sound” band was in the extremely mental Hanzo The Razor series starring Shintaro Katsu. The Mops did great, cheeseball 70s soul/disco sounds for the three movies released in the USA, and ever since I’ve been on a quest to find more by this far out group who cycle between The Strawberry Alarm Clock and Jefferson Airplane extremes to the aforementioned disco vibrations. Check out this brain-twistingly interesting clip and wonder why you never bothered to check YouTube for such OUT THERE goodness. I may have to go all the way to Japan to track down the vinyl for this, but it would be worth it, especially when armed with Julian Cope’s JapRockSampler and all the bands mentioned in that one.