Birthday Dub

Another belated happy birthday, this time to Richard Norris, who celebrated his 58th on 23rd June by recording and releasing a new track called Birthday Dub. It's a monster and available as a name your price digital download on Bandcamp.

 

 

I'm a few months into my first year as a subscriber via Bandcamp. It's been an immersive experience. Not only do I get new music (like Birthday Dub) on release, there are subscriber-only releases (the similarly bass-heavy album Oracle Sound Volume One, for example) and access to Richard's full digital discography. And there's a lot, including his Music For Healing series and the rather wonderful Lore Of The Land by The Order Of The 12. 

 

The original 'Music For Healing' version of June is twenty minutes long. Here's the edited version to give you a flavour.

Richard is also a prolific remixer, not just as The Grid (with Dave Ball) and Beyond The Wizard's Sleeve (with Erol Alkan) but hundreds (thousands?) under his own name. This is a particularly fine example from last year, a transformative remix of Sundowning by Mark Peters featuring Dot Allison.

 

Here's another, Richard's 2021 remix of Machine Girl, a track originally from Perry Farrell's 2019 album Kind Heaven and co-starring his wife Etty Lau Farrell.

 

Speaking of remixes by The Grid, I've always had a soft spot for their rework of Am I Right? a 1992 hit for Erasure. The Unofficial Erasure Club clearly agreed and compiled a video montage for the remix in 2015.

As for The Grid themselves, Floatation and Swamp Thing are perhaps the defining tracks, but I loved pretty much everything they did. Another early favourite was the single A Beat Called Love, song and video featuring the rather wonderful Sacha Souter.

 

If Sacha looks familiar it's because she adorned the cover of Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs top notch compilation from last year, Fell From The Sun: Downtempo And After Hours 1990-91, featuring the original album version of Floatation which (if memory serves me correctly) is ironically one of the few versions not to include Sacha's sublime vocals!

 

I was tempted to cap this off by reposting a link to a Richard Norris-inspired Dubhed selection from 2021, but I'm going to hold fire on that for now as I have a few ideas for another post. In the meantime, many happy returns Richard and thanks for all the music, past, present and future.

The Further You Fall, The Higher You Fly

The next few days will be highlighting some of my favourites from 2022, beginning with a selection of great remixes from the mass of singles that I've purchased (mainly on Bandcamp Friday) this year. 

 

Many DJs and producers could have warranted a 'best of' selection in their own right, given the quantity and quality of music they've released this year. An honorable mention then to those that only have one appearance here but easily could have had several: Andy Bell & GLOK, Bedford Falls Players, David Holmes & Unloved, Hardway Bros, HiFi Sean, Joe Goddard, Richard Norris and Rude Audio.

Albums by Mattiel, A Mountain Of One and Warmduscher have come recommended and appear in other 2022 countdowns in the blogosphere. I bought a lot of albums (mostly digital) this year but these are all still on my shopping list.

Continuing the 80s indie flavour, Andres Y Xavi make an appearance for the second year running with another track/remix featuring The Woodentops' Rolo McGinty. In a delightful and unexpected move, BMX Bandits' 2017 song Razorblades & Honey, co-written by Duglas T. Stewart and Anton Newcombe, was remixed by founder member, former Soup Dragon and DJ/producer par excellence Sean Dickson aka HiFi Sean. It's even better than you'd imagine it could be.

 

Jesse Fahnestock and Darren Bell are back as Jezebell (I warned you on Christmas Eve), breaking my own rule for this selection by appearing twice. In my defence, one is a remix of another artist (Ian Vale) and the other is a remix of one of their own songs by, er, themselves. Oh, why should I justify myself? They're both excellent!

 

In addition to an excellent album and clutch of singles with Unloved, David Holmes released the stunning single It's Over, If We Run Out Of Love featuring Raven Violet on Valentines Day this year, with a stunning remix package following at the end of March. Hard to pick a favourite to be honest, but Sean Johnston's brace of remixes won out.

 

Likewise, Richard Norris' pair of remixes of Sundowning by Mark Peters featuring Dot Allison released in late October are jaw droppingly beautiful. I've ditched the beats and gone for the ambient version to close this selection. 

 

All of these are available digitally, some on physical formats, via Bandcamp and other retailers. All highly recommended. 

 

More 2022 highlights tomorrow.

 

1) Subterranean Dub (Raf Rundell's Salty Man Dub): Mattiel

2) You Feed Me (Rude Audio Remix): Field Of Dreams

3) What Do You See In Me (Xavi Dub 2) (Remix By Steve Ellis): Andres Y Xavi ft. Rolo McGinty

4) Star (Yo Miro Remix): A Mountain Of One

5) Red Shift (Bedford Falls Players Remix): MAN2.0

6) Dimension Z (Pete Bones Remix): TR20

7) Razorblades & Honey (HiFi Sean Extended Revision): BMX Bandits ft. Anton Newcombe

8) Loft Music (Jezebell's DC Metro Mix): Ian Vale

9) It's Over, If We Run Out Of Love (Hardway Bros Live At The SSL Dub): David Holmes ft. Raven Violet

10) Wavygravy (GLOK Remix): Flyying Colours

11) Dancing (Not Fighting) (The Drop Acid Not Bombs Mix): Jezebell

12) Famous (The Reflex Re√ision): Parcels

13) Fatso (Joe Goddard Remix): Warmduscher

14) Sundowning (Richard Norris Ambient Remix): Mark Peters ft. Dot Allison

The Further You Fall, The Higher You Fly (1:27:08) (Box) (Mega)

Everywhere Yet Nowhere

Why has it taken me so long to post a Dot Allison selection? This one's been drifting around my consciousness for over a year, since Dot's spectacular return with Heart-Shaped Scars, her first album in nearly a decade.

I've been a huge fan of all things Dot since she emerged with One Dove in the early 1990s and I've followed her solo career over seven albums and numerous collaborations with the likes of Slam, Death In Vegas, Scott Walker and Sunn O))).

 

2022 saw the release of The Entangled Remix EP, featuring reworks of five songs by Lee 'Scratch' Perry, Lomond Campbell, Anton Newcombe, Saint Etienne and The Anchoress aka Catherine Anne Davies. Both the EP and Heart-Shaped Scars are available on digital and physical formats from Bandcamp and you really need both in your life.

Joy of joy, Dot posted this week that she's midway through her new album, mixing starts this month with a planned release in 2023. Too much to hope that Dot will go out on tour as well? Fingers crossed.

As I'd planned to post this selection on a Sunday, it's a slightly more relaxed affair, heavier on the acoustics than the electronics, although the BPMs do occasionally ramp up. It's a mix of solo and collaborations, spanning an unreleased, unfinished song, Untouched, from One Dove's planned second album in 1994 through to a song she co-wrote with Mark Peters, released as a single in July this year. The full length version of

Switch On The Sky appears with another Dot Allison co-write on Mark's album Red Sunset Dreams, out last month and also highly recommended.

There are a couple of cover versions of Scott Walker and Neil Young (I wanted to included another, of Daniel Johnston, but ran out of space) and a couple of duets with Pete Doherty and Paul Weller.

The selection closes with a version of Message Personnel, from Dot's debut solo album, here remixed by those lovely Arab Strap boys, Aidan Moffat and Malcolm Middleton.

 

All in, just over an hour of beautiful music to make you fall in love with Dot Allison all over again.

1) Lullaby: Christian Henson ft. Dot Allison (2009)

2) Did I Imagine You? (Album Version): Dot Allison (1999)

3) Montague Terrace (In Blue) (Cover of Scott Walker): Dot Allison (2009)

4) Ghost Orchid (Album Version): Dot Allison (2021)

5) Sell Me Back My Soul (Album Version): King Of Woolworths ft. Dot Allison (2003)

6) Allelujah (Album Version By Dot Allison & Kramer): Dot Allison (2007)

7) You Give Me Everything: Dot Allison ft. Tony Scott (2012)

8) Untouched (Dot Of The Jungle Version): One Dove (1994)

9) Sheepskin Tearaway (Album Version): Peter Doherty ft. Dot Allison (2009)

10) Wishing Stone (Album Version By Dot Allison & Keith Tenniswood): Dot Allison (2002)

11) Love's Got Me Crazy: Dot Allison ft. Paul Weller (2009)

12) One Love (Saint Etienne Remix): Dot Allison (2022)

13) Switch On The Sky (Edit): Mark Peters ft. Dot Allison (2022)

14) I Believe In You (Cover of Neil Young): Dot Allison (2003)

15) Message Personnel (Arab Strap Remix Long Version): Dot Allison (1999)

 

1994: Moon Angel (unreleased): 8

1999: Afterglow: 2

1999: Colour Me EP: 15

2002: We Are Science: 10 

2003: Acoustic: 14

2003: L'Illustration Musicale: 5 

2007: Exaltation Of Larks: 6

2009: Grace/Wastelands: 9

2009: Room 7½: 3, 11

2009: Triangle OST: 1 

2012: Pioneers 01: 7

2021: Heart-Shaped Scars: 4

2022: The Entangled Remix EP: 12

2022: Switch On The Sky EP: 13

Everywhere Yet Nowhere (1:01:26) (Box) (Mega)