Monday's Long Songs

The Monday long song slot LCD Soundsystem/ DFA takeover continues. Last Monday was LCD Soundsystem's Freak Out/ Starry Eyes, which followed the DFA remix of Le Tigre the previous week. Today, two further remixes but this time remixes of LCD Soundsystem by others, both from 2007.

Carl Craig, second wave of Detroit techno legend, remixed the title track from LCD's album of the same year, Sound Of Silver. James Murph's vocal refrain remains intact, 'Sound of silver talk to me/ Makes you feel like a teenager/ Until you remember the feelings of/ A real life emotional teenager/ Then you think again'. Around this piece of wisdom, Carl constructs a sleek nine minute machine ride with thudding drums, a synth drone at the top end that nags away, keyboard parts and not a little drama. 

Sound Of Silver (c2 rmx rev.3)

Soulwax remixed Get Innocuous!, ten minutes and one second of Belgian dancefloor nirvana, kicking off with just drums and then gradually bringing the keys in, Nancy Wang's voice, shiny 80s production, Murphy's Bowie- esque vocal, juddering synth stabs, the whole kit and caboodle. 

Get Innocuous! (Soulwax Remix)

Clear And Present

One of the joys of the in car mp3 player in shuffle mode is those totally unexpected tracks thrown up on the journey to and from work. Last week, out of the digital ether, it filled the car with the sounds of Paperclip People...

Clear And Present

The car's speakers struggled with that bass but as soon as those synths jump in the rattle and distortion was overcome by the magnificence of Carl Craig's 1996 masterpiece, The Secret Tapes Of Dr. Eich (an album he revisited and remastered in 2012 which is where this version is from). Carl blurs the lines on the twelve tracks between the gritty bounce and thump of nightclub music, the more clinical, scientific world of Detroit techno and the propulsive good times of disco. On most of the tracks the techno wins. Dynamics and science fiction techno pushed to the edges that demands to be played loud- steam hisses of hi hat, glorious long synth chords, thumping drums, sub bass. 

Steam

In 1996 Carl Craig (dressed up as Paperclip People) released one of the best albums of the 1990s, The Secret Tapes Of Dr. Eich, twelve thunderous, funky, driving and intense slices of house/ techno from Detroit. That may put some people off and it shouldn't- there's nothing inaccessible about the album. Tucked away on side three, coming after the slipping and sliding magnificence of Throw, is Steam.

Steam

Steam is built around rhythms and sounds that would have been at home on an early 80s dancefloor in Sheffield or West Berlin (it's partly based on a sample from Steam Away by early 80s post- punk group The Flying Lizards, to be found on their 1981 album Fourth Wall, a record which travelled a long way to get to 90s Detroit). There's some underground industrial funk, tough drums and looped sounds, all retooled for the mid- 90s. The keyboard part that comes in is straight out of 70s Detroit, soul and funk. The Secret Tapes Of Dr. Eich was remastered in 2012 and still sounded utterly contemporary. It's all effortlessly brilliant. 

I Found The World So New

This is the beach at Thurstaston on the Wirral, a quiet and sandy stretch with cliffs in danger of collapse behind it and the Dee estuary and North Wales in front. We went last weekend, the first time I've been to a beach or the sea for ages. The tide was out so we didn't see much sea but just being on a beach after so long was lovely. 

The debut album by Australian samplers/ band The Avalanches came out twenty years ago- we'll let that pass without too much comment but twenty years, WTF etc. Since I Left You famously is made up of 3, 500 samples, a swirling, technicolour, happy go lucky, kaleidoscope of a record, dizzy and in love with summer, sun, the sea, parties and living your best life. 

Since I Left You

The single Frontier Psychiatrist was/ is a fine example of the art of turntablism, the band's turntablist Dexter Fabay cutting and scratching. This remix by Mario C, a long time Beastie Boy associate, takes it all further. 

Frontier Psychiatrist (Mario Caldato's 85% Mix)

Since I Left You is out now as a twentieth anniversary double CD/ quadruple vinyl edition with fifteen remixes including ones from Prince Paul, the recently deceased MF Doom, Stereolab, Cornelius and this techno/ disco thumper remix of A Different Feeling by Carl Craig.

Basic Reshape

The flipside to sunshine drenched Italian Balearica is austere, minimal dub- techno from German duo Basic Channel. In 1995 Basic Channel (Moritz von Oswald and Mark Ernestus) put out a CD called BCD which compiled the series of 12" singles they'd released during the two previous years, a series of pioneering deep cuts. On the album was this- a six minute glide- by of bass, FX, insistent rhythm and heavy sounds- titled Remake (Basic Reshape). 

Remake (Basic Reshape)

Remake (Basic Reshape) originally saw the light of dawn under the name e2e4 Basic Reshape, a remix of Throw by Paperclip People (Carl Craig's brilliant dub- techno guise). Basic Channel remade Craig's track, which sampled Manuel Gottsching's minimalistic, hour long E2- E4 (the basis of yesterday's post, 1989's Sueño Latino). In doing so they pushed pushing Gottsching's 1984 album into new directions. Remake is a heavy duty, slow motion, bass led groove, a long way from the original and the '89 hit that sampled it. The melody has been filtered out and replaced with utterly absorbing layers of sounds. Dance music (for want of a better term) had a real sense of forward trajectory between '89 and '95, a constantly forward thinking form, the music of the future in the here and now. This still sounds futuristic. 

Bug In The Bassbin

Back from the Lake District, sun beaten and more than ready for a week off work, with a pile of records to play that I bought the weekend before (and the new Wooden Shjips album, not yet bought but certain to be purchased once I get into town later on this week).

There's been a thing on Twitter recently where people have been posting pictures of 10" record sleeves, 10 pictures in 10 days. I did it.  Some of you have been joining in. I was going through my 10" records and found my copy of Innerzone Orchestra's Bug In The Bassbin, released/reissued on Mo'Wax in 1996 but originally recorded in '92. Carl Craig put his nose ahead of the pack on Bug In The Bassbin fusing techno with jazz. Sounds like a terrible idea but isn't. It's fantastic. Bug In The Bassbin was picked up in the UK by some of the leading DJs including 4hero, Goldie, Mixmaster Morris and Giles Peterson, and when played faster than intended (at 45 rpm), played a major role in the dawn of drum 'n' bass.

Bug In The Bassbin (Sessions Version)

Momentum

If you like modular synth sounds and repetitive grooves and techno- and I do- then you might find something to enjoy in this collaboration between Carl Craig and Klauss, an Argentinian electro-acoustic ensemble who have been making music in Buenos Aires since the 1980s. Two tracks have been released on Planet E, Carl Craig's legendary Detroit electronic label. Momentum runs to over 12 minutes, a looped synth part setting it going and staying there throughout as the tension builds, some oscillation and a big kick drum. Momentum was the result of an improvised jam and in some ways it sounds like it- but there's plenty to enjoy here, in the sounds and the loops and propulsion.

Holger Czukay

Holger Czukay, bassist in Can and artist in his own right, has died at the age of 79. Holger joined Can in 1968 and was a key player, not just on the bass, but in engineering and producing their records and encouraging and exploring the experimental electronics they moved into. His basslines were recognisable and innovative. Can have become one of the names to drop, one of the 'seminal' influences, but they were also genuinely groundbreaking and have layers and layers of sound to soak up. The rhythm section was often right at the forefront and by placing bass and drums at the heart of Can's sound, minimal and repetitive beats, they made krautrock something you could dance to. White, German men making dance music. Drummer Jaki Leibezeit died earlier this year too. Yesterday's Spacemen 3 song was over ten minutes long. This is double that. Plus, you can spot Bobby Gillespie's lyrical steal.

Yoo Doo Right

And just to demonstrate one outpost the Can influence spread to here's a dreamy Carl Craig remix from 1997, Future Days (Bladerunner Mix).

In The Trees

In The Trees by Faze Action was a 1996 funky house single with disco undertones, sweeping strings headed for summer (made by brothers Simon and Robin Lee in Buckinghamshire). They went on to make plenty of other singles and albums but In The Trees is the one that they are known for.



In 2007 Carl Craig fed it through his Detroit techno/science fiction remix machine, starting out with a rhythmic buzzing sound and then adding layers and layers on top. The kick drum arrives after a couple of minutes. The synths rush in from stage left. By the time the strings hit you, the ride is all consuming and you're completely sucked in, heading for the black hole.

In The Trees (Carl Craig C2 Remix 4)

Sandstorms

I noticed in the labels list that runs down the right hand side of this blog that Carl Craig has pulled ahead of Carl Perkins in the postings stakes, eight posts to six (nine to seven now). Carl Perkins was there at the start of popular music- he wrote Blue Suede Shoes for crying out loud- but Carl Craig has a wider back catalogue and has pursued progression and sonic experimentation more doggedly. Not that it is a competition, they just both happen to be named Carl and next to each other on this blog.

Sandstorms is a 2004 track, from the Just Another Day ep, that builds languidly over squelchy bass noise. Carl is releasing an updated 2017 symphonic version with pianist Francesco Tristano, out shortly.

Sandstorms

Falling Up

I got back from London last night, three days covering many miles on foot and also by tube. I took this shot in an underground station and shockingly can't remember which one and getting a shot like this is pretty easy but I like the metals and the greys, the light at the entrance and the graffiti on the step.

This is one of those minimal techno/tech-house records that brings in elements one by one, layering machine sounds in waves, building effortlessly. When the synth part comes in just before the middle it's all a bit of a headrush. Underground music. Tube music.

Falling Up (Carl Craig Remix)

Poor People Must Work

Are we all still here? I'm assuming that during the night Trump didn't get his horrible, stubby, little fingers on the wrong buttons and start a nuclear war and that I'm alive and you're here reading this. Hopefully that's not a stupid assumption. We are living in strange times.

This Detroit remix of Berlin dub techno came out in 2006, Carl Craig reshaping Rhythm And Sound, with righteous vocals from Bobbo Shanti. It's pretty intense and could easily be twice the length and not outstay its welcome. This sleek, ultra rhythmic, layered techno is really pushing my buttons at the moment. Coming over Barton Bridge last night to something similar on the stereo the south Manchester sky was astonishing, a broad pink band bleeding into bright blue with a few streaks of white cloud and the disappearing sun a vibrant orangey-pink ball. A wheeling arc of birds rose over the retail park. I couldn't photograph it (I was driving) and the view only lasted a few seconds but it was something else.

Poor People Must Work (Carl Craig Remix)

Mind Of A Machine

Monday morning techno- the last Monday before Christmas techno too. Very festive.

Carl Craig's 1995 album Landcruising is a Detroit masterpiece, a sleek glide around the city at night with machine beats and glacial synths. In 2005 Carl revisited it and tinkered, updating it and then re-releasing it as The Album Formerly Known As... As you can imagine some of the techno purists were aghast. Carl said that 'some parts were dated so I wanted to make it again removing the dated parts and enlarging the good parts.' Technology and software goes through changes and when out djing he found some tracks jarred when played next to more modern sounds. Largely it comes down to taste but ten years on from the remake both versions sound great to these ears.

This one is absurdly good, the bass thumping from the start. Even if you think you don't like techno, you should let this one work its magic and hypnotise you.

Mind Of A Machine (2006 version)

Hot On The Heels

Walter beat me to the post when he blogged October (Love Song) by Chris and Cosey a few days ago- a beautiful 1983 single from two members of Throbbing Gristle. In 2004 an album of remixes of Throbbing Gristle tracks came out, called Mutant TG. As industrial and electronic pioneers Genesis P Orridge and co always got respect from dance music artists. One of the highlights of the album was this tremendous nine minute version by Detroit techno legend Carl Craig. Hot On The Heels Of Love is TG's most accessible song and had a dancefloor groove already. Carl sends it onwards with techno...

Hot On The Heels Of Love (Carl Craig Re-Version)

From today I'm off on holiday for a week, staying in Scarborough in North Yorkshire, so there'll be nothing here until next weekend. Be good.

Oscilator

I was going to post some squealing guitars today but I had a text exchange with an old friend who mentioned the Jamie Xx album (see yesterday) and also that apparently Jamie's favourite album is Paperclip People's 1996 The Secret Tapes Of Dr. Eich. Paperclip People was an alias for Carl Craig, Detroit techno scientist and wizard. The Secret Tapes... is a twelve track dancefloor masterpiece- pure, streamlined, machine music. Being from Detroit it is also gritty and dark. It manages to be both minimal and big sounding. This one, Oscilator, begins with a siren blast on repeat, then the drums kick in and distorted bass hits. After that you get six minutes of modulating, oscilating synths that twist and turn things upside and down. Straight to the point dance music that sounded like the future in 1996 and still sounds modern now. I love the album cover too, the reel to reel tape recorder (a 2012 re-mastered, re-issue had updated artwork. you can buy it here).

Oscilator

Throw

This fourteen minute and forty second long single was a big hit round here when it was released back in 1994. Carl Craig, foremost of the second generation of Detroit techno artists, put it out under his Paperclip People name. It is premium quality machine funk techno, starting with a sound of man kicking an expensive bin and then building and building, doubling the rhythm, adding layers and sounds, with a couple of dropouts that are heartstoppingly exciting. Really good and not a second too long.

Throw

Don't Forget The Motor City

Carl Craig is a techno mastermind, the key man in the second generation of Detroit house djs and producers. He embodies all those quotes about house/techno being Kraftwerk and Funkadelic stuck in a lift while The B52s are playing, and he makes genuinely emotive machine music with a huge sweep and range. I remember when Paperclip People's album came out being awestruck by it. A group of us saw him play at Sankey's Soap at some point in the 90s, and a friend (who would notice this type of thing) claimed that Carl was mixing on the basslines not the beat, which seemed really clever. I hadn't noticed, being too busy dancing. His first solo album was Landcruising, which had a motorcar theme, appropriately enough for Detroit. This is the opener- Mind Of A Machine.

Mind_of_a_Machine.mp3

Let Me Take You To A Place I Know You Want To Go

Detroit garage rock band The Dirtbombs have done an album of covers of Detroit techno. It's much better than it could have been, although their version of Bug In The Bassbin goes on for about seventeen minutes too long and Strings Of Life doesn't entirely work to these ears. Techno legend Carl Craig was so intrigued he got involved in it, not quite able to believe a guitar, bass and drums band would have a go at this, never mind do it well. This track is ace- a garage rock cover of Inner City's Good Life. The sun's out here and it almost feels like the end of winter so 'Let me take you to a place I know you want to go...'

Dirtbombs_-_Good_Life.mp3