Keep The Vibes Alive

Max Essa aka UK-born, Tokyo-based artist Max Bruce appeared on my radar last March with his stunning trio of remixes of What Do You See In Me? by Andres Y Xavi. I'm typically late to the party, as Max has been doing his thing since the early 1990s and has released a ton of albums, singles and remixes in the 21st Century alone whilst also running his own label, Jansen Jardin.

Completing the triangulation of sound, the UK and Japanese influences are bathed in Balearic sunshine, creating a groovy yet meditative sound that transports the listener back to the late 1980s/early 1990s. No surprise that there's a track called Blame It On Rea.

I've picked a ten song, one hour selection, mostly Max's own songs, mostly from the last couple of years, all available on Bandcamp. There are a few remixes along the way - Cantoma (aka Phil Mison), MCLD (aka André Mcleod), Natural Hugh (an Essa alias) and Charles Webster's remix of Max's Come Come The Rain, the latter especially apt as that pretty much sums up the weather here at home for the past week.

The Christmas and New Year celebrations are officially over at Casa K. The tree's been removed, the decorations packed away and we're all back at work today. This is my oasis/escape for an hour, at least.

1) Hearts In Flood (Alternative Version): Max Essa (2021)

2) Jigsaw Moon (Single Version): Max Essa (2021)

3) North Shore (Max Essa Instrumental): Cantoma (2011)

4) Fingers & Thumbs: Max Essa (2021)

5) Canopy: Max Essa (2021)

6) Lovers Then Strangers (Vacation Edit): Max Essa (2015)

7) Fountains: Natural Hugh (2021)

8) Love FM (Max Essa Remix): MCLD (2021)

9) Come Come The Rain (Charles Webster Remix): Max Essa (2018)

10) Blame It On Rea: Max Essa (2016) 

 

2011: Out Of Town: The Remixes: 3 

2015: Lovers Then Strangers EP: 6

2016: Blame It On Rea EP: 10

2018: M.O.D.F.D.M.V/Come Come The Rain EP: 9

2020: Palmetto Green LeMans/Fountains EP: 7

2021: Jigsaw Moon/Jules Y Cynthia EP: 2 

2021: Love FM EP: 8

2021: Miró In The Bathroom: 1, 5

2022: Fingers & Thumbs/I Can't Sleep EP: 4

Keep The Vibes Alive (1:00:35) (Box) (Mega)

Can't Stop The Feeling

Before You Close Your Eyes, track 2 side 2 of Tindersticks' 1999 album Simple Pleasure, popped up on my random shuffle playlist. This prompted me to me to trawl YouTube for a live performance of the song. Not many, and fewer in good quality, but I found a reasonably decent version from the Lycabettus Theatre in Athens, Greece on 19th September 2010.

I haven't really followed Tindersticks since their run of excellent 1990s albums, a couple of early 2000s EPs and a few tracks from a Claire Denis Film Scores sampler CD with Sight & Sound magazine from 2011 but that's about it.

A bit of shock to realise that, whilst the line-up is substantially different from those early albums, Tindersticks celebrated 30 years in 2021 with a career-spanning retrospective, Past Imperfect. The core of the band throughout has remained Stuart A. Staples, Neil Fraser and David Boulter and, since 2008, Dan McKinna and Earl Harvin.

Past Imperfect included a new song, Both Sides Of The Blade, recorded for Claire Denis' film Avec Amour Et Acharnament (With Love And Determination) starring recent Dubhed headliner Juliette Binoche. In January this year, an official video of the song was released, directed by Stuart A. Staples, which is sublime.

The compilation also includes a new version of Willow, with vocals by Stuart A. Staples, a beautiful, delicate song that would not sound out of place on a film soundtrack.

This then led me back to the original version, which unsurprisingly was recorded in 2019 for another Claire Denis film, High Life, but surprisingly features vocals by the lead actor, Robert Pattinson.

Tindersticks' most recent album, Distractions, was released in 2021. The album opens with the 11-minute epic Man Alone (Can't Stop The Fadin'). Again, there's a video by Stuart A. Staples, this time from the back of a London cab in the wee hours. Both the song and visuals are quite a ride.

Whenever I see the name of Tindersticks' guitar player Neil Fraser, my mind can't help but think of his namesake aka Mad Professor. I've often thought that I'd like to hear a Mad Professor dub rinse of Tindersticks songs, ever since Adrian Sherwood delivered a remix of I Know That Loving, also from 1999's Simple Pleasure. 

 

I'm still waiting for that day but, in May 2021, Charles Webster provided a dub and vocal remix of Man Alone (Can't Stop The Fadin'), which are both pretty wonderful. No vinyl release that I'm aware of but you can purchase both tracks digitally via Bandcamp.

  

Time now for me to dive back into the last twenty years of Tindersticks and see what I've been missing...