Decayed II: 2003

Side 2 of an imaginary mixtape, documenting each year of the 2000s.

2003 saw the USA invade Iraq and, by year end, capture Saddam Hussein. The space shuttle Columbia disintegrated on re-entry to the Earth's atmosphere, with the tragic loss of seven astronauts. Iconic aircraft Concorde made it's final flight. Someone cheated on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? And Jemini, the UK's entry to the Eurovision Song Contest, came last with nil points.

Much as I'm drawn to the musical underdog, I'll manage your disappointment by saying now that Jemini do not appear in today's pick of dozen songs from 2003. Instead, it's the usual eclectic mix of hits and misses and hopefully a few surprises.

Kicking off with an unexpected partnership, The Chemical Brothers returned with one of two new singles for a 'best of' compilation, featuring The Flaming Lips. Wayne Coyne is on fine form on The Golden Path, narrating a tale of the afterlife that is propelled along on a sea of beats in a very pleasing way. 

Another nostalgia fest is 70s 80s by Nightmares On Wax, rapper LSK aka Leigh Kenny recounting childhood memories of Doc Martens, racism, riots, Crackerjack and Jim'll Fix It. It was nearly a decade later before the horror of the latter was exposed via Operation Yewtree.

Electric Six seemed to come out of nowhere with a crazy video and a crazy song that was strangely compelling. I bought the remix single as I was a fan of Stuart Price aka Jacques Lu Cont aka Les Rythmes Digitales aka The Thin White Duke (the other one). Actually, the best remix on the CD turned out to be by Finnish trio Kilogram aka Mikko Viljakainen, Timo Kaukolampi and Tuomo Ilmari Puranen. Danger! High Voltage is a great song, in any variation.

The two big hitters of the year for me were Crazy In Love by Beyoncé, featuring her paramour and future husband Jay-Z and built upon the brilliant sample of Are You My Woman? (Tell Me So) by Chi-Lites. Still Beyoncé's defining moment, in my opinion.

The other was OutKast, who effectively released two solo albums as one with Speakerboxxx/The Love Below. Hey Ya! came from the latter, Andre 3000 creating an unforgettable tune (and video) that put everything else that he (and Big Boi) did in the shade.

Back to ingenious use of samples and David Holmes was also in on the act with his new combo The Free Association. Holmes had previously included Johnny Jones & The King Casuals' cover of the Hendrix classic Purple Haze in his excellent Come Get It I Got It mix. Here, the sampled riff underpins Everybody Knows, vocalists Petra Jean Phillipson and Sean Reveron swapping exchanges over the top.

Speaking of covers, Canadian DJ/producer Tiga recorded a cover of Hot In Herre by Nelly which was initially released by !K7 Records in 2002 as part of their DJ-Kicks series. It was picked up the following year by Skint Records, home of Fatboy Slim and Lo-Fidelity Allstars, for release in the UK with remixes by Richard X and Radio Slave. The original is still the best, featuring a guest spot from Jake Shears, who managed a higher UK chart position later the same year with his band Scissor Sisters. More of them next time.

18 was Moby's follow up to the ubiquitous Play album and, whilst there was a similar licensing frenzy to get his music into commercials everywhere, the music and the album as a whole didn't quite have the same impact, despite some impressive guest stars.

Jam For The Ladies wasn't officially released as a single in the UK, although it was readily available on 12" and CD from your friendly neighbourhood record shop. I went for the latter, not least because Moby brought along Princess Superstar to join Angie Stone and MC Lyte from the original album version. Angie was sadly lost to us in March this year.

Another friendship that bore fruit was Beth Gibbons and Paul Webb, the latter recording as Rustin Man. They'd known each other for a decade, when Beth wanted to be vocalist with Webb and Talk Talk bandmate Lee Harris' project .O.Rang. The rise of Portishead meant that Beth only got to record a little with .O.Rang, but when the former went on hiatus, an opportunity presented for Beth and Paul to record again, delivered the stunning album Out Of Season.

On a related indie tip, Turin Brakes enjoyed a Top 5 hit with Pain Killer, which prompted me to catch up with them and their second album, Ether Song. Lyrically, the imagery of cycling in the rain and catching a cold shouldn't be as uplifting as it is, but the song is an absolute joy.

As is Soldier Girl by The Polyphonic Spree, headed by Tim DeLaughter and a seemingly literal cast of thousands (later including Annie Clark aka St. Vincent). Soldier Girl is presented here in its radio edit/single form, and is essentially a two-and-a-half minute chorus, Brilliant stuff.

Closing with the future retro sound of Danish dynamic duo The Raveonettes, namely Sune Rose Wagner and Sharin Foo. Fantastic names all round. I love them and That Great Love Sound is as good a calling card as any for what The Raveonettes are about. That Great Love Sound first charted in August 2003 and was released the following year with brand new remixes by the man of the moment, Jacknife Lee. Incredibly, the single performed worse the second time around, failing to reach the Top 40. Proof perhaps that The Raveonettes got it right the first time...

And that's it for another year and another weekend. 

What will next week have in store? Well... three #1s, one #100 (!), several 1980s and 1990s artists making an unexpected return, plus plenty of fresh young faces. Oh, and lots of lovely guitar riffs.

1) The Golden Path (Edit): The Chemical Brothers ft. The Flaming Lips

2) Danger! High Voltage (Kilogram Remix): Electric Six

3) 70s 80s (Radio Edit): Nightmares On Wax ft. LSK

4) Crazy In Love (Album Version): Beyoncé ft. Jay-Z

5) Everybody Knows (Album Version): The Free Association

6) Hot In Herre (Radio Edit) (Cover of Nelly) : Tiga ft. Jake Shears

7) Jam For The Ladies (Radio Mix): Moby ft. Princess Superstar, Angie Stone & MC Lyte

8) Hey Ya! (Radio Mix / Club Mix): OutKast

9) Pain Killer (Album Version): Turin Brakes

10) Tom The Model (Album Version): Beth Gibbons & Rustin Man

11) Soldier Girl (Radio Edit): The Polyphonic Spree

12) That Great Love Sound (Album Version): The Raveonettes

12th January 2003: Fire (#2): 2

23rd February 2003: Ether Song (#5): 9

2nd March 2003: Mind Elevation (#76): 3

9th March 2003: Out Of Season (#70): 10

6th April 2003: David Holmes Presents The Free Association (#74): 5

6th July 2003: Dangerously In Love (#1): 4

20th July 2003: The Beginning Stages Of... The Polyphonic Spree (#26): 11

27th July 2003: 18 (# n/a): 7

24th August 2003: Chain Gang Of Love (#34): 12

31st August 2003: Hot In Herre EP (#46): 6

21st September 2003: Singles 93-03 (#17): 1

8th February 2004: Speakerboxxx / The Love Below (#3): 8 *

Side Two (45:12) (GD) (M)

* Hey Ya! was a new entry at #6 in the UK singles chart the week of 16th November 2003. It then spent all but one week of the next four months in the Top 20, peaking at #3 on 8th February 2004.

If you enjoyed this, you may also wish to check out my previous selections for 1983 and 1993.

Before You Abuse, Criticise And Accuse

Walk A Mile In My Shoes by Coldcut featuring Robert Owens popped up on my music shuffle and it was a blast to hear it again.

Back in my former blogging life, I wrote about the single on it's release in 2006.

Single number four from Coldcut’s Sound Mirrors albums sees the duo team up with Robert Owens to rework a classic 1970s number by Joe South. The album version and radio edit included here call to mind the string laden sounds of Massive Attack, the Now Voyager remix of You Got The Love by The Source featuring Candi Staton and, closer to home, their early 1990s cover of Yves Montand’s / Nat King Cole’s Autumn Leaves. 

Typically, there’s a diverse selection of mixes available on the CD. Tiga’s mix recalls his darker dancehall moments, with an urgent yet simultaneously unsettling beat. Tom Belton tries for a more uptempo, hands in the air feel (or, more specifically, Tom Middleton’s Cosmos sound), but doesn’t quite pull it off. Timo Garcia + the Cheshire Catz keep up the bpms, though retain the melancholy of Robert Owen’s outstanding vocals. 

However, only Henrik Schwarz really manages to enhance the Coldcut original, creating a sweeping epic that just builds and builds. The edit featured here serves as a teaser for the majesty of the full, nine minute version included on the 12” single, so maybe you need to buy or download that too. 

Four singles in, and there’s no sign that Coldcut are milking it.

I guess Ninja Tune agreed with my thoughts on the standout remixes, as both Tiga's and Henrik Schwarz's versions were included on the Sound Mirrors Remixes compilation, issued later that year. 

Both the remix companion and the original version of Sound Mirrors are available digitally via Bandcamp for less than a fiver, and highly recommended.

 

 

Better Do Better Than That

Back in my previous blogging life, I ran a series called Jukebox Juicebox, which randomly reviewed my music purchases at the time. Not to be confused with The Juicebox Jukebox, who apparently "create awesomely positive, fun, educational children's music, videos, and books"

The inclusion of Better Do Better (Wrongtom Wild Inna 81 Version) by Hard-Fi in last Sunday's Dubhed Selection reminded me that I'd reviewed the single back in the day, which led me to dig out the original post from May 2006.

I'm re-presenting the whole thing, which takes in contemporary releases by Tiga and King Biscuit Time (Steve Mason) too. No edits other than the links, as several of the originals are now defunct, and some formatting here and there. 

I've also added the official videos, which I probably last saw nearly twenty years ago. Wow.

Hard-Fi "Better Do Better”

The Hard-Fi phenomenon has pretty much passed me by, not helped by the rather crap name and uninspiring sleeve designs. Yes, I know, never judge a book by it’s cover and all that… 

Anyway, this single caught my attention and it’s melody has been nagging at the back of my mind ever since. A slower number than the snippets of their Stars Of CCTV album I’ve heard so far, the song focuses on the return of an adulterous ex-girlfriend. 

Richard Archer’s lyrics are refreshingly direct - ‘Can you see me again? / Yeah right, you’ve been kicked out / Do you think that I’m that stupid?’ - and emotionally frank - ‘I cried so much / My face has never been the same’ - as the narrator realises that the wounds are still open, but steels his resolve to reject the girl he once loved. 

The flipside offers a dub by Wrongtom and The Stoneleigh Mountain Rockers, which strips both song and lyrics down to the basics – ‘You’re back, sitting on my doorstep / Your face makes me want to be sick / …it's a physical reaction...’ – making Better Do Better even more raw, in every sense of the word. 

All this, and gorgeous flourescent yellow seven-inch vinyl too. A great single that will undoubtedly repeat Hard-Fi’s success to date. 

Slow dance to this with your ex at the local disco and they'll get the message.

Tracklisting [7"]: 1. Better Do Better (Album Version) / 2. (Wrongtom Wild Inna 81 Version)

Visit the official Hard-Fi website

Jan 2025 update: I abviously didn't follow the UK singles chart at the time. Better Do Better crashed in at #14, providing the band with it's 5th Top 20 hit. However, byt the time I posted my review three weeks later, it had dropped to #46 and continued a slow but steady slide out of the Top 100. 

Tiga “(Far From) Home”

The Canadian retro-futurist pop star is back with another slice from his Sexor album, featuring the seemingly unstoppable Soulwax. 

The original version sounds like the Human League fronted by Stephen ‘Tin Tin’ Duffy, whilst veteran producer Dave Bascombe beefs up the rhythm and melody for the radio mix on the CD single. 

A clutch of remixes wisely retain the vocals, but take the song in wonderfully different directions. Chicken Lips deliver a downtempo but extremely funky take. French duo Digitalism kick off with an intro not unlike Toni Basil’s Mickey, but rapidly entering dancesloor-shredding Chemical Brothers/DFA territory. 

Speaking of the latter, The DFA provide a further trademark mix (which is no bad thing, of course). What really pushes this take over the edge is a keyboard hook that sounds naggingly like Abba’s Gimme Gimme Gimme, as recently used in Madonna’s Hung Up. Four words: It. Works. Better Here. 

A version of Move My Body, the original of which was an exclusive on Erol Alkan’s Bugged Out mix compilation, maintains the quality for the dancefloor, with vocodered vocals and a nagging electro rhythm. 

The 12” vinyl versions offer the full ten-minute DFA remix plus a further Sexor Reprise by Tiga himself. A catchy song, offered in a variety of tempting formats. What are you waiting for? Indulge yourself!

Tracklisting [7”]: 1. (Far From) Home (Album Version By Tiga & Soulwax) / 2. (Chicken Lips Mix)
[CD5]: 1. (Far From) Home (Bascombe Radio Mix) / 2. (Digitalism Remix) / 3. (DFA Remix (Joakim Edit)) / 4. Move My Body (Version 2)

Visit the official Tiga website

Jan 2025 update: Undoubtedly boosted by my buying both the single on both 7" and CD, (Far From) Home debuted at #65...then disappeared from the UK Top 100 the following week. All of the subsequent singles and album listings on the Officlal Charts listing for Tiga are actually for US rapper Tyga. Come on, OC!

King Biscuit Time "Kwangchow"

A quick Google search revealed that Kwangchow is “a city on the Zhu Jiangi delta in southern China; the capital of Guangdong province and a major deep-water port”. My knowledge of world geography and history is pretty poor, so I’m not really much the wiser. 

As King Biscuit Time is the solo project of former Beta Band frontman Steve Mason, I didn’t expect the lyrics to enlighten me either. Opening chorus ‘How do you find a head when you got no fluid? / How do you find your heart when you feel no love?’, confirmed that expection. 

It may sound like faint praise but, if you’re a fan of the Beta Band or The Flaming Lips, then you’ll love this unconditionally. For the unconvinced, it’s difficult to know how to sell Kwangchow – and bonus track Tears Dry – other than to say that Mason is producing a more concise, coherent and generally more enjoyable version of his former band’s sound. 

If you remain unconvinced, then check out the remixes. The Doctors Of Love (no, never heard of them either) beef up the drum, ‘teardrop’ keyboard and piano parts to create a song that Primal Scream would kill to inlcude on their forthcoming album. 

Meanwhile, the Suicide D.O.G.Z remix creates a naggingly familiar Eastern-sounding beat, frequently looping the vocals to hypnotic effect. An exclusive Suicide D.O.G.Z remix on the Poptones website cranks up the rhythm and dubs the vocals to birth a sweaty floorfiller. A promising taster for forthcoming King Biscuit Time album Black Gold and an introduction to a couple of remixers to watch.

Tracklisting [CD5]: 1. Kwangchow (Album Version) / 2. Tears Dry / 3. (Doctors Of Love Remix) / 4. (Suicide D.O.G.Z - Faudels Hash Den Remix)

There is no official King Biscuit Time website, so go check out Steve Mason's instead.

Jan 2025 update: Very unlikely assisted by my CD single purchase and reach of my blog review, Kwangchow charted the following week at #84, the last time that King Biscuit Time - and Steve  Mason as a solo artist - cracked the UK Top 100 singles.. There is no justice in the (music) world.

In other diappointing news, the Poptones website is long gone and I seem to have lost the exclusive download-only Suicide D.O.G.Z remix along the way. Gutted!

...But When You Want Me, It Might Be A Different Story

Following my sideways reference to him in last month's post about cover versions of Nelly's Hot In Herre, today's selection is firmly focused on Canadian DJ & producer Tiga Sontag.

 

Another artist that I've lost touch with in recent years, although a quick scan of t'internet indicates that although his third album was in 2016, Tiga has released a steady stream of singles in the years since, in addition to DJing, production and running the Turbo Recordings label.

 

I only have one Tiga album, the 2CD deluxe edition of debut Sexor, so today's selection draws heavily on this. You also get a few collaborations with Soulwax (or one of the Dewaele brothers, at least), a Chromeo rework and a nice update of The DFA remix by Mojo Filter aka Ben Zaven Crane. In between, two answerphone messages, some nice chunky beats and basslines, wrapping up with the song that supplies today's post title, featuring The Scissor Sisters' Jake Shears.

 

Strap in and enjoy the ride.

 

1) Good As Gold (Album Version By Tiga & Soulwax) (2006)

2) Pleasure From The Bass (2006)

3) Burning Down (No! No! No!) (2003)*

4) What You Need (Chromeo Remix) (2010)

5) Jamaican Boa (ft. David M.) (2006)

6) (Far From) Home (Mojo Filter Returneth Re-Love) (2018)

7) Move My Body (Only4Erol Mix By David Dewaele) (2006)

8) "Tiga's answerphone" (2006)

9) Time 2 Kill (2007)

10) You Gonna Want Me (12 Inch Dance Mix By Tiga, Soulwax & Jesper Dahlbäck) (ft. Jake Shears) (2007)

 

* also known as Burning Down (London's Burning) or Burning Down (TGV Remix)

 

2003: Burning Down EP: 3

2006: Move My Body EP: 7

2006: Sexor: 1, 2, 5, 8

2007: Sexor (2CD Deluxe Edition): 9

2007: You Gonna Want Me EP: 10

2010: What You Need EP: 4

2018: Modern Re-Loves Volume 4: 6

 

...But When You Want Me, It Might Be A Different Story (42:07)

It's Hot Up In This Joint

France meets Italy in a full on rap soundclash on Mr. Oizo & Phra's new album, Voilá, released last Friday (18th).

 

Mr. Oizo aka Quentin Dupieux is still considered a one-hit wonder in the UK, thanks to his ubiquitous 1999 hit (and Levi's ad), Flat Beat. Interestingly, the Official Charts Company lists the same release twice, so it has the strange distinction of spending both one and nineteen weeks in the UK singles chart, peaking at #98 and #1 respectively. Some achievement.

 

Phra is perhaps better known as Francesco Barbaglia, initially one half of DJ/producer duo Crookers, but running solo since 2012. Having previously collaborated with Mr. Oizo on tracks in 2016 and 2019 this is (I think) their first album-length collaboration, and an absolute corker it is too. 

 

When I say "album-length", in truth it extremely short: the nine tracks are bolstered on the vinyl and digital formats by an instrumental version; all eighteen tracks still come in under 40 minutes, only one pushes over the three minute mark.

Tucked away in the middle is a cover version of Nelly's 2002 smash, Hot In Herre, re-titled Hot In Her for this album. I love the original song, although my presiding memory of Nelly is that my wife and I used to find him uncontrollably hilarious whenever he appeared on the screen and this video for this song was no exception. Don't get me wrong, Nelly wasn't intentionally a comedy act, but there was something that used to make us laugh, time and time again. Maybe it was the overly earnest swagger, maybe it was the trademark plaster (maybe he just really couldn't shave), maybe it was the reliably clichéd "cars and girls" videos. All I can say is that tears of laughter would generally ensue whenever Nelly rolled into view.

The song, ignoring some of the equally clichéd lyrics, is fantastic though. Canadian DJ/producer Tiga Sontag clearly thought so too, when he covered the song for his 2002 DJ-Kicks compilation. The track was subsequently released in September 2003, just over a year on from Nelly's original. The latter had peaked at #4, one of Nelly's biggest hits, and I was surprised to find that Tiga's version - featuring Scissor Sisters' Jake Shears and remixes from Richard X & Radio Slave - managed a respectable #46.

 

I don't think Mr. Oizo & Phra's version can expect the same chart success, twenty years on, but I would recommend the album. You can buy the digital version on Bandcamp; vinyl has already sold out, though you will find copies via Discogs and other retail outlets.

Hot In Her: Mr. Oizo & Phra (2022)

Hot In Herre: Tiga ft. Jake Shears (2002)

Hot In Herre: Nelly (2002)