Catch Some ZZZZs

It was listening to Mutuashi by the fabulously named Zong Zing All Stars a week or so ago that planted the seed for today's selection, artists with names beginning Z.

Now, even the modestly travelled blogophiles amongst you might say that this is blatant rip off/poor imitation (delete as applicable) of the "Rock's Greatest..." series over at No Badger Required, which to date has covered the letters J and W. To which I'd reply, if only I were half that good...!

The closest this selection gets to rock is via hirsute Texan trio ZZ Top, although legendary New York DJ/producer John 'Jellybean' Benitez does his best to drag them onto the dancefloor. Mind the broken glass, sticky beer puddles and piles of vomit, boys...

Sticking with New York, sister act Cristi Jo and Jessica Zambri caused a bit of a stir in the late 00s/early 10s, although seem to have released just one album, House Of Baasa, in 2012 and been quiet on social media since the summer of 2018. Easier is an early song, remixed by Berkshire's finest Does It Offend You, Yeah? who I revisited in a post earlier this year.

 

Staying in the city, another New York DJ legend, Justin Strauss, trims and polishes Tomorrow People by Ziggy Marley & The Melody Makers to make a radio-friendly hit. Not the first reggae tune on this selection, you won't be surprised to read.

From New York to Phoenix, Arizona, Zola Jesus aka Nika Danilova is an artist that I haven't listened to in a little while, having been on a intensive immersion in her catalogue back in 2022. As the title suggests, Versions contains reworkings of songs including Collapse, which originally closed Zola's third album Conatus in 2011. This string-laden version features Jim 'Foetus' Thirlwell and the Mivos Quartet.

 

The aforementioned Zong Zing All Stars are a London-based 9-piece, playing euphoric music informed by the Cavacha rhythms with Soukous from the Democratic Republic of Congo. I don't profess to be knowledgeable about these genres in the slightest. However, I can point you in the direction of the esteemed Ernie Goggins at 27 Leggies, whose continuing African Odyssey series has been an education. You can hop back to last year's stop at the Democratic Republic of Congo, to sample the likes of Zaiko Langa Langa, who apparently created Cavacha back in 1973. From there, go back to the beginning and enjoy the entire trip, which most recently paused at Mali. 

 

The final stop on this trip is my birthplace Bristol and producer extraordinaire Eeyun aka Ian Perkins with Zoob & The Co-operators. The first burst of melodica should underline the fact that South Of The River Avon is inspired by Augustus Pablo's East Of The River Nile and in all likelihood Dr. Pablo and Dub Syndicate's 'response' album, North Of The River Thames. South Of The River Avon is the B-side of one of several vinyl 7" singles that I bought last year from Happy People Records and enjoys a regular airing on the Casa K turntable.

 

1) Zion High (TGU Remix By Transglobal Underground): Zion Train (2004)

2) Velcro Fly (Dance Mix By John 'Jellybean' Benitez): ZZ Top (1986)

3) Tomorrow People (New York City Edit By Justin Strauss & Murray Elias): Ziggy Marley & The Melody Makers (1988)

4) Mutuashi: Zong Zing All Stars (2020)

5) This World (Album Version): Zero 7 ft. Mozez (2000)

6) Lush Life (The Ironix Remix By Felix Eickhoff & Simon Reichardt): Zara Larsson (2016)

7) Easier (Does It Offend You, Yeah? Remix By James Rushent): Zambri (2009) 

8) Last War (Jah Jah Children Arise): Zap Pow (1977) 

9) Collapse (Version): Zola Jesus ft. Jim Thirlwell & Mivos Quartet (2013)

10) South Of The River Avon (Version): Zoob & The Co-operators (2022)

 

1986: Velcro Fly EP: 2

1988: Tomorrow People EP: 3 

2000: Simple Things: 5

2004: Original Sounds Of The Zion Remixed: 1 

2005: Trojan Roots & Culture Box Set: 8

2009: Bang For Changes EP: 7 

2013: Versions: 9

2016: Lush Life EP: 6

2020: Global Riddims Volume 3: 4

2022: Up Trooper’s Hill EP: 10

 

Catch Some ZZZZs (45:07) (KF) (Mega)

Further Adventures In Success / mass Music For The Masses

Down another rabbit hole, all started by recently revisiting Adventures In Success by Will Powers. 

 

The single version/video featured in my #SynthPopSeptember pick of 30 songs over at Musk's Megalomania Media (or X, if that's a bit of a mouthful) last month. The absorbing dub version also closed out my Dub '83 selection a few weeks ago (and still available a little while longer for download). I originally posted about the song in May 2021, having discovered a re-edit by mass Thomas, which I'll come back to shortly.

 

Looking for the Adventures In Success video to include with my tweet, I discovered an additional "testimonials" video also produced in 1983 which I had never seen before. It's simultaneously hammy and a hoot. Introduced by "Famous Ligger" Lynn Goldsmith (aka Will Powers), the testimonials include

Tom Bailey ("Famous Twin")

Eric Clapton ("Famous Domino")

Brinsley Forde ("Famous Rasta")

Holly Johnson ("Famous Singer")

Meat Loaf (not uncredited)

David Joseph ("Famous Singer")

Tony Woodcock & Graham Rix ("Famous Arsenal & England Footballers")

Steve Winwood ("Famous Recluse" and "Famous Record Producer") 

Jack Lynch ("Not A Famous Person...Yet!") (I recognise the face but can't for the life of me remember who this person really is. Any ideas?)

Brinsley (Forde), Tony (Robinson), Drummie (Zeb) ("Famous As Aswad")

There's also an interesting interview with Lynn Goldsmith from 2015 available online at The Vinyl Factory, although the link to obtaining the Dancing For Mental Health album is long since dead.

Back in December 2020, when the Dubhed blog was just starting out, I was also exploring Bandcamp which is where I subsequently chanced upon mass Thomas and his epic re-edit of Adventures In Success. Splicing together the vocal and dub mixes from the 12" singles, it's a (nearly) 13 minute monster of a song. 

In my May 2021 post, I also referenced a shorter re-rub which was under 4 minutes. Sadly, that one no longer seems available and I didn't purchase it at the time. The full length re-edit however is still available as a name your price/free download.

 

And this is where I re-entered the rabbit hole for today's post. This probably should be a separate post in it's own right but what the heck.

 

Discovering that the original link/mass Thomas Bandcamp page no longer existed, I re-discovered that it had re-located. Not the only re-location, it turns out: in December 2020, mass gave his location as Belarus; now it's Ukraine which I'm hazarding a guess is mass Thomas' birthplace.

 

I cannot begin to imagine what a "typical day" for mass currently looks like but his output of re-edits has been eye wateringly prolific. Many of these, including Adventures In Success, have been uploaded on the re-established Bandcamp site in the past 18 months. When I started writing this post, the tally stood at 702 tracks; when I finished, it had already bumped up to 705.

 

Some are name your price/free, others are priced anything between 1.20 and 2.10 Euros, though I can't work out the reasoning for the difference. Genre- and artist-wise, there are clearly some favourites, but it's also pretty broad: Donna Summer rubs shoulders with The Beatles; Primal Scream sits with Ben E. King and Grace Jones; It's Immaterial share notes with Kid Creole & The Coconuts; Malcolm X stands with Sade and Warren Zevon.

Not all of them work, some have great ideas that don't quite pay off across the entire track, others sound inspired and provide a fresh perspective on a familiar song.

Here's a half dozen that probably cover all of the above bases, though I think they all edge into the 'like' category for me. In no particular order, I present Zero 7 ft. Sophie Barker, The La's, Bah Samba, Marti Caine and - brace yourself - Cliff Richard. Relax, the last one is a dub edit with very little trace of Sir Cliff's vocals remaining.

 

All available (at the time of this post) as a name your price download or you can click on the links below to try before you buy.

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Been Tryin' Hard Not To Get Into Trouble

Listening to 4 Hero's remix of Nuyorican Soul sidestepped me into Photek's remix of 4 Hero and so to today's selection. Rupert Parkes began releasing music under numerous aliases in the early 1990s, Photek emerging in 1994 and being the most enduring of these, still in use today. Part of the hideously named genre, intelligent drum and bass, like his contemporaries Roni Size, LTJ Bukem and Goldie, what really appealed to me was the complex rhythms and jazz inflections. As a nod to the latter, a track on Photek's debut album, KJZ, was an acronym for Kirk's Jazz. By the start of the 21st Century, Photek's sound had taken a turn into house and techno, though as this selection highlights, there is an identity and character linking all of Photek's music. I've lost track in the last few years, and I have read that Parkes has subsequently produced music for films, TV and games, his last album release being the soundtrack to EA Games' Need For Speed in 2016.

 

For this selection, I've focused solely on Photek's remixes for other artists. It's great to listen to these in one go, personal favourites being Loose by Therapy?, Destiny by Zero 7, I Miss You by Björk and the one that started this all, Star Chasers by 4 Hero. The remix of Paul Simon was a welcome return in 2018 and one of the few redeeming tracks on the otherwise questionable Graceland: The Remixes album. I hadn't heard Photek's remix of The Faint in 5 years and it struck how well it would sit in a mixtape next to songs from John Grant's latest album, Boy From Michigan, particularly The Rusty Bull or Your Portfolio. And how else to end but with Single by Everything But The Girl? The original version is sublime; Photek's remix provides a similar shiver down the spine. Twenty five years old and still sounding like it could be out right now.

1) The Lonely Night (Photek Remix): Moby ft. Mark Lanegan & Mindy Jones (2013)

2) Destiny (Photek Remix): Zero 7 ft. Sia & Sophie Barker (2001)

3) Alien (Photek Remix): Lamb (1999)

4) Total Job (Remixed By Photek): The Faint (2003)

5) Loose (Photek Remix): Therapy? (1995)

6) Ride (Photek B21 Edit): Lana Del Rey (2012)

7) Lie Down In Darkness (Photek Remix): Moby (2011)

8) All Around The World Or The Myth Of Fingerprints (Photek Remix): Paul Simon (2018)

9) I Miss You (Photek Mix): Björk (1996)

10) Star Chasers (Photek Remix): 4 Hero (1998)

11) Single (Photek Remix): Everything But The Girl (1996)

Been Tryin' Hard Not To Get Into Trouble (57:51)