Ninja Tune, the label founded by Coldcut, is turning 20 years old. The Ninja Tune XX boxset is a beast.   You’ve got wo days left to pre-order it at $130.00

Hit the link for the truly frightening details (6 CDs, 6 7″s, stickers, hardback, etc. etc.) and here’s the remarkable track lineup:

Tracklists: * = New + Exclusive

CD1

* Two Fingers ‘Fools’ *
* Roots Manuva ‘It’s On’ *
* Toddla T ‘Want U Now’ (feat. Ms Dynamite) *
* Dorian Concept ‘Her Tears Taste Like Pears’ *
* Zomby ‘The Forest’ *
* Offshore ‘Jen At The Station’ *
* Emika ‘Double Edge’
* DELS ‘Eating Clouds’ *
* Big Dada Sound ‘Signs’ *
* Eric B & Rakim ‘Paid In Full’ (Switch meets Coldcut Remix) *
* Andreya Triana ‘Lost Where I Belong’ (Flying Lotus Remix)
* The Bug ‘Catch A Fire’ *
* Eskmo ‘Cloudlight’ *
* Daedelus ‘LA Nocturn’

CD2

* Roots Manuva ‘Dub Styles’ (Micachu Remix) *
* Diplo ‘Summer’s Gonna Hurt You’ (Diplo 2010 Remix) *
* The Heavy ‘How You Like Me Now?’ (Joker Remix)
* Stateless ‘Ariel’ (Rustie Remix) *
* Diplo ‘Newsflash’ (Metronomy Remix) *
* PRDCTV ‘Metropolis’ (Dan Le Sac Remix) *
* Dark sky ‘Leave’ *
* The Long Lost ‘Woebegone’ (Flying Lotus’ Like Woe Remix)
* Spank Rock ‘Tell It What It Look Like’ (Todd Edwards Remix) *
* Shuttle ‘Lion’ *
* Poirier ‘Get Crazy’ (Mark Pritchard Remix) *
* Jammer ‘One Over Me’ *
* Fink ‘This Is The Thing’ (EL-B Remix) *
* Amon Tobin ‘Lost & Found’ *

CD3

* Lou Rhodes & The Cinematic Orchestra ‘One Good Thing’ (Version) *
* Bonobo & Speech Debelle ‘Sun Will Rise’ *
* Grasscut ‘Blink In The Night’ *
* Bonobo & Andreya Triana ‘Wonder When’
* Quincy & Xen Cuts Allstars ‘I Hear The Drummer’ (Tunng Edit) *
* Yppah ‘Never Mess With Sunday’ *
* DJ Food (Title TBC) *
* Jaga Jazzist ‘Endless Galaxy’ *
* Cougar ‘$64k Rainbow’ *
* Amon Tobin ‘Eight Sum’ *
* DJ Vadim ‘Terrorist’ (Gaslamp Computer Killer Remix) *
* Roots Manuva ‘Witness’ (Slugabed Remix) *
* Andreya Triana ‘A Town Called Obsolete’ (Mala Remix) *
* Coldcut ‘Man In A Garage’ (King Jammy Dub) *
* Jono McCleery ‘Tomorrow’ (Edit)
* Floating Points Ensemble ‘Post Suite’ *

CD4

* Eskamon ‘Fine Objects’
* The Bug ‘Skeng’ (Autechre Remix) *
* King Cannibal ‘The Grind & Crawl’ *
* Emika ‘Drop The Other’ (Daedelus Remix) *
* Amon Tobin ‘Foley Versions’ (Kronos Quartet Interpretation) *
* Antipop Consortium ‘Volcano’ (Four Tet Remix)
* Mr Scruff ‘Pickled Spider’
* Jaga Jazzist ‘Toccata’ (Grasscut Remix) *
* The Death Set ‘Impossible’ (Shuttle Remix)
* Daedelus ‘Trouble With A Capital D’ *
* Roots Manuva ‘Let The Spirit’ (Hot Chip Remix)
* Mr Scruff ‘Believe’ *
* Bonobo ‘Eyesdown’ feat. Andreya Triana (Floating Points Remix)
* Shuttle ‘Tunnel’

The following material will only be available (in any format) in the the box set, except where indicated:

CD5

* The Cinematic Orchestra (Title TBC) *
* Coldcut ‘Autumn Leaves’ (2010 Budapest Mix) *
* Floating Points Ensemble (No.2 title TBC) (to be released on 12″ single also) *
* Jaga Jazzist ‘Synchronise Your Watches’ *
* Coldcut ‘True Skool’ (Zomby Remix) *
* Bonobo ‘Eyesdown’ (feat. DELS) *
* Clifford Gilberto ‘Deliver The Weird’ (Dorian Concept Remix) *
* The Bug ‘Poison Dart’ (Prefuse 73 Broke Moog Version) *
* Fink ‘See It All’ (Scuba Remix) *
* Roots Manuva ‘Shake Your Money Maker’ *
* cLOUDEAD vs Fat Possum (Title TBC) *
* The Heavy (Title TBC) *
* Blockhead ‘Ugly Brown’ *

CD6

* Roots Manuva ‘Witness’ (Modeselektor Remix) *
* Toddla T ‘Sky Surfing’ (Benga Remix) (to be released on 12″ single also) *
* Roots Manuva ‘Join The Dots’ (Cut Chemist Remix) *
* Kid Koala ’3 Bit Blues’ *
* Pop Levi ‘Blue Honey’ (Amorphous Androgenous Remix Edit) *
* Blockhead ‘The Music Scene’ (EL-P Remix) *
* Coldcut & Hexstatic ‘Timber’ (The Orb Remix) *
* DJ Kentaro ‘Paid In Full’ *
* Coldcut ‘This Island Earth’ (Joe Goddard Remix) *
* Qemists ‘Don’t Lose It’ *
* DJ Food ‘African Rhythms’ (Tom Middleton Remix) *
* DJ Food ‘Dark Lady’ (808 State Remix) *
* Herbaliser ‘Something Wicked’ (Roots Manuva Dub) *

6 x 7″ single:

1. Bogus Order ‘Chillin With My Zen’
Bogus Order ‘Zen Bones’
2. Mr Scruff ‘Wriggle’ *
Coldcut ‘Boogieman’ (King Jammy Dub) *
3. King Geedorah ‘Snakecharmer’ (feat. Kurious as Biolante) *
Daedelus ‘Impending Doom’ (Rustie Remix) *
4. Two Fingers ‘Bad Girl’ (The Bug Dub) *
Spank Rock ‘Sweet Talk’ (Matthew Herbert Remix) *
5. DJ Vadim ‘Bang it Out’ *
Toddla T ‘Pum Pum’ *
6. Wagon Christ ‘Sloth Gets Paid’ *
Shuttle ‘Rotten Guts’ (Gold Panda Remix) *

OOOFF!

Each mix is put together by a different DJ and they are quite amusingly consistent in the dance vibe. Actually, it’s sometimes a little disturbing to me how consistent they are. Once you get past the stand-out (South American) mix by Maga Bo, the sound is mostly uptempo euro cut-up with small amounts of the current bass-y dubstep trend thrown in.

On the other hand, one could see it as an interesting experiment. I suppose one might read it as a journey to see how musicians from around the world can be shoehorned into a singular sound.

Could this be the sound of the world?

Each mix comes with a tracklist and individual artwork and they can all be found at http://www.thefader.com/tag/pitch-perfect/

Especially recommended if you think you only have a small amount of attention or a short time to devote to “dance” music.

Sounds that make you plotz

I was going to entitle this post “Best Remix of the Year So Far” and merely reference the awesome Nero remix of The Streets’ “Blinded By The Light”.

But then I was talking with a kid at robot job about how I thought a great remix can be more/better than the original track. He did not believe me and challenged me to show him some examples.

This argument came at a fortuitous time because now we have solid evidence that the dubstep sound which has been bubbling underground for the last 3 years is busting into the mainstream… And one of the ways it’s doing it is via the remix.

Dubstep busts out all over, again

The Streets’ 2004 record “A Grand Don’t Come for Free” was a “concept album” about how our hero loses a grand and the saga which follows. The song “Blinded By the Light” was chapter four in the saga and involved him going to a club, getting high and wondering where his friends are. It was released as third single from the record but did not do too well. Perhaps it was because the song was too abstract, or the lyrics too mumbled, or the female vocal out of place. The original video put it all together rather nicely…

So much for that, we assumed. Until a month ago, when a few DJs in the UK started playing a remarkable remix by Nero (a duo?). When I heard it on Annie Mac’s Radio 1 show, I just could not place it. Then a week later it twigged.

Here’s what it sounds like now:

The first 30 seconds or so are fairly obvious, next section with the female vocals is almost pedestrian, but they hold the attention. Things get interesting when Skinner’s half-mumbled narration drops in on the break. Then we get the build-up. Now here is where things can go wrong. If they merely go back to the earlier textures all is lost. Shit need to get filthy, and it does. At 1:50 the filth busts out and success is assured.

No release date scheduled for this version yet. No surprise really, as The Streets has released two full records since this song appeared originally. Word is that Skinner likes the remix and they just have to work out the details with the record company.

You can get a better quality version here

It’s the remix of the year so far for me.

In early May Annie Mac’s Essential Mix (Hotfile, MP3, 51Mb, 57 min long, opens in new window) set included a version of the La Roux song “In for the Kill”. I had heard the original in March, but it had not impressed much.

It felt a bit like a Human League or a Yaz(oo) manqué. It has a vocal quality we don’t hear too often, but the synths were just a bit too too for me. Nonetheless, it was a solid hit in the UK, entering the chart at number 11. Then Skream, one of the top names in the dubstep scene weighed in …

We are seeing the trend now, start with the familiar musical element, vocal or instrumental, then give it some unexpectedly deep bass and move on from there. In the La Roux/Skream case he drops the beat at 1:50 It’s a good one beat, but not ferocious. It’s bass we’re about here. The beat goes away at 3:10 and we are beatless for a full minute, an eternity in todays’s world. After that minute of vocals we could plausibly exit quite well satisfied. But Skream ain’t finished yet. At 4:10 the beat doubles into a techstep/d&b tempo, the bass drops in again and we’re off to the races… It’s so wonderfully clinical. The perfect way to introduce this sound to the mainstream. Remix a very popular song with filthy bass and a grinding beat, then speed up at the end so that the DJs can get in to a faster tempo in their sets.

Here in America, they have apparently decided to release this version on the US version of the “Quicksand” EP, relegating it to a B-side (if there is such a thing on a CD). A few references here and there (like the amazon link above) don’t identify the track as the remix, but the Interscope site does.

Finally, we return to scene of an earlier triumph. The Crookers remix of Kid Cudi’s “Day n Night” was a cause for much rejoicing last year. We’ll take is as read that you are familiar with the original and the Crookers versions (as if!). Now keep those in mind ……

And pay particular attention to second number 58

I think that just might be the aural definition of “plotz”

Nuff said