Articles tagged with rework

I promise that this column will not just be disco edits vinyl only releases of edits, but this set of balearic inspired disco edits is making my January just that much warmer in anticipation of the summer. Want a dreamy blast of warm sea air to carry you through? Then this cosmic dream machine should do the trick.

French Fred Berthet aka Copyshop based out of Marseille France has been making collections of edits since 2012 as DJ Steef. And all of them are great. In this latest volume 6, track 1 is beat thumping dance floor igniter with a totally italio influenced synth line and entrancing vocal. Track 2 is total off the Baleares with panning waves of synths rising and falling, Topping off with a sexy soulful vocal, side 1 is AMAZING.

Side 2 winds back up with some tropicalia and a baseline that is unshakeably fun with an intimate whispered vocal that would be so corny if it weren’t so perfectly nestled in the track. Leading out is more synth goodness that makes you wish you were in a hammock chilling out with an umbrella in your drink.

I highly recommend this for the summer to come or better yet now, so you pretend it’s summer in January.

I could´t find the tracks online so here is a recent DJ Steef edit that is the bomb and the Juno link to hear the previews of these tracks!

EDIT: As of 6 hours ago they are up now on Soundcloud for your listening pleasure!

Sure, the weather is no longer anything you can pretend is like Summer. This new balearic rework by Satin Jackets is a lovely little wistful nod to the departure of warm weather. A ghostly dub version of Aaliyah’s “Rock the Boat” is a perfect way to say goodbye to the ghost of Summer. There’s a free download if you Like the Satin Jackets page on Facebook.

Maxi Priest – Close 2 You (Frankie Goes Deep reconstruction)

Frankie Goes Deep, based out of Croatia, has been doing some fantastic edits and reworkings of later 80s R&B for some time now. His sample-filled edit of Jermaine Stewart’s “We Don’t Have to Take Our Clothes off,” filled with conversations about people losing their virginity, has been a staple of my sets for a while now.

Today he unleashed his newest tune, a reconstruction of Maxi Priest’s amazing “Close to You,” (peep the original video for some killer 1990-era kitsch). I don’t know what Croatia’s beaches are like right now, but here in Brooklyn it’s sweltering, and this tune is the perfect soundtrack for driving out to the Rockaways or perhaps some island off of Split, Croatia. Shimmering walls of synth, a little Summery guitar work, and a nice laid back vibe compliment Maxi Priest’s timeless vocals for a nice Balearic-style jaunt.

No free DL on this one yet, but Frankie has tons of good stuff up on his Soundcloud. As a bonus, here’s that hilarious We Don’t Have to Take Our Clothes off edit.

/// Brian Blackout

Venice Beach are a couple of Parisian DJs whose star is rising. A lot of folks are excited about their remix work of electro and indie musicians like Metronomy, M83, and Sebastian Tellier, but they also excel at taking classic dance tracks and tweaking them a bit for a modern dancefloor.

Based on their sound, it’s no surprise that these guys are big italo fans, and they’ve made several nice (and freely downloadable) versions of tracks like Mr. Flagio’s “Take a Chance,” Clio’s “Faces,” and a fun stop-start take on B.W.H.’s “Stop.” It was hard to pick just one to blog about, but I was most impressed with their version of Dharma’s “Plastic Doll.”

I’m not all that familiar with the original “Plastic Doll.” Typical of a lot of italo, it deftly combines robotic proto-house rhythms and soaring synthpop histrionics. Throw in some some disaffected, heavily accented vocals that culminate in a keening wail in a killer chorus. Venice Beach begin by housing up the kick drums and snares, loop things a bit, and then really get crazy with running little bits of the original through a lot of echo. The effect is stunning, and the track now nicely bridges between 80s production and modern electropop. It’s also a free download so head over to the Venice Beach soundcloud and pick up a few nice odds and ends.

Dharma – Plastic Doll (Venice Beach Rework)

/// Brian Blackout

Another week, another italo disco jam from me. This one is off of Rayko‘s recent Rare Wiri Heroes release on his own label, and is a reworking of Mike Oldfield‘s “Foreign Affair.” You may know Mike Oldfield from his most famous work, “Tubular Bells,” (a.k.a. the theme from the Exorcist) which has been covered at least a couple times during the italo era. “Foreign Affair” has had its share of covers too (this Balearic one is ridiculous, for example) but this sounds to be a straight reworking of the original vocal track.

If you’re not familiar with Rayko, this most excellent Spaniard has one of the most active Soundcloud pages I have ever seen, covering everything from boogie to blue-eyed soul, and you can find a lot of his recent reworks on vinyl from folks like Kojak Giant Sounds.

The original “Foreign Affair” makes you feel you’re running along a moonlit beach, glancing back with every step to check for approaching zombies. For this version, Rayko swaps out the original’s sinister arpeggiated synth work with a more amiable and danceable chug. When paired with the some sing-song vocals about finding that special international tropical beach that you’re looking for, it banishes the zombies and evokes images of sun-dappled tides flowing in across your feet. If you’re anything like me, you’re counting down the days until you hit the beach, so this is probably only going to make it harder to wait. No free DL unfortunately, but you can pick the digital download up easily on Junodownload.

/// Brian Blackout