Summer Sessions: Bass

Regular readers will know that White Noise is primarily interested in house and techno, considering that today's 'bass music' scene rubs shoulders all-too-often with pop's most derivative iterations, yet the scene does not deserve to be written off altogether. This playlist serves up some of the genre's finest summer tunes, the funkier the better. Along the way, a few reminders that the likes of Disclosure and George Fitzgerald once deserved rather more underground cred than they do today. Enjoy!

Make sure to check out all of our summer playlist series, and to follow White Noise on Facebook and Twitter!

Summer Sessions:

Classic House

Funk and Soul

Hip Hop 

Chill
House

Bass

Tracklist:

Star Slinger - Mornin'

Pomrad - Pomslap

Bondax - Baby I Got That

Girl Unit - Ensemble (Club Mix)

Bwana - Baby Let Me Finish

Groove Theory - Tell Me (George Fitzgerald Remix)

Jacques Greene - Another Girl

SBTRKT - Pharaohs

Arkist - Fill Your Coffee

Disclosure - I Love ... That You Know

Jamie xx - Far Nearer

Hackman - Forgotten Notes

Sophie - Bipp

Coki - Ruff Lovin'

Total Redraw: Home Listening Edition

Remixes that really shake things up

No self-respecting music fan is a stranger to the idea of the remix. After a track is completed, the stems are passed off to other like-minded producers and are reshaped to allow the style and personality of the remixer to come out while elements of the original are retained. While the odd remix on the B-side of an EP really shines, they can all too frequently come across as unnecessary additions to the original mixes, so when a really good remix comes about you’re sure to take notice.

This feature doesn’t focus specifically on ‘great remixes’, but rather remixes where the producer has taken the core track and has really invigorated the original track, leaving it recognisably the same but taking the tune in a totally different direction. After much ploughing through my music library, I’d like to present some of the most successful remixes I’ve heard where the remixer on hand has really gone beyond the call of duty; and these will be shown  and discussed along with the original tracks.

Running through a real range of contemporary music, a lot of these will be dance-focused but some are even stranger takes on recognisable classics alongside less well-known contributions. So without further ado, let’s get listening and check out some of the best remixes to be found in the White Noise vaults.

This two-part series will be split, with the first section dedicated to home listening tracks and the latter a big playlist of remixed dance music. Enjoy part 1!

Gold Panda – Marriage (Forest Swords 1am Hotel Room Redraw) 

In this stunning rework of one of Gold Panda’s best tunes, the atmospheric Forest Swords completely rebuilds the track from the ground up, entirely with acoustic instrumentation. The melody is still there, but it’s hard to imagine a more imaginative and successful redraw.

Efdemin – Acid Bells (Martyn’s Bittersweet Mix)

Sounding more Aphex Twin than Efdemin, legend Martyn relegates the original’s driving rhythms to the background, allowing a haunting piano melody to take centre stage.

Aphex Twin – Untitled (Four Tet Mix)

Apparently devised at the tender age of 17, Kieran Hebden’s IDM-fuelled mix of one of Aphex Twin’s most brilliant ambient tracks is a dream collaboration that retains aspects of both producers’ styles.

Mount Kimbie – Maybes (James Blake Remix)

James Blake applies a trademark warmth to one of Mount Kimbie’s best, fuzzing up the duo’s crisp production and lending it a woozy dubstep momentum.

Fever Ray – If I Had A Heart (Fuck Buttons Remix) 

Here Fuck Buttons take Fever Ray’s darkness as far as it will stretch, wielding a driving 4/4 and growling bass frequencies to create something black and wildly hypnotic.

Fever Ray – When I Grow Up (Version by Lissvik) 

Alongside for comparison, the most bizarre remix here is courtesy of one half of Balearic duo Studio, as Lissvik sets Fever Ray’s straining vocals to bouncing house with tropical synthlines. The strangest thing isn’t that it works, it’s that it works so damn well.

Star Slinger – May I Walk With You

Although not technically a remix, Star Slinger’s rework of Life Without Buildings' The Leanover is a brilliant recreation, taking Sue Tompkins’ jittery vocals to their logical extreme alongside tough beats and some of the catchiest looping you’re likely to hear.

Bibio – Lover’s Carving (Letherette Remix)

This dreamy hip hop rework of Bibio’s upbeat classic works like a charm, chopping up the vocals while retaining the sunshine of the original. The only flaw is that it’s all too short.

Lianne La Havas – Forget (Shlohmo Remix)

Shlohmo on excellent remixing form again, applying Lianne La Havas’ vocals both in original and chopped forms to a dreamy soundscapes replete with clicks, blips and deep haunting bass.

Agaric – No Way I Know I Feel  (Axel Boman Remix) – Clips of Original

Axel Boman takes Agaric’s dense original and cleans it up, making that nagging vocal the centrepiece of a world of swirling samples and twinkling beats.

Shlohmo – Rained The Whole Time (Nicolas Jaar Remix) 

The superb Nicolas Jaar livens up Shlohmo’s melancholy original with harder woodblock beats, blowing up the guitar in the original alongside soulful beats and samples that shift and swirl magnificently.

Colonel Abrams – Trapped (Hell Interface Remix)

Boards of Canada, under their Hell Interface moniker, take chopped and screwed to a new deathly extreme in their growling slow-down of Colonel Abrams’ 80s classic.

Burial – Shell of Light (Shlohmo Remix)

Tampering with Burial is not done lightly, but Shlohmo nails this one, isolating the hopeful last 30 seconds of the original and casting them onto an emotional widescreen with deeper-than-deep bass and ghostly vocal touches.

Nuyorican Soul – I Am The Black Gold Of The Sun (4 Hero Remix)

It’d be hard to outdo the original, backed by Masters of Work production and Jocelyn Brown’s honey tones, but 4 Hero turns the tune into a feelgood jazzy odyssey, thoroughly living up to the glory of the original.

Video of the Week – Star Slinger: Mornin’

Continuing my theme of summery videos to combat the winter blues, here comes a slice of pure sunny joy courtesy of White Noise favourite Star Slinger, accompanied by a gorgeous and trippy video. Enjoy!

The way these images are treated and distorted, with kaleidoscopic visuals penetrating pastel-shaded, sun-drenched clips is a perfect expression of the track’s easy groove. Tiny details set in perfect synch to the sound, such as ghosted colour overlays of the girl, punch-drunk camera tilts and that superb lift-door opening moment compliment the song’s powerful joy to great effect, and leave us with this pure gem of a video.

Feature: Summer - Playlists

Baked

On Melancholy Hill – Gorillaz

Two Weeks – Grizzly Bear

Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots – Flaming Lips

Haiti – Arcade Fire

Never Stops – Deerhunter

In the Aeroplane Over the Sea – Neutral Milk Hotel

What Would I Want? Sky – Animal Collective

Bros – Panda Bear

Do You Realize?? - Flaming Lips

Good Intentions Paving Company – Joanna Newsom

Silver Soul – Beach House

May I Walk With You? - Star Slinger

West Side – The Studio

Elastic Reality (Deep Dish Does X Mix) – Casa De

When I Grow Up (Version by Lissvik) – Fever Ray

Joanna – Superpitcher

Dictaphone's Lament – Tycho

Key Sparrow – Peaking Lights

Too High To Move – Quiet Village

Mornin' – Star Slinger

New Theory – Washed Out

Round and Round – Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti

Plain Material – Memory Tapes

New Beat – Toro Y Moi

Despicable Dogs – Small Black

Bicycle – Memory Tapes

Live In Dreams – Wild Nothing

Feel It All Around – Washed Out

Loaded – Primal Scream

Just Like Heaven – The Cure

The Village Green Preservation Society – The Kinks

Sunday Morning – Velvet Underground

Waterfall – Stone Roses

Feel Flows – Beach Boys

Time of the Season – Zombies

Who Loves the Sun – Velvet Underground

In this first and biggest playlist I've arranged a great selection of tracks for just chilling out in the day, classic summer music essentially. Kicking off with Gorillaz' impossibly sunny On Melancholy Hill, the first few tracks are indie-rock classics that scream summer, from the pristine piano of Grizzly Bear's Two Weeks to Animal Collective's glorious sample of The Grateful Dead in What Would I Want? Sky, by way of a few of my very favourite artists, Joanna Newsom, Beach House and Panda Bear.

Star Slinger's effortlessly catchy May I Walk With You? starts off the second section of more dancey and electro-infused cuts, veering between the house and dub-tinged cuts of Casa De, Superpitcher and Peaking Lights and the balearic swoons of The Studio (whose D. Lissvik crafted the marvellous Fever Ray remix also selected) and Quiet Village's inspired vocal track, all rounded off with another classic Star Slinger track, the shining Mornin'.

The next phase is a set of some of the best chillwave of the last few years, a genre evoking too-bright snapshots of summers past through Washed Out's brilliant disco cuts, and Wild Nothing and Memory Tapes' mellower reflections on music past.

From here we go to some classic summer anthems from some real oldies; from some incredibly famous tracks of Primal Scream, The Cure and The Stone Roses to some real gems from The Velvet Underground and The Beach Boys (including the hilarious Kinks track lampooning the conservative British villages of the time). So lay back and get listening.

Dance

Electricity – Avalanches

Punch Drunk Love – Star Slinger vs Teams

Once In a While – Lone

High Hopes (feat. Reggie B) – Onra

Rolin' – Dam-Funk

Durban Poison – Babylon Timewarp

Police in Helicopter – Congo Natty ft Topcat

Chime (12”mix) – Orbital

Summer isn't all about dancing, but I thought I'd bring a small selection of what I'd be dancing to on those hot, heavy nights. Kicking off with a couple of less conventional dance tunes in the form of The Avalanche's funky Electricity and Star Slinger's unstoppable team up with Teams in Punch Drunk Love (gotta love those vocals).

After this we move to more customary dance tracks, the sun shines through the tomtoms of Lone's Once In a While and Onra and Dam-Funk bring funk into the 21^st century with a couple of prime cuts.

After this we hark back to the early 90s, the darker reggae-inflected jungle tracks of Durban Poison and Congo Natty (yes, it's that 'Police in Helicopter' - check out the banging switch-up around the 2-minute mark) and leaving you with Orbital's sunrise rave-anthem that practically defines a generation, the glorious Chime.

Remixes #1 - Dance Mixes

I've reviewed a good few albums so far, and every so often one artist you like will remix another, and sometimes they get it just right.

Here's a little collection of some great tracks that have been remixed to make them more dancefloor-friendly:

Burial & Four Tet - Moth (Silinder Remix)

Great remix giving the whole track a lot more structure and punch.

Fever Ray – If I Had a Heart (Fuck Buttons Remix)

Really dark remix with classic Fuck Buttons stylings in re-invention; a great big wash of sound and a pounding beat.

Gold Panda – Marriage (Star Slinger Remix)

Fantastic remix with a dubby throb and a mad, rushing appropriation of all the elements that make the original so great.

How to Dress Well – Ready for the World (XXXY Remix)

XXXY injects garage with great drops and foot-shuffling beat.

M83 – Run Into Flowers (Jackson's Midnight Fuck Remix)

Glitchy appropriation of M83'S untreated synths. One of the best mixes I've ever heard.

Radiohead – Reckoner (Twelves Remix)

The much-remixed track is brilliantly remodelled into this with great beats driving Yorke's classic falsetto way into the distance.

Baths Live at Cargo Review - 3 May 2011

An artist who performs without any live instruments faces some obvious problems. In order for people to pay to see them in person, there has to be an immediacy and an energy to their performance. What is also required is a certain level of deviation from their recorded material during the set; the audience doesn't want to get the impression that they're watching an artist just pressing play on their laptop and perhaps occasionally moving the fader switch.

As soon as Baths started up his first track it became clear that this wouldn't be a problem. He opened with Apologetic Shoulderblades, the first track from his debut LP, Cerulean. And for the first thirty seconds or so the only instrument he used was his own voice. The melodic, straining vocals of his music can often play second fiddle to his hard, stuttering beats or any of the great effects and samples he implements on record, but throughout the performance his vocals really shone.

On a giant soundsystem and with a mid-sized but very energetic crowd his beats came hard and fast, throbbing through the smallish venue until a good half of the audience were dancing. (Some, however, only began to get their groove on after he took a time out to tell everyone “C'mon, I wanna see you dancing! Just get a little gay!”). He played through the majority of his only album, with crowd favourites being the expected best cuts Maximalist, Aminals (he asked us to get our claws out) and Hall.

Taking a cue from his excellent warm-up, Star Slinger, Baths added a lot of dancey layers and beats to his tracks, making the gig feel sometimes a little like an excellently DJ-ed club night. He also incorporated a fair amount of glitchy stutters and spine-tingling drops just to make sure everyone was moving by about halfway through the set.

A pleasant surprise was that a few of the tracks on the album that shone less brightly benefited enormously from this treatment, You're My Excuse to Travel being a real crowd pleaser as he bounced across the stage with infectious enthusiasm. In a recent interview he commented that although he was just one man, he liked to think he made the sound of a whole band, and he had more than enough presence to fill the stage.

He also played quite a lot of new material that was extremely different to his released tracks, with a much darker techno sound (A repeated line I managed to make out was “I won't let you bury your body in my graveyard”) that sounded like a promising direction for such a young talent to take. When he stepped off the stage at the end to chat to those left at the bar I asked him when he was planning a new release (after he gave me an enthusiastic, sweaty hug) and he said he was hoping to have something out by summer.

It was an energetic and thrilling gig that didn't once get boring, in fact there was an audible sound of disappointment from the crowd when he stopped- he could've gone on twice as long, and everyone would still be dancing.

A special mention should go out to Star Slinger, who was supporting but played for almost as long. His glitch-fueled beats and samples ranging from hip hop to 50s movies in true J Dilla style were completely enthralling, definitely one to watch out for and a superb performer.

5/5