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Keith
'Hold That Gun e.p - The Remixes'
(Lucky001T)
Released:29.08.05
You may have heard the original: Zane Lowe/NME/TuneTribe/Clare
Sturgess/John Kennedy, and even Radio 2's Janice
Long, bless her, have made it clear that they have…And
now here's the remixes! That's the usual strap-line when it comes
to hearing guitar bands have a fumble in the 'dance music' jungle.
With Keith it's different,
of course! Keith's bass master, John Waddington, has long been a
DJ who knows how to sort any "Bug [s] In The Bassbin"
& still flaunts his dextrously technical technoid tendencies
at Manchester's "Big Hands", a venue surprisingly popular
with Manchester's musical community, and which has seen limos pull
up outside for trans-Atlantic A&R men attempting to catch the
heat on the street.
Although not featured on this release, the band themselves have
remixed "Faces" into crisp dubbed out pop odyssey which
will be featured on the CD for The TDK Cross Central Festival
where they appear on the bill (Saturday Aug 27th)
with club stalwarts such as Jeff Mills, Francois Kervorkian
& Grace Jones, and alongside other groove inflected
acts such as Tom Vek & Jamie Lidell. Alongside
their recent tag-team DJ efforts we can see clearly that for Keith
their music spectrum extends way beyond current cool & classic
indie icons. If you come to Keith's house prepare for a collision
of music with Krautrock, Jazz, Afrobeat, Deep House, Soul, Indie
& Psychedelia on the stereos, and always as if in-the-mix at
a rave.
On to the remixes themselves…well, just as with the original
ep release, there's a cool range of quality interpretations.
Hold That Gun - 'Ellis Mix' by James Ford ( aka 'Ellis
Beverly Hills Mix)
This was James Ford's first remix. The original
tempo of the track was 160bpm, so too slow for drum n bass and too
fast for house. James has managed to slow the vocals down adding
a clarity and sheen to the mix without losing the energy or attitude
of the original. It was important to maintain this attitude rather
than just fit a beat to the tune.
Initially James thought his industrial drums and freestyle editing
of the track was too much, "I've over-Aphexed
the tune," he said, but we disagreed. There's a great spontaneity
in this mix and James has retained the deep atmospheric of the tune
Eno style, whilst adding a ruthless groove that makes 'Windowlicker'
appear easy. The sound effects feel like they'd give George Lucas
a run for his money in a face-off with Darth Vader, the Sith Lord
or any of those space-age despots.
Bled a Rose - 'Matthew Herbert Mix' ( aka 'Herbert's Heavenly
Mix)
When Lucky Number first met the band they told
us how much they liked the breadth of Matthew Herbert's
productions. His classic 'The Audience' has been featured
in the band's live set on a number of occasions and always gets
well received in Manchester, where the tune is a Unabombers'
Electric Chair classic.If we were going to put out the band's first
record we had to make the effort to get Matthew on board and in
the mix. The subtle textures and beauty of the track provided great
ammunition for his lush yet experimental remix. Matthew makes maximum
use of the lesser-used thumb piano and uses a vast array of sounds
and effects to create a different but fitting sound for the band.
Come on Gilles Peterson, this is the kind of
'Soul' music you want from a guitar based band,
isn't it?
Mona Lisa's Child\- 'Ellis Acid Mix' by James Ford (Ellis
Hot 'n' Spicy Acid Mix)
James' second mix gave him the opportunity to wig-out acid stylee
using the key piano motif of the original in a more upfront Chicago
style. This isn't just acid house revivalism though; James has used
influences from different era and genres to create a new electronic
mix of his own to stunning effect. We've got the original's live
bass, P-Funk synths & beefy '80's drums battling it out on the
dance-floor, all in the space of 5 minutes!
Faces - 'Music Concrete Remix' by Sound Architecture
Sound Architecture did a great mix on
Spektrum's 'Lychee Juice' earlier this year -
deep, sexy house music full of analogue sounds that felt more like
Funk than machine music. Here their engineer, Jim Whelan, adds a
rich warm treatment to Oli's vocal whilst keeping the groove sparse
and simple with enough wah-wah to get the hips
wiggling!
All in all, we think you'd be hard pushed to find a more exciting
electronic package all year and that's the beauty of Keith - on
top of their game whether it's their own work or other artist's
interpretations!
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BUY FROM:
12"/D (lucky001T)
-
hold that gun (james ford, simian mobile mix)
-
bled a rose (matthew herbert mix)
-
mona lisa's child (james ford, simian mobile mix)
-
faces (music concrete mix by sound architecture)
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