Weekly Tracks
This week I decided to go with an 80’s theme, meaning all the following tracks are remixes of classic 80’s songs. I’ve tried to cover a few different genres of electronic music ranging from house to trance to breakbeats.
- NU Romantix feat. Dj John Bora - Mad World (Pulsedriver remix): A fantastic remix of Tears for Fears’s “Max World.” This trance single, from Dos or Die Recordings, was released in 2001 - 19 years after the original if I’m not mistaken. With its driving bassline and crisp synths, this retro track is a masterpiece in its own right. My favorite part comes in around 4 min & 20 secs; there’s a quick breakdown where just vocals are present and then the bassline quickly comes back filling out the track.
- Unknown Artist - I Just Died in Your Arms Tonight (Potatoheadz Mix): This is another trance remix of a classic 80’s tune. Cutting Crew’s “(I Just) Died in Your Arms” gets a makeover and brought into the 21st century in the form of raging German trance. The vinyl actually has another version of the track (the club mix) on it which is a bit softer, but I prefer the rolling bassline and dramatic synths that start up just before the 3 min. mark.
- The Ambassadors of Disco - Feelin Alright (remix): This track is for those funky house lovers out there. This remix of “Rock the Casbah” by The Clash will get even the whitest boy in the crowd on his feet and dancing. The first time I heard this track it was actually a different remix (the disco dub); all of the remixes on this vinyl sound pretty similar but I like the jazzy sax in this remix version. The disco dub bass hits a little harder than the others, while the original club mix has a much smoother sound to it. A big THANK YOU to Donald Glaude, a DJ from Seattle, for introducing me to this track. I had this track stuck in my head for months after hearing it pound out of the speakers that night. It took me months to find the track as well, as it was a white label promo.
For those of you who are into breakbeats, check out a track by DJ Sharaz called White Powder. It’s on a vinyl called 2wentyfuckinfive (CAT #941-025). Awesome breakbeat remix of “Rock the Casbah”. Both of these tracks are highly recommended!
- Unknown Artist - Sweet Dreams (infinite mix): Here is another breakbeat 80’s remix that comes highly recommended. The Eurythmics’s “Sweet Dreams” has got to be one of the biggest tracks to come out of the 80’s, God knows how many times it has been remixed. Of all of the remixes I have heard, this is one of my favorites. This is another white label vinyl so it may be difficult to find. The other tracks on the vinyl are the “phat bass blade mix” and “stan m&m trance mix,” not bad tracks in their own right. Thanks to Matt Ells (a local Seattle breakz DJ) for answering my email about this track and helping me find it.
- Whitelabel - Sweet Dreams (B side): For you trance freakz, this is my favorite trance remix of “Sweet Dreams.” Unfortunately I don’t have much info on this track other than it comes as a two track vinyl. The other version (side A) is much closer sounding to the original than the B side. The bouncy bassline and a new electronic melody mix perfectly to the original synths of the track. A pretty raging remix if you ask me, but I’ll let you judge it for yourself.
If anyone has heard this mix before and can ID the tune please feel free to leave the info as a comment. I’d love to know who the artist is and the name of the remix.
Of course this is by no means an exhaustive list of 80’s remixes. There are literally thousands of them with more popping up all the time. If you have a couple of favorites you’d like to mention I urge you to do so! I would love to check them out.