Remix album

A remix album is an album consisting mostly of remixes or re-recorded versions of a music artists' earlier released material.

History

1970s

One of the earliest remix albums was 1971's Aerial Pandemonium Ballet by Harry Nilsson, which was released by Nilsson after the successes of "Everybody's Talkin'" and The Point!, after he decided that his older material had started to sound dated. One of the earliest remix albums in jazz music had been John Coltrane's Infinity, which was released in 1972, and may have been one of the earliest posthumous remix albums for any artist in the music industry, as well as one of the earliest remix albums ever recorded in general, regardless of music category and despite the criticism Coltrane's widow Alice got for changing the orchestral backgrounds and rhythm sections along with creating new solos for piano, organ, harp and timpani.

Miles Davis, whom Coltrane once performed with, recorded his own remix album called Evolution of the Groove, and though it was also released as a posthumous album like Infinity, it had to wait until 2007. The best-selling remix album of all time is Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix by Michael Jackson, released by MJJ Productions Inc in 1997 Followed Very close by Madonna's You Can Dance remix album which was the best-selling remix album of all time until 1997. Sly & The Family Stone's 1979 release 10 Years Too Soon featured disco remixes of the 1960s Family Stone hits.

Dub FX

Dub FX, stylised also Dub Fx and DubFx, (real name Benjamin Stanford) is a worldwide street performer and studio recording artist from St Kilda, Melbourne, Australia. At the start of his career he was singing in a local alternative rock and rapcore band initially known as Twitch, which would later change its name to N.O.N (Never or Now). In 2004 they released a debut and the only album Exeunt Omnes. Soon after he moved to Italy and began solo career. His trademark is creating rich live music using only his own performance aided by Live looping and effect pedals combined with his voice. He creates intricate hip hop, reggae and drum and bass rhythms.

Associated acts

Stanford used to travel and perform with his fiancée (now not together anymore), Flower Fairy. Dub FX first met her in Manchester, after which she joined him on his travels around the globe to busk for the public. Flower Fairy can usually be seen selling CDs during Dub FX's performances or on stage alongside Stanford when they perform several tracks together. She is also featured singing on tracks from Everythinks A Ripple, Wandering Love, Flow, and Time Will Tell.

Remix

A remix is a piece of media which has been altered from its original state by adding, removing, and/or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, or photograph can all be remixes. The only characteristic of a remix is that it appropriates and changes other materials to create something new.

Most commonly, remixes are associated with music and songs. Songs are remixed for a variety of reasons:

Kid A

Kid A is the fourth studio album by the English rock band Radiohead, released in October 2000 on Parlophone. Burnt out after recording and promoting Radiohead's acclaimed 1997 album OK Computer, songwriter Thom Yorke envisioned a radical change in direction for their next album. Incorporating influences from krautrock, jazz, 20th-century classical music and the electronic music of Warp artists, Radiohead replaced their three-guitar line-up with synthesisers, drum machines, the ondes Martenot, string orchestras and brass instruments. They recorded Kid A with producer Nigel Godrich in Paris, Copenhagen, Gloucestershire, and their hometown Oxford. The sessions produced over 20 finished tracks; Radiohead saved many of them for their subsequent album, Amnesiac, released the following year.

Radiohead refused to release singles or music videos to promote Kid A; instead, 30-second animated "blips" were set to its music based on the artwork Stanley Donwood and Yorke designed for the album's packaging. Kid A debuted at the top of the charts in Britain (where it went platinum in the first week) and, for the first time in Radiohead's history, the United States. Its commercial success has been attributed to its unique marketing campaign, an internet leak and anticipation following OK Computer.

Album

Albums of recorded music were developed in the early 20th century, first as books of individual 78rpm records, then from 1948 as vinyl LP records played at 33 ¹⁄₃ rpm. Vinyl LPs are still issued, though in the 21st century albums sales have mostly focused on compact disc (CD) and MP3 formats. The audio cassette was a format used in the late 1970s through to the 1990s alongside vinyl.

An album may be recorded in a recording studio (fixed or mobile), in a concert venue, at home, in the field, or a mix of places. Recording may take a few hours to several years to complete, usually in several takes with different parts recorded separately, and then brought or "mixed" together. Recordings that are done in one take without overdubbing are termed "live", even when done in a studio. Studios are built to absorb sound, eliminating reverberation, so as to assist in mixing different takes; other locations, such as concert venues and some "live rooms", allow for reverberation, which creates a "live" sound. The majority of studio recordings contain an abundance of editing, sound effects, voice adjustments, etc. With modern recording technology, musicians can be recorded in separate rooms or at separate times while listening to the other parts using headphones; with each part recorded as a separate track.