An hour long selection of Dub Pistols remixes, to bring the (big) beat back into your life and banish the blues of another working week. This one's dedicated to Mooz, creator of the awe-inspiring Moozler Music site, a repository of some frankly quite brilliant, genre-defying mixes.
Three weeks ago, I enthused about Dub Pistols' ninth and current album, Frontline. Mooz commented that he was new to Dub Pistols, bar a couple of remixes, and I made a note to self that I would trawl through my admittedly meagre collection of same to create a future selection and post. Typically, said post can take months, if not years, to appear so the fact that a mere two weeks have passed since I made that vague promise is bordering on the incredible.
Anyway, these pretty much cover a two year period in the late 1990s, when Big Beat was all the rage and Barry Ashworth's crew were one of the finest examples of this. The dub and dancehall influences are still in there but these mixes are all about giving it some welly in a nightclub and flicking that sweat all over the shop as you bust your moves. Or something like that.
Of the two remixes that Mooz mentioned, of Audioweb and DJ Spooky, I only own the former but the mix of Faker is superb so I had to include it. I'd argue that Hurricane #1, Bush and Limp Bizkit only sounded half decent when remixed and reworked to within an inch of their lives. I'd probably press 'skip' on the original versions of all of the songs featured here, but the Dub Pistols remixes elevate them to another level. Likewise, Moby's cover of the James Bond theme, unrecognisable as such here.
As for Korn, the All Mixed Up EP is the only release of theirs that I own and is likely to remain that way. Potty mouth precautions for this one is you have sensitive ears in proximity to your speakers. By contrast, we also have Natalie Imbruglia. So there.
I've had the Danmass single knocking about for ages but I've only just realised that it's Dan Carey and Massimo Bonaddio. I won't pretend I know anything about the latter, but Dan Carey is all over my record collection, not least for his work with Emilíana Torrini, Kylie, Róisín Murphy, Franz Ferdinand and Warmduscher, to name a (very) few.
Dub Pistols originally remixed Dust Junkys' Nothin' Personal in 1998. The version here, also known as Hooligan (Dub Pistols x Vega Remix), was re-edited and released by Vince Vega in 2016. One of Dust Junkys' founder members is Nicky Lockett, perhaps better known to you and I as MC Tunes.
In other undercover news, Girl Eats Boy is/was an alias for Lol Hammond (Drum Club, Slab). I discovered this one on a US compilation called Funk Off..! Vol. 1, which is an interesting curio of big beat and drum 'n' bass sounds from the UK. I don't think there was a Vol. 2.
Pop Muzik is an all-time classic and a fertile ground for remix artists. Dub Pistols first had a go in 2000, when Robin Scott (aka M) reworked and re-released the song as Pop Y2K. I'm not 100% sure but I think that the remix that appeared on the 30th anniversary celebration compilation in 2009 was an entirely new version.
I'm sticking with the late 1990s for tomorrow's Wednesday's* post.
1) Faces In A Dream (Dub Pistols Tornado Mix): Hurricane #1 (1999)
2) Napalm In Bohemia (Dub Pistols Mix) (Edit): Girl Eats Boy (1998)
3) James Bond Theme (Moby's Re-Version) (Dub Pistols Remix) (Cover of John Barry & Orchestra): Moby (1997)
4) Smoke (Dub Pistols Vocal): Natalie Imbruglia (1998)
5) Gotta Learn (Dub Pistols Sick Junkey Remix): Danmass (1998)
6) Good God (Dub Pistols Mix): Korn (1999)
7) My Way (Pistols' Dancehall Dub) (Remix By Dub Pistols): Limp Bizkit (2001)
8) Nothin' Personal (Dub Pistols Hooligan Riot Remix) (Re-Edit By Vince Vega): Dust Junkys ft. The Collective (2016)
9) Faker (The Dub Pistols Mix): Audioweb (1997)
10) History (Dub Pistols Mix): Bush (1997)
11) Pop Muzik (Dub Pistols/U2 Remix): M (2009)
1997: Deconstructed: 10
1997: Faker EP: 9
1997: James Bond Theme (Moby's Re-Version) EP: 3
1998: Smoke EP: 4
1998: The Woman I Love EP: 5
1999: All Mixed Up EP: 6
1999: Funk Off..! Vol. 1: 2
1999: Only The Strongest Will Survive EP: 1
2001: My Way EP / New Old Songs: 7
2009: Pop Muzik: The Remix Album (iTunes Edition): 11
2016: Appropriation EP: 8
* I changed my mind whilst drafting another post for this week, bringing it forward to Tuesday, for reasons which will become clear.