Archive for the ‘remixes’ Category

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Radio Junk and Other Garbage To Distract You

Monday, March 13th, 2017

I just finished the latest chapter in my ever-growing guide to Yellow Magic Orchestra. This one covers the side-projects. It was a lot of fun to write so I hope you all check it out when you have the time.

You’ll also need to read it to understand who I’m writing about tonight. I just wrote a few thousand words on these guys, I’m not doing anymore! Go read that and then come back here to enjoy the tunes.

Takahashi/Jansen
Memory Without Consequence
Memory without Consequence (Extra Polated Mix) [Remixed by Reflection]
Memory without Consequence (Reflection Confused Bits) [Remixed by Reflection]
These tracks are from the Takahashi/Jansen releases that came out in the late 90s, PulseXPulse, and its remix record. I actually put off buying these for a long time because I just assumed they weren’t very good. Takahashi’s first collaboration with Steve Jansen was back in the 80s, and it was a three-song EP of boring sonic wallpaper that I forgot as soon as I finished listening to it. I just figured their later effort was more of the same. Now I’m wishing I had bought them much sooner. While neither are gobsmackingly great, both are very good records that feature some great, hella catchy tunes. Of them, “Memory Without Consequence,” and its remixes are also great, although they have very little to do with the source material.

Metafive
La Femme Chinoise [Live]
Radio Junk [Live]
I cannot possibly express how much I like Metafive and how much I highly recommend all of you pick up their self-titled studio debut, which came out last year.

But that wasn’t their first album. The group actually started as a live project, one that was almost solely dedicated to playing previously recorded Yukihiro Takahashi tracks. They must’ve meshed well enough on the tour to go into the studio.  Whatever the reason, I’m glad it happened. Like I said, that album is wonderful, such a perfect synthpop record. You can also buy it in America on iTunes! So please go do that!  You can’t find their live albums there though, which gives me a good excuse to share a few tracks from those albums tonight.

Like I said, their first live album is comprised almost entirely of Takahashi material, and mostly his solo work. Most of the YMO tracks they do perform aren’t the big tracks, and are instead album cuts or lesser known cuts like “Cue” or “Ballet.” The only big number from his YMO days that they do pull out is “La Femme Chinoise,” and that’s probably because he wrote it. Although he also is the sole songwriter for “Rydeen” and they didn’t play that live, so what do I know.

After their first studio album came out, their live shows shifted gears to feature, not surprisingly, material from that record. But on Metalive, the live album documenting that tour, they still threw in one cover from Takahashi’s past, and I couldn’t be happier with the one they chose – “Radio Junk.”

“Radio Junk” is my favorite YMO song, although technically speaking, “Radio Junk” isn’t even a YMO song. It’s a Sheena And The Rokkets track that YMO wrote for them. It’s the “Nothing Compares 2 U” of YMO. A fantastic track that was cast aside and found new life in the arms of another artist. Despite the fact that YMO never released a studio version of the track, they’ve performed it live on multiple occasions during different tours. You can find them performing on several of their live albums, and other live takes have been included on compilation releases. They must have a soft spot for it. Because it’s the greatest song of all time ever.

Okay. Hyperbole. I know, but it’s really fucking great. Such a good combination of punk/new wave and synthpop. So simple, so effective, and with such great lyrics.

“Fill me with radio junk.”

I can’t breathe. I can’t move. I can’t even think. And I don’t to anymore.

“Fill me with radio junk.”

There’s just too much going on. Too much around me. Too much to handle. I need to drown it out.

“Fill me with radio junk.”

It’s all horrible. I know it’s all horrible. And I know I should care more and do more. But I can’t and I won’t because when I try to, it kills me. So pump me full of bubblegum pop, hair metal, and cheesy love songs. Make me forget. Make it all go away. Make it better.

“Fill me with radio junk.”

Friends Of Earth (FOE)
Total Eclipse
I think I might’ve downplayed how weird this group was in my guide. Because they’re really freaking weird. Maybe the awfulness of their hip-hop blinded me to the overall weirdness of the rest of their tracks. I said that this track was beautiful, and it is, but it’s also damned strange. Mostly because of the samples. The keyboards here have a very hard to describe effect running through them, kind of like a generic “eastern” sound effect, but run through a flange or something. They really set the song apart. I wish I was a better writer so I could describe it in more detail.

But for me, what really makes the song are the haunting, wordless vocalizing by Koshi Miharu. Her voice is just ungodly great. While I’ve had some of her albums for the past few years, I’ve only recently really begun to dig into her back catalog, and so far everything I’ve found has been amazing. Her range (both vocally and stylistically) is just completely incomparable to anyone else, both in Japan and in the West. She’ll definitely be a large focus on the next part of my YMO guide, which focuses on the greatest and most interesting of their associates.

You think Prince had a lot of disciples and proteges? He had nothing compared to the guys in YMO.

BONUS TRACKS
Radio Junk (Live At Budokan 1980) - Yellow Magic Orchestra
Radio Junk – Sheena And The Rokkets
Radio Junk – Yukihiro Takahashi 
Fill me with Radio Junk!

Posted in Friends Of Earth, Metafive, remixes, Yellow Magic Orchestra, Yukihiro Takahashi | 3 Comments »

If we keep listening to gay music all together maybe Mike Pence will have a stroke

Friday, March 3rd, 2017

Been doing a bit of writing over on that other site in case you haven’t checked it in a while. I wrote a thing about the new Rez Infinite vinyl re-issue (it’s not good) as well as a review of the new Zelda 30th Anniversary Concert CD (it’s good). Additionally, I wrote up something on my recent run-in with Twitter abuse automation, and how I think it’s total bullshit that targets the wrong kind of abuse. Finally, I put something together on some Japan-exclusive David Bowie vinyl. Read and enjoy.

Then listen to disco.

Donna Summer
Melody Of Love (Junior Vasquez DMC Remix)
Donna Summer is one of those artists whose 12″ single discography has (thankfully) been mined almost to completion for various compilations and re-issues. It’s pretty hard to find a legit rare and worthwhile Donna Summer mix these days. But yo, I did it.

This is the B-side to the 1995 re-issue of “I Feel Love.” The A-sides are remixes by Rollo & Bliss and Masters at Work. You can buy those legally on iTunes and I suggest you do. They’re dope. Somehow this one didn’t get there with them. Too bad, it’s a great take on a fantastic tune.

Diebold & Cataluna
White Rabbit
This one surprised me. It’s off of a 1991 Megatone Records compilation called 12 by 12. I associate Megatone Records with the early 80s, thanks to banger like Sylvester’s immortal “Do You Wanna Funk” and the classic gay-as-fuck “Homosexuality.” I had no idea that they kept going into the 90s. Although after buying the album I did some research and found out they folded just a few years after this compilation came out.

This track is not typical of what I associate Megatone with. It is not Hi-NRG at all, and is instead a pretty low-key/trippy take on the Jefferson Airplane classic. Strangely enough, much of the instrumentation is sampled from Madonna’s “Justify My Love,” which came out around the same time. Wonder if they cleared that sample.

Diebold is David Diebold, who contributed to a lot of Megatone releases in the later half of the 90s up until the label went belly up. Unfortunately I can’t find much on him now, there seems to be a lot of David Diebolds out and about.

Cataluna’s full name is Kim Cataluna. Looks like she released a jazz album a few years back, but other than that I can’t find much regarding what she might be up to today. I love finding out whatever happened to lesser known acts like this, so if you know let me know!

 

Posted in Diebold & Cataluna, Donna Summer, remixes | 2 Comments »

Filibuster with Synthesizers

Friday, February 17th, 2017

I managed to write a post comprised entirely of electronic music and didn’t mention a Japanese artist once! I’m surprised too.

Depeche Mode
Wrong (Magdas Scallop Funk Remix)
Wrong (Frankie’s Bromantic Club Mix)
Wrong (DIM vs Boys Noize Remix)
I’m not going to say much about this song, I feel as if I’ve probably written about this song before. I like this song. Good song. These are good remixes to a good song. Okay, now let’s move on.

Have you heard the new Depeche Mode song, “Where’s The Revolution?” It’s fucking great. The vocals by Gahan are on point and the production finds a nice middle-ground between vintage Mode and a more modern take on synthpop.

But the best thing about it? The lyrics. It’s like someone drilled a hole in my head and extracted my exacts thoughts on the current state of the world. There’s so little good political music these days, who’d of thought we’d get an incendiary political track from motherfucking Depeche Mode?

I think the only other political Depeche Mode track I can think of is “John The Revelator.” That was the first Depeche Mode single I heard as an adult that really go me into the group. So maybe I’m just biased towards the group being political. Regardless, I hope “Where’s The Revolution” gets some dope remixes. We need more politics on the dancefloor.

Mito
Droid
Mito is a pseudonym for Stefano Secchi, an Italian musician and producer who has over two hundred releases under his belt. Don’t know anything about him other than what Discogs tell me. What I do know is that this song is some dope shit. Classic Italian electro disco at its finest. Listening to this track puts me in a real headspace. I imagine a 1980s vision of what a 2020s nightclulb would look like, with everyone decked out in neon fringe and Mylar clothes. Robot bartenders serve glowing drinks and everyone has a jetpack for no reason.

I’m gonna run for President and that mental image is going to be my campaign. Vote For Lost Turntable – Neon and Jet Packs for Everyone!

If this song installs similar optimistic feels of a retro-future and you want more, then you’re in luck, you can grab several other mixes of this track on iTunes!

Telex
Moskow Diskow (1985 Version)
Moskow Diskow (French Version)
Moskow Diskow (English Version)
I posted a version of “Moskow Diskow” six years ago. In my continuing adventures of reading old posts of my own blog, let’s see what I was talking about on June 6th, 2012.

Hm. Nothing really all that special I guess. Just a call out for questions about recording vinyl. I must’ve been in a good mood that week. In fact, browsing that whole month I seemed to be rather content and chill. I guess that was the start of my run-up to my Japan visit, so I was probably focused on that. Good times.

But yeah, “Moskow Diskow.” None of these versions are the same as the version I shared all those years ago, they’re taken from a different 12″ single entirely. Telex is dope.

Posted in Depeche Mode, Mito, remixes, Telex | 5 Comments »

Celebrate Valentine’s Day With Techno

Monday, February 13th, 2017

Want a Life In Japan story? Feels like I haven’t told one of them in a while Have I talked about Valentine’s Day in Japan?

Valentine’s Day in Japan is kind of stupid.

So, in Japan Valentine’s Day is all about the dudes. Women are not supposed to get gifts on Valentine’s Day. For real. Instead, women are supposed to give chocolate to men. Then, men are supposed to return the favor a month later on March 14tth. That day is called White Day, and on White Day men have to go out and give chocolate to any woman who gifted them chocolate the month prior.

I’m not one to besmirch another culture’s traditions or customs, but it’s hella complex and confusing to anyone who hasn’t grown up with it. And a lot of Japanese people I know aren’t particularly fond of it. I’ve heard men use the term “Chocolate Abuse” to talk about women gifting them large amounts of chocolate only because they want to force the man’s hand and make him gift them a similar gift a month later. It’s not gifting out of love, it’s gifting out of obligation.

But that’s not why Valentine’s Day in Japan bothers me. No, Valentine’s Day in Japan bothers me because there’s not protocol for what us gays are supposed to do. My boyfriend and I both agreed to celebrate Valentine’s Day and tell White Day to fuck right off. And that’s all well and good, but that means that every February 13th I’m the only dude in candy store, surrounded by women who look at my giant white ass with bemusement wondering if I’m just an idiot gaijin who doesn’t know better or, y’know, the correct assumption.

Anyways, gender stereotypes aside, I love giving my boyfriend chocolate because every year he acts surprised and it’s just the cutest shit. So I guess I can’t complain too much.

Here’s some techno. Happy Valentine’s Day.

808 State
Lift (7 Inch Mix)
Lift (12 Inch Mix)
Lift (Justin Strauss Remix)
Lift (Metro Mix)
Lift (Lift Up Dub)
Open Your Mind (Sound Garden Mix)
Open Your Mind (Open Mix)
I originally posted these tracks on January 13th of 2010. Let’s look back at that post to see what I was rambling about at the time…

Boy, I was really angry about Jay Leno. Seems like so long ago (probably because it was.) Anyways, venting and petitioning for my favorite late night talk show to stay on the air sure seems mighty quaint now, doesn’t it? Nothing like the sudden and brutal rise of fascism to really put things in perspective.

But where was I? Oh yeah, “Lift.” Bought this single in Kichijoji a few weeks back, totally not realizing that I already had a copy back in the states. Oh well, saves me the trouble of trying to bring my original copy here and it also gave me the chance to re-record it with much better equipment than I had back in 2010.

Ken Ishii
Pneuma
Twist Of Space
Low
I wanted to share more of this man’s amazing work, but shockingly enough a lot of it is in print and easily available (and cheap) on iTunes in the states! So if you like what you hear here I really recommend you check out some of his albums proper. Future In Light and Jelly Tones are two solid picks to start with.

Posted in 808 State, Ken Ishii, remixes | 2 Comments »

Techno for smashing fascists

Sunday, January 29th, 2017

I get that in times of strife and hardship, distractions are important. They’ve certainly served me well this week. In light of all the horrible ills that have befallen us all, I find a great source of escapism in film. The boyfriend and I recent purchased an amazing Hammer Films box set, so I’ve been drowning my sorrows in copious amounts of Peter Cushing being a bad motherfucker.

I also have been absorbing a shitton of Giant Bomb content right now. They’ve seemingly always been there for me. When I went through a horribly painful fit of depression three years ago, the Bombcast was always a three-hour block where I could for sure keep away the demons and darkness.

So please, right now, do your best to stay sane. While it’s important to fight the good fight in any way you can, it’s important to take time to collect yourself as well. Whether it be video games, movies, music or just talking a nice long walk. Find something that can distract you, and hold onto it when needed.

Just don’t expect that thing to be this blog. Because fuck that orange assclown with a rusty crowbar.

Seriously, could someone do that? I’m sure Pence would like to watch.

The Art Of Noise
Instruments Of Darkness (All Of Us Are One People) (The Prodigy Mix)
Sometimes you stumble upon a track at just the right time. Right when I first read that Trump was instituting his curb-stomp earning racist ban on legal immigration, I was listening to this song for the very first time. An aggressive acid house track with a chorus consisting of nothing but the platitude of “all of us are one people” may be over simplistic and a bit on the nose, but it sure hit the spot for how I felt at that exact minute.

Nine Inch Nails
Capital G (Switch Remix)
The Hand That Feeds (Photek Ruff Mix)
Neither of these remixes are as good as the album versions. But they’re still quality, and good soundtracks to breaking shit and spray painting graffiti of Trump with a tiny dick and a klan hood on.

I mean, if you wanna do that.

Posted in NIN, remixes, The Art Of Noise | 5 Comments »

Cross Continental Divas

Monday, January 9th, 2017

Happy new year!

Let’s all work together to make this year less shitty than 2016. I know it’s going to be an uphill battle. But don’t worry, I have Japanese covers of classic TV theme songs to help us get through it.

Jun Togawa
Femme Fatale
Rawhide
I’M GOING TO SEE JUN TOGAWA LIVE THIS FRIDAY I’M FUCKING STOKED.

STOKED.

Ahem. Sorry. I’m a little excited.

I was taken completely by surprise by the fact that Jun Togawa released a new CD over the holidays, the amazing Watashi Ga Na Kou Hototogisu. It’s a covers album of sorts, featuring the legendary singer performing new versions of some of her best-known tracks. Usually, that’s the kind of thing that bores me to tears, but this record is special. Because the new arrangements were in part composed and performed by the Japanese post-rock/metal band Vampillia, and they really take the tracks to some crazy new places. “Suki Suki Daisuki” in particular is completely reworked, transformed into a heavy and dark nightmare that treat the song’s morbid humor with dire sincerity. It’s amazing.

But I’m not sharing that, because you can buy it on iTunes in America! So you should do that!

So instead, I’m sharing these two fairly rare covers that are on the singer’s three-disc greatest hits and rarities set. Yes, the second one is a cover of the TV theme song.

It’s great.

Eartha Kitt
I Love Men (Dance Remix)
I Love Men (Dance Remix Instrumental)
So I’m listening to this and I immediately think, “well, this must’ve been a hit in the gay clubs back in the day.” And while there’s no “gay club top 10” Billboard chart, there is the Billboard Dance Chart, which is pretty much the same thing. This track made it to number seven on that chart, which pretty much confirmed my suspicions.

I suspect this track was made specifically with gay clubs in mind. The fact that it was produced and co-written by Village People producer Jacques Morali and so-gay-he’s-made-of-rainbows writer/comedian Bruce Vilanch, I think my suspicions are entirely spot-on.

Everything about this track is great, from the by then retro disco production to the “vampire cat lady” vocal styling of the legendary Kitt. A hell of a dance classic that is ripe for rediscovery. It’s songs like this that make me almost want to seriously become a club DJ. Because if I’m not going to drop these banging tracks into the club, then who the hell will?

Posted in Eartha Kitt, Jun Togawa, remixes | 5 Comments »

Happy New Year, let us never speak of 2016 again

Tuesday, December 27th, 2016

I hope you all had a merry little Christmas. I mean, 2016 even managed to make Christmas shit by killing George Michael, but I hope you tried your best. My boyfriend and I went to a special museum showcase of vintage boomboxes! That was pretty fucking dope. Expect a write-up soon!

Gary Numan
Music For Chameleons (Extended Version)
This version of Numan’s single from his 1982 album I, Assassin is approximately 50 seconds longer than the original album version. I feel that, in this case, calling it “extended” is really false advertising. There needs to be another word for it. Maybe “elongated?” No, that sounds stupid. I don’t know. I’m open to suggestions from the peanut gallery for this one.

Yellow Magic Orchestra
Rydeen (Instrumental) (Remixed by YAMADA)
You’ve Got To Help Yourself (POPbanana trap’mix)
These two remixes are from the vinyl edition of the YMO Remixes Technopolis 2000-00. It’s not the best compilation, as most remixes of YMO tracks are downright awful. However, these two takes, which didn’t make it on the CD version, are light years better than nearly every other track on the album, which is odd. Of course, “Rydeen” is a hard song to fuck up, but the remix of “You’ve Got To Help Yourself” is surprisingly great considering that’s not one of YMO’s best tunes. This version has a really rad bassline and some happy fun beeps that sound like something out of a Willian Orbit track, so I can really get behind it.

Posted in Gary Numan, remixes, Yellow Magic Orchestra | 2 Comments »

Fantasia Stupidia

Sunday, November 27th, 2016

How’s everyone doing?

After three weeks of excessive drinking (not non-stop, just on my days off) I’ve decided I need to stop drowning my sorrows and anxieties in booze and try to find a more healthy coping mechanism. For now, that’s buying obscure game music on vinyl. It’s working out for my liver okay, but my wallet is a little pissed.

Additionally, stupid music has been a lifesaver during this time of strife. So to the person who shared the YouTube links of the Hi-NRG versions of “Bette Davis Eyes” in the comments section of my last post, I say thank you. Don’t suppose you have Hi-NRG versions of “Rainbow Connection?”

Moving on, I updated the massive Tokyo record store guide! Now it’s even bigger. A new store opened up in Shinjuku that I thought was worth incorporating because it’s damn good. If you find yourself in Tokyo anytime soon you must make your way to the Shinjuku HMV, the place is a palace of vinyl.

Now let’s dance.

Carmen Electra
Fantasia Erotica (Indecent Proposal Mix) (Radio Edit)
Fantasia Erotica (Erotic Groove Mix)
Fantasia Erotica (Sex Drive Dub)
Fantasia Erotica (Xtra Sex Dub)
Fantasia Erotica (He Dances Instead)
Fantasia Erotica (Double Deep House Mix)
Let me just get this out of the way right now, for those who are wondering why the hell I’m sharing Carmen Electra remixes; this song was produced by Prince.

Does it make sense now?

Oh but don’t worry, your initial thought upon seeing Carmen Electra’s name was correct, this song is quite awful. Even Prince had his fair share of misses. I don’t think these tracks are going to get re-issued via some Prince Vault special edition re-release campaign anytime soon.

Of course, I hope they do. No matter how bad the song is, I hope that eventually everything that Prince ever put his hand on is made available, in-print and easy to purchase either digitally or physically. Because that’s how music should be.

But I hope that they get to re-releasing The Family album before they dig this bad boy up again. This song has the line, “Oh, speak American? No speak Carmanese!”

What the fuck does that even mean? Oi.

Donna Summer
I Feel Love (Mega Mix)
I Feel Love (Edit Mix)
I’m kind of bending my “never share legally available music” rule tonight, because while you can get at least one of these mixes on a legally available CD, it sure as hell isn’t easy.

For those wondering, these are two of the “I Feel Love” mixes that were remixed by the legendary Patrick Cowley, the man who brought us Sylvester’s “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)” and singled-handedly invented Hi-NRG disco.

You can get the “Mega Mix” on at least two compilations. One is the two-disc edition of Donna Summer’s greatest hits album The Journey, and other on a hard-to-find remix compilation series that I have forgotten the name of. Regardless, you can’t buy it on Amazon or iTunes digitally, and you sure as hell ain’t going to find it at your local record store (if you still have one of those, I keep forgetting that most people live in cities that aren’t Tokyo) so I don’t feel too bad for sharing it. Also, I’m fairly certain that the version on The Journey is a straight-up vinyl rip. Mine sounds better (in my opinion).

As for the “Edit Mix,” shit, I don’t know where the hell you can find that. I’m sure it’s been on CD at some point, but that point was probably a long time ago, so I feel safe in sharing it now. I actually like that version a bit more than the full “Mega Mix.” Fifteen minutes of sequencers is a bit much, y’know?

Depeche Mode
I Feel Loved (Danny Tenaglia’s Labor of Love Radio Edit)
I just really wanted to share a remix of “I Feel Love” and “I Feel Loved” in the same post and then have an internal debate about the grammatical differences between the two. These are the kind of things that English teachers think about. It’s a sickness, really.

And for those keeping count at home, it has been approximately 13 months since the last time I posted Depeche Mode.

Posted in Carmen Electra, Depeche Mode, Donna Summer, remixes | No Comments »

My Name is Prince! And I’m Jazz Fusion!

Monday, October 24th, 2016

Really quick, I wrote about (and shared) a hella stupid sex record on my other blog. Check it out if you like worthless cultural ephemera from the 1970s.

Also, in absolutely horrible news, Michiyuki Kawashima, the lead singer of Boom Boom Satellites, has passed away. He was 47 years old and leaves behind a wife and two children. His music touched me in a way that little else has. I already wrote two soliloquies on his band back when they had to call it quits due to his condition, one here and one at Mostly-Retro, and I feel that if I wrote more I’d just be repeating myself. I’ll just say that he’ll be missed, his music was a gift to this planet, and I hope you get the pleasure to hear it if you have the chance.

Moving on.

Some big music geek news this week, Warner Bros. announced that they were going to “open the Prince vault” and for a new release.

When I saw headlines for this, I was stoked. What were they going to include? Lost Camille tracks? Cuts from the original Dream Factory sessions? The Undertaker album? Any tracks from the numerous live albums that Prince recorded and never released?

Nah, instead they cobbled together another greatest hits compilation and stuck one unreleased track on it. Because in a world that has The Hits 1, The Hits 2, The Very Best of Prince and Ultimate Prince, what we really needed was another damn greatest hits album.

I get that they wanted to put something together for the holiday shopping season. I mean, it’s crass, unnecessary and kind of insulting, but I get it. But did they have to be so damn lazy about it? If they didn’t want to go through the bother of digging through unreleased material, the least they could’ve done is thrown in some more out-of-print B-sides or remixes to tide over the die-hards. A disc of “the hits” and a disc of rare tracks seems like it would’ve been a best of both worlds. We already have two, 2-disc Prince compilations. We don’t need a third.

We need funky jazz instead!

Madhouse
10 (The Perfect Mix)
(The Perfect) 10
Ten And A Half
2
6 (End Of The World Mix)
6
6 And A Half
As I said when I first wrote about Madhouse back in 2013, this group is one of three Prince associate acts that was more-or-less just Prince, the others being The Family and Mazarati. Unlike those acts though, which are very much pop groups, Madhouse was jazz fusion/funk. As such, and with Prince’s involvement in them not made obvious on the album jackets, no one bought them.

That includes me, I’ve never heard a Madhouse album proper. All I have are these two singles, which feature a handful of album tracks from the first album, a few remixes, and a couple b-sides (the “half” tracks). Madhouse tracks didn’t have names, just numbers, by the way.

While a lot of (deserved) attention has been placed on the unreleased Prince stuff out there, like I wrote back when Prince first passed away, I really wish Warner Bros. would get their shit together and put stuff like this back in print too. A best-case scenario would be some kind of Madhouse box set that includes both their albums, the b-sides and singles, and both versions of the unreleased third album, 24. However, I’d be happy with just the original albums back in print. So would a lot of other people, I assume.

Fucking Warner Bros., no wonder they drove Prince crazy.

Posted in B-sides, Prince, remixes | 1 Comment »

Holiday from my Holiday

Wednesday, September 14th, 2016

I’m not dead! I feel happy!

Eh, well, I feel okay I guess. Got some allergy shit going on and my leg is acting weird.

I’ve been gone for over a fucking month! Shit! That sucks. I really sorry about that. The first couple of weeks in August were busy as hell, and then the rest of the month (as well as the first week in September) were spent on vacation back in the states. Usually I find some time during my trips to set aside for writing, but that just couldn’t happen this time around. This vacation I saw family and friends in five states, took my boyfriend to about half a dozen or more museums, celebrated about seven birthdays (including my own) and got drunk on bloody marys more times than I’d like to admit. Sometimes life gets in the way of me posting random crap on the internet, and for that I apologize.

I’m still actually disgustingly busy now that I’m back in Tokyo and I have to make up for a month off, but I really wanted to get something up here. Luckily, I happened to find a holy grail single when I was in the states, so I hope this will help make up for my time away.

holiday

Madonna
Holiday (Extended Remix)
Over And Over (Extended Remix)
In 1987 Madonna released You Can Dance, one of the very first remix albums. It’s comprised of extended remixes from her first three albums, as well as one new track, “Spotlight.” The mixes themselves are mixed into a continuous mix (save for when you have to flip the record). That makes for a fun, party-friendly, listening experience, but if you just want to listen to one of the tracks it’s kind of a bummer, as they get cut off suddenly mid-transition. A (very rare) promo CD did get out that features unmixed versions, but those versions were single edits, not the extended versions found on the album proper.

Only two of the remixes from You Can Dance have been released unmixed, and these are it. They were only made available on a promo release that featured them alongside the unmixed dub versions as well (which you can now find on the You Can Dance CD and digital version).

I’ve been looking for this promo for FUCKING AGES. I saw one in Tokyo once, but it was for well over $100. And while I love me some Madonna, I got my limits. Thankfully, I was at home last month (home being Jerry’s Records in Pittsburgh, PA) and he somehow had a copy buried in his Madonna section for a steal of a price. I even told him that it was priced too low, but he gave me the deal anyways, because Jerry is dope. Thank Jerry for his dope kindness by swinging by his store the next time you’re in the greater Pittsburgh area, and enjoy these insanely hard to find mixes.

I really, really hope to have something more substantial in the coming days and weeks. Things will definitely calm down come next month at the latest. Thanks to all for your continued patience.

Posted in Madonna, remixes | 5 Comments »

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