Archive for the ‘Tears For Fears’ Category

80s Synthpop, 90s Electronica and 00s Trance – Not in that order

Monday, August 20th, 2012

I have to head to the lovely (not really) city of Toledo, Ohio next week. So I’m going to churn out a few quality blog posts this week and get a few in the can for the following week before I take off. I have a feeling that once I find myself in Toledo I’ll be too busy seeing family/drinking to get any meaningful work done. Yay.

Tears For Fears
Mothers Talk (Extended Version)
Apparently Tears For Fears really wanted people to know their opinions on the talk of mothers, because there are a ton of different versions of this song. Obviously there’s the album version, but there’s also a single edit, a US remix, the Beat Of The Drum Mix and finally, this version, which is the only mix of the classic tune that has not seen a re-release on CD or digital platforms. It’s a shame, as it’s probably my favorite take of the song, since it’s pretty much just a longer version of the already great album mix. I still have no damn clue what the hell the song is about, however. I assume it’s something depressing thanks to the phrase “when the wind blows.”

Hybrid
Burnin’ (Breakbeat)
I haven’t posted some trance/dance tunes in a while, so I thought I’d finally share this tune, which I scored from a compilation called Koma & Bones Present: Y4K – Next Level Breaks EP3. I’m going to cop to my trance ignorance here and admit that I have no idea who Koma & Bones are, I just got this EP because it had a Hybrid track on it. I love me some Hybrid.

I’m not sure where the original version of “Burnin'” first made an appearance. I only have a live version from the 2CD version of Wide Angle, as well as another remix that’s a bit shorter than this eight-minute monster. Regardless, it’s a great song and an excellent remix; my favorite kind of trance music, complex and hypnotic, so good that you don’t need the assistance of recreational medication to make it better. And I write about electronic music for a living (kind of) so trust me, that’s really saying something.

Björk
Pagan Poetry (Infusion Mix)
Pagan Poetry (Music Box)
Sun In My Mouth (Recomposed by Ensemble)
And rounding out today’s clearing house of stuff that’s been in my backlog for way too long are these Björk remixes. Like most Björk tunes, I love these mixes even though they don’t really fall into the realm of “easy listening.”  Well, I guess the Music Box version of “Pagan Poetry” could, as it is literally a music box version of that song, but I digress.

I got the “Pagan Poetry (Infusion Mix)” from a bootleg 12″. It was available for a bit on a few different Björk singles, but they’re all out of print now. Both “Pagan Poetry (Music Box)” and “Sun In My Mouth (Recomposed by Ensemble)” are available on Amazon, but as only part of a three-track single for “Cocoon” that costs nearly 20 bucks, so I really don’t feel bad about sharing them here. That shit is nuts. Björk really needs to go ahead and release a proper box set with all her various remixes and B-sides. Sure, it would be about 100 discs, but I’d buy it and I’m sure other idiots like me would too.

Posted in Bjork, Hybrid, remixes, Tears For Fears | 7 Comments »

A Whale Of a Blog Post

Thursday, October 7th, 2010

Word.

Look, sometimes I don’t have much to say.

Tears For Fears
Pale Shelter (You Don’t Give Me Love) (Extended Version)
Pale Shelter (You Don’t Give Me Love)
Saxophones as Opiates
I never noticed this until now, but between the title track, “Mad World,” “Ideas as Opiates” and “Pale Shelter,” The Hurting is probably one of the most bleak and depressing albums of all time. It’s amazing what you can get away with when you throw some catchy dance beats in there. The Hurting came out when I was all of three years old, so I missed it. I did, however, rock out heavily to Songs From The Big Chair, which came out when I was a much more mature five years old. I seriously have a very vivid memory of three kids in my first grade class running across the playground singing their own version of “Shout” which went “Fart! Fart! Let it all out!” over and over again. I don’t think there’s a better sign of a song permiating the American culture than a bunch of six-year-olds in Ohio creating their own scatological remake of it.

“Pale Shelter” has an odd release history. It was actually the group’s second single (originally released under the longer name you see above), but it failed to catch on in the UK. After “Mad World” blew up the band’s label re-released the song, but in a different mix (and shorter title). That later mix is the version that appears on the album. It too has its own extended mix, which weas included on later editions of the album on CD. No version of this original mix has ever been included on CD as far as I can tell.  To be honest it’s not that different, the biggest difference  in the beginning; the older versions starts off with a  backmasked lyric, while the album version does not. Still, it’s an awesome song, and any mix of it is worth a listen. “Saxophones As Opiates” is a b-side from the “Mad World” single.

In case you’re wondering, the backmasked lyric in the beginning of “Pale Shelter” is  “the sickness in the system is an amplification of the sickness in the individual.” That’s totally deep, yo.

Whale
Crying At Airports (Remix by Shawn J. Period featuring Mos Def)
Crying At Airports (Friend’s Wigga-No-No Remake)
I know next to nothing about this group. I bought the single because it had cool art and Mos Def is on it. It’s groovy little trip-hop/dance tune and worth a listen. I really dig the “Wigga-No-No Remake” with it’s drum-n-bass inspired breakbeats. Curious after hearing the tune, I did some research and found of that Whale had a pretty big hit in Europe with their first single “Hobo Humpin’ Slobo Babe.” I went to YouTube to check out that track and…I think I’m done checking out Whale. Yikes.

Posted in B-sides, remixes, Tears For Fears, Whale | 15 Comments »

What The Hell Does Pineapple Face Mean?

Wednesday, January 6th, 2010

Did everyone have a wonderfully fantastic and incredible New Year? I didn’t end up in the hospital or with a serious injury. So I’m calling it a success for me. Allow me to ring in the fourth year of The Lost Turntable (holy shit!) with what I do best, a random collection of songs of varying quality.

Suzanne Vega
Tom’s Diner (12” Version)
Did you know that Tom’s Diner was the song in which the creator of the MP3 used to make sure the compression of the audio wasn’t overly affecting sound quality? It’s true! Did you know that it’s the song I used recently to see how much FM interference I had coming from my turntable? That’s true too! The answer is a lot. That’s why some tracks of mine has noticeable hums and such. I’m getting some equipment to help counter this measure however. This 12” remix is not on any Suzanne Vega album and is about a minute and a half longer than the original version. I haven’t checked but I’m betting much of the added length comes from extra “da da da da.”

Revenge
Pineapple Face’s Big Day (Remix)
Pineapple Face Calls It A Day
Revenge is one of Peter Hook’s (of New Order) side projects, and apparently they suck? That seemed to be the overall critical and popular consensus at the time. This was in 1990, I was barely aware of New Order at the time, let alone their side projects so I had no opinion. My knowledge of the group is this song, which I think is pretty good. The synth-line is catchy as hell, and I love Peter Hook’s voice. If he sung the phone book I’d probably check it out. Anyways, these are from a 12” single. Give them a listen and see if this group sucks as much as everyone in the world seemed to think at the time.

Missy
Gossip Folk (Fatboy Slim Remix)
Okay, sometimes I’m kind of stupid. Example: I bought this single today and was quite excited. I like Missy Elliott, I like Fatboy Slim – seemed like a good combo. I buy the record and get in my car, putting my recently bought pizza on top of the record. Not surprisingly, the hot pizza didn’t treat Missy with the respect she deserved and the record got wicked warped. Shockingly though, the damn thing still plays! The needle looks like it’s on a roller coaster however. This remix is a radio edit, so sorry about that.

Tears For Fears
Everybody Wants To Rule The World (Extended Version)
Speak for yourself guys, I don’t want to rule my own head sometimes.

Posted in Missy Elliott, remixes, Revenge, Suzanne Vega, Tears For Fears | 7 Comments »