Archive for the ‘Tori Amos’ Category

Electoral Dance

Thursday, November 8th, 2012

Hey remember when a religious zealot tried to win the presidency but forgot that people who weren’t white/rich/straight/assholes voted?

Let’s never speak of his name again. Instead let’s dance to silly remixes.

Tori Amos
God (The Thinking Mix 2)
God (Acapella Vocal and Rain Mix)
God (The Rainforest Resort Mix)
God (The CJ Bolland Mix)
Talula (BT’s Synethasia Mix)
Now that the election is over, I can get back to obsessing over the things that really matter, like why the hell there hasn’t been a box set release of Tori Amos remixes?

I’ve lamented about this before, and I’m sure I’ll lament about it again when I inevitably post more Tori Anos remixes, but it’s one of those things that just drives me insane. There must be close to a hundred, if not more, amazing Tori Amos remixes that are out of print, and goddamit I want a way to get them that doesn’t involve me hunting down every 12″ single and CD maxi-single under the sun. I have better things to do.

Well, maybe not, but still, it’s annoying.

These are pretty good remixes, even though most of them don’t focus on Amos’ lyrics. The “God” mixes are the best, while the BT mix of “Talula” is a little on the repetitive side for me. His “Tornado” mix of the song was way better, but I’m not sharing that since you can get that everywhere. And you should, as it’s really freakin’ good.

808 State
10 x 10 (Hitman’s Club Mix)
10 x 10 (Hitman’s Instrumental Mix)
10 x 10 (Trans Disco Express)
10  x 10 (Black Eye Mix)
La Luz (Chunky Funky Mix)
I only own one 808 State album, their legendary 1991 opus Ex:El, which has the timeless “Cubik” as well as awesome songs featuring Bjork and Bernard Sumner. I am not familiar with Gorgeous, the album from which “10 x 10″ is from. However, after hearing “10 x 10″ and falling batshit in love with its blessed house sound, I bought the album and plan on listening to it in its entirety while I drive to Toledo (shudder) this week. This is my favorite kind of house music, equal parts 90s rave and 80s “let the diva scream her lungs out” dance music.

I also love the sampled “10 x 10 x 10 x 10 x 10″ vocal bit. I was muttering it when I was working out this morning, I’m sure that made me look like Rain Man while I was on the treadmill, but whatever.

Posted in 808 State, remixes, Tori Amos | 3 Comments »

Jesus And Tori Amos walk into a dance club…

Tuesday, June 12th, 2012

’90s Music y’all.

MC 900 Ft. Jesus
Regression Session
MC 900 Ft. Jesus is pretty much known for only two things. One is the video for his 1994 semi-hit “If I Only Had A Brain,” which was directed by Spike Jones. The other is that his name is MC 900 Ft. Jesus. I sure as heck don’t know much else about the dude. So anything I’d say here would just be a retread of his wiki. So go read that if you want to know more about him.

As far as this song, it’s the b-side to “If I Only Had A Brain,” and sounds absolutely nothing like it. It’s not a rap jam, it’s not a dance tune, it’s literally what the title says it is; a regression therapy session (with a free jazz musical backdrop). Those who are easily open to suggestion may not want to listen to the tune whilst driving, lest they regress to toddlerdom.

Tori Amos
In The Springtime Of His Voodoo (Hasbrouck Heights Club Mix)
In The Springtime Of His Voodoo (Quiet Mix)
In The Springtime Of His Voodoo (Sugar Dub)
In The Springtime Of His Voodoo (Hasbrouck Heights Single Mix)
I really wish someone in Tori Amos’ camp would put together a remix collection featuring just some of the amazing mixes from her singles of the 90s and early 2000s. A lot of her best tracks from the era were remixed amazingly into surprisingly great dance tracks. I particularly remember that the remixes to “Raspberry Swirl” were great, and I also enjoyed the mixes of “Jackie’s Strength” and “Professional Widow.” Why can’t Tori fans (if any remain) buy them? The Tori fans of the 90s were pretty hardcore and needed to get everything. I’m sure that Tori released a box set, or even just a digital-only collection, of these mixes, it would sell to that crowd still.

But hey, until then enjoy the downloads.

Posted in remixes, Tori Amos | 5 Comments »

Literally a Virtuosity of a Soundtrack

Sunday, October 2nd, 2011

This blog has gotten more hits in the past two days than it usually does in two weeks. I guess sometimes even someone like me can write something that can really connect with what people are thinking and be relevant with current trends and topics.

Other times I share out-of-print songs from obscure soundtracks that no one cares about. Tonight’s post is the latter.

Selections From the Virtuosity Original Motion Picture Soundtrack


For those of you who don’t remember/successfully forgot, Virtuosity was a mid-90s action/sci-fi flick starring Denzel Washington as an ex-cop who is released from prison to hunt down a robotic serial killer played by Russell Crowe. The movie also stars Kelly Lynch (proving that you can go downhill from Roadhouse) and William Fichtner, because he’s in one out of ten movies ever made.

It was directed by Brett Leonard, the only director I can think of who is from my hometown of Toledo, Ohio. Leonard’s other directorial efforts include The Lawnmower Man, Hideway and Man-Thing. He also directed Highlander: The Source, which many consider to be even worse than Highlander II: The Quickening. That’s a fucking accomplishment.

He also directed Feed, a horror movie about a serial-killer who gets off on feeding his victims to death. It’s set in Toledo, Ohio and sounds like the most accurate depiction of my hometown that has ever been committed to film.

Anyways, while Virtuosity is a slightly-below mediocre film, it does have a slightly-above mediocre soundtrack that is now out-of-print. You can get some of the songs on albums by the artists, but most of the tracks remain hard-to-find and rare, and those are the ones I’ll be featuring tonight. If you like mid-90s dance/alt-rock then you might find some tracks here you’ll like.

A quick little disclaimer/cop-out: I know very little about all of the bands featured tonight. So if I make any mistakes, glaring omissions of facts that should be mentioned, I apologize. I’m battling a pretty wicked cold at the moment and I’m really too damn tired to research that much right now.

The Heads (Featuring Deborah Harry)
No Talking Just Head
The Heads are everyone in Talking Heads except David Byrne, created when they wanted to reunite but Byrne refused. They only released one album, and this is the title track from it. Other vocalists contributed to the album, including Richard Hell, Gordon Gano and Andy Partridge. I heard the album sucked, but I do love this track. Any of you heard it and want to share? It’s out of print at the moment.

The Worldbeaters and Peter Gabriel
Party Man
I have absolutely no freakin’ clue as to who The Worldbeaters are. If anyone can shed some light on them for me I would appreciate it. Since they apparently never released anything other than this song, I suspect they do not exist and that it is a pseudonym of Peter Gabriel and whomever he was working with while he recorded this song (which may be Tori Amos, she co-wrote this tune). This is one of the best tracks on the soundtrack, although cool, the mellow vibe totally does not fit in with the rest of the album.

Dig
Hu Hu Hu (Danny Saber Remix)
Dig was an also-ran alt-rock band from the mid-90s. I didn’t remember them at all until I did my research for this article and re-discovered their sole kinda-hit “Believe.” According to Discogs this remix is by Danny Saber (the linear notes for this soundtrack are annoyingly vague and don’t even list that most of the tracks are remixes). That makes sense, because it sounds like nothing else I looked up by the band. Not bad, extremely 90s sounding.

Live
White, Discussion (Sam Sever Remix)
Hey Live! Remember Live? Yeah, I almost forget them too. I blame Secret Samadhi, goddamn that album was dogshit. This very odd remix is not as good as the original version but it is interesting in a “hey let’s just add some beats and a rap to a rock song and call it a remix” kind of way.

Fatima Mansions
The Loyaliser (Juno Reactor Remix)
Okay, I had never heard of this band until about five minutes ago, when I looked up their Wikipedia page and discovered the following:

  • They made the UK Top 10 with a reworked cover of “(Everything I Do) I Do It For You.”
  • They opened for U2 but were almost booed off stage for insulting the pope.
  • John Peel loved them.

Judging from what I’ve found on YouTube, they appear to have been absolutely fucking nuts. I think I just discovered another band to obsess over, like I needed another one of those. Oh well, I’m assuming I can get their stuff fairly cheap used.

Also, if you like this remix, check out the original version. It’s even better.

Traci Lords
Fallen Angel (Paul Oakenfold Remix)
Traci Lords is an amazing singer and her album 1,000 Fires is a great example of mid-90s Hi-NRG dance music. It’s a shame she never put out another record. Not only that, it’s out of print too! Looks like I might need to feature it sometime.

Londonbeat
Build It With Love
If right now you are wondering “Who the fuck are Londonbeat?” then click here.

That song will probably be stuck in your head for the next few hours/days/weeks. Sorry about that.

I have no idea how much this remix differs from the original version, even in its remixed form it’s incredibly dated and silly. I bet it was a banger in the gay clubs at the time though.

India and Masters At Work
I Can’t Get No Sleep
India (the woman singing on this track – not the country) has an amazing voice, but that can’t save this track from being so forgettable an elephant would have a hard time remembering it. In fact, whenever I see the that song title I get “Insomnia” by Faithless stuck in my head instead. It’s more upbeat 90s dance, and fine for what it is. Just not my style at all.

That’s it for this one. In case you were wondering, the in-print tracks from this soundtrack are:
Black Grape – A Big Day In The North
Tricky – Abbaon Fat Tracks
William Orbit – Into The Paradise
Samurai – Juno Reactor (AWESOME track, buy it)
Lords Of Acid – Young Boys

I might get another post out on Monday, and expect my full report on the Nevermind 4LP set this Tuesday night!

Oh, and if you’re one of my new readers and want constant updates about my stupid life/listening habits, be sure to follow me on Twitter.

Posted in Dig, Fatima Mansions, Live (The Band), Masters At Work, Peter Gabriel, soundtrack, The Heads, Tori Amos, Traci Lords | 3 Comments »

A Madonna Amos Mashup Waiting To Happen

Wednesday, December 1st, 2010

And so it begins.

I got two massive boxes in the mail today. They contained the 50+ records I bought in Oregon over Thanksgiving. I knew that was a lot of records, but seeing them piled up next to my feet right now (on top of the 8 billion other records I have yet to record) really drives the point of I have a lot of damn records in my home.

I’ve barely scratched the surface with them. I recorded three today, I had too much music to listen to for my actual job(s). I fear this pile will sit next to me forever. Although a lot of them are 12” singles, and those obviously take less time to record than, oh, lets say a collection of early 80s German electronic music (spoiler – that album is AMAZING).

Madonna
Hung Up (SDP Extended Vocal)
Hung Up (Bill Hamel Remix)
Hung Up (SDP Extended Dub)
Hung Up (Chus & Ceballos Remix)
Hung Up (Tracy Young’s Get Up And Dance Groove)
I bought this 2×12” single at 2nd Avenue Records in Portalnd. To further illustrate my previous point about their odd pricing, this two LP set cost 10 bucks, while their Bjork 12” singles cost 25 bucks! Why? Sure, I guess Bjork has a following, but not a $25 worth following. I’m not knocking the store (that much), it’s a great place. But someone needs to even out their pricing big time.

These remixes kick ass. Of course, that’s not that surprising because “Hung Up” is totally one of the best songs ever. The best use of ABBA in history.

Tori Amos
 Jackie’s Strength (Wedding Cake Club Mix)
Jackie’s Strength (Wedding Cake Edit)
Jackie’s Strength (One Rascal Dub #1)
Jackie’s Strength (One Rascal Dub #2)
Jackie’s Strength (Wedding Cake Meltdown Mix)
Jackie’s Strength (Bonus Beats)
Father Lucifer (Sylkscreen Remix)
Father Lucifer (Sylkscreen Instrumental)
So…funny story. After I got back from Oregon I started to organize my office/nerd den, going through the pile of records next to my desk so I could file and sort them. But then I realized that I hadn’t recorded over half those records! It was about 20 in all. These remixes are from a 2×12” single taken out of that pile. I guess my point is that I have a lot of fucking records.

Anyways, another Oregon story. One record I saw while crate digging in Portland was an original promo copy of Y Kant Tori Read, Tori Amos’ rarely heard debut pop album. I would love to own a real copy of that (I have a bootleg) but I was not going to pay the 90 bucks that dude was asking! That’s a fair price for that one I know, but I just can’t justify spending that much for a record that isn’t that good in the first place. The most expensive record I own is the original version of The Velvet Underground & Nico, complete with banana and the original back cover. That was worth the money. I guess I’m selectively stingy sometimes.

The “Jackie’s Strength” remixes are good, but the real highlight here is the awesome remix of “Father Lucifer.” That’s such an amazing song from such a great album. God, I’m having high school flashbacks now.

More Madonna and Tori Amos later this week. Why break the odd pairing now?

Posted in Madonna, remixes, Tori Amos | 7 Comments »