But what's the source for the Prince Lover Dalu beat? There's 'Think' in there but I'm not sure that is actually where the hi-hat flutter comes from. Possibly it's achieved through retriggering on an MPC.
Twas a genuinely perturbing track to hear the Q-Bassed "Dark Stranger" on the pirates, not for the horror movie elements but the juddery bass and shuddery synths (like a prickle of fear twitching tip-toe up your spine) and above all the heart-skips-a-beat effect, the little jolts in the rhythm. Syncopes is the medical term.
Not sure I ever heard it this in a club. But we did play it in the car when we drove out of Even Furthur in '96 in the grey dawn. It really fit the tired-wired feeling of aftermath.
Put this on the Energy Flash CD - but infuriatingly they gave us the edit version as used on the Drum and Bass Selection 1 comp, instead of full 7 minutes plus terror ride. So just as the awesome drop at around 4.40 is about to yawn chasm-like, the track fades!
Still the palpitation break and the clammy synth and the abyssal bass are present and correct.
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The Q Bass remix of "The Dark Stranger" is so far above the original, it's befuddling. On the original, the heart-tremor break is there from the start, but it's buried - not made the most of. And then you have the hammy screams. It's the clunkier side of darkcore.
The gap between the original and the remix parallels the improvement in "Lord of the Null Lines" between the Hyper-On Experience original and Foul Play's re-production. Similar sort of romping maximalism that then gets pared down. (Although I do like the original "Null Lines" a lot - a great example of Hyper-On's busy-busy approach to arrangement).
The Origin Unknown remix of "Dark Stranger" is a definite improvement - the jolty hi-hats are starting to take effect, the bass is gloopily doomy. But I could do without the Anthony Hopkins and Gary Oldman vocals.
Johnny Jungle doesn't seem to know what's he about with his version.
So the Q Bass Remix is supreme. And in fact it's only version I ever heard on the pirates. It must count as one of the greatest auto-remixes (Boogie Times Tribe is Q Bass - plus D'Cruze).
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All the versions plus the flipside(s) "Real Hardcore" in a playlist
S'okay...
Nice surprise to see my old upload at the end.
ReplyDeleteI'd add the 2 Bad Mice version of Music Takes You to the list of remixes that are clearly superior. Inspired by your earlier post, I've started listening to the MS catalog in order and found myself wincing only when I got to what seemed like 10 versions of Music Takes You back-to-back. I figured that'd be a good place to stop for the day. (Remarkable how strange those early few EPs are: Not as much that anticipates 93-95 as I'd have thought.)
I was a fan of the Dark Stranger remixes back in the day - especially the Origin Unknown versions! Do love the Q-Bass remix too... the Q-Bass remix of Shot In The Dark is equally unhinged.
ReplyDeleteThat been said, I've come to appreciate the original of Dark Stranger a lot more now; it's a track that works best on headphones at decent quality (i.e. not YouTube) as there's so much going on. I can understand why the stripped back remixes worked better in a club. When I listen to the original on speakers, it just isn't the same for whatever reason!
I left some rambling on discogs iirc with regard to the parallels between Null Lines and Dark Stranger.
Yes the 2 Bad Mice rmx of 'Music Takes You' is a giant leap forward
ReplyDeleteThose guys have some auto-remixes that are huge improvements too - the second go-round with 'Waremouse' and in their Kaotic Chemistry identity, "Drum Trip II" is a quantum jump from "Drumtrip"