 |
| Track list: 1. 45 or 33? Radio Edit 2. Stretch 'n' Vern's Rock 'n' Roll mix 3. Hixxy's HardCore mix 4. Danmass Remix 5. Stretch 'n' Vern's Skillectrix Beats mix 6. 33 or 45? mix 7. 80's Filofax mix Running time: 34 minutes Released: 1997 |
This was a single I really liked in my teens. I've heard it just a couple of times in the 2 decades since and the tune has still had a kind of nostalgic, childish appeal. I'm not sure I will feel the same after listening to seven different takes on it back to back over 34 minutes though!
We start with the radio edit - my esposure to this tune way back when (I was never into clubs as a youth, or indeed since). A breathy, panpipe-ish lead theme over a beat forms the basis of the track. I don't recall the prominence of the beats, but that staccato top end and the more electronic pattern that beckons us into the body of the track stuck with me. I don't find anything to enjoy here now though - its very flat, though it is catchy, the sort of tune that embeds itself in your mind very easily... and I am going to be reinforcing that embedding a lot. Oh dear!
The second mix claims "Rock 'n' Roll" in the title but that means nothing. There is nowt rocky about this. It goes more electronic, reminiscent of some of the beat patterns behind Faithless tunes, but without any of the other layers that group use to build interest. This will be a long half hour.
I should be doing other things. Christmas shopping for instance. I hate this time of year because Christmas feels so far off then is suddenly on you with much less time than there feels like there should be to prepare given I refuse to even contemplate the holiday before December begins. I don't mind the giving, but the organisation and the buying are a drain on my already fragile resources of time, patience and energy. In the background the third rendition has begun. This drops any sense of the main theme for the first minute, the beat is snappier and the only accompaniment is a wawing sort of hum. Actually it is more absorbing than the primary take in a strange sort of way and when the "tune" breaks out it serves more to distract from the (slightly) interesting changes than anything else. I could stop the listen right now, delete the lot and lose nothing but my sense of fulfillment fromdoing a thorough job on this post. Damn my principles.
This is the first of the mixes to really stretch the piece out too, meaning it overstays its welcome over and above being the third version of the same thing in succession. If I cast my mind backwards 20 years, I think it was the ridiculous tempo of the 33 or 45 mix that I found amusing and most enjoyable. Now I anticipate finding it childish. I don't hear this and think "what was I thinking" though. I was young, tastes shift, and I made some far worse purchases than this gimmicky single. Danmass is also overlong - doubling the length of the tune and then some! - and also abandons the main theme for a lengthy intro (3 mins and counting). It is the least interesting of the 4 so far.
The week just gone was busy; London for 3 days, the office for 2, 3 evenings out with work colleagues, including leading a bunch of Russian software developers on a pub crawl around spots that are nostalgic for me. I barely feel human today and actually, the pounding beats on these remixes really are not helping that. What I am hearing now sounds like the sort of flavourless bland background music that might pump out in arcades, or as a generic and unidentifiable beat to support the inevitable scene in cop/spy movies where the protagonists have to force their way across a dance floor heaving with sweaty kids in pursuit of their quarry. Charmless and soulless for my tastes, and still three mixes to go.
We return to sounds more like the radio version next, very, very like it. Maybe slowed a touch and the percussion backed off in amplitude. Apart from the additional run time and a different name it could be a repeat, but I haven't mucked up the player settings this time.
I find that the main theme and its perky intro sound better in my head than when actually entering through my ears. Even as I sit here listening to, and not enjoying, the actual tune, I can sort of hear my mental recollection of it at the same time, only my version has more life and a cheeky smile - more fun. Nostalgia is better left as such in many ways - though I am happy to report many Oxford pubs are still awesome. There is the caffeine-overdosed theme sped past intelligible. This should be a comedy skit backing or something. The ridiculous pace would make it work for some sped-up footage or other, whilst the beepy nature of the sounds, and the panpipes definitely have a comic air.I have broken the back of this now. Focus on the line.
I don't think I have anything else to add about the final mix; about the tune in general all I have to say is: I never want to hear it again. Thankfully I doubt I will need to.
We start with the radio edit - my esposure to this tune way back when (I was never into clubs as a youth, or indeed since). A breathy, panpipe-ish lead theme over a beat forms the basis of the track. I don't recall the prominence of the beats, but that staccato top end and the more electronic pattern that beckons us into the body of the track stuck with me. I don't find anything to enjoy here now though - its very flat, though it is catchy, the sort of tune that embeds itself in your mind very easily... and I am going to be reinforcing that embedding a lot. Oh dear!
The second mix claims "Rock 'n' Roll" in the title but that means nothing. There is nowt rocky about this. It goes more electronic, reminiscent of some of the beat patterns behind Faithless tunes, but without any of the other layers that group use to build interest. This will be a long half hour.
I should be doing other things. Christmas shopping for instance. I hate this time of year because Christmas feels so far off then is suddenly on you with much less time than there feels like there should be to prepare given I refuse to even contemplate the holiday before December begins. I don't mind the giving, but the organisation and the buying are a drain on my already fragile resources of time, patience and energy. In the background the third rendition has begun. This drops any sense of the main theme for the first minute, the beat is snappier and the only accompaniment is a wawing sort of hum. Actually it is more absorbing than the primary take in a strange sort of way and when the "tune" breaks out it serves more to distract from the (slightly) interesting changes than anything else. I could stop the listen right now, delete the lot and lose nothing but my sense of fulfillment fromdoing a thorough job on this post. Damn my principles.
This is the first of the mixes to really stretch the piece out too, meaning it overstays its welcome over and above being the third version of the same thing in succession. If I cast my mind backwards 20 years, I think it was the ridiculous tempo of the 33 or 45 mix that I found amusing and most enjoyable. Now I anticipate finding it childish. I don't hear this and think "what was I thinking" though. I was young, tastes shift, and I made some far worse purchases than this gimmicky single. Danmass is also overlong - doubling the length of the tune and then some! - and also abandons the main theme for a lengthy intro (3 mins and counting). It is the least interesting of the 4 so far.
The week just gone was busy; London for 3 days, the office for 2, 3 evenings out with work colleagues, including leading a bunch of Russian software developers on a pub crawl around spots that are nostalgic for me. I barely feel human today and actually, the pounding beats on these remixes really are not helping that. What I am hearing now sounds like the sort of flavourless bland background music that might pump out in arcades, or as a generic and unidentifiable beat to support the inevitable scene in cop/spy movies where the protagonists have to force their way across a dance floor heaving with sweaty kids in pursuit of their quarry. Charmless and soulless for my tastes, and still three mixes to go.
We return to sounds more like the radio version next, very, very like it. Maybe slowed a touch and the percussion backed off in amplitude. Apart from the additional run time and a different name it could be a repeat, but I haven't mucked up the player settings this time.
I find that the main theme and its perky intro sound better in my head than when actually entering through my ears. Even as I sit here listening to, and not enjoying, the actual tune, I can sort of hear my mental recollection of it at the same time, only my version has more life and a cheeky smile - more fun. Nostalgia is better left as such in many ways - though I am happy to report many Oxford pubs are still awesome. There is the caffeine-overdosed theme sped past intelligible. This should be a comedy skit backing or something. The ridiculous pace would make it work for some sped-up footage or other, whilst the beepy nature of the sounds, and the panpipes definitely have a comic air.I have broken the back of this now. Focus on the line.
I don't think I have anything else to add about the final mix; about the tune in general all I have to say is: I never want to hear it again. Thankfully I doubt I will need to.
No comments:
Post a Comment