Mary concerned as Mike and Brit go M.I.A.? What about Justice for Justin???
Am I going to have to come up with increasingly dumb names for my blog posts? Only time will...NAH, I'm definitely going to come up with dumber ones.
Anyone else remember Palms Out Sounds? They, like O.G. Stereogum, did some awesome remix posts where they had official mixes alongside unofficial or rejected versions. As has been the standard since "prosumer" digital audio workstations became the norm, often time the homemade mixes are much more impressive than anything the labels put out. Brings to mind the intense disappointment I had after hearing the four officially sanctioned remixes of Gnarls Barkley's Crazy that were about as generic as a basic house mix could get. We won't even get into how troubled Cee-Lo's career has been since his run-in with rape charges and shitty online behavior, so I'll just say that the first Gnarls Barkley album was so good that it deserved remixes of a much higher caliber. But back to the matter at hand, there were some incredible posts from Palms Out Sounds, Stereogum and Rcrd Lbl, among others, focused solely on awesome remixes, many of which never gained any official release, making them easier to disappear over the years. And so I'm sharing a few of my favorites from circa 2006ish for your listening pleasure.
Britney Spears - Toxic (John Hawkins Bootleg Toronja DNB Remix)
The only Britney Spears song I like is Toxic. It's kinda like my only liking Jennifer Lopez' Play, though I like her as a person much more than Brit Brit. And no, I will not leave Britney alone. Anyway, John Hawkins, whoever he is since I can't find anything about him, had the crazy idea to make a pesudo-drum-n-bass remix of Toxic, though it's really all about speeding up the track and extending it a bit towards the end. It's frickin' great and should've been licensed for an official release! Unfortunately, it wasn't, and it was posted in rather low quality, so if you're listening to it and thinking, "this sounds like a shitty old mp3", that's because, sadly, it is. Still, it's damn good and worth your time and attention. As for where I got it, I can't remember for certain. I want to say it was at BoomSelection or whatever the site that had all the best mashups was, but I can't be sure. All I know is I'm glad I grabbed it.
Justice - Waters of Nazareth (John Redden Mix)
Michael Jackson - Rock with You (A Touch of Class Remix)
Mary J. Blige - Be Without You (A. Brucker & Sinden Mix)
These next three though I'm pretty sure came from Palms Out Sounds' Sunday remix collections. I can't speak with certainty for the Brucker & Sinden mix, but I'm pretty sure these were all unofficial remixes. The John Redden mix of Justice most certainly is, with some rather raw edits you can easily point out if you have good headphones on. But who cares, because it takes a good track and makes it a great club cut! The Touch of Class remix of MJ is obviously unofficial, but they put so much work into it that I wish it had been picked up for an official release. Normally I see it attributed to Daft Punk, which is bullshit, but the internet has a bad habit of giving bullshit labels to things so I suppose it's to be expected. This version has the funny shutdown at the end of the track, where all other versions I've found fade out smoothly. The funny outro here is a nice touch, like the tape failed or something. As for Mary, the Brucker & Sinden mix sounds too good to have been a homemade affair, and those guys did a lot of officially released mixes, so I have to assume it was rejected, unless they somehow came upon the acapella track and tried to make their own mix for shits and giggles. Who knows, but it's damn good!
And now for a few loosies.
Justin Timberlake - My Love (Atlantic Records for T.I. Clearance Version)
Just before My Love was released as the second single from JT's FutureSex/LoveSounds, it leaked online in this ridiculous version. Throughout the song, a voice repeatedly states "Atlantic Records for T.I. Clearance", acting as the most annoying watermark imaginable. I remember when El-P's I'll Sleep When You're Dead leaked and how upset he was after making one of the most concerted efforts to keep something from showing up online early. Specifically, he had every advance copy watermarked with an audible recording of someone reading that person's name several times through each track of the entire album. Did the same with Aesop Rock's next album too, and they still leaked! They were still very listenable though, whereas this version of My Love is pretty much ruined. I'm still not sure it was a legit watermark, as towards the end of the track, during T.I.'s verse, the voice starts getting played back to back repeatedly unlike throughout the rest of the track, almost like it's trying to match the building intensity of the song. Who thought this was a good idea? This is like listening to that shitty rip of of Montreal's Skeletal Lamping being played over a Skype call. Great album, but who wants to do that? And this is a good song, but apart from being a weird curio of it's time, who wants to listen to this? I did hear at least one track where someone did something similar as a joke of sorts, along with a Ciara track which I believe is unreleased that had a very early Nicki Minaj guest spot, so maybe it is legit.
Britney Spears - Untitled DFA Demo
Did you know that DFA Records site used to have an active forum? Many of the artists on the label were active there, and James Murphy was a semi-regular visitor. Cool questions would be answered from time to time and it really felt like a community. For reasons unknown to me though, they eventually removed the forum, I believe close to when DFA broke away from their distribution agreement with EMI.
I thought it was really cool that DFA could release such bizarre records via a major label's distribution channels, though I'm sure EMI thought pushing Black Dice and Delia Gonzalez & Gavin Russom records was a waste of money. And with EMI losing money and eventually being split up and sold to Warner Bros. and Sony, it only made sense to give DFA their freedom, which was better for them anyway, as they're still thriving today.
Anyway, the forum, it was a cool place to hear stories, including the tale of when Britney Spears showed up at the DFA studios to record a demo with James Murphy and Tim Goldsworthy, back when they were still a unit and DFA was a label and production team. Apparently she was under the impression that they would have a song ready for her, and since James and Tim didn't generally work with artists like Brit Brit, they had nothing planned for her. Realizing the issue, they concocted a quick jam and Britney improvised meaningless lyrics. The end result was Britney's camp didn't do anything with the demo.
The track was eventually shared on the forum, and then quickly buried as someone realized they'd made a significant mistake. Thankfully, sometimes you're in the right place at the right time and you get to witness such peculiar events unfold, maybe even take a souvenir with you. Here's that souvenir for your enjoyment. You may find it more enjoyable than a track with Britney Spears attached has any right to be.
I've got another DFA related story I'll post sometime soon with an otherwise unreleased remix.
M.I.A. - Paper Planes (Original Chorus Version)
I'm sure you remember the song of 2008, right? Okay, maybe you don't, but I'll honestly be surprised otherwise. Anyway, I remember some people complaining about the gunshots in the final track, and Diplo posting a video of him and M.I.A. jamming to a version without them. He eventually went a step further and posted the original version of the track, sans gunshots, on his blog for download. It's not terribly different from the released version, but I suspect the gunshots were added to block the need for a songwriting credit to at least eleven people. I'm sure you'll recognize the bit I'm referring to if you remember the early nineties.
Anyone else remember Palms Out Sounds? They, like O.G. Stereogum, did some awesome remix posts where they had official mixes alongside unofficial or rejected versions. As has been the standard since "prosumer" digital audio workstations became the norm, often time the homemade mixes are much more impressive than anything the labels put out. Brings to mind the intense disappointment I had after hearing the four officially sanctioned remixes of Gnarls Barkley's Crazy that were about as generic as a basic house mix could get. We won't even get into how troubled Cee-Lo's career has been since his run-in with rape charges and shitty online behavior, so I'll just say that the first Gnarls Barkley album was so good that it deserved remixes of a much higher caliber. But back to the matter at hand, there were some incredible posts from Palms Out Sounds, Stereogum and Rcrd Lbl, among others, focused solely on awesome remixes, many of which never gained any official release, making them easier to disappear over the years. And so I'm sharing a few of my favorites from circa 2006ish for your listening pleasure.
Britney Spears - Toxic (John Hawkins Bootleg Toronja DNB Remix)
The only Britney Spears song I like is Toxic. It's kinda like my only liking Jennifer Lopez' Play, though I like her as a person much more than Brit Brit. And no, I will not leave Britney alone. Anyway, John Hawkins, whoever he is since I can't find anything about him, had the crazy idea to make a pesudo-drum-n-bass remix of Toxic, though it's really all about speeding up the track and extending it a bit towards the end. It's frickin' great and should've been licensed for an official release! Unfortunately, it wasn't, and it was posted in rather low quality, so if you're listening to it and thinking, "this sounds like a shitty old mp3", that's because, sadly, it is. Still, it's damn good and worth your time and attention. As for where I got it, I can't remember for certain. I want to say it was at BoomSelection or whatever the site that had all the best mashups was, but I can't be sure. All I know is I'm glad I grabbed it.
Justice - Waters of Nazareth (John Redden Mix)
Michael Jackson - Rock with You (A Touch of Class Remix)
Mary J. Blige - Be Without You (A. Brucker & Sinden Mix)
These next three though I'm pretty sure came from Palms Out Sounds' Sunday remix collections. I can't speak with certainty for the Brucker & Sinden mix, but I'm pretty sure these were all unofficial remixes. The John Redden mix of Justice most certainly is, with some rather raw edits you can easily point out if you have good headphones on. But who cares, because it takes a good track and makes it a great club cut! The Touch of Class remix of MJ is obviously unofficial, but they put so much work into it that I wish it had been picked up for an official release. Normally I see it attributed to Daft Punk, which is bullshit, but the internet has a bad habit of giving bullshit labels to things so I suppose it's to be expected. This version has the funny shutdown at the end of the track, where all other versions I've found fade out smoothly. The funny outro here is a nice touch, like the tape failed or something. As for Mary, the Brucker & Sinden mix sounds too good to have been a homemade affair, and those guys did a lot of officially released mixes, so I have to assume it was rejected, unless they somehow came upon the acapella track and tried to make their own mix for shits and giggles. Who knows, but it's damn good!
And now for a few loosies.
Justin Timberlake - My Love (Atlantic Records for T.I. Clearance Version)
Just before My Love was released as the second single from JT's FutureSex/LoveSounds, it leaked online in this ridiculous version. Throughout the song, a voice repeatedly states "Atlantic Records for T.I. Clearance", acting as the most annoying watermark imaginable. I remember when El-P's I'll Sleep When You're Dead leaked and how upset he was after making one of the most concerted efforts to keep something from showing up online early. Specifically, he had every advance copy watermarked with an audible recording of someone reading that person's name several times through each track of the entire album. Did the same with Aesop Rock's next album too, and they still leaked! They were still very listenable though, whereas this version of My Love is pretty much ruined. I'm still not sure it was a legit watermark, as towards the end of the track, during T.I.'s verse, the voice starts getting played back to back repeatedly unlike throughout the rest of the track, almost like it's trying to match the building intensity of the song. Who thought this was a good idea? This is like listening to that shitty rip of of Montreal's Skeletal Lamping being played over a Skype call. Great album, but who wants to do that? And this is a good song, but apart from being a weird curio of it's time, who wants to listen to this? I did hear at least one track where someone did something similar as a joke of sorts, along with a Ciara track which I believe is unreleased that had a very early Nicki Minaj guest spot, so maybe it is legit.
Britney Spears - Untitled DFA Demo
Did you know that DFA Records site used to have an active forum? Many of the artists on the label were active there, and James Murphy was a semi-regular visitor. Cool questions would be answered from time to time and it really felt like a community. For reasons unknown to me though, they eventually removed the forum, I believe close to when DFA broke away from their distribution agreement with EMI.
I thought it was really cool that DFA could release such bizarre records via a major label's distribution channels, though I'm sure EMI thought pushing Black Dice and Delia Gonzalez & Gavin Russom records was a waste of money. And with EMI losing money and eventually being split up and sold to Warner Bros. and Sony, it only made sense to give DFA their freedom, which was better for them anyway, as they're still thriving today.
Anyway, the forum, it was a cool place to hear stories, including the tale of when Britney Spears showed up at the DFA studios to record a demo with James Murphy and Tim Goldsworthy, back when they were still a unit and DFA was a label and production team. Apparently she was under the impression that they would have a song ready for her, and since James and Tim didn't generally work with artists like Brit Brit, they had nothing planned for her. Realizing the issue, they concocted a quick jam and Britney improvised meaningless lyrics. The end result was Britney's camp didn't do anything with the demo.
The track was eventually shared on the forum, and then quickly buried as someone realized they'd made a significant mistake. Thankfully, sometimes you're in the right place at the right time and you get to witness such peculiar events unfold, maybe even take a souvenir with you. Here's that souvenir for your enjoyment. You may find it more enjoyable than a track with Britney Spears attached has any right to be.
I've got another DFA related story I'll post sometime soon with an otherwise unreleased remix.
M.I.A. - Paper Planes (Original Chorus Version)
I'm sure you remember the song of 2008, right? Okay, maybe you don't, but I'll honestly be surprised otherwise. Anyway, I remember some people complaining about the gunshots in the final track, and Diplo posting a video of him and M.I.A. jamming to a version without them. He eventually went a step further and posted the original version of the track, sans gunshots, on his blog for download. It's not terribly different from the released version, but I suspect the gunshots were added to block the need for a songwriting credit to at least eleven people. I'm sure you'll recognize the bit I'm referring to if you remember the early nineties.
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