A trip back in time.

A time when you could pretend with your school mates that you were drunk on cans of Top Deck, wish you could go to Alton Towers and play on that tower block sized vertical Snakes And Ladders board that was part of ITV's "Hold Tight!" and discuss at length about that scene in the BBC's nuclear war drama "Threads" where the woman pissed herself.

Yup, Back To The Eighties.

(phew! An opening paragragh about the 80's without mentioning deely boppers or Timmy Mallet. With a bit of luck we may be able to keep Stuart Maconie away too...)

A themed Pipe this week that has a distinctive day-glo eighties air about it.

So put on your luminous green socks, wear a half sleeved T-shirt and stick a pair of deel.... AH FUCK...

Just enjoy these MP3's.

DJ Sandstorm - "80s Week"
DJ Sandstorm - "Yeah"

DJ Sandstorm is a Dutch DJ and Producer who has gained notoriety over the past few years across Europe with his "Yearmixes". His mixes get syndicated across many of the continents radio stations and feature DJ Sandstorm piecing together the best of that years dance and pop tunes. He also dabbles in making remixes and the occasional bootleg.

The first one here is a short 80's style mini mix. It features, probably the most successful producers of 80's pop, Stock, Aitken & Waterman with their Rare Groove track "Roadblock" and puts it together with Soul II Soul's classic "Back To Life", Jan Hammer's "Crockett's Theme" and adds a splash of samples from the show that Hammer's tune is from, Miami Vice.

The second one is DJ Sandstorm's remix of Usher's "Yeah". After the good reception Fujikato's remix got last week, I was reluctant to put this up. But as this is an 80's themed Pipe, then this fits in well. Sandstorm adds a heavy 80's style hip hop break, samples of Public Enemy and plenty of other 80's hip hop scratches and samples. Is it as good as Fujikato's mix? Well, download and find out.

MP3
MP3
DJ Sandstorm's Site

DJ Z-Trip & DJ P - "Not Your Standard Hip Hop"

In 2001, Z-Trip delivered a straight up party album entitled "Uneasy Listening - Volume 1". A well known and respected hip hop DJ, he ripped the rule book up when it came to knocking up this mix tape. It bemused hip hop heads, but the bootleg kids and people who fell in love with the Soulwax "2 Many DJ's" album lapped it up. It is a fusion of hip hop beats being played over the top of well known tracks that would probably never ever be heard in a hip hop club. It opens with Glen Campbell's "Rhinestone Cowboy" then blasts through people like Pink Floyd, Madonna singing "Like A Prayer" over Michael Viner's Incredible Bongo Band, Bruce Hornby over Run DMC, Tears For Fears appear with their "Woman In Chains" track and finishes up with The Beatles "Yesterday" getting pummelled by John Bonham's lethal drumming from Led Zeppelin's "When The Levee Breaks".

The tracklisting of "Uneasy Listening Volume 1" reads out as a couple of sentences and says "This is the first in a series of projects, dedicated not just to pushing the envelope open, rather ripping the envelope up into little pieces and throwing them in the air. We think, after hearing it, you'll understand. File Under - Megafresh B-Boy, Body Rocking, Not-your-standard-hip-hop Mixology."

That pretty much sums it up.

The track below is a mix of Pat Benetar's huge eighties hit, "Love Is A Battlefield", with The Pharcyde's 1993 hip hop classic "Passing Me By" and also features a snippet of The Jerky Boys' "Bamm!" call by Curly G.

MP3
Download the Uneasy Listening Album
Index Of Z-Trip Mixes
Z-Trip Official Site

Colourbox - "Looks Like We're Shy One Horse"

Colourbox were one of the first bands in the UK to pick up on the sampling ethic way back in the early 80's. Back then they were signed to the legendary 4AD label who were more famous for their indie sound by bands like The Cocteau Twins and The Birthday Party. Colourbox were never a huge band, but their importance to the sampling scene cannot be stressed enough, especially when in 1987 they hooked up with their labelmates AR Kane and 2 DJ's, Dave Dorrel and CJ MacKintosh, to form M/A/R/R/S and hit the number one spot with the seminal "Pump Up The Volume".

The tune, "Looks Like We're Shy One Horse", is an epic excursion into the wild west. Full of samples from cowboy films, it is backed with a heavy duty dub track and lots of jaggy, tinny guitar riffs.

MP3
4AD Colourbox Mini Site

The Cure - "Love Will Tear Us Apart"

Yes, you guessed it, its Robert Smith and chums covering the 1980 Joy Division classic. Recorded in session in 2000 for Australia's Triple J radio station, it's a bit rough around the edges, but it's actually a decent and respectful cover and a nice Cure rarity.

MP3
The Cure Official Site

Animotion - "Obsession"

You'll all know this, if you don't remember it from the time, you'll sure have heard it blasting through your speakers at some point when you've jacked a car in GTA:Vice City. A classic 80's synth pop moment. Be sure to check out the clip from the video for some horrible scenes filled with bad clothes and equally bad dancing. Basically everything that made the 80's great.

MP3
Video
Animotion Site

Lionel Vinyl - "When Doves Pray"

And talking of obsessions... Another track from one of my favourite bootleggers.
The man does it AGAIN. This time a tasty treat featuring Prince's 1984 hit "When Doves Cry" over the top of the Plump DJ's / Gary Numan track "Pray For You".

Lionel was also responsible for the Superchunk Mix over on XFM on Sunday night. Boomselection has the mix up for download, so get over there for a peek at the inspired tracklisting and then download the 28mb mix.

MP3
Lionel Vinyl Site
Boomselection Site

That's all for this week. Hope you like the selection. Feel free to discuss the above in the forum.

Budgie.

[ if anyone does not want me to link to their files, then let me know in the forum and I shall remove the link ]