Franz Ferdinand Remixed...

They're not a band known for having great remixes hiding in their catalogue, in my opinion anyway...

With people like Daft Punk, Erol Alkan, Max Tundra and the Optimo boys all having a chance at reworking some of Franz Ferdinand's tracks, it pains me to say that such talent have all fallen short.

Can anyone do a decent remix for the Scottish lads?

Oh yes...

Track : FRANZ FERDINAND - "THE FALLEN (RUINED BY JUSTICE)"

You'll notice that this isn't tagged, "Remixed By Justice", but "Ruined..." by the current flavour of the month french production team.

I really like the original track and as per usual I feared the worst from another Franz remix. Especially as the remixers themselves claim to have done it an injustice.

Well, if you think chopping up Alex Kapranos' vocals and stuttering it to sound like he's repeating some impossible tongue twister is ruining it, then so be it.

If you think looping up the drums underneath the vocals and unleashing a growling guitar lick to sound like you're listening to a Jon Spencer Blues Explosion B-side is ruining it, then so be it.

If you think replacing the tune with a vocoder singing it's own song is ruining it, then so be it.

So have Justice ruined it? Not to these ears they haven't. It's one of the best and unexpected things I have heard so far this year.

It's off the scale. Play Loud.

Track : FRANZ FERDINAND - "I'M YOUR VILLAIN (LINDSTROM EXTENDED MIX)"

Another Pipe post and another mention of my current favourite remixer...

You're probably fed up with me mentioning Lindstrom on here and on the forum, but I just can't get enough of that long drawn out, hypnotic, balearic style stuff that he and his cohort Prins Thomas churn out.

Like the above Justice remix, this too took me by surprise. Not so much the music aspect of it, as I pretty much knew what to expect, but the surprise was that it was a Lindstrom remix that had snuck under my radar.

It's your usual quality Lindstrom stuff. Taking a couple of minutes or so to really get going, he uses the vocals and guitars sparingly to good effect and lets the whole thing build up in that great Lindstrom manner.

Who'd have thought it? Two excellent Franz Ferdinand remixes? Not me. Proven wrong again...

Enjoy.

Go Visit : Franz Ferdinand

Go Buy : Franz Ferdinand - You Could Have It So Much Better
Go Buy : Franz Ferdinand - The Fallen (CD Single)
Go Buy : Franz Ferdinand - Remixed LP (pre-order)

Go Watch : Franz Ferdinand - The Fallen

Feel free to leave a comment about these tracks in The Pipe section of the forum.

Ta,
Budgie

The Knife...

I'm going to get this out of the way first, I love The Knife. Their new album, "Silent Shout", is great. I mean, really great. Really, really great. Just now I can't go a day without listening to it. Do you know why? No, it's not because it's stuck in my CD player, though it may as well be, it's because it's great. I love it.

Their last album, "Deep Cuts", was also great, but this, this is different...

The mysterious brother and sister duo have dropped their musical temperature down a few degrees, stripping away the warm fuzziness that was on their debut album and replacing it with a more clinical, precise, spacial, hypnotic, almost colder tone. The thing is, you could have seen it coming...

Track : THE KNIFE - HEARTBEATS (ONE MUSIC SESSION)

Everyone knows "Heartbeats" by now. If not The Knife's version, you'll know the Jose Gonzalez cover that was all over the TV with the Sony Bravia "bouncing balls" advert. Both versions were previously posted up on The Pipe back in november of last year. This version of "Heartbeats" is from a One Music session that predated the UK release of "Deep Cuts". It seems to be the first clue on how their sound would evolve. Basically it's a stripped down reworking of the track with a killer synth line bubbling away underneath it with some glorious, almost OMD'ish style chords on the peaks and at the end. Not to mention some bits that sound like that Berlin track from "Top Gun"...

Track : THE KNIFE - PASS THIS ON (LIVE)

The next clue was at an infamous gig at the ICA in London in which the band appeared and only played one song. The one song was this. Again, the original can be found on "Deep Cuts", but this is so far removed from it with only the steel-drum sounding riff and vocals remaining. Saying that, the vocals start to struggle to be heard whilst a brooding bass hum and another bubbling synth line, that sounds like it could escape out of control at any minute, take over the track. Stunning stuff.

Track : THE KNIFE - THE CAPTAIN

So now we come to a track from "Silent Shout". I was going to post up the title track, and the first release from the album, as sonically it would make perfect sense following the previous two tracks. But, I advise you to go and watch the frankly downright freaky video for it instead... The link is below.

Then it boiled down to either "Like A Pen", which reminds me of Tyree's Chicago House monster "Acid Crash" for some reason, and "The Captain".

I chose the latter as it just pushes all my right buttons. Minimal, ambient intro, some great echo effects when the main track eventually kicks in and the clincher is the unsettling vocals. They've taken both their voices and twisted them to become this weird hybrid that sounds like a bad Japanese impression. Very odd indeed. But absolutely attention grabbing. Definitely one of the albums many highlights.

Did I mention I love the album?

Did I mention I love The Knife?

Go visit : The Knife
Go Visit : The Knife @ MySpace

Go Buy : The Knife - Deep Cuts
Go Buy : The Knife - Silent Shout
Go Buy : The Knife - Silent Shout (album download - mp3)

Go Watch : The Knife - Silent Shout (Video)
Go Watch : The Knife - Pass This On (Video)
Go Watch : The Knife - Heartbeats (Video)

Feel free to leave a comment about these tracks in The Pipe section of the forum.

Ta,
Budgie

p.s - The Pipe is now 2! Happy Birthday to me!