Date: Tue, 16 Sep 1997 18:56:11 +0000 From: Andrew Norman Subject: Re: News: Miller; Reviews: Donnely, Raymonde, Pixies, Seely, Laika have a remix 12"/CD out this week, "Almost Sleeping" plus three remixes of other tracks from the last album on the CD - the 12" has an extra remix instead of AS. CD neatly solves that "how do we make a secure CD wallet using only cardboard" problem. I love the way you can never be quite sure what sort of packaging a Too Pure CD single will be in - I have fat and thin jewel cases, digipaks and Stereolab's "Lo Fi" comes in a plastic bag like a 7" single. This one's a "Teddipack", only problem is it's larger than a standard CD case. Date: Tue, 27 Jan 1998 09:28:52 -0800 From: Jens Alfke Subject: Heavy Rotation [reviews] [Also bought the Laika "Almost Sleeping" single on a lark -- contains a radio edit, plus remixes of "Prairie Dog" by Maxwell House, "Shut Off/Curl Up" by Cabbage Boy, and "Breather" by Luke Vibert. I have to say none of the remixes did much for me, which is frustrating since Laika straddle so many subgenres that a properly tweaked remix could pull a song all the way over and do very interesting things with it; but the mixes here are pretty uninspired and mostly just serve to mess up the original songs. [Too Pure] ] Date: Tue, 27 Jan 1998 15:01:48 -0500 From: Margaret Fiedler Subject: Laika laika remix? I'd definitely agree! We were a little disappointed with all the mixes, but as the project had taken over 6 months to complete and the mixes were of some interest, we released the single anyway. It's the first time I've released something I didn't believe in and it wasn't easy. I've always been extremely anti remixes - how many of them are actually a= ny good? - but after getting positively surprised what Meat Beat Manifesto d= id with a track of ours for Red Hot, we decided to do a remix project on Too=Pure. The first problem that we ran into was the sheer cost - pretty much _any_=drum and bass remixer asks for upwards of 5,000 quid. Seeing as our enti= re LP budget was 6,000 and took a year to make, it's downright insulting for=someone to ask for 5 grand for a day's work (about 8,000 dollars). = So we did all the remixes on spec (ie, if we use it we'll pay you) except= for Luke Vibert who got 1000 pounds + a royalty point up front. His mix was the most disappointing for me - I really liked Wagon Christ's Throbbi= ng Pouch but he positively destroyed Breather - I just don't know how someon= e could get the sentiment of the song so completely wrong. I liked the Sun=Ra vibe of Prairie Dog, although he didn't incorporate the vocal very wel= l (at least it was better than Luke Vibert's treatment of my vocal). Funni= ly enough, John Peel completely ignored our album Sounds of the Satellites, but thought the Cabbage Boy remix of Shut Off/Curl Up was tops. So there= you go. We also had a remix by Paul Schutze of Spooky Rhodes which, considering the amount of detail he puts into his own records, was really= lazy. Oh, and there's a fourth remix on the 12" only of Almost Sleeping = by Grantby which is nice, but the intro's a little out of tune... Don't buy remixes!!!! They are a record company ploy to get you to buy inferior records!!! Date: Tue, 27 Jan 1998 18:02:59 -0500 From: Claire De Leon! Subject: Re: Laika laika remix? I haveto say that what Margaret just posted on the pure-impure list has to be the most bold and amazingly honest thing I've seen anyone ever do - an honest answer to the public, despite possible loss of sales from their own records....amazing.....my respect and opinions for Margaret just skyrocketed through the roof. Thanks Margaret for being honest and true with us. It is truly unique. Daniel Date: Wed, 28 Jan 1998 14:17:36 -0500 From: Bowery Electric Subject: NPR - off topic? / remixes On the topic of remixes: having recently been involved in a remix project, I'd have to agree and disagree with Margaret's essentialist perspective (though I can sympathize with her disappointment considering how good the original mixes are and what expectations must have been). Sure labels look to remixes to further exploit product (inferior or no), however, no more so than the standard single/b-side for NME/Melody Maker review and play by John Peel formula. We initiated our project with Beggars Banquet as an alternative to exactly that. We also saw it as an opportunity to "curate" collaborations of sorts with artists whose work we found interesting yet outside the then current A-list of in demand producers/remixers like Luke Vibert, Spring Heel Jack, etc. (I too liked Throbbing Pouch, but most of Luke's remixes are lame!) We instead went with people with little remix experience and while it could be said that a couple turned out rather on the indulgent side (no names here), we were pleased for the most part and felt they all reflected some understanding of the original music and what we were after. "Missing" it's not! That said, I'm not quite ready to declare death to remixes - just overpaid, lazy ones! Best regards, Lawrence Note: available for remixes :)