Echo and the Bunnymen – The Killing Moon (All Night Version) [1983] January 11, 2012

I’ll confess, Echo and the Bunnymen are a secret love of mine. Every so often, when all that electronica is boiling my brain in my skull, I need to break away. Usually i’ll move into some soul maybe some disco or funk. Sometimes I go a bit bonkers and crank up the classical. However, quite frequently, i’ll fire up Ocean Rain from The Bunnymen and bask in its irreverent New Age madness. This being probably my favourite of the lot, with an incredible intro that just keeps on going and going until the track kicks in and cranks it into overdrive. LOVE IT.

The Blue Aeroplanes – ..and Stones (Lovers All Around Mix) [1990] December 30, 2011

I’ll confess, I know next to bugger all about The Blue Aeroplanes other than they have been around for donkeys years and their primary genre would be closer to Indie Rock than the track above. That said, this is a classic remix in the vein of Baggy Madchester turn of the nineties rock/rave music. Its not surprise then that this track is featured on one of my favourite Telstar compilations “Rave” also released in 1990.

The track holds a certain special place in my heart as I actually remixed the intro guitar solo when I was a kid writing modules in OctaMED on my Amiga 500. The laugh was I didnt have my two phono jacks in correctly and since the track is encoded in mono on my CD, I only got half of the guitar riff through the sampler. Needless to say, it was a wonderful and unexpected result that I crafted into one of my many extremely mediocre attempts at music production. If I ever get around to getting those tracks off the old floppy disks, rest assured I will upload them here!

So anyway, why this track today, well I was sat on the bus and on it came. While usually I would skip the track (and all the horrible music remix memories it holds) this time around I thought I would give it a shot. Reminding me how much I actually do love this track. Its a quality remix, catchy vocals and some incredible guitar riff work. Classic.

Bon Iver – Holocene [2010] December 22, 2011

So here’s a change of pace for you. Ive been hearing the name Bon Iver a whole lot over the past 12 months. He found himself on KCRW one morning which I thoroughly enjoyed but ive never given myself over to taking a full listen of any of his works. I have friends that have gushed about him all year long, people going crazy about how amazing he is live. Well, today I finally got around to queuing up a stack of tracks on YouTube and giving myself an Iver breakdown.

Bjork – Virus [2011] August 22, 2011

Caught this on KCRW this morning and it blew me away. Deep rumbling bass, almost Dubsteppy in its arrangement, playing underneath this ridiculously eccentric bells and vocal composition from Bjork. You have to give it a couple of listens to really let it settle in on you but once it does, its a wonderful experience. Uplifting as only Bjork can do, with that mental voice of hers with some bonkers lyrics that make sense only after the third or fourth listen. Classic, irreplaceable Bjork business.

White Lies – The Power and the Glory [2011] January 19, 2011

I caught this on KCRW this morning and it blew me away. More uplifting than similar sounding Editors tracks, a cracking kick drum driving the track along with plenty of anthemic licks and bass. Im expecting this to get some serious remix treatment once the album gets released on 27th of January but in its current state, its a cracker. A guaranteed chart killer this one.

The Farm – Groovy Train (Terry Farley Rmx) [1990] November 15, 2010

Taking the fantastic original track and re-editing the whole thing to be far better paced, Terry does a mint number with this one. Bigger breaks, mellowing out the guitar hook in favour of a massive bassline and beat combo makes this remix, for me at least, the better of the two. There’s still enough emphasis on the vocals to keep it one you can sing along too with your arms in the air.

Doves – Pounding [2002] September 14, 2010

I cant believe that I got married 7 bloody years ago today. The track that will forever remind me of my wife.