808 State related remixes playlist

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808 State related remixes playlist

Post by markus »

Published by Graham Massey 21 January 2022:

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Hello 808 Friday types -I’ve done a playlist of some 808 State related remixes
As they are all scattered to the winds on different labels ,its not a” best of “ nor is it a comprehensive listing.
Just a gathering. So many remixes still to be digital. I ll do some more in coming months.

Exo -by Henge -808 State Remix
Remixed during lockdown at home ,Henge are fellow Mancunion space travellers making waves
at Festivals and tours over the past few years - released October 2021-I went full rave stab and break beats for this mix ,dolloping on a thick gravy of Pro One synth -I did some psychedelic guitaring -I think we are singing off the same hymn sheet.

Signal In The Noise by Go Go Penguin -808 State Remix
The Go Go Penguins were often recording in the old Granada TV studios when we were based there ,I got to chatting about synths and jazz and such - For this mix I wanted to keep all of Robs drums intact yet in a battle with my TR8S drum machine.
The Piano arpeggios from the original track sped up into textural loops .There are bass loops that have been sped up into the guitar range . With all this mulch and bubbling flow I tried to calm it with a long melody on 2 soprano saxes - Some of the other synths used are ARP AXXE and Roland SH09 . appears on the remix album GGPRMX in May 2021

Valleys -Graham Massey Acid Mix - Continuing the legacy of hot northern upstarts dabbling in tech
remix came through label manager Jeff Barrett who used to be our press guy in a previous life.
I got the old TR909 Drum machine out , Pro One doing a few things, Oberhiem 4 Voice doing small and big sounds . One of three mixes for this project in August 2020.

Call Me Wrong By Francesca Lombardo-808 State Remix - Italian DJ and producer Francesca Lombardo requested a mix also one by The Orb.
It features an obscure instrument called a Marxophone that I got in Oxfam wheel out buying Fish.
It has a chime like sound -The melodic pad like sounds were made from an instrument called an Octave Mandolin - I introduced some dark chord shifts and cross rhythms to the original .Some diminished electric piano and obscured vocals take the music to the dark side
A bad trip in Ibiza ?

Eve by Trans Wax - 808 State Mix-
A lovely morning in Ibiza - this is a mix I did nt change so much- I kept the harmonic structure and the drums from the original - There is a little hint of Spanish guitar in the original probably from a keyboard . I put some real nylon guitar in to expand on that and changed the bass line to be harmonically different and open. I put in some orchestral pads and some electric guitar doing textural washes .

Naked In The Rain - Youth got me to try a remix of this track before it was originally released. I think he had white labelled it early on and went back to the drawing board.
I added a lot of the key board /piano lines from a Waldorf Micro Wave doing a stacked Rhodes sound with a fixed 7th tuning . The Bass is also Microwave and percussion is Roland R8 with the Ethnic Percussion card in full effect ,I think it was originally entitled Massey’s 808 Jazz Mix - We did a 7 inch edit that became the single and also polished it up at Berwick St Studios for the 12 Inch Mix- It became a big radio and club single in the summer of 1990 peaking at number 4 in the UK - It has subsequently been remixed loads over the years .

Made Of Stone- 808 State Mix-
Daz & Andy played the Roses endlessly in the Van when we first started .
So they were thrilled to get to pick apart the stems of this classic track . It was tough to come up with an approach using electronic instruments - I came up with a baroque “supernature “kind of vibe that followed the song structure - We did this a small studio in Longsight so only had a couple of days on it back in the year 2000.

Brigantes by Jon Hassel (originally known as Voiceprint 808 Mix Two Latin In It Mix )
One of the first remixes as the 4 piece 808 State-Thrilled to be asked by a genuine musical hero of mine( and Martin’s) - Strangely Jon Hassels trumpet was nt on the multi track 2 inch tape (thats was the format for remixing back in June 1990 -Jon phoned me from California to give me the secret formula on an Eventide H3000 for recreating his signature sound and then we received a floppy disc of his trumpet lines .First time we used a Roland Jupiter 8 . The Studio was Square One in Bury.

Moments In Love -Massey Mix One - I cant remember if I did this as part of a remix project organised by China Records (not ZTT as you might imagine) -It was A & R d by Dave Taylor from FON studios - I also did “Legs” that did appear on the remix compilation “Art Of Noise The FON Mixes” Released in November 1991
Other mixes were by LFO,The Prodigy ,Carl Cox,Rob Gordon ,Sweet Exorcist, Mark Gamble & Mark Brydon. Quite the crew ! - It was nt released at the time , I think it saw th light recently on a ZTT box set and also as part of ZTT s remastered 808 State series .

Army Of Me - Massey Mix this version was mixed for Bjork’s remix album Telegraph ,or may be they did some ltd 12 inches when Army Of Me was released in 94 . Bjork and I originally wrote the album version before her Debut album , but it was left on the shelf until Post in 1994. I think I put fuzz bass in everything for a year back then. I wish I could find th original “Rusholme” demo of Army Of Me .

Sound and Vision by David Bowie -808 Gift Mix - This came about through our press and radio guy in the U.S. who was also working for Bowie when he was reissuing his catalogue through RYKODISC in the early 90s .Somehow he managed to broker a special licence to have a remix done on vinyl through our then label Tommy Boy .A CD followed. We met Bowie for a photo opportunity when he passed through Manchester with Tin Machine in 1992.He told us he was aware of 808 State through his son sending him mental with our music ,I'm not sure if this was true or not or just his way of being charming — he was very very charming, I was raised on Bowie and was beyond starstruck .

Human by Goldfrapp-Massey's Cro Magnon
We once shared management with Alison Goldfrapp before her solo career which lead to her singing on a few dates with us promoting our Don Solaris album in 96 . This included a trip to Brazil
Alison contacted me about mixing Human and we went to see her first Manchester gig as Goldfrapp around the same time where I discovered that she grew up with my fellow Homelife band member Simon King ,it’s a small world! Mixed at Testa Rossa in Longsight in 2001 ,There is a Neanderthal Mix as well - Both feature an ARP 2600 triggered from a Roland System 100 Model 104 step sequencer.

Skin Up Pin Up by Mansun & 808 State - This was a commission for the film Spawn in 1997 - An album of various remixers mix various happening U.S. bands ,We were paired with Manson - Remixed at PWL (that funny little church near Deansgate tram stop. ) Im not sure if it is in the film , probably over the end credits if at all ?

Better Than This by Stubborn Heart -Massey Mix -2013
Stubborn Heart is a duo on One Little Indian Records ,Their singer Luca Santucci I had known for a number of years ,He sings on Leila Arab’s records and there was once a Solo album of his being produced by Leila that I helped mix in Plaid’s studio in the late 90s
It never came out -but he is a wonderful singer and all round lovely chap.There is a rare 12 inch white label of Leila /Luca and me doing “Heaven On Their Minds” from Jesus Christ Super Star
Its pretty ravey even on the original cast album.

Papua New Guinea by Future Sound Of London-Graham Massey Mix -
Brian Dougans I had known since my “Biting Tongues” days .He had gotten Walmsley and I involved in some late night TV ambient visual project (may be something to do with MTV ?)
The project was called Stakker ,video firelight stuff , very cutting edge at the time.
Brian’s ‘new ‘project was Future Sound Of London - Papau New Guinea was a hot track and it was hard to improve on the original . I put some cuban breaks in and played a melody on soprano sax and alto clarinet -sounds like ARP Quadra synth as pads with arpeggio . Listening now to the Back to the Pyramids Mix - They ve used 2 of my breaks - Im wondering if I did that one as well ? May be I left my breaks printed to tape and it got mixed after mine. There is the Weatherill Mix then all the other mixes are credited to Future Sound - bit of a mystery there.

Its The Beat by Simian Mobile Disco -Masseymix - James Ford from SMD was 808 State’s live drummer for a number of years and we did many musical projects together in Manchester before they moved to London and had some success , This is an early remix for them where the instructions were “stretch out” So I had fun coming up with a suite of ideas shifting gears and lasting 14 minutes - quite pleased to rediscover this epic it has a bit of the Double D and Steinski about it.Obviously unplayable at most discos even mobile ones.. March 2007

Mental Origami -by Sneaky .Graham Massey Mix-
Sneaky was one half of Manchester duo Finger Thing .
Simon is a double bass and cello player and lived in the neighbourhood at this time- The rapper is RQM _I may be wrong but it was only on7 inch vinyl or CD back in 2009.
I don't really have an over view of that Manchester mid 90s scene that was Grand Central /Fat City
A generational shift ,808 seemed from another era to them ,but we all have a hip hop grounding as a city and gradually some of these threads find contact ,when you get out there chatting in the night that’s collaborations hatch.
Jazz is a great binder in our city /Jazz /hip hop ,probably more that electronica but that too, less boundaries in music these days-talking about our city.

Human NRG by The Shamen-Massey -How did this early remix come about ? I think I met their manager Charles at some event and got talking ,he thought 808 hated The Shamen due to something Martin had said in the press about people jumping on the rave band wagon . but surely we all technically grew that scene from experimenting and trying things that did nt fit together ,Technology was the driver as much as anything else . 808State being an extreme hybridiser. Anyway -I had one day in a studio in London ,with the Shamen guys in the room with me, A situation we try to avoid ,it is always a bit hard when you’re deconstructing their music.
I’ m pretty sure that is the drum pattern from The Only Rhyme that Bites playing from my R8 drum machine. The mix has some of those signature “tape stop edits” -I may have taken the tapes home to stick it all together from sections .(various reverb tails glued on the end of the track for instance ) Quite an early remix for me being from 1990.

Humanoid by Stakker -Graham Massey Mix
Brian Dougans from Future Sound Of London used to be Stakker who did the techno smash Humanoid - as I said we go way back ,pre rave - this mix was for a reissue in 2007 .

Legs - The Graham Massey Mix
EP12 - Remixed for the album Art Of Noise The FON mixes -see Moments In Love previously
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