So as some people might already know, I’m part of the DJ Hero music team in fact, I was the first remixer to be involved with this project way back when. I helped design the first successful examples of what went on to be the signature musical style for the game so I’ve seen this thing grow from an early idea to the huge global smash its about to become. I can’t quite believe how far we’ve come, it blows the mind really.
This interview is with the legendary Culture Deluxe, one of the stalwarts of the modern mashup movement along with GYBO, Boomselection, and Bastard. These sites/nights were, and indeed are, the grassroots of the whole thing, they really did start it all! In this interview i’m speaking to Richie (the founder) about my role in the game, about how mashups became an integral part of the soundtrack and I also explain the game.
JoolsMF DJ Hero Interview with Culture Deluxe
In other news, my remix of El Guincho’s Kalise is coming out soon. Young Turks has four new El Guincho remix EPs planned, all of which will focus on two El Guincho tracks. Two of the EP’s are in partnership with Mad Decent, features mixes from myself and producers like XXXchange & Mumdance. Also on the release are such legends as Architecture in Helsinki & Prins Thomas
My introduction to mash ups came from hip hop DJs like Mixmaster Mike, DJ Shadow and Grandmaster Flash as well as the likes of Coldcut, Andy Smith, Soulwax, The Avalanches and Liam Howlett. When I first started doing them I didn’t know anything about ‘Mashups’ writ-large and the burgeoning scene based around GYBO, Boomselection & Bastard (although doing them led me to discover the Mashup scene and that became my primary creative outlet for a long time). These mixes were a logical extension of loving a diverse range of music and being interested in sampling and mixing tracks. Had the technology not been available I’d have just created eclectic mixes, segueing one track into the other, but since Ableton 2.0 was around (was it that long ago?!), I decided to mix as many things together as possible. Simple as that really.
I did quite a few of these mixes but the following two I’m particularly keen on. Despite the diverse tracks, there’s a similar vibe running through them, they’re kind of melancholy and soulful, introspective and expansive at the same time. I think this vibe makes them particularly coherent as mixes, the mood shifts but stays in that general zone creating something more like one long tune than a DJ mix in the traditional sense.
Listening back to them has made me realise how much I miss doing these mixes and as a result I’ve decided to start making them again. Watch this space.
In late 2008 the good folks over at Buffetlibre asked me if I’d like to contribute to a remix / covers project, the sequel to their successful Rewind project. Normally I’d run a mile from projects like this, the internet being full of often shoddy remix projects but Buffetlibre are known for quality and this project also included contributions from people like Bonde Do Role, AC Slater, Little Boots and The Young Punx so I knew the quality would be high. I chose something I’ve wanted to remix for a long time, Gwen McRae – ‘All This Love That I’m Giving’. Apart from the great Cassius sampling of this song (”Feeling For You”) and the even greater Jacques Lu Cont flip of that, I always felt this amazing song was strangely under-sampled. Maybe its just me but I have a real thing for slightly synthy funk & soul from the late 70s – early 80s.
Gwen McRae – All This Love That I’m Giving (JoolsMF Remix)
Next up is a remix of the El Guincho track ‘Kalise’. El Guincho is worth checking out if you don’t already know him, the sound is pretty unique but imagine if Animal Collective were a sampladelic, Exotica-obsessed band with a thing for writing relentlessly upbeat carnival jams.
El Guincho – Kalise (JoolsMF Remix)
Brooklyn’s Free Blood are another favorite band of mine. I discovered them through my buddies Alex and Will of Adventures Close to Home fame who released a few records on their label a year or so back. The singer John Pugh was in chkchkchk, a band I also love but Free Blood are pretty different and possibly even more interesting. Like chkchkchk, they’re musicians with a foot in the indie and the dance world and an equal grasp of underground experimentalism and pop/dance music. Where so many seem to fail at straddling these worlds, these guys excel. Think ESG making music with Zapp with Beck on the MPC and James Murphy producing.
Free Blood – Grumpy (JoolsMF Remix)
Kanye’s 808s & Heartbreak was a bit of a shock at first I’ll admit but, being the musical dilletante that I am, I liked his radical and slightly perverse change of direction. I keep on wondering what Kanye was listening to when he made that album, its actually quite odd in places, none more so than the stark Love Lockdown which features what I think are Taiko drums. Maybe the only example of traditional Japanese drumming in hip hop?. My remix sounds nothing like the original I should point out, its less bleak 808 starkness, more Jean Michel Jarre meets disco (?!)
Kanye West – Love Lockdown (JoolsMF Remix)
To finish here are a couple of remixes of two Grime stalwarts, Wiley & Lady Sovereign. Both pretty different to the originals too.
Lady Sovereign – So Human (JoolsMF Remix)
Wiley – Wearing My Rolex (JoolsMF Remix)
Welcome to the new web 2.0-friendly home of JoolsMF (probably just in time for Web 3.0!!). This is a place to grab all my old tunes, keep up to date with new music, read my rants and see what i’m into. I don’t plan on blogging daily or even weekly, there’s too much blog hot air already. I’ll post when I have something good to share whether its my own music, someone else’s or something I just have to rant about. I’m going to kick things off with a few posts about the music I’ve just uploaded to the site. Some of this was on my old site, some wasn’t and a lot of the stuff that was on there has been remastered. Its quite a select group of tunes, I’ll be adding more old music soon and I’ll also be uploading new music. There’re going to be more remixes and some new long mixes too. So to start with here are two fairly recent remixes for a couple of great groups. This first one’s a remix of Uzela by Danish grime/electro group Fagget Fairys out on the mighty Palmout’s record label. Its a great remix package with contributions from heavywights like AC Slater, Drop The Lime and A1 Bassline. Its out on iTunes, Beatport, Turntablelab.
Fagget Fairys – Uzela (JoolsMF Remix) iTunes link
Fagget Fairys – Uzela (JoolsMF Remix) LOW BITRATE PREVIEW VERSION
Secondly here’s a remix of the fantastic American band Cavedoll, a prolific band from Salt Lake City who’ve been making waves in the US. Its out on iTunes as part of Reboot 1, a remix album of their work.
Cavedoll – Decoder (JoolsMF Remix) iTunes link
Cavedoll – Decoder (JoolsMF Remix) LOW BITRATE PREVIEW VERSION