OK, so this is a bitter sweet moment for me. After 4 years and 60 remixes, we are about to release the last re-workings of Romanthonys vocals.
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When Roman and I first cooked up this idea in 2006, the first thing we had to do was digitise all his original vocal takes. Unfortunately, they were all on 1/2 inch tape and he had no working reel to reel. At the time, he hadn't heard of eBay, but I had, and I soon sourced him the Tascam tape deck he knew and loved.
He wasn't the biggest fan of the idea of re-visiting his old catalogue (he was more interested in releasing new material) and so it took a lot of cajoling to get him to record in the multi-tracks. Slowly but surely though, we began building up a collection of a cappellas and other parts.
As well as his lack of interest in the project, he was also very protective of these new digital parts and so only released a few of them to me at a time. There are more on his hard drive and hopefully his parents will let me have access to them so we can keep his memory alive with more remixes. However, until then, this is the last of the remix projects.
Most of you will know the version of this song he recorded with Daft Punk. Before he died, he made a new recording of the song and sent me the vocals to source the remixes. It was a tough job - the song is such a classic - but hopefully I've done it justice.
First on the remix list was Dam Swindle. The guys are just a class act and if anyone could take this classic song and give it a timeless twist it was the Swindle. They do not disappoint. Warm moogs, soft and spacey keys provide the funk-fuelled backing, strings soar around Roman’s gorgeous tones and all the while their tight rhythm section keeps the groove bang on.
With the standard that DS set, you’d expect the other remixes to struggle in comparison but each remixer took a different style so I think they all stand up superbly.
Doctor Dru's version is pure gold filled with classic chords and a baseline to die for - a future end-of-the-night anthem for sure. Christian Nielsen opts for a loopier, DJ Sneak style groove and Nice7 go for a dubby acid workout.
Here they all are, I hope you like them as much as I do.
Kevin McKay, August 2015.
Support from: Groove Armada, Lee Foss, Friend Within, Mano Le Tough, Larse, Piemont, Dennis Ferrer, Andre Hommen, Man Without A Clue, Phonique, Soulclap, Tayo, Junior Sanchez, Doc Martin, Jacques Renault, Kiki, Btraits, Monki, DJ Three, German Brigante, Shir Khan, Vanilla Ace, Nacho Marco, Climbers, Robert Owens, Severino, MoodyManc, Marco Lys, Sonny Wharton, Claus Casper, Quentin Harris…