Not really up with my UK Garage but I stumbled upon this track after finding out that one of my favourite xx tracks was actually a cover. I therefore investigated and found out that the original was every bit as good but radically different from the xx's stripped down cover.
Sometimes it takes a little time away from some things for you to really appreciate what it was that loved in them so much. This is just so simply and inexplicably gorgeous.
A few weeks ago for the second time I posted the John Talabot remix of Shelter by The xx and moaned about the fact that it had only been released on a limited pressing of 300 in Japan! Well after a couple of weeks of checking Discogs and eBay to see if any copies would surface but alas to no avail so Friday night couple of weeks back after just the right amount of gin I decided to contact the label in Japan and see if they had any copies left. They did and before I could talk myself out of it I bought a copy .
After just under a week the record arrived and has been a constant on the turntable ever since. Not only is the version of Shelter a belter but Greg Wilson's mix of Night Time is equally as good and is now taking over as my favourite mix of any xx tune.
Although all of the decent weather has deserted us up here and left us with the wind and rain, I am trying to keep up the sunny demeanour and remain positive which is quite difficult at the moment what with all the speculation of the dreaded word that starts with Re and ends in dundancy coming out of every second persons mouth. It seems to be a foregone conclusion just to what extent. Any way by this time two weeks hence we will know our fate.
But until then, let's dance and be merry.
Please Romy, Jamie et al give this a full release on vinyl and make my summer. I am getting really hacked off with ridiculously small pressings of essential bits of vinyl.
Here is some newish music for you from a duo out of New York called Creep. The vocals may seem a little familiar, as they are by Romy xx who shares the same label as the band.
I really don't feel bad about posting this track, as at 12 quid for a 12" single which contains 16 mins 4 seconds of music I feel as if I own the rights to at least one of the 3 mixes. If you like what you hear I would suggest that you buy the tracks as downloads in these cash strapped times.
I'm off over the water for a couple of day so nothing here until Friday night.
It appears that The xx are not only the band to remix to death but to cover. I have noticed a few covers of their tracks from the ridiculous, OMDs version of VCR, so bland that if it was a colour it would be beige. To the sublime cover of Infinity by Jonquil.
This comes from a split 7" with Various Production, who also tackle Infinity. A single well worth tracking down
Here is another track I never got round to playing last Saturday night.
I really love The XX, the album hasn't been off the turntable or ipod much over the past few months, to such an extent that if I had to scrobble the iPod, I think that they would now be giving The Fall a run for their money, okay slight exaggeration but only slight.
Here they take Kyla's funky R & B track, strip it down to its basics and produce a moody but still funky, in it's own way track that's absolutely astounding. This band has a knack with covers, check out their version of Womack and Womack's Teardrops, or Hot Like Fire originally by Aaliyah which can both be found on the same ep as Do You Mind?
The ep could only be purchased at the gigs on the last tour, the Edinburgh leg of which I was unable to get a ticket for. I had to resort to getting the 7" off of ebay, spending a small fortune for it into the bargain and to make matters worse it is now going buy it now for half of what I paid for it!
At the tail end of last year you couldn't pick up a music mag or surf the net without the South West London band being mentioned. I had decided, in a rather reactionary way without even the merest evidence that they were just another bunch of teenagers from London hyped up to be the next big thing and duly made the decision not to even listen to them. All the talk of "music to listen to on night buses in London" didn't help. Could someone please tell me what is so fucking special about buses after dark there opposed to anywhere else? Or is it just something that music journalists, too middle class or too frightened to actually get on a bus after dark, think is the epitome of cool.
Anyway, when I did actually get round to listening to the band, I realised what people were going on about and after buying the cd and flogging it to death have come to the conclusion that most of the hype is justified. It sounds as good to these provincial ears in either the car, aeroplane or else where as I presume it does on the night bus, having never, ever been on one I must admit that the joy that you get while listening to this album on one is mere speculation on my behalf.
I have been listening to the cd heavily for the past month or so and today became the proud owner of the album on 200gram vinyl, which comes with a bonus single sided. 12" remix of current single VCR. As this vinyl is strictly limited and the mix allegedly, exclusive, I have no qualms about posting it here.I should point out that the remix is not a patch on the original, I think that they should get a certain Mr Weatherall in next time, not that they need him, as all of the tracks on the album are excellent as they are.
If you don't own the album already you should go out and buy a copy immediately, as it is the best thing that I have heard since the last best thing that I heard, which was probably the Withered Hand album, although there are absolutely no similarities other than they are both brilliant.
