The Sycophantic Dreams of...Colatron vol.3 (Is This The End for Andy? sessions)

Well, here we go again chaps. It's taken some time to get this one out, I've just been ridiculously busy, and seem to have been constantly out which is amazing for someone with no pennies, but get it out I have.

After the success of some of the tracks I have made in preparation for this (another track "Dirrty Bitch (You Are Beautiful) on Scott's awesome podcast over at http://ramdomthoughts.co.uk/ - seriously check it out! Thanks again mate for all the support), I've come to the conclusion I need to look at new software for actually putting the mixes together. Although I'm getting better at creating tracks using Acid Pro, I don't feel as though I'm getting the hang of putting them all together in one coherent mix. Saying that, I'm happier with this one, than I am the other two, but when you are dropping tracks in, one at a time and then trying to blend them, I get the impression I am missing the 'bigger picture' as it were and it's not until it's all finished and rendered that I get to listen back to it as a whole. I have Ableton Live, the industry standard for actual mixing, but after starting it, I inadvertently changed the screen view and now I can't get it back to the way I need it! Plus I haven't got the patience to read through the ~2000 page instruction manual!

Still, give this a listen and I'm sure it'll kick your bank holiday (if you're in the UK that is!) off with a bang. In terms of being a learning aid, this 'mix' alone has took me on leaps and bounds, the sheer number of ideas I came up with along the way, and how a lot of those materialised in to the individual tracks blogged below, plus a few that I haven't posted yet.

So I kick off with a Radio Colatron intro, giving me opportunity to drop a few of those TV theme tunes in that have been sitting on my PC at work for the last 4 years. From there I go to my fave acapella I came across whilst making all this, the awesome Nelly Furtado, who has become quite literally a man-eater this last year. Hot track and great vocal. Chuck in a bit of the obvious but stirring it up a bit before heading in to one of my fave bootlegs of last year.

Then there is a bit of a rhythm section, including my own "The Foxy Drummer" which has some dodgy off moments with the backing drums from the Stone Fox Chase (still got to work out how to cancel some of that background stuff out, noise gates just don't do it for me!) but has a certain charm to it.

Then in to my fave section - I'd been searching high and low for a copy of Colonel Bagshot's "Six Day War" for yonks as my original MP3 of it was deleted a while back, and I love the track, so I did two versions of it (see post below) and then dropped in the great DJ Ayers version too. Just can't get enough of these tracks.

Then the usual bit of surrealism with my remix of Current 93 before bring the beats back in. A great and completely random sample of Courtney Love losing it on stage follows on from my most popular download to date (77 individual downloads so far) before a section from my favourite album at the moment, the amazing Mark Ronson.

Next up more silly samples that are probably completely out of place, with the granddaddy of electro before a bit of hot Beyonce action.

A real suspect non-attempt at mixing takes you in to my homage to all struggling lo-fi indie bands everywhere - "99! Crayola", before a much more successful indie band (and one of the highlights of the gigging scene last year) in the form of Bloc Party.

Then, as promised to me mate Cassie from myspace, a bucket load of Led Zeppelin, but in bootleg form. Still in my top 3 or 4 bands of all time, and done great justice from the various geniuses of GYBO.

More random samples prevail, this time from a music on hold sample disc I received at work (the dangers of telecoms, you get bombarded with this stuff), but which nicely segued in to my completely otherwise useless track Pussy Jaw 3.

Then a piece I wasn't too sure about - I'd been dying to get Sunscreem's classic "Love U More" in to something (if you didn't know, I was raised on early acid house and rave - the type of music I will never get tired of listening to) and in a rush job, I whacked it in to this. Then during the middle section, I realised I had nothing to fill out the track, but eventually bodged it together with the weird spoken word samples I found. I think the words being spoken are quite poignant to this track's vibe. See what you think. I daren't post it as a seperate track though as I'm not sure of it, and I did discover something else that I can use Sunscreem on so keep 'em peeled. Finishes with an awesome hypnotist section though, that I put some silly effects on which lead wonderfully in to a track from another band in my top 3 or 4 - Leeds' favourites, the Music.

Then I reprise the idea of Radio Colatron, giving me a chance to play a snippet of true metal believers Dragonforce, as promised to Dougie, plus more importantly, pay a little bit of me good friends Zendi and Steve (with backing vocals from Jake, the heartbreaker!) from their now defunct band Elmira Landmine.

Then the amazing Camera Obscura, with a possible message coming from Colatron in the lyrics...

To finish, I had to get this track on. One of my abiding memories of being 12 years old was a friend of the time introducing me to the more experimental of music, and this track was my catharsis. Got me looking in to a lot of places I should have been looking well before, and I can honestly say shaped my teen years.

Anyway, enough chit chat - I'm ranting now.

The Sycophantic Dreams of... Colatron vol. 3 (Is this the End for Andy? sessions)

Joe Fagin - That's Living Alright
Boots Randolph - Yakkety Sax
Rick Derring - Real American
Cold War Kids - Hang Me Up
Nelly Furtado - Say It Right (acapella)
Colatron - Say It Crazy
Artie Fufkin - Crazy Logic
Colatron - The Foxy Drummer (Colatron Bangs the Drum)
Graham Central Station - The Jam
The Bar Keys - Holy Ghost
The New Breed - PM or Later (instrumental)
Colatron - Six Day War (Beats Bagshot mix - edit)
Colatron - Six Day War (I've Got Something to Say mix)
DJ Ayers - Six Day War
DJ Shadow - Six Days
Current 93 - All the Little Horses (Colatron remix)
The Prodigy - Voodoo People (Dust Brothers remix)
Colatron - Dirrty Bitch (You Are Beautiful)
Courtney Love - Go Fuck Yourself With Eddie Vedder's Dildo
Mark Ronson - Diversion
Mark Ronson (feat. Kasabian) - L.S.F.
The Muppets - Closing Theme
Jeans Jaques Perrey - E.V.A.
Daft Punk - Harder Better Faster Stronger (acapella)
Nostalgia 77 feat. Alice Russell - Seven Nation Army (acapella)
...I Think Something is Happening...
Colatron - Crazy In Love 4 E.V.A.
Colatron - 99! Crayola
Bloc Party - Helicopter (Whitey Version)
Wax Audio - Whole Lotta Sabbath
The Real Greque - Shake your Ocean
...Sit and Relax, listen to the purr of...
Colatron - Pussy Jaw 3
Colatron - Blood Luv
The Music - Walls Get Smaller
Nelly Furtado - Say It Right (acapella)
Dragonforce - Prepare for War
Elmira Landmine - Divine Communication
Camera Obscura - Country Mile
...the voice of Colatron...
Psychic TV - Message from Thee Temple
...It's Over, How D'Ya Like It?





MP3 Here
CURRENTLY UNAVAILABLE


Special thanks to the cover stars this time, the lovely Kayleigh and the lovely Leslie, and yep, that is my non-muscular body in a muscle vest.

Special thanks to everyone else too for giving me the ideas. I just gotta think of one of Smartie's Angels and something good pops in to my head.

I'm off to catch up on me kip, and to make time for my Myspace buddies - I've been so slack on keeping up with you all. Forgive me?

Enjoy all, and have a great weekend,

I've been Colatron
x x x

Erykah Versus the Volcano

Now this one I am pleased with - my real first go at clashing different genres that you just wouldn't think of putting together, and I think it's worked wonderfully (IMHO of course!).

Not too much to give you on the background of this one - it was just one of those where I love both songs and I clocked that the vocal patterns if chopped up enough can fit the guitar synchopation and change the outlook of the whole vocal. Plus a wee bit of echo on the chorus section (chopping out the backing vocals) gives it a bit of a sentimental feeling.

Two tracks in one afternoon, in completely different styles. I'm loving this game :D

Erykah versus the Volcano

Damien Rice vs. Erykah Badu
(Volcano vs. On and On)



MP3 Here:
http://www.mediafire.com/?0cmtjitz2xt

Pussy Jaw 3

Sunday rolls on, and I've fired another couple out this afternoon whilst catching up on the Coronation Street omnibus! Weird how you can find inspiration anywhere!

This, the first one, is a straight-forward A+B boot which took me all of 5 minutes (sometimes the simplest are the most effective). It may be accused of being too simple but it's a part of something else I'm looking at so I didn't want to overcomplicate things. And don't get trade descriptions on me, the instrumental's from Prodigy, the one half of rappers Mobb Deep, not the band!

Probably a bit bass heavy, but I did turn the Prodigy instrumental down as far as I dare, and hell, I've been listening to loads of Scratch Perverts lately so bass is foremost in my thoughts.

Nice little track to drive to with the bins shuddering, me thinks.

Pussy Jaw 3

Prodigy vs. Vybz Kartel
(Three (instrumental) vs. Pussy Jaw)





MP3 Here:
http://www.mediafire.com/?amyjmyzoykm

Good Girl Turned Sexual

Well, it's the weekend again, and I'm determined to crack on and get some more tracks made and the ruddy Sycophant 3 finished - it's labouring on now and taking me far too long, but I blame being out most of this week for that (Spiderman 3 and seeing Steve and Zendi in concert has really thrown out me schedule!).

So to that end, I searched for a few tracks to utilise last night and came up with a couple of great 'pellas that are screaming for attention, the first of which resulted in this.

An absolute classic song (probably in my top 10), in instrumental form with snippets of the vocals floating in and out, with a real cool Brit-style rap over the top. Chilled yet aggressive. Perfect for 'getting down tonight' - heheh.

As a brief digression, I am chuffed beyond belief to mention that my 'Six Day War (I've Got Something to Say mix)' track found it's way on to Random Thoughts podcast this week, and Scott gave me some fantastic praise. I feel somewhat guilty because as mentioned a couple of times before, I've only been doing this for 2 months at most, and people have been doing it for years and are much better technically and artistically than me, and here I am getting some exposure! Still, I'm not going to complain and it really made my day to hear it being played elsewhere. Check out the show and indeed, all of Scott's excellently made shows over at his page (his choice in tracks, mine aside, is sterling!) - I'm on show #56.

http://ramdomthoughts.co.uk/

Anyhow, on with the track....here it is for you all

Good Girl Turned Sexual

The Herbaliser (feat. Wildflower) vs. Marvin Gaye
(Good Girl Gone Bad vs. Sexual Healing)



MP3 Here:
http://www.mediafire.com/?8o5sjymidme

Crazy In Love 4 E.V.A.

Well, I've only been doing this for a month and a bit, and I feel there is a definite progress being made in what I'm producing. After the success of my Christina boot (50 downloads to date! Didn't expect 1 let alone 50!), I thought I'd keep to the simple stuff for my next attempt, and sticking to the formula of all successful boots, I've gone with the next amazing Diva who is constantly the subject of many a great mash-up track

For a bit of background on this one, I started off with a great Ghanaian track - 'Psychadelic Woman' by Honney and the Bees Band. The guys in the office are constantly playing it on the stereo, from their Malmaison Sound Affects CD they picked up at the Xmas party. Anyway, it's a brilliant funky little tune with a catchy hook, and when listening to it one day, one track that could work with it came in to my mind - Jean Jaques Perrey's 'E.V.A.' - a classic track which when considered it's from the early 70s, could easily be mistaken for a big beat style record, as proven by Fat Boy Slim's remix in the 90's.

So I dug out a copy of it, ready to hack at way at EVA and Psychadelic Woman. However, I didn't even bother as I had some great 'pellas of Daft Punk and Nostalgia 77 which fitted the feel of the track even more.

I set to work producing something and it was all going great, the lyrics fitting the timing of the sound effects within the track perfectly....but I ended up with a minute or so to fill on the track. I couldn't think of anything to go in, or even to cut up what I had done and extend it to finish the track off. Gutted. Here was a great record that I was dying to use but I'd got "wirter's block" as it were.

Fortunately, I also had this amazing dub/reggae/steel band-esque version of EVA, which the more I listened to it, the more it made sense that it would be easier to do something with (reggae and dub being a great love of mine). I have no idea who's done the remix so unfortunately I cannot give credit to those who deserve it, but going through my other tracks, the synchopation of Beyonce's vocal on 'Crazy In Love' was spot on, and the track was made before I even booted up Acid Pro. Plus it's a cheeky nod to 2 Many DJ's and their historic boot, Dreadlock Woman and any other reggae record that's been mixed with Beyonce.

So although I've completely diverted from the original idea, I've finished up with something which I think is perfect for the middle of a set. And don't worry, I've retained the original work with Daft Punk and Nostalgia 77, and I've managed to somehow work it in to the next volume of the Sycophant (50% through...it poops on the other 2 from a great height now I'm getting the hang of all this)...

See what you think.

Crazy In Love 4 E.V.A.

Jeans Jaques Perry vs. Beyonce (feat. Jay-Z)
(E.V.A. (unknown dub mix) vs. Crazy In Love)

MP3 Here:
http://www.mediafire.com/?5xwmlr1k22m

Dirrty Bitch (You Are Beautiful)

Hehe....here's the obligatory Christina boot. It was only a question of time, until I had a go.

Still, I've tried to steer away from the obvious and keep it a bit punky sticking two of her vocals over the spiky Prodigy track, Molotov Bitch. I've always loved this tune from the moment I heard it back on their music video released aeons ago, to when I joyfully found it as a b-side on 'Firestarter'. See what you think.

Dirrty Bitch (You Are Beautiful)

Christina Aguilera vs. The Prodigy vs. Public Enemy
(Beautiful vs. Dirrty vs. Molotov Bitch vs. Caught (Can We Get A Witness))



MP3 Here:
http://www.mediafire.com/?02hnmjl21j2

All the Little Horses

Well, here's an oddity for you.

I was searching for some old industrial that I was after for some other purposes and came across this little gem.

Experimental eclecticism abound with Current 93's "All the Little Horses". I'd heard of them beofre, but was actually after some Psychic TV and Throbbing Gristle, so it was a pleasent surprise to come across this track. Read more on them over at Wiki pedia ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Current_93)

I actually came across two versions of it, and fell in love with both versions' soft folk guitar and mildly disturbing lyrics (well, I find them pretty messed up anyway!), so I melded the two, applied a few filters and away you go.

I love this, and I hope you love it too.

Current 93 - All the Little Horses (Colatron remix)



MP3 Here:
http://www.mediafire.com/?2am1xwlt91m

Six Day War

Well, it's not often that I dabble in politics, it's just something that I take note of but rarely speak out on or offer an opinion. There's no real reason as such other than I don't feel well placed to pass judgement on issues.

However, going through my CDs, and stumbling across DJ Shadow's 'Six Days', I sat and listened to the lyrics closely. It's always been my favourite track on the Private Press, and a few years ago I had a copy of the original track called 'Six Day War' by Colonel Bagshot, which I appeared to have lost. The lyrics refer to the 1967 war between Israel and several Arab states including Egypt, Jordan and Syria.

Anyhow, I was determined to find a copy of the original again, which I duly did this evening and immediately I was struck by it's harsh beauty all over again. I was determined to create something out of it, worthy of it's haunting lyrics, that had a relevance to the world today.

Starting at the source, I thought about something involving DJ Shadow, since he introduced me to the track in the first place. I found a copy of the original demo for Changeling from the 'Endtroducing' album, and the intro loop of the drums took hold of me straight away. Stick 'em in place and add a few filters and an hour later I had a wonderful dance track.

However, thinking of trying to get it more in to today's context, Faithless' 'Mass Destruction' came in to my head, and more specifically, a version I'd heard several times sampling George W. Bush over it, highlighting his (IMHO) hypocrisies and lies. I wanted to do something similar.

Finding a brill Bush sound website with literally upwards of 50Mb of Bush samples (and I took the lot!), I worked from the original mix I had just created, dropping in some appropriate sounds of war too. I make no apologies for some of the horrible sounds you can hear in the background. They are there to wake people up, if not already. I'm not having a dig at soldiers or families of soldiers; just the concept of war itself and how ridiculous it all is.

The end results speak for themselves in my opinion. I'm a rank amateur at this stuff, but for me, if I ever make a track half as good as this again, I'll be happy. I can now sleep a happy Andy....

Six Day War (I've Got Something to Say mix)

Colonel Bagshot vs. DJ Shadow vs. George W. Bush
(Six Day War vs. Changeling (Original Demo excerpt) vs. various politcal speeches)



MP3 here:
http://www.mediafire.com/?axt1gt26ryj

and the original

Six Day War (Beats Bagshot mix)

Colonel Bagshot vs. DJ Shadow
(Six Day War vs. Changeling (Original Demo excerpt)



MP3 Here
CURRENTLY UNAVAILABLE

"Tomorrow never comes until it's too late..."

99 Crayola

EDIT: Now with official thumbs up from the guys of Airport Girl! They sent me a message on MySapce to say how much they like this track, which uses their "Hey! Crayola", and they have posted a link to download the track on their site too. High praise indeed. Check 'em out and give 'em your support at

http://www.myspace.com/shamboliclofiindiepop and their official site http://www.airportgirl.com/

Andy - 27th May 07



Next up, lo-fi indie meets East Coast uberstar.

I've heard a thousand versions of 99 Problems on the mash-up scene, the best of which for me has to be Party Ben's boot with Nena's '99 Red Balloons' - simple yet super-effective and never fails to make me wanna dance. Bit of a classic up at Poppy Red on a Saturday night.

EDIT: Wow! I've been left a comment by one of my all-time idols, Party Ben, correcting me on the above - it wasn't actually he who made '99 Luft Balloons' but Jay-Zeezer...sorry for the confusion; it was one of those tracks that I constantly heard on the legendary Sixx Mixx sessions from Live 105 and so just always assumed it was the great man himself. I've edited this just to clear up the confusion, and to say thanks to PB for all the great times spent listening and partying to his mixes. It may not have been yours PB, but it's forever associated with you, and all the other great tracks you DID make.

But I was thinking back over my record collection the other day and came across old Uni faves, Airport Girl. A relatively obscure indie band from around Nottingham, their LP "Honey, I'm an Artist" was rarely off my CD player throughout 2002, plus I had the added bonus of having been out/lived with the keyboardist Dave's cousin for the previous 3 years to buying the CD. I'd go so far as to say that their one single "The Foolishness That We Create Throught Love Is The Closest We Come To Greatness " is still in my top 10 of all time favourite songs and a bonafide indie classic - if you can find it, you'll love it. If you can't find it, drop me a line and I'll see what I can sort out.

I digress.... so I was searching for something to put the Jay-Z 'pella over and I stumbled across laid back harmonica driven stoner classic 'Hey! Crayola' by the aforementioned Airport Girl. It was too good to resist...

It's dedicated to Danielle, to whom I'm forever indebted for my love of all things guitar...

99! Crayola

Airport Girl vs. Jay-Z
(Hey! Crayola vs. 99 Problems)



MP3 Here:
http://www.mediafire.com/?3rlxn3jljpy

The Foxy Drummer

Well, it's that time of the month again when I'm staying in over the weekend to save some pennies for the upcoming stag weekend of Arkie, and what better way to celebrate the Bank Holiday than to create a few new tracks for the work in progress Sycophant vol. 3.

First off the blocks is 'The Foxy Drummer'

Inspired by the recent purchase of the amazing new mix by DJ Food and DK - Solid Steel:Now Listen Again
(buy it here - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Solid-Steel-Listen-Again-Mixed/dp/B000MV9NX2/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/026-8556677-9575634?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1178468788&sr=8-1),
this little funky track features drum legend Cozy Powell and Nashville theme tune provider Area Code 615 clashing with a helping hand from DJ O-Dub (fluke find whilst browing the web) and Mantronix. In fact, I was going to turn this into a 40 minute drum solo marathon by dropping in the Funky Drummer, King of the Beats and Moby Dick, but a man can only handle so much rhythm!

Sounds like a thousand drummers mugging Larry Adler...

The Foxy Drummer (Colatron Bangs the Drum)

Cozy Powell vs. Area Code 615 vs. DJ O-Dub
(Dance With the Devil vs. Stone Fox Chase)




MP3 Here:
CURRENTLY UNAVAILABLE