One of the new psych-oriented gems on heavy rotation at the Music Mania is called Beyond the Wizards Sleeve. This duo, consisting of Mixmag's '06 dj of the year Erol Alkan and The Grid founding member Richard Norris, picks up where great sixties/early seventies bands like the Who, the Kinks and all of those Nuggets bands left off, and injects their guitar groove with some envigorating modern-day synths and cut-and-paste magic. On 'Ark 1', recently released by Rough Trade, BTWS compiled most of the tracks featured on a series of 12" maxi's recorded over the last two years - well, when I say 'tracks', I mean re-edits mostly. It's definitely one to hear - especially on vinyl, so there's a tip for ya.
Another spectrum of these guys' studio genius can be heard via their remixing abilities: thus far, Alkan and Norris have done some wonderful things with tracks by such diverse acts as Chemical Brothers, Findlay Brown, Midlake and Simian Mobile Disco. I'm not sure this thing will boom in the same way The Grid did back in the early nineties, or how Alkan is now a superstar DJ - it's a bit too underground and revival-ish for that, not to mention the copyright consequences - but it's still a great idea, exquisitely executed.
Posted here are two tracks off the Ark 1 album: 'Percy Power', which is basically a guide to treating your plants nicely, and 'Light Years (Spring)', a reworking of '2000 Light Years from Home', one of my favorite Rolling Stones tracks. Furthermore, a great remix of Midlake's 'Roscoe' is at your disposal, and for old time's sake, the Grid's 'Swamp Thing' off their '94 'Evolver' album. I remember watching the video at night on MTV when I was 13, and sure enough it freaked me out.
MP3: Beyond the Wizards Sleeve - Percy Power
MP3: Beyond the Wizards Sleeve - Light Years (Spring)
MP3: Midlake - Roscoe (Beyond the Wizards Sleeve RMX)
MP3: The Grid - Swamp Thing
P.S.: be sure to check out the great 'Part of the Weekend Never Dies' documentary about fellow Ghent residents Soulwax: Alkan has some funny things to say about them.
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