MJ vs Spirit Catcher & The Reflex – Voodoo Thriller Knight (Dave Canto’s ‘Are You Scared Yet’ Refix)

This is my personal reinterpretation of MJ‘s classic: ‘Thriller’, taken from the best-selling ‘Thriller’ album produced by Quincy Jones and first released in November 1982 at Epic Records (Los Angeles). I consider it as a tribute to the greatest singer, dancer and performer of all times: ‘The King of Pop’. How did I proceed? During my performances as a deejay, I noticed that the following 2 tracks fit really nicely together:

1. Spirit Catcher – Voodoo Knight (Live Remix)
2. MJ – Thriller (The Reflex ‘Halloween Disco’ Edit)

Below you can find a short biography of Spirit Catcher as blogged by Resident Advisor:

Spirit Catcher have become one of the most in-demand house acts, gracing the finest underground labels with their polished future disco sound. But to those who know them, Thomas Sohet and Jean Vanesse are simply a pair of Belgian misfits looking for life and love between the keyboard keys and the automated faders. Two kids born into the sounds of the seventies, then immediately grabbed by the cruel talons of music and doomed to seek solution in the groove. Luckily, through the help of well-meaning record labels such as Silver Network, Freerange, Winding Road, Missive and Moodmusic, we can all listen in to the frenzied disco workouts through which they exorcise their murky pasts.

Spirit Catcher sampled a tiny, but catchy part of MJ’s ‘Thriller’, for the original ‘Voodoo Knight’ release on Moodmusic back in 2005. It devastated dance floors all over the world and catapulted the duo into the big league of producers. Even after 4 years of constant touring and remixing, ‘Voodoo Knight’ was still one of the highlights on their debut album ‘Night Vision’ at 20/20 Vision in 2007. To re-vitalize this classic, they released a killer live remix in 2008 which they had been playing already at their liveshows with great success.

The Reflex has captured the world’s attention and built an impressive army of fans along the way by taking remixing and audio editing to new heights with his ‘Revisions‘. This motto describes accurately the expert craftsmanship involved in turning stems into brand new versions combining creative mixing skills with the connections to track down exclusive multi-tracks. This London based French producer and remixer is well-known for his beautiful edits and reworks using the original sounds from the multi-track master tapes or stems of famous producers and artists around the world. With his impeccable knowledge and musical skills, he twists and rearranges these originals into gorgeous extended workouts. He can literally breathe new life into old classics, like he achieved with his ‘Halloween Disco Edit’ of MJ’s ‘Thriller’ using only the acapella and instrumental versions of the original tune. His extensive catalogue of remixes will be played for years to come. It’s more than an edit, it’s ‘The Reflex Revision’.

Spice up your Halloween and blow this refix through the speakers! Can you dig it?

Featured Artists:

• MJ
• Vincent Price
• Jean Vanesse (Spirit Catcher)
• Thomas Sohet (Spirit Catcher)
• Nicolas Laugier (The Reflex)

Featured Tracks:

• Spirit Catcher’s ‘Voodoo Knight’ (Live Remix) taken from ‘Voodoo Knight Remixes’ EP (2008)
• MJ’s ‘Thriller’ (The Reflex ‘Halloween Disco’ Edit) taken from ‘Revisions’ EP (2013)

Featured Labels:

• Moodmusic
• 20/20 Vision
• Revision Records
• Epic Records

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Oxia – Domino (Dave Canto’s ‘Infansonido’ Refix)

This is my personal refix of Oxia‘s techno classic: ‘Domino’, taken from the ‘Speicher 34’ EP released in April 2006 at Kompakt Extra (Cologne). Oscillating melodic tones, a skippy high-end and a driving insistence give this atmospheric and melodic techno track an anthemic lift which works well on the dancefloor.

In 2013, Kompakt Records wanted to do something special for their 20th anniversary. They asked multi-instrumentalist and orchestral composer Gregor Schwellenbach to deconstruct 20 of the label’s signature tracks into pure classical arrangements for a hand-picked ensemble of chamber musicians. His goal was to give each cut “a new voice” while retaining “the core of the experience: the melody, the hook, the feeling” despite the vastly different presentation. On May 27th 2013, the resulting album ‘Gregor Schwellenbach Spielt 20 Jahre Kompakt’ was released. It features 20 chamber music versions arranged by Schwellenbach and played with assists from flutist Dorothee Oberlinger, guitarist Christian Buck and harpist Jane Berthe, who are all veteran classical musicians.

Schwellenbach also reworked Olivier Raymond’s ‘Domino’ which is one of Kompakt’s greatest hits. It was Wolfgang Voigt who suggested that “the bursting energy of the treble semiquavers (16th notes) might work well on strings” and he was damn right. The subtle classical addition of Schwellenbach’s chamber music ensemble takes this track to the next level. I just can’t stop listening to it. What about you?

Featured Artists:

• Olivier Raymond (Oxia)
• Gregor Schwellenbach (Ohrfilm)

Featured Tracks:

• Oxia’s ‘Domino’ (Original Mix) taken from ‘Speicher 34’ EP (2006)
• Oxia’s ‘Domino’ (Gregor Schwellenbach feat. Infansonido Version) taken from ‘Gregor Schwellenbach Spielt 20 Jahre Kompakt’ album (2013)

Featured Label:

• Kompakt Records

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Stimming – November Morning (Dave Canto’s ‘Blue Morning’ Refix)

This is my personal refix of Stimming‘s masterpiece: ‘November Morning’, taken from the ‘Window Shopping’ EP released in March 2012 at Diynamic Music (Hamburg). Blue and melancholic house chords with a typical Stimming climax: not obvious, but effective. A weird sounding pseudo-violin, organic percussions, field recordings and his whistle create a grey and moody vibe absorbing the listener.

According to Beatport, this is one of Stimming’s most emotional tracks. To intensify his blue feeling even more, I’ve injected samples from his ‘Brandenburgisches Staatsorchester’ Version, taken from the ‘November Morning’ EP released in November 2012 at 2DIY4, a sublabel of Diynamic Music. More than 60 musicians from the Brandenburg State Orchestra were involved and made this work an unique classical experience. No artificial sounds or sampler elements have been added, all you hear are pure analog sounds played by real people!

The subtle classical addition of the Brandenburg State Orchestra takes this track to the next level. I just can’t stop listening to it. What about you?

Featured Artists:

• Martin Stimming (Stimming)
• Brandenburg State Orchestra (Frankfurt)

Featured Tracks:

• Stimming’s ‘November Morning’ (Original Version) taken from ‘Window Shopping’ EP (2012)
• Stimming’s ‘November Morning’ (Brandenburgisches Staatsorchester Version) taken from ‘November Morning’ EP (2012)

Featured Label:

• Diynamic Music

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Avicii & Clockwork vs Green Velvet, Nicky Romero & A.M.R – Flash Levels (Dave Canto’s ‘Good Feeling’ Refix)

This is my personal refix of Avicii‘s smash hit: ‘Levels’. Although it isn’t the kind of music I like to spin nowadays, I do want to share this mashup with the rest of the world. How did I proceed? During my performances as a deejay, I noticed that the following 2 tracks fit really nicely together:

1. Avicii & Clockwork vs Green Velvet & Nicky Romero – Flash Levels (A.M.R Bootleg)
2. Flo Rida – Good Feeling (Original Mix)

The first track is an unofficial bootleg by A.M.R who mashed up the Clockwork Remix of Avicii’s ‘Levels’ with Nicky Romero‘s interpretation of Green Velvet‘s classic: ‘Flash’. The second track is taken from the ‘Wild Ones’ album that was released by Flo Rida in 2012. He sampled Etta James‘ epic vocal, just like Avicii did in 2011. I already had live mixed both tracks at several gigs, which brought me to the idea of recording it in Ableton Live as well. During the process, I played around with panning, which means moving the audio signal from one output to the other. If you listen carefully, you’ll hear Etta James singing alternately through the left and right speaker and vice versa. Near the end you get surprised by a fat dubstep break. I hope you’ll enjoy it as much as the audience does time after time!

Featured Artists:

• Avicii
• Clockwork
• Green Velvet
• Nicky Romero
• A.M.R
• Flo Rida
• Etta James

Featured Tracks:

• Avicii – Levels (Clockwork Remix)
• Green Velvet – Flash (Nicky Romero Remix)
• Avicii & Clockwork vs Green Velvet & Nicky Romero – Flash Levels (A.M.R Bootleg)
• Flo Rida – Good Feeling (Original Mix)

Featured Labels:

• Le7els
• Relief Records
• Atlantic Records

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Booka Shade – Night Falls (Dave Canto’s ‘Night Falls of Strings’ Refix)

This is my personal refix of Booka Shade‘s beautiful gem: ‘Night Falls’, taken from the ‘Movements’ album released in 2006 at Get Physical Music (Berlin). According to Resident Advisor, ‘Night Falls’ deserves more than one listen: it will intrigue you more if you know its destination. This is exactly what I had in mind when creating this refix: intensify that mysterious sense even more. Hence I’ve used samples from Larry Gold‘s ‘Night Falls Over Philly’ String Version, taken from ‘Cinematic Shades (The Slow Songs)’ album released in 2008. The subtle classical addition of Larry Gold’s uplifting string quartet takes this track to the next level. I just can’t stop listening to it. What about you?

Below you can read what Get Physical Music blogged when they released the ‘Night Falls’ EP on March 8, 2006:

While Booka Shade’s biggest release of 2005, ‘Mandarine Girl’, basked in the euphoric afterglow of early 90’s techno-trance, their latest 12″ is a somewhat darker, more nocturnal affair. Not less than it’s forerunner, ‘Night Falls’, has the potential to become a summer-hymn, awakening reminiscences of the old days, creating a more epic and filigree atmosphere. The taster single for Booka Shade’s soon to be released second album ‘Movements’ works with a spine-tingling trance riff over scuffled, hazy beats and a strong story-telling bassline.

Featured Artists:

• Walter Merziger (Booka Shade)
• Arno Kammermeier (Booka Shade)
• Larry Gold (The Studio Philly)

Featured Tracks:

• Booka Shade’s ‘Night Falls’ (Original Version) taken from ‘Movements’ (2006)
• Booka Shade’s ‘Night Falls’ (Larry Gold’s ‘Night Falls Over Philly’ String Version) taken from ‘Cinematic Shades (The Slow Songs)’ (2008)

Featured Label:

• Get Physical Music

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