SHREM'S TRIP-HOP RETROSPECTIVE: "Ladybird" - Baby Fox

ARTIST: Baby Fox
TITLE: "Ladybird" + Aphrodite Remix
RELEASE DATE: 1996
LABEL: Malawi Records
LOCATION: UK
ALBUM: "A Normal Family"

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SHREM'S DOUBLE TROUBLE: "AZURA" - 808 State feat. Lou Rhodes /// "HUMANITY" - A Guy Called Gerald feat. Lou Rhodes

Back in the second half of the 1990's I got a little bit obsessed with Lamb and its vocalist Lou Rhodes. Apart from Lamb's first two albums which I worship until today, I've been also admiring the singer's sonic excursions into trip-hop and jungle sounds when collaborating with the legendary 808 State and A Guy Called Gerald. The following two recordings stood the test of time quite smoothly in my humble opinion.

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SHREM'S INSTITUTE OF LOST CLASSICS: "BLAME" + "CORCOVADO" - Everything But The Girl

Perhaps slightly controversially but completely subjectively speaking these two recordings are my absolute favourites in the entire catalogue of Ben Watt and Tracey Thorn. "Blame", co-produced by drum'n'bass hero J-Majik, was Everything But The Girl's 3rd single from their last studio album "Temperamental" while their exuberant cover of Antônio Carlos Jobim's "Corcovado", originally released on "RED HOT + RIO" compilation back in 2000, remains the duo's final single to date. Two unquestionably spectacular tracks but then again I've always had a very soft spot for EBTG going for the drum'n'bass and jungle sounds, no one ever made them so sublime and refined.



Everything but the girl - Corcovado by heleyders®

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SHREM'S FUTURE ANTHEMS: "ALIVE" - Todda T feat. Shola Ama + Sticky Remix

Toddla T's fruitful collaboration with Shola Ama brings out another anthem-about-to-happen. The pair responsible for one of this year's biggest summer festival anthems - "Take It Back", return with a song that shapes to even surpass its predecessor. "Alive" is an instant garage classic. Shola Ama proves again that the UK Funky scene is where she's at her most comfortable and with her legacy of UK Garage anthems she was involved in so far, one could easily crown her (alongside Ms. Dynamite) as the genre's first lady. In addition Fact Magazine has just published this juicy mix by Sticky which combines delicate drum'n'bass-esque beats with the anthemic oldskool house loops to an astonishing summer dancefloor-ready effect. The single's out on 13th August via Ninja Tune. CHOON!



  Toddla T feat. Shola Ama - Alive (Sticky Remix) by FACT magazine

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SHREM'S DOUBLE TROUBLE: "THUNDERBOLT (King Cannibal Remix) /// "HOLLOW (Current Value Remix)" - Björk

 I adore Björk's series of Biophilia Remixes, they spread even more magic around this whole otherworldly project of hers. While waiting for the 6th out of the 8 singles I thought it'd be interesting to play some of the mix efforts we have received so far. Here are two unbelievable renditions of "Thunderbolt" by King Cannibal and "Hollow" by German's pioneer of dark and experimental drum'n'bass Current Value. This is how Miss Guðmundsdóttir recently described Current Value in her interview for Guardian: "A maker of beats with huge amounts of energy. Direct! He was recommended to me. Each noise has a lot of energy. Where is he getting it from? His food? If drum'n'bass is good, it still inspires me."

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SHREM'S TRIP-HOP RETROSPECTIVE: "FLOWERS BLOOM" - Mandalay

ARTIST: Mandalay
TITLE: "Flowers Bloom"
RELEASE DATE: 1996, re-released with remixes in 1998
LABEL: V2 Records Inc.
LOCATION: London, UK
ALBUM: "Empathy"

This was one of my personal favourites back in 1998. Nicola Hitchcock's sublime vocals, haunting melody and those poetic lyrics. They released only two albums and "Flowers Bloom" was easily their most accomplished work. Here it comes with two different from the album versions. Alex Reece's drum'n'bass version is particularly dreamy.

Mandalay - "Flowers Bloom" by SHREM

Mandalay - "Flowers Bloom (Alex Reece Radio Edit)" by SHREM

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SHREM'S TRIP-HOP RETROSPECTIVE: "SWEETEST PLEASURE" - Ultra Living

Browsing through my extensive collection of tunes, now spanning over almost a century in music, I have remembered the time when discovering new and old sounds was more exciting than ever. It was around the time Portishead released their groundbreaking debut "Dummy" (still my number 1 album of all times!). It was the arrival of the so-called trip-hop scene that turned me into an utter music geek. Still being very fond of those 1990's moments, I decided to create a brand new thread on my über-nerdy carousel, dedicated entirely to this fascinating era in the history of electronic music. Here's chapter one:


ARTIST: Ultra Living
TITLE: "Sweetest Pleasure"
RELEASE DATE: 1997
LABEL: Creation Records
LOCATION: Tokyo, Japan
ALBUM: "Monochromatic Adventure"

Ultra Living - "Sweetest Pleasure" by SHREM

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SHREM'S 50 WOMEN OF HIS LIFE: 10 - Nicolette

10 - NicoletteCOLLABORATIONS: Bang Gang, Dj Cam, Massive Attack, John Tejada, Shut Up & Dance, Filewile, Le Tone, Nuno Dos Santos & TJ Kong, Plaid, Quio, Taraf De Haïdouks, Alec Empire, Felix, Dego
COUNTRY: UK
FAVOURITE ALBUM: "Let No-One Live Rent Free In Your Head"FAVOURITE REMIX: "We Never Know Except... (Roni Size Remix)"


FAVOURITE ARTWORK: "Life Loves Us"FAVOURITE VIDEO: "Sly" - with Massive Attack (dir. Stéphane Sednaoui)


TOP 30 FAVOURITE SONGS:
30- "Soulfully"
29- "Birthday (Llorca Remix)" - with Nuno Dos Santos & TJ Kong
28- "Just To Say Peace And Love"
27- "Waking Up (Remix)"
26- "All Day" - DJ Kicks exclusive)
25- "Desire" - with John Tejada
24- "Beautiful Day"
23- "Single Minded People"
22- "Nervous"
21- "Stars (Starry-Eyed Mix)"
**********
20- "Wicked Mathematics"
19- "Extort" - with Plaid
18- "Wholesome (Plaid Remix)"
17- "Lately" - with Le Tone
16- "Communication" - with Filewile
15- "Song For Europe"
14- "Love" - with Dj Cam
13- "You Are Heaven Sent"
12- "Three" - with Massive Attack
11- "It's Only To Be Expected"
**********
10- "Fascination"
09- "We Never Know"
08- "Dove Song"
07- "No Government"
06- "Lagging Behind"
05- "Fire In The Heart"
04- "Nightmare"
03- "Sly" - with Massive Attack
02- "O Si Nene/Udi Egwu"
01- "Sunshine (Single Version)"



Nightmare by NICOLETTE

Song For Europe by NICOLETTE

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SHREM'S INSTITUTE OF LOST CLASSICS PRESENTS: "CIRCLES" by Adam F

This always makes me wanna dance! It hasn't lost any of its charm since the initial release back in 1997. From Adam F's debut album that also included his enchanting collaboration with Tracey Thorn.

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SHREM'S CLUB BIZARRE INTRODUCING "FASCINATION" by Nicolette

So the first taster of the long anticipated Nicolette's 4th album is up for grabs on I-tunes. "Fascination" has all the ingredients of a perfect Nicolette song. Multi-complex beautifully crafted wall-of-sound production, wonderfully chaotic beats, levels and levels of haunting vocals (you simply can't go wrong with SUCH a unique voice!) and surprisingly catchy chorus. Really really looking forward to hearing more from Nicolette in the upcoming months!

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SHREM'S LATE MONDAY NIGHT SESSIONS... "BUTTERFLY"- Towa Tei (テイ・トウワ) feat. Ayumi Tanabe

When this single was out back in 1998 it was my favourite song in the whole wide world for a while:-) No one does quirky pop productions quite like Jungle Dj Towa Towa as Towa Tei was once known while still with Deee Lite. Looking forward to listening to his brand new 6th LP "Sunny" coming up later on this year. This strange little song featured a Japanese super-model, Ayumi Tanabe, on vocals. It's sooo 90's!

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CHOON OF THE DAY: INVISIBLE - Nu: Tone Feat. 4Hero & Natalie Williams

Fresh from Nu:Tone's brand new album filled with top quality vocal drum'n'bass treats. This energetic track is graced by the presence of not only his number one muse Miss Natalie Williams but also the legendary 4 Hero.

12 NuTone - Invisible (featuring 4hero & Natalie Williams) by snex908999

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CHOON OF THE DAY: AMAZING - Reel People feat. Tony Momrelle & Imaani

One of those songs I keep playing over & over again when the sun comes up. And since I'm in a particularly good mood today there's a bonus remix below too for all drum'n'bass boys'n'girls in the house ;-)



Reel People - Amazing (Ross D Remix) by Ross D

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CHOON OF THE DAY: REDLINES - Total Science Feat. Riya

Netsky, Intelligent Manners and now Total Science with lovely Riya on vocals... Delighted there's some soul left in the genre whose reputation has been embarrassed & destroyed in recent months by the likes of Pendulum...

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CHOON OF THE DAY: IF YOU WANT MY LOVE - Intelligent Manners

Fresh slice of St. Petersburg drum'n'bass scene. Jazzy, oldskool & мелодичный.

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SHREM'S INSTITUTE OF LOST CLASSICS PRESENTS...

THE TREE KNOWS EVERYTHING by ADAM F FEAT. TRACEY THORN



Some good fresh news coming about Tracey Thorn's third solo album LOVE AND ITS OPPOSITES. Look at the gorgeous artwork & check out some more details + a yummy free download HERE. In the meantime her impeccable vocals on Adam F's album COLOURS back in 1997. Welcome 2 the jungle baby...

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