Here is the second of my Lights remixes. To be fair, 'Banner' is probably one of the weaker tracks on the excellent Siberia album. The original production tries to push the song in a contemporary electronic direction, with some dubstep-ish elements thrown in, but it's easy to hear that underneath all this it just wants to be a big ol' pop ballad. So that's exactly what you get with my remix. I was careful to restrain my inner Peter Cetera (legend though he is) so as to prevent the song becoming a parody of itself, hence the remix is lacking the wailing guitars or big piano chords you might be expecting when the chorus hits. Instead, I filled the space with tremolo guitars, a hammond organ, and some nice swirling effects courtesy of the excellent free ValhallaFreqEcho VST. Hope you like the result, and thanks for listening.
Lights - Banner (James Merrifield remix)
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With rampant piracy and falling record sales, today's musicians are often encouraged to seek income from advertising and sponsorship deals. Therefore, I'm pitching this remix squarely at the Siberian Tourist Board. "Where the wind is cold and angry - Siberia!" Catchy, huh?
Brick Tamland may love lamp, but I love Lights. I generally try to find something nice to say about all the artists I remix, but Lights' Siberia is truly one of my favourite albums of the year. And if I may be allowed a little pride, some of my love for Lights' music extends to this remix, because I think it's one of my better efforts. It's kind of noisy and sparkly at the same time, and it moves at a reasonable pace, so you won't get bored.
You can download the MP3 below, or click here to compare with and purchase Lights' original version from her Siberia album.
Lights - Siberia (James Merrifield remix)
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I made this indie pop remix of Vivian Girls' 'Dance (If You Wanna)' for a Mercedes online advertising campaign, but they chose not to use it. I can't say I blame them - my remix is probably more Fiat 500 than Mercedes C-Class Coupé - but then, much as I like the ramshackle, carefree exuberance of the original song, I can't really imagine any possible interpretation of it truly embodying luxury or precision German engineering; it's just not that kind of song at heart. Still, both my remix and the original bounce along in a fun kind of way, so you might like to check them out.
'Dance (If You Wanna)' is taken from Vivian Girls' third album, Share The Joy, which you can preview and purchase here. Listen (if you wanna) to my remix by clicking on the link below.
Vivian Girls - Dance (If You Wanna) (James Merrifield remix)
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Here's a remix of a song by new synth pop act Class Actress. I'm not sure if Class Actress is a band or just singer Elizabeth Harper controlling all the keyboards and mechanical oojamaflips on her own. A few years back Harper released an eponymous solo album filled with classic pop songs, unfortunately somewhat neglected by the music press at the time. Happily the songwriting here for Class Actress seems as strong as ever, although predictably I must admit I prefer the indie guitar-based approach on her earlier material to the current synth-orientated 80s retro sound. I hope she still likes indie bands, because for the duration of this remix she's in one.
The instrumentation came together very quickly, and I didn't fuss over the recording, arrangement, or mix. It's just straight-up indie rock. How indie rock? Well, I recorded fourteen tracks of guitars and didn't even bother to tune up - that's how indie rock! It's got fuzzy tremolo noises, varying amounts of overdrive and distortion, spring reverb, that kind of thing. The remix breaks no new ground, but if you liked my earlier mix of Metric's 'Front Row', consider filing this effort beside it on your hard drive.
Class Actress's debut album comes out next month, and you can purchase it from Amazon here. The Elizabeth Harper album is also available to buy here.
Weekend (James Merrifield) remix
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If there was any justice in the world, this remix would accompany the closing credits to the upcoming John Carter of Mars movie. I mean, its suitably anthemic and rocky, the lyrics are all about space, and the guy is even named Carter, for heaven's sake. Clearly it's what Edgar Rice Burroughs would have wanted.
Space has certainly been a fertile subject matter for pop songwriters over the decades. Some would have you believe that it's best represented by some noodling, ambient twaddle that goes on for hours. I guess if your ideal space movie is 2001 then perhaps that's true; but thankfully we now know that space is actually filled with X-Wing fighters and beautiful green women. I propose, therefore, that the sound of space is really a bunch of noisy, effects-laden guitars and synths in a melodic pop song played at a hundred miles per hour - and that's what I've done my best to deliver for you here.
As you may be aware, Nick Carter has a famous boy-band past, but we won't hold that against him. Instead, let us trust that this remix will lead him along the path to indie rock righteousness. Click on the link below to download the MP3. Oh, and for something to read whilst you're listening, may I suggest this...
I'm Taking Off (James Merrifield remix)
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Even though progressive house is not my genre, it's easy to see that Morgan Page is a guy at the top of his game. All the stuff I've heard from him is really well produced, crisp without being sterile, and he obviously has a far deeper appreciation of melody and structure than many of his peers. The guest vocalist on this track is singer-songwriter Lissie, whose own recordings are more in the acoustic rock and pop vein, but her voice clearly also lends itself to Page's material.
This indie-rock remix was entered into a contest last year, and I actually won a prize for it - a big DJ vinyl bag or something. Unfortunately the combined forces of Royal Mail and Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs contrived to see that I never received it, but it's the thought that counts.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy the remix, which you can stream or download below. The original version of 'Fight For You' can be found on Morgan Page's Believe album. Seeing as 'Fight For You' was released as a single, there's also a video for it - although the woman singing along doesn't appear to be Lissie, which is perhaps a little strange. Lissie's debut album Catching a Tiger is also available to purchase here, currently at the very reasonable price of just under a fiver.
Fight For You (James Merrifield remix)
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My third Metric remix. This time it's 'Front Row', another song taken from their excellent Fantasies album. This remix is a shoe-gazy, reverb-soaked, melodic indie-rock song, with glockenspiel, triangle, slide guitar, and various shakers, all sprinkled over layers of echoey guitar fuzz and tight, methodical acoustic drums.
I slowed the original down a little, so despite all the noise it now feels quite laid back. Combined with Emily Haines's soft vocal harmonies, I think it captures quite well that hazy vibe of a summer's evening. Listen for yourself below.
Metric - Front Row (James Merrifield remix)
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This is a remix of a song by Swedish artist Helena Arlock. It's a spritely little indie-pop number, ideal for the forthcoming spring sunshine. I recorded this remix some time ago, and it was in fact the first musical thing I attempted during my recovery from surgery, which is part of the reason why there isn't much guitar on it. The other reason is that it sounded just fine the way it was; the dominant synth line and synth bass you hear on the track are both from the original song, and only the guitars, glockenspiel, strings, drums and percussion are mine.
Helena Arlock's 'Go Go Go' was released as a single back in August 2010, and you can purchase that from Amazon UK here. I haven't found any details of a follow-up album as yet, but an earlier six track EP called Old Dirty Hound is available, and at a mere £1.79 from 7digital it would be rude not to.
Go Go Go (James Merrifield remix)
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When I first started remixing the songs from Metric's Fantasies album, 'Gold Guns Girls' was one of those that I figured I probably wouldn't be able to do much with; the original was already the kind of indie-rock song that I might have wanted to produce, and the fast tempo didn't seem to lend itself to any other guitar-based genres. But as so often seems to happen, other songs from Fantasies that I thought would be easy flummoxed me, whereas this one, once I had settled on the idea of doing a Wild West tinged version, ended up almost arranging and recording itself.
There's quite a lot going on in this remix - tremolo guitars, acoustic guitars, distorted guitars, several types of shaker and tambourine, trumpets, strings, hammond organ, bass, drums... oh, and about thirty or more tracks of vocals! That's one thing I've learnt from having access to the Fantasies vocal parts: to not be afraid of layering multiple vocals on top of each other. Previously with my own songs I would, at most, double the vocal lead part, but many of Metric's songs have five vocal lead repetitions, and it really thickens and stabilizes Emily's recorded voice.
Anyway, that's enough technical banter. You'll find my remix below and on the Music page as usual. I hope you like it, and thanks for listening.
Gold Guns Girls (James Merrifield remix)
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If you've listened to my Metric-style remix of the Emily Haines/Crystal Method track 'Come Back Clean', you'll already know that Metric are one of my favourite bands. Several weeks ago Metric offered up all ten of the songs from their most recent album, Fantasies, for remixing, so I sweated blood to get as many as possible finished by the deadline. In the end I managed seven; the remaining three I'll no doubt complete in my own time, but for now I'm all Metric'd out.
So here is the first fruit of the last seven weeks labour: a remix of 'Twilight Galaxy'. This is one of the ones I'm most proud of. It's indie-pop with just a touch of Hawaiian surf about it (though unfortunately the waves that you hear at the beginning were recorded about a hundred metres to the right of the decidedly less glamorous Bournemouth Pier. Hope I haven't ruined the illusion). Overall I went for an organic vibe, programming some bongos and marimba - two firsts for me - and played a Roy Orbison-style twangy riff over some slide guitar. There's a kind of innocence about that sound which, although in direct contrast to Metric's wonderfully atmospheric synthesized original, actually complements the lyrical content quite well, I think. I hope you'll agree. You can download the track below or on the Music page as usual, so thanks for listening.
Since you're a music lover of discerning taste, you no doubt already own Metric's Fantasies album, but in case you've just landed from a twilight galaxy of your own, you can pick it up here
Twilight Galaxy (James Merrifield remix)
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