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MONDAY 24TH MAY
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Hello, and welcome to the final edition of The Remix Update.
Okay, not really. Sorry to have startled you. No, really, please sit down. I didn't mean it. However, we are going to make some changes around here. But I will say nothing more on the subject. Well, not until the end of this intro. This is something known in the media as 'teasing'. Look and learn. |


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| Anyway, what's coming up in this very last edition of The Remix Update ever? Well, how about an update from the world of Eddy Temple-Morris? Seems like a good start, huh? Particularly as we seem to be moving ever closer to the release of the Losers album I know everyone reading this has been waiting for so eagerly.
In addition to that, we've interviewed Mike and Charlotte from Hybrid about their new album 'Disappear Here'. If you cast your minds back to March, you may remember that all three members of the group co-hosted two hours of the show with Eddy the same week that Tom from Audio Bullys came into the studio. They also gave us some albums and t-shirts to give away, which was nice of them.
Well, that was when the album came out. Now they have a new single out, so are all kinds of newsworthy again. With that in mind we scored some quality time with the aforementioned Mike and Charlotte, to go a little more in depth about what went on behind the scenes during the making of that album. Real ale was important, it seems.
As well as that little lot we have , of course, last week's playlist in full, all packed full of meaty links, and a list of all the future opportunities to see Eddy live in the flesh in the diary section. Nice.
Now, back to where we started. Next week, we'll be taking the week off for the bank holiday. Like many other people around the country on that Monday, we'll be doing some DIY. I plan to strip all the wall paper off the Remix Update's walls, fill a couple of bin bags with junk, maybe put up some shelves. So, when we return in two weeks this bulletin will look a little different. Different in a good way, though.
That last paragraph, by the way, was an example of incredibly bad teasing. Just come back here in two weeks and all will be clear.
Andy Malt
CMU Editor
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Ups. And also downs.
It's been a really mixed week. A couple of crushingly disappointing things happened, but one or two utterly ace things balanced that out. And the weather? Jesus, Clapham Common is astonishing when the weather is good. It seems like the kind of place you'd take a picture of to wave under the nose of a wannabe suicide bomber, saying, "This is what you'll get if you do what we ask, this is heaven my brother, you will be here as soon as you push this button".
The week started badly. I'd been waiting for an album I've been looking forward to for literally years, by an artist I was the first to play and who I have been bigging up here and in my DJ Mag column for ages. It was such a crushing disappointment, so mediocre, that I almost wept with the frustration of unrealised potential. I'm not saying who it is, because I genuinely like the guy and want him to do well, and more people read this than some established dance music magazines. So let's just chalk that one down to bad A&R and hope he gives us something as good as his amazing remixes next time he makes an album.
Meanwhile, somebody at the Latitude Festival got hold of some Losers tunes from our skillful and fabulously hot drummer Camilla, and loved them so much that we got booked to headline a stage there. Now this is awesome news, I've heard so many good things about Latitude from friends, colleagues and fans alike. "A huge Secret Garden Party with more trees" was perhaps the most intriguing review. So, we're playing at midnight on Friday in an arena that's in a forest, I'm told. We could all literally explode with excitement over this.
We're almost at a position where we can announce the release date for, and the label that will be putting out, the Losers album and a couple more singles. I'm hoping that the next time I put digit to keyboard for you, it will be with a grin the size of Liverpool.
Finally, a huge sorry to those who came to see us at X-Posure live, only for us to be cut off at the last song by some tool of an in-house sound guy who wasn't able to communicate properly. John will play a track or two on his show, so at least we have that to look forward to.
Sorry it's such a short one this week and it doesn't really say much. Truth is I'm about to go pick up my boy from school and I want to go play Frisbee with him and have a barbeque together for early dinner.
Til next week, eat lots of British asparagus, not that Peruvian muck that makes your wee goes fluorescent green. And cook on coals wherever possible. And, in the words of Bill S Preston and Theodore Logan, be 'excellent' to each other.
Much love,
eddy X |
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Since releasing their debut album 'Wide Angle' in 1999, Hybrid have worked hard to live up to their reputation as one of dance music's grandest acts. After spending the last few years working on soundtracks for films such as 'Man On Fire' and 'Wolverine', they're now back with a new album, 'Disappear Here', which was released by Distinctive Records in March. A new single from it, 'Can You Hear Me', is out this very week. The most obvious difference this time around is the addition of singer-songwriter Charlotte James to the line-up, joining founders Chris Healings and Mike Truman. Her vocals slip perfectly in amongst their blend of orchestral soundscapes and dance beats. We caught up with Mike and Charlotte to find out more.
How did you start out making music?
Mike: My dad started building synthesisers when I was about eight and I fell in love with the strange and spooky noises that they used to make. I got the bug for electronics that made peculiar noises from an early age and had Saturday jobs in music shops through my teens to help fuel my new found addiction.
I used to pillage my parents record collection, which had a lot of Vangellis and Jean Michelle Jarre, who were definitely early influences, and tried to recreate lots of their sounds. By the end of my teens, I was starting to make old rave records, and after meeting Chris in the early 90s we started on the path to releasing club tracks which eventually grew into our all consuming project, Hybrid.
What inspired your latest album?
Charlotte: There was quite a long gap between the last album and this one. We really wanted to make the album more live-sounding and more song-based, not least because having a great band behind us would also make the album really exciting to perform live.
We started writing the album about two years ago, but went off down the wrong track and it just sounded a bit too much like we were trying to be something we weren't. The turning point was the title track 'Disappear Here', where everything fell into place and we found the perfect balance of live instruments combined with our electronic sound and sound design, together with a theme and a story for the whole album.
This was the turning point, and I suppose you could say the inspiration for everything else to come. We'd found the next evolution of Hybrid, although I don't know if we realised it at the time.
What process do you go through in creating a track?
Charlotte: All our tracks start in totally different ways, which always gives a more interesting end result. Sometimes it starts with an effect that Chris has created through his sound design, sometimes it's a piano line, an idea for a song, a cello line or guitar riff that I've had in mind, or sometimes it's a bass line, drum loop, or an arrangement of ideas from Mike.
We all bounce ideas off each other, which keeps everything fresh and lively. It's a great environment to work in. There are ideas that are fine and dandy on their own, but add the combination of the three of us together and they become something totally unique and inspiring.
Nearing the end, we all get together and thrash out the finished result around the warm glow of Mike's computer screen. Then we go for a pint and a pie and stand in silence while we sup the warm froth from a pint of Dirty Tackle, or whatever speciality beer they have on that week, and we think "could we have done it better?" and "there's something not right with that bit". Then back to the studio for more we go. This is the way of Hybrid. Ad infinitum.
Which artists influence your work?
Charlotte: Now the three of us work together, we've got varying backgrounds in music, so we're all adding external influences from the artists we admire.
Personally, I'm a big fan of Crosby, Stills & Nash - their harmonies are beautiful. The same goes for Stevie Nicks. I also listen to a lot of Radiohead, Led Zeppelin, Beastie Boys, PJ Harvey, Seasick Steve, Frank Zappa, a lot of soul singers from the 60s & 70s, the there's all the dance music I listened to through my teens and early 20s, then there's a bit of MC Solaar and, well, the list is very long and varied, but I try not to listen to anything at all while I'm writing.
All three of us are huge fans of movie soundtracks and off-kilter classical music - we do like a bit of Phillip Glass - and obviously there's a massive influence from dance and electronic music spanning several decades, which I don't even think you could say was an influence, more of a solid base on which to stand. At least, I could build a house with Mike and Chris' record collections.
What would you say to someone experiencing your music for the first time?
Mike: We'd hope to think that our music crosses over a number of genres, and works essentially as a good piece of music; so regardless of whether you're into dance, electronic, indie or rock you'll hopefully still get where we're coming from. There's purposefully a lot of sonic detail in our records, as we like to release music which has a lot of hidden depth and takes a few listens to spot, like a good film, where you always notice more on the second or third time you watch it.
What are your ambitions for your latest album, and for the future?
Mike: We are looking forward to touring the album over the next year or so, and to getting back into the studio for some very exciting up and coming scoring projects. The album has felt like a bit of a departure from our comfort zone of previous releases and we're really looking forward to expanding this new tangent.
Hybrid links>> Website | MySpace | Facebook | Twitter | Last.fm | CMU News-Blog |
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| The Remix is one of Xfm's longest running specialist shows. Each week you will find the artists and songs you love from Xfm daytime like you've never heard them before, reworked, rerubbed and, well, remixed for the dancefloor. You'll find the best indie remixes, plus the best in bootlegs, breaks, electronica and quality dance music, basically dance music that rocks.
The Remix was created and is presented and produced by Eddy TM, a true pioneer of dance music that rocks. You can hear the show every Friday at 10pm, across London on 104.9FM, across Manchester 97.7FM, and online at www.xfm.co.uk.
CMU and The Remix have been best friends since 2004, with Team CMU tapping into Eddy's knowledge and passion for the best boots, breaks and remixes across their media and, in particular, in The Remix Update, the free weekly e-bulletin from CMU that accompanies the radio show.
Want to get yourself on The Remix?
Send your tracks to Eddy Temple-Morris, Xfm, 30 Leicester Square, London, WC2H 7LA or upload to our dropbox at www.soundcloud.com/the-remix/dropbox |
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Andy Malt
Editor |
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Chris Cooke
Business Editor &
Co-Publisher |
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Caro Moses
Co-Publisher |
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Georgina Stone
Editorial Assistant |
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Paul Vig
Club Tipper |
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Ronan Keating
Head Of Extramarital Affairs |
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