Friday 15 October 2021

Bite-sized Bits 20

Asano Takeji - Arashiyama (1949)

A return to 'tunes I found on compilations' this time and this one is actually pretty special. I know I say every time that compilations are a great way to suddenly get a ton of variety in your colleciton but the one I found this on might have been the most successful in that respect - it already had a couple of tracks that I absolutley adored on it so I figured it was worth a full look and boy was I ever right.

The comp in question is The Modernist's Collectors Series Pt. 1 Popular Songs - and the title pretty much says it all really. It's full of amazing tunes like Télépopmusik's Breathe, Erlend Øye's Ghost Trains and even super deep cuts like Autosundmädchen's cover of All The World Loves Lovers as well, but those are the ones I knew of already before jumping into this comp, so let's focus on the new instead.

One of my favourite discoveries from this comp is this track right here - I have a couple of other mixes from Superpitcher from various live sets and other comps and based off the strength of them I may have to look into getting some of their main productions in my collection. The mix of (This Is) The Dream Of Evan And Chan is just fantastic - not hard to see why it ended up on a comp of 'Popular Songs', but one I was unaware of as I was a literal child when it first came out as a single in 2001. It's one of those I couldn't help falling fro straight away, the kind of tune that directly appeals to that part of me with a penchant for this slick hi-tech sound of the era.

A little like the Salt City Orchestra remix of Marshall Jefferson's Mushrooms both in sound and excecution - as the whole thing is stitched together by a sequence of storytelling verses from Ben Gibbard (of The Postal Service with Dntel and Death Cab For Cutie fame). A very early crossover for the worlds of indie and electronic, can't say I'm super familliar with the bands he's known for, but his vocal works really well here - albeit in a bit of an 'of the era' kind of fashion, though the verses take a backseat in the latter quarter which really Superpitcher's remix work to really shine in full force. I just adore this remix (but admittedly part of that is tinted by nostalgia), like I said about Erlend Øye's Ghost Trains way back on an old podcast, I think it still sounds surprisingly modern all things considered - but there are little bits and pieces that kind of give away its age. Perhaps that's just me wishing that this kind of sound would make a comeback though.



And that'll be all for this week - I did almost forget to write this one as things IRL are getting busier again, if I miss one of these posts it's probably becuase of that! I'll do my best to keep it regular though, there's no shortage of tunes for me to go at for sure, it's just finding the time to write about them. Story of my life right there though isn't it? I'll be back again come Monday but until then - as always, stay safe and enjoy the music. -CVF

No comments: