Name-dropping is all the rage. Especially in artists’ press releases. Usually, such sheets are full of information that relates to the fact that a band went into a studio no one has ever heard of, to work with a producer few can recall, whose past credits include a string of bands, one of which you feel you might just have read about on some obscure blog somewhere.
I mention this only to contrast the fact that this latest remix from Darling Black comes from the hand of none other than Martin “Youth” Glover – Killing Joke founder and bassist, and producer to the stars, (and they don’t come much bigger than Paul McCartney!) In my world, if such an icon as Youth was found within a hundred miles of anything I created, I would be shouting it from the rooftops. And I know Dylan Hundley, the artist behind the Darling Black moniker, feels the same.
If its original guise, “8th and Alvarado” sounded like the street beat to an edgy and adrenalized walk through, perhaps, the pre Giuliani gentrification of The Lower East Side back in the day, a blend of no-wave minimalism and CBGB’s groove, a speed freak come down meets New York strut, then this new take steps off those grimy streets and into the glitter ball glare and neon glow of the clubs.
A throbbing mix of disco rhythms and electro-punk abrasion, clubland shimmer and alt-rock swagger, it is the perfect blend of grit and glamour, sleeze and sophistication.
I have always found remixes fascinating. Firstly, it speaks volumes about the original artist’s sense of trust and adventure that they are prepared to place their sonic children in the hands of others. Secondly, it is a reminder that a song, and indeed the story of the song, is never truly finished, not if someone decides it is not.
Be that brave, and the results can be as transformative as they are unexpected, and this new sashay/strut/swagger/stroll down to the corner of the mythical and marvelous “8th and Alvarado” is all the proof you need.
