Now, one of ‘Toof’s favorite things is seeing two seemingly different favorite things commingling & fraternizing into one super-favorite thing. I’m speaking about favorite thing Ian Brown, vocalist of seminal English band The Stone Roses (‘87-’95) and favorite thing, The Prodigy, gods of industrial techno (with broadening horizons). The two got together on Ian Brown’s newest single, ‘Just Like You’ and went half on a music love-child.
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MP3: Ian Brown – Just Like You (The Prodigy Remix) (2009)
[ 9mb | 285kbps vbr | 4:34 | Genre: Electronic ]
The original version of ‘Just Like You’ was lifted for ADIDAS advertising campaigns and appeared on this year’s Japanese promotional compilation for sneakerhead’s ‘One By One: kzk soundtrack from Adidas Originals by Originals’ (these) as well as on the ever fashionable Ian Brown’s sixth solo album ‘My Way’ (yep, Ian Brown is the ‘09 Ol’ Blue Eyes). Here’s one from ‘My Way’, unaltered; An anthem for the working class of Madchester:
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MP3: Ian Brown – Crowning Of The Poor (2009)
[ 7mb | 295kbps vbr | 3:18 | Genre: Rock ]
More favorites culled from the years, including several from frequent collaborators (once upon a time), UNKLE. Tracks are pulled from coveted old favorites, including several Toy’s Factory/Mo’ Wax imprint Japanese releases for UNKLE’s 1999 ‘Be There’ single (providing the ‘Be There’ mixes), Mo’ Wax’s year-2000 compilation, ‘Art of War: Who Dares Win’ (providing the ‘Monkeys Were Dolphins’ remix), and UNKLE’s 2006 4 -disc boxset ‘Self Defense’ which features 15 mixes of ‘Reign’, including mixes from Evil 9 & RJD2—a song that originally appeared on UNKLE’s epic debut ‘Psyence Fiction’ (back when UNKLE was James Lavelle and DJ Shadow)—none can touch the original, IMO, but I’ll assume you heard the original; Remixes “for the heads”. Lastly a pinch of remixes nabbed from Ian Brown’s 2002 remix only album, ‘Remixes Of The Spheres’ (‘cuz I know you internets love remixes heavy posts!), on Polydor, which reps yet another UNKLE mix for Ian Brown’s 2002 single ‘F.E.A.R.’ and mixes from London’s The Freelance Hellraiser and Cedarblue.
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MP3: UNKLE – Be There (1999)
[ 12mb | 320kbps cbr | 5:16 | Genre: Trip-Hop ]
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MP3: UNKLE – Be There (Underdog Remix) (1999)
[ 13mb | 320kbps cbr | 5:31 | Genre: Other | BPM: 108 ]
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MP3: Ian Brown – Dolphins Were Monkeys (Unkle Remix) (2000)
[ 16mb | 320kbps cbr | 7:11 | Genre: Electronic ]
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MP3: UNKLE – Reign (Evil 9 Mix) (2006)
[ 19mb | 320kbps cbr | 8:28 | Genre: Electronic ]
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MP3: UNKLE – Reign (RJD2 Vocal Mix) (2006)
[ 10mb | 320kbps cbr | 4:24 | Genre: Electronic | BPM: 128 ]
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MP3: Ian Brown – F.E.A.R (U.N.K.L.E. Mix) (2002)
[ 11mb | 263kbps vbr | 5:55 | Genre: Electronic ]
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MP3: Ian Brown – Northern Lights (The Freelance Hellraiser Mix) (2002)
[ 10mb | 238kbps vbr | 5:42 | Genre: Electronic | BPM: 160 ]
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MP3: Ian Brown – Forever And A Day (Cedarblue Mix) (2002)
[ 8mb | 271kbps vbr | 4:13 | Genre: Electronic | BPM: 150 ]
As for Stone Roses favorites, that’s a whole ‘nother can of worms. If you like what you hear, I ask that you take on the Stone Roses as a homework assignment. Amazon.com has all the goods, from one concise “best of” release to the luxurious discography boxset.
Of course, Amazon also as all the Ian Brown brown releases covered. For the exclusive gems, GEMM is always a good bet.
Ian Brown will be touring Europe in 2010, and dates are posted on his site’s tour page (I hope he comes to L.A. too). Also, Ian is contending for Shockwave’s NME’s Awards 2010, so give the man a vote!
Visit Ian Brown on MySpace.
Visit Ian Brown on Last.fm.
Visit Unofficial Stone Roses on Twitter.
Visit Ian Brown on Facebook.
Visit Ian Brown on Wikipedia.
