Anubian Lights Remix Contest
Comments From The Band
To me the mix is tasteful, energetic [without the mickey mouse vocal stretch] and inventive. it harkens back to prime meat beat manifesto, and classic "mute" yazoo electro pop. the mix is cleverly meshed out with both warm and forboding pads, and glued together with a cracking beat [no presets here]Š the composer has done a great job in making the remix exciting from start to finish, playing on variation, and minimal but clever manipulation of the vocals. somehow this artist locked into the anubian mainfame and got it all right. the vibe is there... digging it hard. — Tommy Grenas
This mix generates HEAT, love it. From the space/atmospheric feel to the industro beat to the Yaz/Buffalo Stance synth stylings that come in around 2 minutes, it¹s extremely musical, haunting, sexy and hard. Sculpting fractal art- noise into dancefloor into brilliance, this one is a slam dunk. A
challenging song when it came to my vox, the remixer knew how to play with them to full rhythmic effect. Very clever and sophisticated. No. 1 for me. — Adele Bertei
Good production. The beats and overall music compliment the vocals. The sequencers and synth
sounds are very fresh & vibrant. Great job of capturing the original feel of the song. — Len Del Rio
This mix generates HEAT, love it. From the space/atmospheric feel to the industro beat to the Yaz/Buffalo Stance synth stylings that come in around 2 minutes, it¹s extremely musical, haunting, sexy and hard. Sculpting fractal art- noise into dancefloor into brilliance, this one is a slam dunk. A
challenging song when it came to my vox, the remixer knew how to play with them to full rhythmic effect. Very clever and sophisticated. No. 1 for me. — Adele Bertei
Good production. The beats and overall music compliment the vocals. The sequencers and synth
sounds are very fresh & vibrant. Great job of capturing the original feel of the song. — Len Del Rio
Winner:
Grand Prize: win over $1,000 in Sony products
Merchandise from Rhythmbank Entertainment and Anubian Lights.Vegas software.
Scoring Pack 1, Scoring Pack 2, and Scoring Pack 3 from the Bundles & Boxes Collection of the Sony Sound Series.
About the Contest
ACIDplanet.com is offering "Wild Winter" from Anubian Lights' Phantascope for remixing. The 'nubes sound is expressive and driving. Think of a soundtrack that you can dance too, and you're just scratching the surface. Mess with "Wild Winter" and see where you take it.About the Artist
Citing influences as varied as Can, Neu!, Kraftwerk, Les Baxter and Esquivel, Tommy Greñas and Len Del Rio formed the Anubian Lights in 1995, and in 2001 released their debut, Nazbar, via the Crippled Disc Hot Wax! imprint (Warner Chappell). Their distinct mélange of sounds won them enthusiastic support from international tastemakers, including influential BBC broadcasters John Peel and Anne Hobbs, and DJ, recording artist, and film composer David Holmes (Oceans Eleven). The following year, after successful live shows in Australia and Europe, the duo joined forces with notorious NYC no wave icon Lydia Lunch, a collaboration that yielded the sinister yet seductive EP Champagne, Cocaine, and Nicotine Stains.It was while working with Lunch on her latest album, Smoke in the Shadows, that Tommy and Len met Adele Bertei, another downtown NY music icon who they were already fans of due to Adele's pivotal role as keyboardist in the original incarnation of James Chance and the Contortions. After working with her on Lunch's album, they asked her if she would be interested in working together more, and it wasn't long until Adele becoming a full blown member of the band.
Adele came to the Anubian Lights with an impressive list of credits. In addition to her work with the Contortions (with whom she recently reunited in L.A. for All Tomorrows Parties), she founded the pivotal all-female punk group The Bloods. "Build Me A Bridge," her debut solo single, produced by Thomas Dolby, was a Top 5 Billboard dance hit. She contributed vocals to key albums like Dolby's The Flat Earth and Just Visiting This Planet by DJ/producer Jellybean Benitez. Adele has also written pop songs for several artists and has worked as a backing singer with luminaries including Tears For Fears and Sophie B. Hawkins.
In the early '90s, Adele left New York for California, to work as a writer and director in film and television. Hence her immediate attraction to the music Tommy and Len presented to her—and willingness to return to the pop music area after a decade away. "Their music felt very cinematic," she explains. "The textures they were dealing with reminded me of wonderful film scoring. I love the way they slyly integrate samples, this interesting, collage approach they take to their songs. They very much wanted to take the next step in their evolution: Add a singer, and work with more structured songs, lyrics and vocals. It was a perfect match."
Phantascope, the trio's first recording together, resulted in a sexy, groove-laden space romp that will soon be released by Rhythmbank Entertainment, a new record label founded by punk-funk pioneer Nona Hendryx and entrepreneur Bobby Banks. "Wild Winter," the opening cut and first single, kicks off with creaking beats, crackling vocals, and a lean bass line, yielding a track taunt with tension and drama.
Check out the video for "Wild Winter," directed by Adele, for which the band expands to a quintet, adding a guitarist and a back-up singer/dancer. "I've been editing film projections and we have a great lighting designer, so it's a bit more of a show," concludes Adele, who is looking forward to touring for the first time in eons.
