jacques lu cont: can do no wrong....defend/refute

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I'm not convinced by the Killers mix, I think it's still too much of a sow's ear for me. no one can deny JLC's er ambition in taking this shit on though.

The Lex (The Lex), Wednesday, 16 February 2005 20:04 (nineteen years ago) link

He's one of the producers of the new New Order album AND he's going to be remixing them as well.

Seez, Wednesday, 16 February 2005 20:10 (nineteen years ago) link

was he Paper Faces?

Alienus Quam Reproba (blueski), Wednesday, 16 February 2005 20:12 (nineteen years ago) link

The recent ones are not as good as the original wave of them, for me, not to be all things were better way back in erm...2002.

my top 10 jacques remixes, I hope I don't forget any!

1. silver screen shower scene
2. hollywood
3. the faint
4. zoot woman-gem (this one is AMAZING in a club, his most banging record ever I reckon)
5. zoot woman-grey day
6. zoot woman-living in a magazine
7. starsailor
8. gwen stefani
9. lrd-sometimes (lrd remix)
10. cassius-my feeling for you (lrd remix)

did I forget any? I think that's pretty comprehensive, a really mixed bag of styles too!


x-post yeah he's Paper Faces too!

Ronan (Ronan), Wednesday, 16 February 2005 20:15 (nineteen years ago) link

the paper faces stuff tends to be kind of warm tech house. he's remixed like 3 scissor sisters tracks, the "Laura" one is kind of cool, as is the "Comfortably Numb" one.

Ronan (Ronan), Wednesday, 16 February 2005 20:16 (nineteen years ago) link

Who could forget his triumphant remix of Placebo's 'Pure Morning'???

(actually, I could. Again with the too much sow's ear thing)

Alba (Alba), Wednesday, 16 February 2005 20:31 (nineteen years ago) link

wait ppl don't like the remix of The Music? I thought shit was killer.

djdee2005 (djdee2005), Tuesday, 22 February 2005 01:49 (nineteen years ago) link

wasn't his remix of bis' "eurodisco" pretty swish?

etc, Tuesday, 22 February 2005 07:47 (nineteen years ago) link

remix for LHOOQ's Losing Hand is a killer, too

bolloxx, Tuesday, 22 February 2005 08:58 (nineteen years ago) link

'Losing Hand'!

Mixes for Placebo and Mekon a bit phoned in, but that's all I got so far.

Paper Faces is collaborative, at least according to an mp3 I got - Stuart + 1 Zoot Woman.

Deerninja B4rim4, Plus-Tech Whizz Kid (Barima), Tuesday, 22 February 2005 10:21 (nineteen years ago) link

why all the love for that ce'cile track?
it was the worst thing she's ever featured on - and if you can make her sound dull, you really *are* doing something wrong.
only the kid 606 and ward 21 track on that whole "wall of sound go missionary: trendy london label brings poor, dumb jamaicans, into the 21st century" comp actually worked.

stelfox, Tuesday, 22 February 2005 10:46 (nineteen years ago) link

can you show us the scientific research on that one

Ronan (Ronan), Tuesday, 22 February 2005 10:56 (nineteen years ago) link

Dave Wall of Sound are hardly trendy! I haven't even heard the comp but I suspect you're characterising it unfairly. And I agreed with you on the whole real dancehall/fake dancehall thing.

Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Tuesday, 22 February 2005 11:01 (nineteen years ago) link

it's not as though the artists were forced to work in the Wall of Sound sweatshop for a black crust of bread. presumably they were into the idea.

Ronan (Ronan), Tuesday, 22 February 2005 11:01 (nineteen years ago) link

The love here is seriously tempting me to do a TS/POX: Cornelius as a remixer vs every other remixer.

Deerninja B4rim4, Plus-Tech Whizz Kid (Barima), Tuesday, 22 February 2005 11:03 (nineteen years ago) link

no it's not a trendy label, but they are too cool for school as people and have the attitudes to match.
the vast majority of people did that comp for easy money - and so would i for god's sake.
dancehall artists work every rhythm going, plenty of them ones that they're not feeling too much, so why should that project be any different?
i don't think that x artist having featured necessarily means that they were into it or is an implicit statment of approval, just that it was there to do.
The whole thing was totally clueless - Gee Jam studios is considered a joke in JA and when the likes of Sizzla and Bounty Killer were approached to be, they laughed the idea out of town.
And, Ronan, I don't need to show empirical scientific data to say whether or not a track works or not - I just know.
And this isn't a real/fake dancehallissue, either. Gentleman, a white German, has made on of my fave reggae record this year, voiced on a rhythm made in Cologne (Superior on Pow Pow Productions' Superior Rhythm), Kardinal Offishal, a Canadian, did a great verion of Black Chiney's Kopa rhythm and the mash-up of Spragga Benz over the FWD rhythm is great - it's more an issue of music being crap or not.

stelfox, Tuesday, 22 February 2005 11:19 (nineteen years ago) link

you're the one who said "wall of sound go missionary: trendy london label brings poor, dumb jamaicans, into the 21st century" comp actually worked.

didn't seem to be simply an issue of whether you liked the music or not way back 10 minutes ago.

Ronan (Ronan), Tuesday, 22 February 2005 11:21 (nineteen years ago) link

also wall of sound as "trendy label" is kind of a stretch

Ronan (Ronan), Tuesday, 22 February 2005 11:22 (nineteen years ago) link

they are london media trendies, the lot of them, and i don't take that back.
and it is an issue of "understanding" music, knowing what to do with it and not fucking it up, this making a good and exciting vocalist totally snoozesome!
so, yes, lu cont can do some wrong - especially getting involved with this ill-advised project (which absolutely tanked, btw).
doesn't mean he's not perfectly good when he works within the limited parameters of what he can do.
the kid 606 on worked because he at least has some affinity with the music he was drawing from.
this is totally about music being good or not, but there's always more to this than just the music itself.

stelfox, Tuesday, 22 February 2005 11:37 (nineteen years ago) link

This is a bit like watching two Rottweilers circling one another and wondering which one is going to tear in first.

Matt DC (Matt DC), Tuesday, 22 February 2005 11:41 (nineteen years ago) link

that's nonsense. i'm totally calm and happy in the knowledge that i'm right.

stelfox, Tuesday, 22 February 2005 11:43 (nineteen years ago) link

and even if i wasn't (which i am) it's hardly anything to fall out about.

stelfox, Tuesday, 22 February 2005 11:44 (nineteen years ago) link

I know, I was just being flippant.

Matt DC (Matt DC), Tuesday, 22 February 2005 11:47 (nineteen years ago) link

ffs Matt.

Wall of Sound is surely an ailing untrendy label by now, I think the project was quite light-hearted and never really claiming to be hardcore dancehall, it is called "Two Culture Clash" and to be honest I think the result is just a quirky and slightly odd mash up of some fairly incongruous sounds.

I don't rate the record very highly, alot of it was just boring for me. But I did enjoy one of the Jacques tracks and I thought the Jon Carter one was ok too, to be honest. The Jacques one with the male vocalist fits the quirkiness I mentioned above, it sounded like one of his own productions really.

I don't see the record as greatly cynical or sinister though, most of it sounds like a fairly off the cuff partyish project. I didn't see it reviewed as "real dancehall" either but if it was I can understand how that'd be annoying.

Ronan (Ronan), Tuesday, 22 February 2005 11:51 (nineteen years ago) link

I mean, you say the dancehall artists did it for the cash and cos it was there, I think the same is probably true of most of the Wall of Sound artists.

Ronan (Ronan), Tuesday, 22 February 2005 11:52 (nineteen years ago) link

I liked the song ok, its not the best thing i've heard ce'cile do by any stretch but i thought it was relatively interesting.

Much more fascinating, however, is this: baby got book

djdee2005 (djdee2005), Tuesday, 22 February 2005 11:58 (nineteen years ago) link

well, not so off-the-cuff when you consider that they thought it was so important that they should make a film about it, launched it at the jamaican consulate in london and said things like this:

"The ideals and vision of this project is to assimilate leading artists from both genres into a face-to-face environment and create an album that brings experimentalism and accessibility, the world famous and the underground together, ‘live’ in Jamaica. This is a record that has to be made, for musical history’s sake."

now "assimilate" has a pretty icky ring to it in this case. anyway, we're way off-topic here and for the record, i have enjoyed a few things lu cont has done, just not this stuff.

stelfox, Tuesday, 22 February 2005 12:17 (nineteen years ago) link

So I went to go see Gabriel & Dresden last night and they played at least 4 JLC tracks: the Juliet remix, the dub version of "Bleed From Within", "Living In A Magazine", and the Mr. Brightside remix.

To say that the Mr. Brightside remix annihilated everyone there would be a gross understatement. I was absolutely not the only person jumping and singing like a jackass. I was actually in line to go to the bathroom but BOLTED to the dancefloor when I heard that synth intro.

I am very much a fan of that mix now.

James.Cobo (jamescobo), Sunday, 6 March 2005 23:10 (nineteen years ago) link

Arthur last night played the Gwen Stefani remix at Akbar and the crowd went wild, as they say. Mr. LeCont is one cool dude.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 6 March 2005 23:12 (nineteen years ago) link

soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo good.

Hari A$hur$t (Toaster), Sunday, 6 March 2005 23:26 (nineteen years ago) link

i heard he shits solid gold remixes and Mylo scours the sewer for them.

Hari A$hur$t (Toaster), Sunday, 6 March 2005 23:27 (nineteen years ago) link

Am I weird that I like the original Mr. Brightside more than the remix? Normally I prefer dance remixes to original indie rock blahs but in this case the only thing JLC seems to tell me is "i could have done so much more"

djdee (djdee2005), Monday, 7 March 2005 01:29 (nineteen years ago) link

I can actually buy that; I hate the Killers with a passion, but they really knocked it out of the park with that one. I just kinda wish there were, y'know, more of it. Hence my lurve for the JLC mix, which isn't necessarily better to dance to but is certainly Bigger and Longer.

James.Cobo (jamescobo), Monday, 7 March 2005 02:11 (nineteen years ago) link

that Juliete track is bloody fantastic

coco, Monday, 7 March 2005 11:07 (nineteen years ago) link

there are two lucont brightside mixes, right? a lucont dub and a thin white duke mix or something?

jermaine (jnoble), Monday, 7 March 2005 11:54 (nineteen years ago) link

There is a dub, a vocal edit, and a full length vocal mix

Michael F Gill (Michael F Gill), Monday, 7 March 2005 14:37 (nineteen years ago) link

oh which version is which? I might have the vocal edit.

djdee (djdee2005), Monday, 7 March 2005 15:49 (nineteen years ago) link

The dub version doesn't begin with the keyboard riff

Michael F Gill (Michael F Gill), Monday, 7 March 2005 16:53 (nineteen years ago) link

the only jlc remixes I haven't really been taken with are the aloud and starsailor ones. atm i'd probably rank the killers' one among his top 5.

Mil (Mil), Sunday, 13 March 2005 22:22 (nineteen years ago) link

The Juliet track actually is amazing. I had a weird gut feeling leaving the house to go and DJ on Thursday, that it might be worth bringing, so burned it onto CD before I left. Sure enough I played it and it worked really well.

Ronan (Ronan), Sunday, 13 March 2005 22:43 (nineteen years ago) link

I said it was fantastic to you on AIM and you were all like 'meh'.

Alba (Alba), Monday, 14 March 2005 00:37 (nineteen years ago) link

I've had a JLC marathon over the past few weeks. My conclusion is that there are still a few remixers/remixes I'll take over him and moreover, I don't find his tracks (mainly the mixes) very home listening-friendly, unlike, say, Rex or Ewan or Shep (and by this, I also mean that I wasn't inspired to dance around my living room or strut down the street). Most of the LRD stuff also left me cold, either through ageing issues or either being cheesy or ponderous (and I've tried over the years to like anything LRD related besides 'Hey You'). The ponderous issue today also applies somewhat to the Paper Faces mixes.

So, my POV would be:

1. 'It's My Life'
2. 'Avalon'
3. 'What You Waiting For?'
4. 'Hey You (What's That Sound?)'
5. 'Four To The Floor'

I'm interested in hearing the Killers mix, and some of the others have their moments. I'd like to hear him in a 4-min pop song environment (outside Zoot Woman anyway). Some good rights and some dull wrongs, but I'm always open to change.

BARMS, Monday, 14 March 2005 10:18 (nineteen years ago) link

I like the "It's My Life" mix but it strikes me as perhaps the most straightforwardly, er, dancey of JLC's recent mixes, the song pretty much sacrificed to the spacey electro-prog drift.

I've come to the conclusion that maybe "Four To The Floor" is his most all-round, um, successful mix, which is odd because at the time of the chart success of the other similar electro remix over here I tried to convince myself I was unfazed by it. Listening back to it now (partially helped by hearing the crappy original), it just seems like such an amazing balance of groove and tears and blustering and just a huge sense of cosmic loneliness.

Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Monday, 14 March 2005 12:04 (nineteen years ago) link

I like the "It's My Life" mix but it strikes me as perhaps the most straightforwardly, er, dancey of JLC's recent mixes, the song pretty much sacrificed to the spacey electro-prog drift.

I feel that way about the 'Breathe On Me' mix - definitely prefer the original there (possibly lack of an extended outro aside). Also, I like my prog sweetened to taste.

BARMS, Monday, 14 March 2005 12:35 (nineteen years ago) link

I haven't heard the "Breathe On Me" mix (I've heard James Holden's mix of it though - I could imagine them being a bit similar actually!). Hard to top the original i'd reckon.

Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Monday, 14 March 2005 12:44 (nineteen years ago) link

JCL's is a lot more disco than Holden's.

Alba (Alba), Monday, 14 March 2005 13:02 (nineteen years ago) link

I know I was meh about the Juliet tune before. I meant to include that or imply it in my post above!

I think all the aliases have very very strong moments of success, Paper Faces mix of "Living In A Magazine", and "Gem" are really amazing.

The Felix mix is far and away my favourite of all the remixes and I think the best, but his style has changed since then and maybe I'm inclined to agree with Tim as regards recent stuff/Starsailor.

It is a very persistent track, the Starsailor one, doesn't seem to lose its lustre.

Ronan (Ronan), Monday, 14 March 2005 18:22 (nineteen years ago) link

someone needs to put all of his mixes in a folder and YSI it.


I've only heard "Just Let Go," "Breathe On Me," "Mr. Brightside" and that Bloc Party remix. The first two are brill.

The Brainwasher (Twilight), Monday, 14 March 2005 19:23 (nineteen years ago) link

I've also heard that Starsailor mix. Good stuff.

The Brainwasher (Twilight), Monday, 14 March 2005 19:26 (nineteen years ago) link

Blow: A Jacques Lu Cont Mix

JoB (JoB), Monday, 14 March 2005 19:41 (nineteen years ago) link


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