Britney Spears

[teknorich]

James Holden remixing Britney Spears:

http://www.uneasysilence.com/index.php?p=2177

Opinions please...

[teknorich]

(Am more interested in what you think of the concept than the track itself.)

[TechMouse]

Just downloading for a listen.

Suprised he's got away with releasing these.

A guy I (indirectly) know, who is a very talented producer, got comissioned to write a Britney track for one of her previous albums. It never made it to the album in the end, but it was actually pretty good - and made me think quite a lot about what goes into making pop tracks.

Anyway, my point is, he wasn't allowed to give copies to anyone. Her record company had total control of all rights and he said he was probably playing with fire even letting us listen to it.

So, I'm suprised Holden is making them available for download. Still, kudos...

[Udy]

It's clear that a hell of a lot goes into making pop tracks these days.
Obviously some can break through and sell just on their persona (westlife etc.) but Britney, Madonna, Robbie and all that need great producers to make their tracks fat too.
True it's super shiny, but some of the backing tracks up nice and loud really do rock.

[Buttman]

Britney Spears - Toxic (Grovskopa Remix) kicks ass ;)

[Jay Pace]

Tim Exile's live version of Toxic is outstanding.

[Francisco Scaramanga]

This might be heresy - but I actually enjoy the original version of toxic, in fact I reckon its on the pop masterpiece sort of level! And I've heard various remixes played at proper bangin underground nights, both techno and drum and bass, it felt a bit strange to be having it large to britney, but everyone kept dancing...

On the subject of pop and dance mergers, I had a listen to Madonnas new one just to see what its like, and I reckon Jacques Le Cont (spelling???) did a pretty good job, then Madge murdered it with lame lyrics and crap ideas throughout. Same old Madonna I guess - crap but fit.

[Udy]

Toxic is definitely a pop masterpiece as an original and has tons of good mixes too.
On a similar tip and written by the same 80s pop star (Carly Simon) is Sweet Dreams My LA Ex by Rachel Stevens, another great one.

Not sure about Madonna being fit though, mutton n all that.

[Francisco Scaramanga]

Toxic is definitely a pop masterpiece as an original and has tons of good mixes too.
On a similar tip and written by the same 80s pop star (Carly Simon) is Sweet Dreams My LA Ex by Rachel Stevens, another great one.

Not sure about Madonna being fit though, mutton n all that.

So Toxic and Sweet Dreams My LA Ex were written by Carly Simon? I never had a clue, I always thought her high point was you're so vain. But yeah, that Rachel Stevens version is another good example of pop music that someone actually made an effort on.

[Dustin Zahn]

Back on subject...

I kind of feel like the Holden remixes kinda hold the true essensce/style of traditional techno. If techno to purists is taking something like a sample from pop music and turning it into a futuristic piece I think Holden's really hit it on the head with these tracks. Even if one thinks the tracks are more trendy cannon fodder, the whole idea behind getting a Britney Spears acapella and totally twisting the **** out of it so much that the label rejects it is very appealing. I personally really enjoy the dub version of these remixes a lot and have played it out for a good year now. From a production standpoint I think both remixes are pretty brilliant. Holden can get a bit too trancey for my tastes at times, but as a producer he is a true innovator in my eyes.

[rotten]

i heard a "toxic" remake by the society suckers from berlin. awesome mash up breakcore!

[Stella Boy]

Britney Spears - Toxic (Grovskopa Remix) kicks ass ;)

sounds interesting, do you have a link please ?

[Buttman]

Nope.

[Stella Boy]

nay mind, don't like your work anyway :razz:

[davethedrummer]

britney?????
a thread
on here
really?
why?

[Udy]

any excuse to stroke my chin really ;)

[teknorich]

Dave, I think you got the same idea as me. Britney Spears just don´t belong in techno. I was very surprised to see Holden agreeing to remix her, and personally I´m not happy with it. The label didn´t refuse the remix because it was too twisted (Sorry Dustin) they just decided not to release this track at all, not Britney´s version and none of the remixes either.

Holden did the remix as a serious track, and that scares me. Will this lead to a whole bunch of pop star "techno" remixes? Is this going to be the death of minimal in the same way that "toytown" tunes killed off old skool happy hardcore (Charly, Sesame´s Treet, Trumpton etc)?

Or is it just a one off, made for money, label whoring effort from an otherwise good producer?

Thoughts and opinions please!!

[teknorich]

(Next up - DAVE the Drummer remix of Destiny´s Child! Somehow I doubt that...)

[Jay Pace]

Sorry - but what would be wrong with pop star techno mixes?
Providing that they produce good records (which seems unlikely) what would be the problem?

Techno doesn't need to be cossetted and kept "underground" to survive.

If Britney's label want a schranz mix, thats their perogative :razz:

[Udy]

Yeah i've got more things to worry about than whether some people are making some music they want to make.