Didn't I Give You Hope?

Nas & Darondo.: Hope (Z.A.K. Remix)
[Unsigned, 2007]

A little something extra for your Friday. Following on from the Darondo/Scrabble blend I posted up in April I got sent a copy of a remix by Z.A.K. featuring Didn't I and Nas's Hope. Sitting on it for no apparent reason, I suddenly realised I hadn't actually posted this and, with Nas warming up to unleash his latest opus of the great and the slightly painful, this seemed to the perfect time to feature the tune.

For those not in the know Z.A.K. is the guy who unleashed the superb Lee Fields/Clipse blend back in 2006 which Oliver featured over at SoulSides and he's done it again.

Refusing to get caught up in over complicating the track, what stood out with this blend on repeat listens is the lovely use of the echo effect on the guitar adding a dreamy, blissed out edge which fits perfectly with Nas's reminisces. Great stuff. You can check out Z.A.K.'s other productions on his MySpace page.

I'm quite getting into this 101 uses for Didn't I so if you know of any other remixes or samples of the original out there please send this way.

On a side note,you may have noticed that I am fumbling around with the look of the site at the moment with varying degrees of success so any feedback or suggestions about what you, the reader, would like from the site are always welcome and appreciated. In fact, any comments at all are always appreciated as, as Kevin noted the other day, they seem to have fallen off recently, while our hits remain around the same level, is this down to disinterest in the subjects featured or something else entirely?

We're also interested in bumping up the contributors for the site as posts have been shamefully sparse in recent months. If you would like to have a go or recommend someone please drop me an email and I promise I'll get back to you in decent time this go around.

That's it, have a good weekend.

Even More Nicole Willis - New and Old

OK. Evidently by "tomorrow" I meant "96 hours later," but I wanted to let B's nice Redbone post have some time and I just got this up slower than I anticipated.

As I mentioned in the last Nicole Willis post there is a remix album of Willis's Keep Reachin' Up album with the Soul Investigators coming out soon. I am afraid I don't know if this Natural Self remix of "Feeling Free" is going to make that album, but I really dig it. Actually I've been digging Natural Self's production without reservation for some time now, and he certainly deserves a post of his own soon. Self's remix is in the same vein as the Mr. Scruff Remix from last post: dancefloor oriented with some great added elements (more elegant bassline madness) and keeping the basic outline and vocals.

Feeling Free (Natural Self Remix) - Nicole Willis and The Soul Investigators
from the 12" on Above The Clouds Records (2006)


Promise - The Repercussions
from the 12" on Mo' Wax (1992).

Like a lot of (obsessive) folks the greatness of Keep Reachin' Up has had me Still Diggin' Down into bins looking for other Nicole Willis output. She's had a remarkably long career delivering her soulful vocals in various settings for over two decades now. One part of her history that I've really developed an affinity for is her early to mid-90s work with the NYC-based, soul & hip hop group Repercussions. Up today is their track "Promise" which would sit lovely next to the Natural Self remix if there were club nights that played stuff like this any more. It has to be mentioned that this is the first ever release on the ultra-important Mo' Wax label also, so it is kind of neat (and nerdy) for the completists alone. Lots more information at her website.

Nicole Willis Remixed - Tempting Fate Soon at a store near you

NOTE: We're experimenting today with streaming mp3 instead of the usual downloads at the reasonable request of the good folks at Above The Clouds Records. Please let me know how this goes.

If This Ain't Love (Mr. Scruff Remix) - Nicole Willis & The Soul Investigators


If This Ain't Love (Elizabeth Shepherd Trio Mix) - Nicole Willis & The Soul Investigators


Following the astounding and thorough success of Nicole Willis and the Soul Investigator's brilliant Keep Reachin' Up, Above The Clouds Records is releasing a remix compilation of that album. ATC handles the UK distribution for the NW & TSI, so one can hope that their US label, Light In The Attic, will also be putting this out. However, currently their website appears to have no info on this.

While I am as hungry for Nicole Willis (and of course the amazing Soul Investigators) material as any of their adoring fans, the task of remixing such really superb and well loved tracks will mean a great deal of scrutiny. Of course the remix album is completely unlikely to match the original for cohesion and wall to wall brilliance, but the Mr. Scruff version really gets things started in the right way. A dancefloor version to be sure with big mixable intro and outro for whatever DJs might still be out there. While the Mr. Scruff version pumps up the boogie, jazz combo Elizabeth Shepherd Trio takes her remix into firmly dancey jazz track with great piano vamping.

Both the Scruff and E.Shepherd versions appear on a single drop by Above The Clouds on September 24th, and the full remix album to be released sometime in October. Hopefully the super-excellent Natural Self remix of "Feelin' Free" will also make that album (I haven't seen a track-listing for that yet). More Nicole Willis tomorrow including that Natural Self track.

Hey Hey Hey: Paul Nice is all Bizness.

DWYCK (Paul Nice Remix) - Gang Starr f/ Nice & Smooth
The Bizness (Paul Nice Remix) - De La Soul f/ Common
from the mix cd Lost Product, Vol. 1 (2007).

Paul Nice has been around for a long time digging deep into crates, putting together amazing mixes, and producing tracks that capture the sound of the first golden era of hip hop whether he made it in 1989 or 2006. He was just out here in San Francisco last week and that's reason enough to highlight a couple of tracks off of one of his more recent mixes (this cat is magnificently prolific). Lost Product is a mix of original Nice remixes of various tracks (mostly hip hop but some soul).

First up is a remix of the Gang Starr and Nice & Smooth team up "DWYCK." There must dozens (hundreds?) of DWYCK so another one has to be dynamite to get noticed, and Paul Nice provides. Also it is fun, working the bassline and a vocal snippet from the theme song for Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids. Paul Nice really has a great feel for basslines which is also clear on his remix of "The Bizness" from De La Soul w/ Common. Very jazzy and less bouncey than many of Paul Nice's tracks, but still a great fit for the well-known lyrics.

Note, this mix is called Lost Product, Vol. 1, which I really hope means that Paul's got stacks of these redo's cluttering his hard-drive and we'll be graced with them soon.