Various Artists - Heavenly Remixes Volume 7 (2LP)

What’s a remix for? It wasn’t too long ago that remixes were a vital part of a track’s journey from studio to record shop. Back in the ’90s, the shelves of megastores and specialists groaned under the weight of multiple CD singles and 12”s, each bursting with alternate takes from that week’s hip production teams.  Back then, a well-chosen remix opened an artist's music up into another world. It showed that they were hip to different music scenes, worlds outside their own. Major labels would have remix budgets for each single off an album.

Rock’n’roll bands could appear visionary through myriad alternate versions; pop artists could sneak themselves onto cutting edge dancefloors via the right DJ boxes. In some cases, the perfect remix would spark a complete creative overhaul and a phoenix-like rebirth (I’m sure there’s an alternate universe somewhere where Primal Scream fizzled out and gave up after ever-diminishing returns for their second album). 

The digital revolution changed all that though. From paid downloads on your iPod to streaming on whatever piece of kit you’ve got to hand, the whole nature of how we consume music changed. And with that, so did the way many labels thought about remixes. If they were no longer a unique selling point on an extra format, then what were they for?

Why shell out for something that’s only going to end up being given away for free online? Suddenly, that rock’n’roll band is back to peddling the usual meat and potatoes and the upcoming pop artist is no longer on the guest list.  Heavenly have always seen immense value in the remix, a value way beyond what it might bring commercially.  Since their first release in 1990 (where Andrew Weatherall overhauled a one-off single by club kids Sly and Lovechild) Heavenly remixes have been carefully curated and treated as a key part of the A&R process. It’s an opportunity to view an artist through a different prism, to play out a musical ‘what if’ scenario. Why wouldn’t you want to do that? It’s the kind of exploration that’s happened consistently through the thirty plus years the label has released music.

1. DAVID HOLMES & RAVEN VIOLET – It’s Over If We Run Out Of Love (Hardway Bros Live At The SSL Dub) 

2. UNLOVED – Mother’s Been A Bad Girl (Horse Meat Disco remix) 

3. PIP BLOM – Keep It Together (Ludwig A.F. Under Pressure Mix) 

4. CONFIDENCE MAN – Holiday (Erol Alkan OOO Remix) 

5. TOY – You Won’t Be The Same (Dan Carey Dub)

6. AUDIOBOOKS – The Doll (Bruise Remix) 

7. THE ORIELLES – The Room (Shy One Remix) 

8. EYES OF OTHERS – Once Twice Thrice (The Orielles Remix) 

9. FEVER THE GHOST – Source (Leo Zero Dub) %

10. WORKING MEN’S CLUB – The Last One (Foregmasters Remix)