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Eddy Says
Eddy Says: Looking back at 2011, and wishing there was a back up
By Eddy Temple-Morris | Published on Tuesday 29 November 2011
December begins this week, which means CMU will be running its end of year features in the run up to Christmas and Eddy will be taking a break until the new year. Traditionally, this is where Eddy reveals his favourite producers, tracks and remixes of the year, but technical problems have delayed that post – I suspect Eddy’s new year’s resolution is to back up his digital music collection at every opportunity! But to get things started, he has decided on his favourite single and album of 2011 (almost), plus he has some new music from Losers for you to listen to.
This is the last Eddy Says of 2011 and, under normal circumstances, would be a retrospective look back at the musical highlights of the year, and a throw forward to my traditional Bombs Of The Year show on Xfm where a best single, best album, best remixer etc would be decided by a democratic vote involving each and every producer and presenter involved in the making of The Remix. OK, that’s just me, but still, that should be a reason enough for a ripple of excitement, a frissante of expectation.
But unfortunately, on Friday night, after the show, my hard drive decided to throw its arms aloft and say “Fuck this! I’ve had enough of being deluged every day with an avalanche of massive zip files full of remixes, of enormous wav files when just a SoundCloud stream would do the job fine”. Then it fell backwards with its eyes open and held its legs stiffly in the air.
I am now full of self-loathing, having been, for several months, ignoring the voice in my head telling me to back up. Plus now I’ve got to go out and buy a new hard drive. Though, on the up side, while I’m out I’ll also get to pick up my late 70s Musicman Bass, that’s been cleaned and re-set-up for Losers’ first London show with our new live line-up.
We’re showcasing tracks from our almost finished new album ‘So We Shall Never Part’ on Wednesday night, supporting Pure Reason Revolution at Heaven. I’m really stoked to be unveiling new songs with such talented musos alongside me. My Losers production partner Tom, of course, but now augmented by Paul Mullen from YourCodeNameIs:Milo and Young Legionnaire on guitar and vocals, plus Mark Heron from Oceansize and Kong on drums. We’re even drafting in a keyboard player for this one, to cope with new songs like this:
This is just a demo version Tom has sent to the Cooper Temple Clause massive, and the finished version has been touched by the phenomenal hand of Jem Godfrey. But while this is an untouched, unmixed and unmastered version, it gives you an idea of where we’re at with this album. Much darker, moodier, and much more emotional.
But back to business, and the normal angle of this Yuletide piece. The premature meltdown of my 500GB hard drive means I won’t be able to go through the year’s music and do a full retrospective justice, so I’ll save that for the first one of 2012. But I will share with you where I’m at with album and single of the year. As I said to Joe and Dan from Nero last week, when we recorded their long overdue full album playback, Xfm Remix Single Of The Year is a no brainer. For me it has to be ‘Me And You’ by Nero, with ‘Blind Faith’ by Chase And Status a close second.
Historically, that Nero single was a musical line in the sand. The first ever dubstep single A-listed by Xfm. I still remember the smiles of people on the dancefloor at Proud Galleries when I was playing that tune a year ago, in the run up to Christmas. The immediate feedback from a dancefloor is the fastest, most honest way to gauge reaction to a record, and the unbridled joy I felt, emanating from almost everybody in that club, was remarkable.
The fact that it was almost a coin toss between Chase And Status and Nero for single of the year, brings me to album of the year, and my conundrum. I sort of knew, in January, when ‘Me And You’ came out, that nothing would beat it for track of the year, in the same way that I knew in August a couple of years back that Calvin Harris’ album would be unbeatable. But the album of the year this time is so close, I’m almost considering a coin toss. In an echo of the battle for single of 2011, it’s down to one family: Chase And Status and their first born son Nero.
I still haven’t decided, although I am hedging towards Chase And Status’ ‘No More Idols’ because of its broader vision. I think it’s an album that’ll be looked back on in ten years time as a body of work that embodied everything that’s great about British dance music right now. A record that stood aloft in the winds of change, and stood FOR that change.
Either way, that and Nero’s ‘Welcome Reality’ are two monumental records that will rank right up there with some of the greatest in your collection. If you haven’t heard Nero’s album yet then wait until 16 Dec, when you’ll hear each track played out on the radio with the two lovely and superbly talented chaps who wrote and produced it in the studio with me.
That, by the way, is just the first festive treat we have for you on The Remix this year. Yes, my Christmas present to you all is as double barrelled as my name, and my album of the year dilemma for that matter. You’ll get the Nero show one week, then, the week after, the whole show, all four hours, will be co-presented by someone I’ve been trying to get on the show for YEARS, the deepest, most musically knowledgeable DJ I’ve ever met: Paul ‘El Hornet’ Harding of Pendulum. His depth of knowledge is astonishing, and that will surely be reflected in the four hour journey we’re about to take.
That show will be available right through the Christmas holidays on www.xfm.co.uk and will be fatter than your stomach come Boxing Day. So until next year, take care of each other. Eat well, drink well and do whatever you can to increase the love in your life. It’s been a pleasure talking to you, thank you for listening.
With much love and good fortune to every single one of you.
X eddy
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