#songbender part 33 – Sneaker Pimps – Spin Spin Sugar (Armand Van Helden’s Dark Garage mix)
well hello there ladies and gentlemen, we are back! no, again, not going to mention the time in between these posts, so don’t remind me.
in today’s episode the main theme is, that there are things you know, things you THINK you know, and there’s the actual truth, which doesn’t really line up with anything before. and in this case, well, fffkkk, TIL, as they say. (TIL = Today I Learned, for those not speaking internet).
So there’s this song, had it forever, one of my favorites since the end of the 90s, and up to like 15 minutes ago, I was completely convinced that this was a Sneaker Pimps song, remixed by Orbital, this is how i bought… er… let’s go with the word OBTAINED it back many many years ago and was completely under the impression that the Hartnoll brothers once again did something that actually kicks an indefinite amount of ass.
Now, before we go into anything, take a listen to the original one.
really.
I must confess, I never did that before myself, either, up to the aforementioned 15 minutes ago, don’t know why, just never occurred to me. And I have to be honest: I like the original one too!!! Gives me Garbage vibes, which is an absolutely superb thing, because I just love those guys, and Shirley Manson is someone I would hold the door open to, if you catch the drift that is coming through that said door.
Now, with that out of the way, it turns out I’m not alone with my mis-knowledge of things, as there are others like me who OBTAINED this thinking that this was an Orbital remix. And the funny thing is, it actually could be, it has all the traits, all the small things (don’t blink, hahaaaha), but it turns out it is actually an Armand Van Helden mix.
Now, as the British say, Blimey, Nancy, fuck me sideways, I never woulda thought! But it’s true.
So the thing that most people, and the most from those most people, will back off from this track in the first 2 minutes (this is from experience, I tried showing this to some people and the reaction was almost always the same), as there is “too much pounding for my taste”, they would say. And yeah, I can see that. (also hear it, but I digress). So, you know, the answer to that most of the time is, that with house, and trance and all those genres aimed at the dancefloor, you need to give space to the DJ to actually mix in the next track. It happens with DnB also, countless examples for that there too, but it is really for practical reasons most of the time, just to have ample time and space to introduce the next one. And the same is true for the ending, it drags on waaaay longer than usual, and exactly for the same reason.
So dear reader, I would encourage you to grab a zoo near you and bear with me, and please go until at least 3 minutes into the song. Because when the bassline kicks in, and the whole thing suddenly starts to have a groove, noooow we’re talkin’! and the same was true for everybody in my experience also. “oh wow, now it’s like a different track!” yes, sherlock, you are so right. but anyway, this is not a complicated song. not by any means. only a few samples here and there, but those are chosen MASTERFULLY, they do exactly what they need to do, and of course, the singing, that takes the cake. It is just perfect.
and the funny thing is, the people who usually listen to metal and rock and whatever, usually liked it MORE than the electro fans (well strictly after the mentioned bassline-comes-in part, but still – i think this is telling).
let’s check in on the music theory aspect: not much to say, but it has a very distinct melody, which is something like a natural minor, and in this context it is not actually expected, so the “caallll oooon meee” line with those nice half-tones, it is just perrrrfect. It’s almost like they use both minor scales to their liking, as the bassline does not determine either, and that flute-like thing does not commit that much either, so they are free to go, and they take use of this as much as they can. Brilliant.
This whole song is what they call over there a “banger”, and i completely and utterly agree. This is what is so hard to achieve, it doesn’t happen by accident. And if you check the original once again, it’s not THAT different, right? I mean, it’s only that it has this pulsating asskicking kickdrum all over, with those delayed-reverbed whateverthehellthat sound is, and that’s about it!
and it WORKS.
so let’s get to the actual track
the one i’m linking is a fan-made video, there is no official one, other than for the original one, but that’s already linked above, so check it out. I think this is better than just looking at an album cover, but you can find all kinds of versions on YT, maybe some are even better quality, but I decided this is good enough. For you, definitely. Haaa haaa haa.
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see you next time!