THEMES FROM GREAT CITIES: John Foxx

Wednesday, 14 October 2020

John Foxx - Underpass [Remixes]

Pssst!! Hey, yeah you. Have you heard these three remixes of the John Foxx classic debut single Underpass? No!!? Where the hell have you been hiding for the past ten years? In an underpass?

What we have here first are the Sinister Subway remixes by Mark Reeder from 2010 which were released as 320 MP3 downloads, each of them shorter (and better) versions of the ten minute ultra-extended Dark Long & Sinister Mix. There’s an added thud to this remix with Reeder playing additional bass guitar, yet Reeder keeps the original 30 years of synth and drum-machine dust that made Underpass such a spectacular debut following John Foxx’s departure from Ultravox. These remixes are designed to be played a bit loudly, so be prepared to fend off your neighbours when they complain about their house shaking.

By 2013 it was time for two more remixes of Underpass, this time released on 12” vinyl for Record Store Day. Post Punk Monk posted a fine review of the double A side single, which I have taken a large machete to…

First up were Dave Clarke & Mr. Jones. They have got the 5:57 “_unsubscribe_remake mix” on the A Side. The mix is comparable to the Mark Reeder version from 2010, in that it sounds like many of the original stems were used in its construction. If not, then they really went out of their way to emulate the original patches! The huge difference being that this mix has been flanged to within an inch of its life! The first half is close to being the seven inch mix we all know and love but the EQ has the resulting track sounding as brittle, metallic, and sharp is it has ever been. At the track’s midpoint, the cut almost goes in dub as the new bass synth becomes more prominent in the mix for the vamping that extends the cut to half of its length. By the time is wrapping up, the build-up has the bass dominant in the mix while the rhythm is dubbed out. It’s a reverent mix that doesn’t take many chances. It seems more concerned with extending the vibe for a longer running time; basically…an old school extended remix.

I can’t say the same for the flip AA Side “Oh The Gilt mix” by John Tatlock and John Doran who founded/edits ace website The Quietus. As the familiar aerosol banks of synths descend over the horizon, their resolve is fragmented into sequenced eighth notes while clanks and hisses make of the intro a close second cousin to that of Visage’s “The Anvil.” Then the new bass line enters the mix as a near-relative of the one from Gary Numan’s “It Must Have Been Years” from “Replicas,” with the last note dropped. The slow build-up coalesces once Foxx lets loose with the first “click/click/drone” as the track clicks into synch. The rhythm boxes of the original have been replaced with sampled drum loops. The one thing that remained largely untouched, were Foxx’s vocals. This was a smart move since almost everything of the original has been replaced whole cloth or abandoned entirely.

The first chorus gets dubbed out until the 2:00 mark, when hints of acid bass arrive to provide counterpoint to new, foreboding chord sequences and countermelodies brought to the mix. Later, tubular bells enter the track as a slow build-up begins at the 2:57 mark until the next verse begins. By this point, the track can be said to be in its second movement as the extended coda becomes a series of build-ups of choral vamps and ascending chords that are built slowly over the course of a minute or more. Near the 6:00 mark, a false fade occurs and stick percussion begins the final build-up before the climactic build to the cold ending on a perfectly welcome “click/click” at the 8:45 mark.

The “Oh The Gilt” remix takes the track far from its origins without boring, offending, or ever descending into dance porn. It’s strong work and at the end of the day, it’s a fascinating alternate vision of a song that in its original form bristles with all of the power and menace that an inspired original vision can bring to the world. The new mix tops off the energy and increases the urgency of the track at the cost of the baleful, malevolent vibe of the original. It’s intriguing and worthy for a fan like me. I’m still pinching myself that the current environment is producing remixes that I actually enjoy for the first time in a quarter century! If you like good daaaaance music, it hits the marks admirably, but at the end of the day had it been the original mix, maybe no one would be remixing it 33 years later.