A sublime selection of dancefloor beats and downtempo dubs from around the globe, Mixes + Mavericks features seven remixes by Pitch Black, two live tracks that couldn’t be more different in nature or tempo, one seriously unorthodox situation (an unauthorised remix of a remix) and a track in between states, all highlighting the breadth of the duo’s sonic palette.
Whereas their previous Rarities + Remixes collection was predominantly rooted in New Zealand, Mixes + Mavericks is undoubtedly a more international affair, with all the remixed artists hailing from the northern hemisphere. Many of the connections are the result of the duo’s touring and festival appearances around the globe: they first met Gaudi at a gig in Japan, Animat and Nick Woolfson (Sounds from the Ground) at The Big Chill festival in the UK, while downtemple duo Desert Dwellers were encountered in the Californian underground.
Other connections were more straightforward: Brighton-based Ink Project (run by Kiwi Jez Lloyd) approached them to remix “The End” and Mexico’s Sudden Reverb was introduced by label-mates Deep Fried Dub. Meanwhile Mike bumped into Radioactive Man’s Keith Tenniswood (of Two Lone Swordsmen fame) while he was getting a 7” record cut.
Uber-producer/Killing Joke bass player Youth features in two very different ways. First up is Pitch Black’s pulsating dub mix of his collaboration with Italian producer Gaudi, from their Astronaut Alchemists album. Then there is his unsolicited remix of epsilon-blue’s 1999 remix of Speech, over which he added bass, beats and blessings. This mash-up lurked for years in the archive under the title of Helmsdub, but only as a corrupted mp3 file. Thankfully a little detective work discovered that, much to everyone’s surprise, it had been released as Speechless (Big Circle Flat Pain Remix) on a 2004 CD compilation. A copy was tracked down, the tune was carefully re-mastered and then correctly named.
Mixes + Mavericks also features two very different live offerings: Notting Pill is a dose of atmospheric moodiness from a rare ambient set at Notting Hill Arts Club in London, held to publicise the upcoming showcase of New Zealand music at Fabric in 2003. The banging G202, meanwhile, was captured by Andre Upston at Rippon Festival in Wanaka, NZ at the turn of the millennium, and later broadcast on Radio New Zealand. It was a track that, despite being a staple of the live show for many years, was never finished, and following software updates and data dumps, the only version that exists is this live recording.
It's a Future Dub is a similarly embryonic track – eventually it became It’s the Future Knocking, from the Filtered Senses album, but here it’s a fascinating hybrid caught midway between creation and completion. Many of the elements of its future self are present, but there is a whole lot more going on, making this a fascinating signpost on a possible road-not-taken.
Beautifully accompanied by Tim Prebble's Cyanotype images, Mixes + Mavericks is a showcase of Pitch Black’s sonic diversity as remixers and maintains the trademark production aesthetic that has won them thousands of fans and filled dancefloors around the globe.
released March 18, 2022
In loving memory of Mikey Ray and Michael Harding
Pitch Black - It's a Future Dub
Written & produced by Pitch Black
Recorded in The Dub Loft, London in 2016
Published by Native Tongue Music Publishing
Youth & Gaudi - The Gods Must Be Crazy (Pitch Black's Hubristic Prayerformance Mix)
Written & produced by Youth & Gaudi
Remix produced by Pitch Black
Published by Painted Word Music
Kindly licensed from Liquid Sound Design
gaudimusic.com
Ink Project feat. Fifi Rong - The End (Pitch Black's This Is the End of Suffering Remix)
Written and produced by Jez Lloyd and Fifi Rong
Remix produced by Pitch Black
Published by Blind Colour/BMG
Kindly licensed from Blind Colour
blindcolourmusic.tumblr.com
Pitch Black - Speech (Youth's Re-rub of epsilon-blue's Speechless Remix)
Written and produced by Pitch Black
Remixed by epsilon-blue and Youth
Published by Native Tongue Music Publishing
Nick Woolfson - Silver with a Cloud Lining (Pitch Black's Johnny Open The Door Remix)
Written and produced by Nick Woolfson
Remix produced by Pitch Black
Published by Nettwerk Songs Publishing (UK) Ltd
Kindly licensed from Section Records
Desert Dwellers - Praise Her, the Fire Keeper (Pitch Black's Mahuika Remix)
Written and produced by Amani Friend and Treavor Walton
Remix produced by Pitch Black
Published by Global Dragon
Kindly licensed from Desert Dwellers
desertdwellers.org
Pitch Black - Notting Pill (Live at Notting Hill Arts Club 2003)
Written and produced by Pitch Black
Recorded at Notting Hill Arts Club, London on 18th August 2003
Published by Native Tongue Music Publishing
Animat - Calm After The Storm (Pitch Black's Exploded View)
Written and produced by Michael Harding and Mark Daly
Remix produced by Pitch Black
Published by Copyright Control
Kindly licensed from Disco Gecko Recordings
animat.co.uk
Sudden Reverb - Distanced (Pitch Black’s Light, the Fastest Thing We Know Remix)
Written and produced by Fernando Perez Gomez
Remix produced by Pitch Black
Published by Copyright Control
soundcloud.com/suddenreverb
Radioactive Man - Sonic Portal (Pitch Black's Magnetospheric Multiscale remix)
Written and produced by Keith Tenniswood
Remix produced by Pitch Black
Published by Fabric Publishing
facebook.com/radioactiveman
Pitch Black - G202 (Live at Rippon Festival 2000)
Written and produced by Pitch Black
Recorded at Rippon Festival, Wanaka on 6th February 2000
Recording by Andre Upston for Radio New Zealand
Used with kind permission of Radio New Zealand
Published by Native Tongue Music Publishing
radionz.co.nz
Mastered by Angus McNaughton at Auralux Mastering
instagram.com/auralux_mastering/
Cyanotype images by Tim Prebble
timprebble.com
Layout and design by Hamish Macaulay
hamishmacaulay.com
CDDUBM125
Released by Dubmission Records
PO Box 14988, London, SW6 2WL, UK
dubmissionrecords.com
