it was an instrum. they added the vocals for the uk release prob. for sing-along radio play. i don't hear ukg in this at all, i'm intrigued - whaddya mean?
(the instrum. was loads better, btw)
― michael wells (michael w.), Friday, 20 December 2002 14:24 (twenty-two years ago)
I think the rippling piano keys thing is really ukg, and the bassline aswell. The vocal really helps too, when she goes "all they want you to", it really just sounds garagey to me, in a great way. And those really sharp detroit strings remind me of the Architechs or something, in the chorus.
― Ronan (Ronan), Friday, 20 December 2002 14:30 (twenty-two years ago)
i don't hear a piano, rippling or otherwise. the bassline is what the track's all about; that and the shuffling rhythm track. when it drops in a club and sounds all bouncy and different is when it really makes sense. the strings are a little "jaguar", dontcha think?
― michael wells (michael w.), Friday, 20 December 2002 14:36 (twenty-two years ago)
yeah I guess, I'm listening to Jaguar now. Is it actually on UR? It's the keyboard that ripples off the bassline I'm talking about, is it in all the mixes? Mine is extended vocal mix. I've never heard it in a club, it's great to dance to though I'd say, very strange rhythm indeed.
― Ronan (Ronan), Friday, 20 December 2002 14:41 (twenty-two years ago)
Finally! I have been talking about this record for almost a year on this list nobody has ever responded to it.
I had Lawrence and Lenny Burden on Current (my old radio show) two weeks after Blackwater hit #2 in the UK charts. They are both a couple of great guys, and it was a real pleasure to interview them. We spoke at great length about what was in their heads and where their music was heading. I was the first person to play the Vocal/Strings and Instrumental remixes that they did with Urban Soul Orchestra. USO is a string ensemble whose most notable work was with Soul II Soul in the late 80's.
There has been a lot of change in Detroit over the last couple of years. Submerge went through one of it's periodic housecleaning’s awhile back. I believe that 430west no longer is distributed by Submerge, but I will not stake my life on it. The shake up definitely made The Burden's rethink their business strategy.
The dance market is obviously glutted and the average Techno label is selling about 500 records or so. 430west sales had been consistently declining for several releases. I do not think it was necessarily that the quality what horrible, it was just that their music was not standing out from the crowd. They were not putting as much work and thought into their records as they should have. They were not bad DJ records, but they were not special records either.
With Blackwater they made a conscious effort to make the best record that they could possibly make. The thought being that they could write and promote one record very well and sell 10,000 (or in their case 30,000 as of last February) rather than make 5 mediocre records that sell 1,000 a piece. The material would be stronger and it would sell more. It was a win/win situation.
They went back to the drawing board and looked at their biggest success, which was "I Believe". I Believe was a real song; it had a verse and a chorus, a full conga line, breaks and changes. It was a piece of music, rather than a 5-minute DJ track. You can listen to it from end to end and it does not get boring. That is what they were shooting for with Blackwater.
I will not deny that there is definitely a Jaguar influence on that record. I think it is in the Latin percussion and the sound design. I will not give their game away, but I will say that they used the same synths that Rolando used. They did know what they were doing, and they were out to make a hit record when they wrote it. I don't really judge whether that is right or wrong, I do think they made a record that deserved to be successful.
I agree with Michael Wells that the Instrumental Strings remix is the strongest version of the bunch. I remember when Lenny handed me the cdr and let me play it for the first time. They had gotten back from the remix session in London the day before and were very tired. The final mix was less than 48 hours old when I played it. I remember when it hit, it was glorious. I have never been a huge fan of the Ann Saunderson vocal mixes, they seemed a bit forced to me. The instrumental unleashes the full potential of that song.
I am not sure if it is UK garagey. I know that that was not something that was on their mind at all when they wrote it. To me it sounds like a Detroit track with a pronounced Latin influence. I am not saying that they were completely ignorant of UKG and completely outside of it's influence, but it was definitely not the first thing on their minds. I think it is musical Detroit Techno more than anything else.
― Mike Taylor (mjt), Saturday, 21 December 2002 06:52 (twenty-two years ago)
nine months pass...
one year passes...
four years pass...
eight years pass...