Turnbull Mixtape 9: Revolution no. 9 no. 9 no. 9
This year's Turnbull Mixtape theme is all about embracing the spirit of Creative Commons and the art of remixing another's work. We've asked Library staff to select their favourites and write a brief explanation letting us know why.
Distribute, remix, adapt and build
Welcome back to another thrilling instalment of the world famous (in Aotearoa) Turnbull Library Mixtape!
This year's theme is all about embracing the spirit of Creative Commons, with every track selected building on previous musical creations. Think of it as standing, or perhaps recording on the shoulders of giants.
The brief was simple: choose a track that covers, remixes, samples or mashes up another creative work and have fun with it!
According to a range of sources, including WhoSampled.com a 1960’s track called ‘Amen, brother’ by the Winstons is reputed to be the most sampled song of all time. The title may not ring a bell, but you will instantly recognise the drum beat known as the Amen Break.
Album covers of music included in this year's Turnbull Mixtape.
Beatles – the most covered band in history
It’s perhaps no surprise that The Beatles are one of, if not the most covered band in history, and according to Guinness World Records 'Yesterday' has the most cover versions of any song ever written, talk about living in the past right?!
You may have picked up that the title of this very mixtape is a riff on the Beatles track 'Revolution 9', an eight minute sound collage appearing on their self-titled 1968 release commonly known as the White Album. The track was dreamed up primarily by Lennon with creative input from George Harrison and Yoko Ono with the overarching thesis of painting a picture of revolution through sound. Inspiration for the track was also provided by the Musique concrète theory of composition that utilizes recorded sounds as raw material.
But what about songs from New Zealand? Well, it turns out it’s not that easy to determine (believe me, I tried) so let us speculate! More than one anecdotal source suggested ‘Don’t dream it’s over’ would be a leading candidate for the most covered song, which would make sense due to the song's huge popularity on the international stage. Is it a cover when Neil performs it with Fleetwood Mac?
Less contemporary candidates could perhaps include ‘Now is the Hour’, ‘Pōkarekare Ana’ or ‘Blue Smoke’. It really depends on what you class as a cover or a remix of a song. The fact that most covers tend to be performed live and not recorded also makes it hard to quantify.
TikTok
If we are to take social media into account then songs like Savage’s ‘Swing’ which has been regularly covered and remixed, also gained a new life on TikTok in 2020 as a soundtrack in numerous clips of Donald Trump dancing awkwardly at a campaign rally.
Benee’s song ‘Glitter’ also benefited massively from being given a TikTok dance, and earlier this year a sea shanty called 'Wellerman' went viral on TikTok and entered the UK charts 190 years after the Weller family settled in Aotearoa. Having another remixed sea shanty in this year's mixtape now seems very apt indeed.
Consider the can of (ear)worms fully open!
Variations on a theme
And while we’re on a theme here, keep an eye out later this month for what could perhaps be dubbed 'The Turnbull Remix-tape'. Over the last year we’ve been working with computer musician Luke Rowell (Disasteradio, Eyeliner) to archive his music productions.
Once online, you will be able to download stems and MIDI and create your own remixes of tracks from the albums Buy Now and Charisma, including YouTube hit ‘Gravy Rainbow’!
Michael Brown (Curator, Music) and Luke will be penning a detailed blog about the project to be published here on the National Library website. Tune in then and also download a free copy of the Buy Now remix album Free, featuring a bevy of remix-meisters from Aotearoa and beyond!
Hear the music
Without further ado, here is the Turnbull Library Mixtape no. 9 in all its Creative Commons glory followed by a brief description from the member of staff who selected each song.
Happy listening!
Tracklist
'Crazy? Yes! Dumb? No! (Enright House Remix)' / The Mint Chicks
The Enright House, 2010 (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0)
The Enright House was the moniker of US come NZ then back to US based producer Mark Roberts. In Mark’s words “This remix of 'Crazy? Yes! Dumb? No!' by The Mint Chicks was created for MusicHype.com's remix competition. It’s a rad, trancy throwback to early 90’s euro-rave, mediated by piles of exuberance, some beautiful chord progressions, and a smitten of Enright House aesthetics!” Mark’s current moniker We Are Temporary is also well worth checking out.
(Sholto Duncan, Web Archivist)
'One Day, Things Will All Be Different (Jake Dubber remix)' / Rostik
'December', Jake Dubber, 2011 (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0)
Like all remixes, in the beginning there was the original. The dubstep track ‘One Day, Things Will All Be Different’ was made available for a Soundcloud remix competition back in 2011 by English EDM musician Rostik (a.k.a. Taylor Wilkinson).
Featuring on the Symmetry EP, the original stitches together a variety of feels: the floating vocals of Scottish singer-songwriter Holly Drummond, some gripping keyboards, buzzing bass, and a lovely trail off into reflective piano chords. There are many, many remixes to be found online. The version by Jake Dubber, a New Zealander based in Birmingham for the last decade, was made available shortly afterwards on his own EP December. Dubber cuts to the chase with some big kickdrums and driving electronic rhythms, highlighting the track’s dancefloor potential. Remixing can be a subtractive as well as additive process, so the original’s clattering soundscape is shaved away in favour of a hissing ambient backdrop. Dubber is still making music and released his latest EP, Inner Queue, on Bandcamp last year. Check out our archived version of his original website (now offline), including photos of gigs and festivals.
(Michael Brown, Curator Music)
'All For Me Grog (South Pacific Remix)' / Wellington Sea Shanty Society
'All For Me Grog (South Pacific Remix)' / Wellington Sea Shanty Society. (CC BY-NC 3.0)
In 2020 there was a revitalisation of the sea shanty. Leading the charge was the Wellerman (a New Zealand whaling) song. 'All for me grog' was released as a single by the Dubliners in 1967, this version has the Whaler wandering the South Pacific instead of the western ocean. Wrap your ears around the fun music and message; some of us need luxuries to get through hard times.
(Rhonda Grantham, Legal Deposit Librarian)
'Within you' / Made in China
'Within you' / Made in China (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0)
Dunedin band Made in China bring soaring rock vocals and sludgy metal riffing to their cover of David Bowie's 'Within you' – from the Labyrinth soundtrack. The cover is a short and fun buzz into the world of Labyrinth, and writing talents of Bowie. Given the strong rock and metal scenes in New Zealand, it is not too surprising this cover is of a heavier kind.
(Richard Robertson, Metadata Workflow Specialist)
'Where is my mind? (Pixies cover)' / Rat Bastard
'Where is my mind? (Pixies cover)' / Rat Bastard. (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0)
Released in 1988 on the Pixies' debut album Surfer rosa, 'Where is my mind?' has reached cult status and been covered countless times, perhaps most notably by Placebo back in 2003. Rat Bastard adds to this with their seething, straight up punk-fused rendition. Definitely not pop-punk but catchy AF!
(Sholto Duncan, Web Archivist)
'Hey Jeff! Break the Ice (The Doll remix)' / Britney Spears vs Jeff Henderson
'Hey Jeff! Break the Ice (The Doll remix)' / Britney Spears vs Jeff Henderson. (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0)
In 2010 Wellington musician/artist Supercomposer (Dick Whyte) released Britney Spears + Noise = HOT Vol. 1 – a conceptual album mashing/remixing Britney Spears with avant-garde and noise musicians. In his words, “the intention was not to sync the two tracks perfectly or to 'mash' them in the traditional sense, but rather to produce random connections between the two layers (a rhimix, rather than a remix)”.
'Hey Jeff! Break the Ice' is a tribute to this Supercomposer project by Auckland experimental musician The Doll, who “rhimixes” Britney Spears’ 'Break the Ice' and 'Fuck You You Bureaucratic Fucks' – an experimental baritone sax performance recorded in 2002 by Auckland musician Jeff Henderson.
(Matt Steindl, Reading Room Services Leader)
'Loves TLC' / choiceVaughan
'Loves TLC' / choiceVaughan (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0)
Some reverential remixes of R&B artists from the 1990s, starting off with this track of TLC’s ‘No Scrubs’.
Voted Best R&B song in the 2000 Grammy Awards, ‘No Scrubs’ was a song by the American girl group TLC about saying ‘No’. Here in this more laidback rendition, choiceVaughan’s remix with male vocals endorses those lessons taught twenty years ago, which still have much relevance today.
(Keith McEwing, Assistant Curator Music)
'Sister risk (outro dub) Jet Jaguar remix' / The Phoenix Foundation
'Sister risk (outro dub) Jet Jaguar remix' / The Phoenix Foundation. (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0)
The 'Outro Dub' does what any good dub does and denatures the song. It takes a perfectly good minor key pop song and strips out lyrics and hooks. The song is distilled into queasy, uneasy listening. The lyrics contain a quote about gods and monsters, the dub shows us the gods and monsters.
(Mark Hector, Research Librarian Music)
'Into your arms (Lemonheads)' / Lisa Crawley
'Into your arms (Lemonheads)' / Lisa Crawley. (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0)
This is a really lovely, stripped back cover of the Lemonheads' 'Into your arms'. Soft piano and warm vocals, a musical hug to end this year's mixtape.
(Sholto Duncan, Web Archivist)
Thanks for listening
Thanks for tuning in to another edition of the Turnbull Library Mixtape.
To hear more Creative Commons music from the Library's collections, listen to our previous mixtapes.
Loving this year's mixtape. There are some cool tracks here and Rat Bastard is growing on me. Thanks National Library.