Night Time

Listening to Jamie Xx’s solo album has sent me back to various related odds and sods, mainly remixes of The Xx. This one by Greg Wilson particularly but also a couple of John Talabot ones. I resisted the temptation to type the legendary Greg Wilson which by now appears to have become his forename, deservedly so. This remix pushes Romy’s vocal upfront, keeps the guitar line and adds a skippy house beat, perfect for that moment when the sun is just dipping down and you’ve got a glass of something cold. Reminds me of 1990s Everything But The Girl, a connection I hadn’t made until now.

Night Time (Greg Wilson Remix)

Sly One

Here’s another treat from Greg Wilson’s Soundcloud page (brought to you via reader and Boltonite Paul Bob Horrocks). Marina Van-Rooy was a Liverpudlian singer who had not one but two early 90s house classics- Let You Go and Sly One. Greg Wilson has tweaked Sly One a little but not radically. Free dl if you can handle a whopping big WAV file.

Sly One is a seductive, low key number, with a chuggy 128 bpm rhythm, a woodblock sound reminiscent of Voodoo Ray and a slinky vocal having a pop at some boy, a sly one. Marina was also in the group Angelpie and I might be mistaken but I think a Lotus Eater was involved somewhere along the line. Marina is pictured wearing a catsuit/chain mail bikini combo down Liverpool docks. I don’t remember this look ever catching on but maybe I was looking the wrong way.

Today On This Programme You Will Hear…

Greg Wilson is a dj legend and famously the Hacienda’s first dance music dj. He is also said to be the first British man to mix live on TV (on The Tube). He took a long sabbatical in 1983 but has been back since 2003 playing disco, electro funk, house, dance music generally, around the world.

This Greg Wilson edit of 808 State’s Pacific State contains that Jesse Jackson sample that Weatherall used for his Come Together remix. Some wag said that Pacific State is just Stranger On The Shore for the E generation but it’s easy to be sniffily reductionist about things. This record is a club classic and still has the ability to make the hairs on the back of the neck stand up.

Greg Wilson’s Soundcloud page, with edits, mash ups and dj mixes, is here. You could pick your way through it for days and still not play it all. His blog Being A DJ is here.