Rize of the Fenix by Tenacious D

The primary female vocal was done by Julie McKnight for Kings of Tomorrow aka New York-based house producer Sandy Rivera. It was released in 2000 and was a Billboard Dance Chart #1.

The hook features Nina Simone’s “Rags & Old Iron” which you should instantly recognize in the first 2 verses. I never knew that Nina was singing “Rags old iron rags old iron, All he was buying was just rags and old iron…” until I started to dig into the tracks history. As it is you can’t tell what she’s really singing in “Love Story” because of the added effects.

The beat of the track follows the bassline from Devo’s “Mongoloid.”

All those bits and pieces came together for Layo & Bushwacka in 2002 and it was released to much fanfare on XL Recordings. The original vocal version is a progressive house track with Julie McKnight’s vocals as the centerpiece of their 4 on the floor plodder. Ironically the track was really successful but didn’t chart as well as Kings of Tomorrow’s original and topped out at #4 on the Billboard Dance Charts. Not that that really measures the tune’s actual success, but it is an interesting footnote.

Bushwacka even knocked out a trance-ish remix of his own track in the same year as the original release.

Stanton Warriors did a breaks version on yet another remix in 2002.

Finally a proper, authorized, house remix was done by Tim Deluxe for XL Recordings in 2003. Maybe it’s the drum&bass fan in me, but this seems more BPM appropriate to the vocal and closer to the original Kings of Tomorrow track.

And of course there were several unauthorized drum&bass versions which were, allegedly, written by B-Key, Aquasky, and Fred V, respectively.

The B-Key version is the most well known and the only one that was ever commercially pressed (ALLEGEDLY) as a white label. Unfortunately the vinyl quality of the release was terrible so it sort of exists in this Love Story bootleg purgatory. If you have a copy and it sounds halfway decent then let me know, because I’d like to hear it.

The Fred V version is available for free HERE.

Aquasky’s meh verion.

I’ve heard High Contrast did a boot too, but I couldn’t find a clip of it anywhere. If it exists it’s likely buried in a pile of old ass dubplates that will never see the light of day.

Just yesterday Viper Recordings artist Smooth used the McKnight vocal in a freebie he’s titled “Timeless.” The track is a liquid funk jam, which really fits with the vocal and is well done. If it had the full “Love Story” vocal it’d be as good as the B-Key’s (alleged) bootleg.

Smooth – Timeless (Free Download) by Viper Recordings

Ministry of Sound released a mash-up of the original “Finally” and “Love Story” on one of their nameless compilations floating around the world. It’s not ground breaking and all it does it add a few more drum stabs and a saxophone solo (wtf?!).

There’s even a happy hardcore version of the track with chipmunk vocals, but who wants to hear that shit?

I doubt we’ve heard the end of the “Love Story” saga. If Layo and Bushwacka need to make a house or car payment we might see it re-released on a best-of-the-2000s compilation or maybe That’s What I Call Dance Music Vol. 93892342789.

Source

Die Antwoord – I Fink U Freeky (FreQ Nasty “FreQy” Remix) *FREE DOWNLOAD* by FreQ Nasty

You have to hit up Freq Nasty’s Facebook page for the download.

Last night we went to see Photek and Apparat at Kingdom. I was hoping to catch a glimpse of classic Photek, but that wasn’t meant to be. He has switched to producing house and techno & seems to be uninterested in drum&bass at all anymore. He kicked off his set by playing some bass-heavy electro house but then pitched the night down with some very slow, clunky 4/4 stuff for about 25 minutes. I saw the floor thin out and he must’ve noticed because he went right back to the big beat stuff. Overall the night was disappointing, but he’s still an excellent producer and a solid DJ so we still managed to have some fun.

Here are a couple of clips of some of his new stuff.

This is a free download of his “No Agenda” track from XLR8R.

Before Photek went on we dipped down to Plush to see Dara and Evol Intent for a few minutes. We weren’t able to stay long, but the club was rammed and those guys were killing it. Glad to see someone out there still enjoys drum&bass.

Tonight is the Official Hospital Records Showcase at Malverde. Some friends and I are going to try and get in the door, but the max capacity for the place is about 100 so we have a very slim hope. Not having conference badges or wristbands is going to hinder that, but we’ll give it a shot anyway.

Friday afternoon Boiler Room TV is hosting a party on the east side (in someone’s backyard!) featuring Hudson Mohawke, Lunice, Jackmaster B2B Oneman, Nick Hook, and Machinedrum. You can click the link above to watch the shenanigans live starting at 8pm CST.

Friday night Kenny Ken will be playing the Driskill Hotel. This is odd because the Driskill is a very swank, very old hotel downtown and I have no idea how drum&bass is going to go over in the “Victorian Room”…we’ll head down to check it out anyway so I can get my fix.

There will be other streaming events cropping up all the time so just search twitter for the hashtag #sxsw or google around and you’ll come across a bunch of stuff.

SPKTRM – WATERS UNKNOWN (EXCLUSIVE FREE DOWNLOAD) by SPKTRM

Here’s Ill-esha’s “lovestep” edit of The Weeknd’s XO/The Host tune. I like the two-step break vibe of this and it’s more uptempo than the original, which isn’t one of my favorite cuts on the new album.
The Weeknd – XO/The Host – ill-esha & napsty remix by ill-esha

This is a drum-less, piano driven orchestral version of MJ Cole’s Red & Black. Rather out of the ordinary, but very nice. It’d make an awesome intro/outro to a mix.
Red and Black (one-armed bandit mix) Drumless Download by MJ Cole

I’ve mentioned the Decades duo on SB before because their Mo’Wax mix was awesome. They also do a ton of edits and reworks of more popular fare. This one is a snappy version of Ghostface Killah’s “Apollo Kids.”
Ghostface Killah Apollo Kids dL remix by Decades

Another from Decades…this time it’s a cover of Bill Wither’s “Use Me” by Esther Phillips. This is a soul/jazz/r&b tip.
Esther Phillips Use Me dL edit by Decades

IllSkillz aka D.Kay & Rawfull seem to release a freebie once a week. This time it’s a retro-synth driven dubstep track called Tracy Is On Fire.
Tracy Is On Fire – IllSkillz (Free Download) by IllSkillz

I’ve already mentioned The Weeknd’s new album “Echoes of Silence” but here it is again in case you missed it.
The Weeknd – Echoes Of Silence by The_Weeknd

HERE is a UK Garage remix of Blu Mar Ten’s “Believe Me” by Nixus. Sorry there is no preview, but the embedding is disabled on the track.

Here’s another remix of The Fugee’s Ready or Not…this time it’s dubstep. I don’t care for it, but it’s pretty damn popular.
Ready or Not by The Fugees (ProJect Aspect Remake) by Dubstep.net

Here’s a hip-hop edit from Mad Decent of FKi’s I Think She Ready. I can’t stand it but maybe someone else will…
FKi- I Think She Ready (feat. Iggy Azalea) Prod. By Diplo, DJA, HxV, Fki by Mad Decent

Wow, here’s a mashup of Tears for Fears “Shout”, Motley Crue’s “Shout At The Devil”, and Bill Hick’s comedy routine in a little dubstep package. I like this.
Motley Crue – Shout At The Devil (Wick-it Remix) by Wick-it the Instigator

Instrumental hip-hop jam from Handbook. This is nice.
Know What (I Still Love You) by Handbook

Here’s an entire LP from Handbook. This is hot!
All The Time LP by Handbook

Physic’s remix of Julian Marley’s “Boom Draw”…little too formulaic for me, but a well done tune none-the-less.
Julian Marley – Boom Draw – (Physics Drum & Bass Remix) – Free DL by Physics

Heard Lady V on Bailey’s show last night play this tune. Great vibes.
Jason Burns – Back 2 You (Sinistarr Remix) by sinistarr

Tim Reaper’s “Untitled Happiness” that samples Brenda Russell’s “A Little Bit of Love”…really digging this.
Tim Reaper – Untitled Happiness by Tim Reaper

Bay B Kane’s “Jungle Warriors” 2012 VIP
Jungle Warriors (2012 VIP) – Bay B Kane [Free Download!!!] by Bay B Kane

“Like A Circle” is all over the place tempo wise. Bay B Kane lists it as downtempo jungle, but that seems kind of oxymoronic. It starts out on a very atmospheric vibe for a long time then drops into an amen for the last half. Different styles for sure.
Like A Circle – Bay B Kane [Free Download!!!] by Bay B Kane

Kasra gave this away on his Facebook page.
Kasra – Warped Sound – Free Download – See Below For Info by Critical Music

Atlanta’s Mayhem with a hip-hop/dubstep remix.
Boomman x Tity Boi x Yo Gotti – Up In Here (Mayhem Bootleg) [FREE MP3 DOWNLOAD!] by Mayhem

This is 6 months old, but I do not give a fuck, it’s fucking Voyager!
Pete Voyager-Gateway (Full) by pete_voyager

Another atmo gem from Voyager…this one’s a year old.
PeteVoyager DarHannan by pete_voyager

Soul Intent with a Warrior’s sampled DnB tune.
Soul Intent – Send The Word (Freebie03) by Soul Intent

Here is a metric ton of classic UK Garage and House remixes from Matt “Jam” Lamont!
Free D’loads: Productions & Remixes by Matt Jam Lamont

Lazy Loopworx #1 (sunCHAser Download) by sunCHAser

Burnin Exemen Mix by Wookie (Lovestar music)

A load of Stanton Warrior’s remixes. Most are over a year old, but fuck it…
The Re-Edits and Remixes by Stanton Warriors

…and that’s all folks!

Head on over to LSB’s Facebook page, “Like” it, then download the zip file. Or CLICK HERE.

The zip also features a liquid roller bootleg of Little Dragon’s “Twice” and you can listen to a preview of that HERE.

ASC – Common Ground [free download] by Space Cadets

Orbital – Never

Never by ORBITAL

Happy Orbiting!