This is my shrine to Goldfrapp, videos I’ve made, mashups I’ve mashed and the odd remix. Enjoy!
My latest remix is Drew – Clockwork Mix, using just the vocal from the original and building a cinematic soundscape from ghostly whispers, ticking clocks and a huge orchestra.
This is one of the stand out tracks from Goldfrapp’s Tales of Us album, remixed by me, rocking the tribal flavour and adding a few angry mobs here and there. Sit back and grab a burning torch – it’s Thea, the Totem mix!
Nobody remixed Cologne Cerrone Houdini. So it was left to me to knock together a stoned sort of edit, using extracts from the track mixed into the instrumental with added samples and an interview with Alison which sums up the Seventh Tree era. It’s faster than the original and starts backwards! (This one contains cussin’ so it’s rated PG)
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Here’s some footage of Goldfrapp live in Manchester on the Head First Tour. The soundtrack was unusable, so I edited in a little remix of Beautiful, which should be their live standard. But isn’t.
The original version of Goldfrapp’s Winter Wonderland sounded unfinished. I finished it with a choir, bells and big drums. Tinkerbell meets Slade. I also added extra whistling and a quote from It’s a Wonderful Life at the end. I think it’s Animal from The Muppets on drums…
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Clowns is one of the most beautiful pieces of music I’ve ever heard. Here’s my attempt at a music video, mixing tv performances from Seventh Tree with The Banana Splits, a children’s tv show from the 70s. I can explain. Clowns took me back to the Flake adverts of the 70s and my childhood. The Banana Splits are part of that nostalgia, and chime with Alison dressing up in a bunny costume during the playful Seventh Tree era. I opted for the balloon scene after Alison said the song was about breast implants… I used the instrumental version of Clowns and edited in just one line of the vocal, which I thought was poignant. There are also some vinyl scratches to complete the rose-coloured haze.
It was an accident, finding how well these two songs go together. I was making a compilation tape and as Black Cherry ended, Song to the Siren began. Within minutes I was mixing them together using the most primitive software I could find. Elizabeth Fraser was used sparingly as a backing vocal, allowing space for the vast emptiness of Black Cherry, until they build to a crescendo which compliments the main song. It’s quite hard to take two starkly beautiful songs like this and make them work together without ending up with Ballad Soup.
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the vibes 
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I loved the Cerrone etc. mix; quite brilliant in fact.
Cheers, JS! I had a lot of fun doing that one. I think I bought out the psychedelic elements to make it even more Seventh Tree-esque.
Love your mix of Black Cherry/Song To The Siren. I live in Bexhill-on-sea and was thrilled when Seventh Tree was released with a dvd filmed at the De La Warr Pavilion (Old modernist building with a theatre/gallery) in Bexhill. Loved reading your Tales blog. Been on that pilgramge myself back in 96.
Thanks Matthew, I’m really proud of it so it’s good to get your feedback. Can’t wait for the new Tales novel in the New Year, but a little sad to hear it’s the last one!
these are all gorgeous! black siren is just sexy, while clowns brought a smile to my face (that balloon drop!). CCH is just plain stunning… and, of course, the piece de resistance that is Thea Totem Mix… never was much impressed by Goldfrapp remixes, but yours are an exception. so, you’re still going to bring us drew, right? 😀
Thanks for my best review yet! I’m so proud of Thea that I actually listen to it myself (I never listen to my own stuff – the song is usually wrung out by the time you finish working on it.) I started on Drew long before Thea, but got nowhere fast. It’s a very complex song, and I’m up against a stunning orchestra. How do I compete with that? Answer: I don’t. But let’s just say, ‘the clock is ticking….’