Oh no! Not more remixes!
Some say remixes destroy the essence of the original and should never be created.
The others say that remixes breathe new life into the originals and expose songs to a whole new audience who may have missed the original releases of the classics.
Over the years, like the mainstream Panjabi music scene with original releases, there has been an influx of remixes, left, right and centre. Some good, some not so good. Ok, rubbish, in fact. The following formula is usually followed:
Sampled instrumental beat looped + Panjabi track = Voila! 10 million hits a day smash hit remix!
Forget remix albums. Albums, in general, in this day and age, are a rarity. Gone are the days of Wham Bam, 100% Proof and Trespass. But, the producers that brought the evergreen cult classic ‘Mighty Manak’, and the ‘Case of Base’ series, are back in 2017. Kaos Productions (@kaosproductions), formally known as The Dholl Company, bring you ‘Kaos Was The Case’ – A 10 track album consisting of remixes from the VIP Records Catalogue, featuring tracks by Diljit Dosanjh, JK, Kulvinder Johal, Bakshi Billa and many more.
Is it fair to call this album just a remix album though? The Leicester based duo, haven’t just sampled instrumentals and beats, and looped them over a multitude of tracks. It’s more accurate in calling this is a reproduction album. No samples have been harmed in the making of this album. Completely original beats, instrumentation, and arrangements overlayed over the original tracks from the VIP Records catalogue.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BXDhSg9Bfb1/?taken-by=viprecords&hl=en
Amo Hayer (@amohayer), one half of the Kaos Productions duo, had this to say about the album:
“VIP Records approached us some time ago to do a remix album using tracks from their back catalogue. Boy, was this album a challenge! We only had access to the iTunes versions of already mastered and released tracks, as opposed to stems, where we would be able to separate the vocals from the music. No cutting corners!
We are so used to producing tracks from scratch, right from laying down initial compositions and recording vocals with our compositions. This album was in a totally different ball game altogether, when compared to our earlier remix albums like ‘Mighty Manak’, the ‘Case of Base’ series, and of course, more recently, ‘In Tha House’ alongside Tru-Skool. The original tracks remixed in those albums were folk tracks, meaning they, at most, had 3 to 4 instruments and vocals in the tracks. There weren’t any drums, basslines or any fancy stuff. Nothing like that at all. This meant we had a larger canvas to go crazy on. The tracks remixed, per say, in ‘Kaos Was The Case’, are already fully produced tracks in their own right. From a technical aspect, this leaves limited room in the frequency spectrum for us to operate in, to add our own flavours and vibes. We have still managed to add our own original production on top of the original tracks. You could say this album edges more towards a reproduction, rather than simply being a remix album. The end product, we hope, is something people will enjoy. The support from the general public is always overwhelming. We hope you like our latest release.
We also would like to clarify that this is not the Kaos Productions debut album. That album is still coming and still currently in the works. So, watch out for that one!”
It takes a lot of skill to do what Kaos Productions have done with the new album. We hope a lot more producers follow suit and start creating remixes, resurrecting a scene, that in the 90s, was a quality one. Remixes aren’t necessarily a bad thing, if, like everything, are done properly.
Album Purchase Link
‘Kaos Was The Case’ is out now on VIP Records via all the usual digital outlets, so make sure you cop a copy, legally!
https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/kaos-was-the-case/id1263641205
BHANGRA TAPE DECK 