Mojo Filter has said that his music is for ‘like-minded people who share the joy of mesmerising sounds woven with intrigue and fable’, and the New Zealand native and sonic craftsman behind AOR Disco Vintage Edits, Modern Re-Loves and Autobahn Edits, has just released Autobahn Edits Vol III, his latest selection of genre-warping reworks of both modern and vintage classics – check it out here.
Featuring reworks of tracks by Beirut, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Gnarls Barkley, Thomas Newman, Dabrye and more, the new album blends neo-soul, afro house, trip-hop and other genres – a “futuristic trove of chugging, long-haul grooves”, as he puts it.
For this week’s #MyRecordBag feature, Mojo Filter presents the tracks that inspired some of his all time favourite edits, links to which can be found in the description below each track.
Neil Young – Captain Kennedy
“Listening to folk rock, growing up with hippy parents, wove such tracks into the fabric of my being. Curiously it wasn’t until later life that I realised and indeed revived my shine for this vibe. It so happened that I was wholly absorbed by the musicality and sound design of Nico Jaar at the time and seemingly, without effort I could already hear the possibilities of this track becoming a space shanty of sorts.
“Jumping to work, mapping the track to sync into the matrix, I set about editing, jamming, synthin’ and generally dubbing out the original with my vision. And so, the NASA edit was born.“
Dionne Warwick – Walk On By
“Daydreaming in Goa, away from the studio gave rise to many ideas. The lead from this soul-soothing classic from Dionne wouldn’t leave me until my return months later. Upon arriving home I layered down the bones for of what would later blossom into something of a signature tune for me.
“Blending some obscure synthesised house darkness alongside this jubilant and hopeful anthem made for the supreme dancefloor elevator, leading to some quite memorable moments of summer bliss.”
Fleetwood Mac – Go Your Own Way
“Before AI-stem extraction there was once-upon-a-time a not-so-obvious community of stem file exchange that I became privy to once I earned currency. Diving deep into the vaults and discovering acapella tapes offered me a pool of inspiration to immerse myself in. Alongside the likes of Jagger, Nina, and Bowie I came across a Lindsey Buckingham vocal from the Fleetwood Mac seminal song Go Your Own Way. Playing it back was a joy – all the nuance and grain from the original studio recording put me right in the booth, with Lindsay moving me to tears every time.
“To think I could do anything with this was hubris, but I had a vision – as with all my edits – the direction was clear and a grand piano dub was born. Stripping the whole track back to just the vocal, and a newly composed filtered grand piano accompaniment, verb’d just enough to bring about a new emotional experience elevated this vocal to heavenly dimensions.”
Nick Cave – Red Right Hand
“Sometimes an edit writes itself and this was one of those moments. My friend sent me the original for the chop, and within a day one of my most successful edits was born. The track was an inspirational gift with spacious elements peppering the stereo field, a wide, rich vocal dominating the mix and a huge bassline without any percussion offered itself up for sacrifice.
“Dialling in the perfect kick, FX and editing mutated this already swooning beast into a behemoth clocking over three million plays on Youtube.“
Leonard Cohen – You Want It Darker
“This iconic track was another gift from God. As a profound moment in musical history as Cohen’s final utterances in a studio, this powerful goodbye was as unsettling as it was healing. Again, the vocal dominance of the track, heavy bassline and uncluttered dynamics left room for the perfect dancefloor edit.
“Although, technically, many edits are fully formed tracks in their own right, it feels more honourable to title them as edits. The theme of this track is intensely moving and lends itself impeccably for a deep house escapade, exploring the darker palette this composition offers the listener.“
Jose Feliciano – California Dreamin’
“This was an early edit of mine that garnered much interest in a time where cosmic disco was the vibe. Lifting the ethereal strings and psychedelic whimsy of the hazy classic, Jose brings a little Hispanic flare with his Latin jazz fusion licks.
“It felt very natural to embellish his stunning rendition with some vintage sounding percussion and heady filtered fx to metamorphosise the track into a cosmic sunset voyage. This early version was the only version that survived a system crash, but fortunately I managed to capture the magic before it was reduced to a mere dream.“
Johnny Cash – Ghost Riders In The Sky
“This track brings chills to my spine and as soon as I heard it some decade ago I knew immediately this was worthy of a subtle but dancefloor rework. It has something cosmic about it that drew me in. Something haunting that would benefit from a driving, indie disco excursion.
“Within hours of laying it on the chopping board, it became clear that Johnny was about to take to the skies once more. With a live drum kit breakbeat this raw-hide reunion soon took form and the spaghetti western took to the sky and never looked back. I love to play this one at the right moment – it completely transforms the dancefloor into a modern day hootenanny!”
Gary Jules – Mad World
“Tears for Fears wrote this evocative 80’s classic whilst Gary Jules’ distilled – charting a U.K No. 1 – the sombre tones with his stunning vocal prowess 20 years later. Listening to the latter I immediately felt drawn to an as yet unexplored cosmic nuance.
“|My vision was crystal clear and laying down the percussive and synth elements on this spacious vocal/piano track was an effortless and immensely rewarding task. The result was a chugging, driving bass-led synth roller for the great outer limits of cosmic tech.”
Jefferson Airplane – White Rabbit
“The seminal war cry of 60’s psychedelia was Grace Slick’s haunting and evocative White Rabbit. It’s eerie and driving spell captivated me moment the I heard it. It wasn’t until I discovered psytrance and dancing for endless hours on the dancefloor that it occurred to me to blend the two. This was my earliest foray into sample-woven techno and it seemed to resonate collectively at the time.
“Discovering a way to time stretch and sync these old tracks to sit in a four to the floor model was very liberating as it gave rise to dj tools to mix with other percussive techno tunes in a never-ending tapestry. Eight and 12 hours sets were the order of the day and reworks like this one offered otherwise unattainable highs amid twisting and adventurous outdoor sets.”
David Bowie – Fame
“This track was always a go-to for some sing-a-long pop soul and I had always felt a calling to rework it. It wasn’t until I discovered the stem files that I was able to make room for the edit to birth.
“Speeding it up a touch, stripping back the vocals, extending it and splashing some cosmic FX/pads over the top transformed this classic into a highly contagious P-Funk cosmic odyssey. Super happy with this one – really extends the vibe and brings this sticky jam home for me personally.”
Thanks to Mojo Filter for his selections. Keep up to date with all his latest announcements and releases here.
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