Macca Has Never Looked Better!
As you know, I’m a huge Paul McCartney fan – and “Macca” doesn’t get nearly enough credit for all of the experimental music projects he has taken on over the years.
The History Of “The Fireman”!
It was only recently that one of McCartney’s more experimental efforts became known. He created a group called “The Fireman” as an outlet for the electronic music experiments created by McCartney and the artist Youth (Martin Glover).
In 1993, the duo of McCartney and Youth released its first album, “Strawberries Oceans Ships Forest”, and followed that with “Rushes” in 1998. The duo’s most recent album was “Electric Arguments.”
The band had remained anonymous until 2008, then Macca admitted that he was behind the project, and began to fold some of the songs into his concerts…here is the song “Sing The Changes…”
Macca’s A “Twin Freak!”
Beyond The Fireman, McCartney also teamed up for another fascinating musical project.
“Twin Freaks” is a collaborative album he made with DJ and producer Freelance Hellraiser (Roy Kerry). The album was released in 2005.
It’s an electronic mashup of some of Macca’s best known music, along with some obscure album cuts!
Here is their brilliant re-mix of Macca’s classic “Live And Le Die”:
Here is how YouTube describes this work: “McCartney and Kerry created the double vinyl album as a continuation of Kerry’s collaboration with McCartney from a 2004 tour. The mash-up is an extreme remix in which two disparate musical and recording experiences are combined in a manner that goes beyond remix to literally merge or mash-up the two songs so that they emerge as something unique.”
Kerry performed a half hour set prior to McCartney’s 2004 gigs in which the Kerry remixed various McCartney tracks into unusual and often unrecognizable forms. “Twin Freaks” was the outgrowth of these manipulations.
And here is the re-mixed version of “Temporary Secretary:”
All McCartney tracks are strongly revised and reinvented in the process. Who is responsible for what aspects of the works or their reinvention is unclear. Parts of basic McCartney tracks are vigorously reworked as well.
The album was produced as a double vinyl release and a digital download in Windows Media Audio (WMA) format. The cover and interior artwork features paintings that are similar in tone and style to artist Willem de Kooning. McCartney knew the late artist, with whom he shared a similar painting style.
Give it a listen, and congrats to Paul McCartney for continuing to stretch his musical boundaries!
And of course, his latest solo CD is terrific as well – here is that story:
http://johnrieber.com/2013/10/30/paul-mccartneys-terrific-new-music-great-new-cd/
Enjoy your weekend with some classic Macca!
