Saturday Deluxe / 4 June 2016
New remix of A Design For Life
As part of the Everything Must Go 20th anniversary Manic Street Preachers have commissioned a new remix of their classic single A Design For Life. The remix is by David Wrench and you can listen to it on SoundCloud (see below). Let us know what you think!
Update: this remix is featured on the “Together Stronger” Euro 2016 CD single!
Peter Gabriel vinyl pricing drop
When Peter Gabriel‘s So, Us and Up were announced as half-speed 45RPM vinyl remasters the prices were outrageously high everywhere, except for the PG store. Thankfully, as expected, these are now much lower and the triple albums are around the £25 mark.
Read more about Peter Gabriel vinyl reissues here.
ChartWatch
ABC‘s The Lexicon of Love II doesn’t manage to top either the proper album chart (number five) or the physical chart (number three) but this can still be regarded as a triumph and let’s face it if this album hadn’t been called The Lexicon of Love then would it have performed anywhere near as well as this? Seems unlikely.
Elsewhere, Parlophone’s reissue of David Bowie‘s CHANGESONEBOWIE drops like a stone from number 17 to 100. I guess this just shows that most fans that wanted this pre-ordered it, and beyond them, the appeal is ‘more selective’ to borrow from Spinal Tap.
The Very Best Of Prince seems to have taken up residency in the number five position. Things have calmed down a little bit and now only four Prince albums are in the top 100 including Purple Rain and Sign ‘O’ The Times. That will probably change soon as the vinyl reissues kick in this July, starting with Around The World In A Day.
yeah, sat here with the new Design remix on the CD single, a CD single which the band has taken one of Nicky’s shiny silver pens to. the remix does the job, and makes up for the fact that i’ve bought a novelty Christmas style sounding song in cheering on a team that i wish well at Euro 16, but not better than England :)
£3.99 for a CD single with two tracks is really taking the piss.
Ok so where is this Design For Life remix available physically?
Nowhere.
Unless I’m mistaken, it’s on the new Manics cd single for the Euros ?
Is it? Ah, okay, wasn’t aware of that. Thanks.
The David Wrench remix of “A Design For Life” is also available on the cover-mounted “Modern Classics” CD of issue 361 of Q magazine (dubbed the “30th Birthday Collector’s Issue”). The track listing for this CD on pages 6-7 of the magazine incorrectly refers to the track as the Stealth Sonic Orchestra Remix.
I hope the Prince pricing calms down – my local record store (Sanity franchise) have some of his albums from AUD$15-$25, which is ridiculous considering some of them are around 30 years old! I’d be willing to pay those prices for deluxe re-issues/re-masters, but not bog-standard emergency cash-in re-presses.
Thankfully, I already have most of them, but I had been hoping to replace a few tired old copies with shiny new ones.
Sorry, but have to throw in a sour note on ABC. Don’t love it. Besides the two songs in the middle (Singer Not The Song and The Song Of The Seasick Sailor), which are very excellent indeed, it just feels uninspired.
Huge fan of Anne Dudley. Moderately big fan of Martin Fry. Just not digging this record.
It shows how opinions differ as i feel Singer Not The Song is by far the worst song on the album.
Indeed. To me The Flames Of Desire sounds like pantomime ABC, and Viva Love, while not quite as thin, still sounds like an approximation.
Their contribution to Fly (Living Inside My Heart) felt very honest and solid to me, and I got my hopes up based on it. LOLII ended up being quite a letdown – I wasn’t moved by any of it.
Vive la difference.
The Prince’s album here in France are in a pricing drop operation (7€ -1 , 15€ if you buy 3) : the very best of, Purple Rain, Parade, Sign of the times, 1999…
Love a good remix, and that Manics one is top draw.
Well done ABC, it must have been tempting to release a II or indeed III version of an album (I’m looking at you Mike Oldfield).
Actually, isn’t about time we got a Lipstick Traces Vol.2?
I think the new ABC album fully deserves it’s place in the UK album chart top 5, It is a fantastic album with just 1 weak track “I Believe In Love”. The first 4 tracks are as good as any of ABC’s songs, really pleased for Martin Fry, that he has had success with this album.
Agree completely, delighted for Martin Fry and a very good album
totally agree about ABC. I think that title lured a lot of people who probably would not have bought it. but that’s good cause they get to hear songs they for sure would have missed out
on. and get to realise ABC are still very good. always were. but the casual listener might not
have kept up. I like the album a lot. though no out and out *epic* pop songs like the first album,
the feel and tone of the album totally works. I see it as a continuation of the first album’s mood.
According to Music Week, the ABC album sold just over 10,000 copies, which is more than 4 times the TOTAL sales to date of their last album.
love the remix.
during the interval at the recent EMG london gigs
the Stealth Sonic Orchestra mix of it was played, whilst at the back
the 3 screens had the following text:
However vast the darkness we must supply our own light.
really effective.
It would have worked better with a guest vocal from Aled Jones.
any word on the David Wrench mix going on a physical format?
It’s on the Together Stronger (C’Mon Wales) CD single. Well chuffed to have a CD single again even if it is a football anthem.
I believe the David Wrench remix is also available on the cover-mounted “Modern Classics” CD on the latest issue of Q Magazine.
It’s the old ‘Stealth Sonic Orchestra’ mix that’s on the Q cd.
I like it a lot. It allows the vocals to be up front a lot more, which highlights how great the lyrics are. Some of the original instrumentation is allowed in at various stages, especially the strings, which is nice.
I am not always the biggest fan of remixes but personally I think the David Wrench mix nails it and gives a great new take on a truly classic tune…