THE CLASH - ROCK THE CASBAH (a Lorxst Mix)

The Clash - Rock the Casbah (a Lorxst Mix) by celestinocamicia
A true classic.
A clever mix of punk and disco (though not a first for The Clash, who had already fused such genres in songs such as "The Magnificent Seven") made this track a hit, including one of my all-time favourite basslines, which I was quite surprised to find out was played not by Paul Simonon, but by drummer Topper Headon who also performs a groovy little piano part throughout the song.
Strummer, Jones and Simonon later added vocals and guitars to Headon's demo and the rest, as they say, is history.
"Rock the Casbah" has always been not only one of mine, but of my entire family's all-time faves, I remember my parents used to call its Texas-set video "the one with the armadillo in it" :-)
I decided to up the song's dancefloor factor in my mix: the vocal verses and choruses are left basically intact, but in my decidedly 12-inch single vibe I added an extended intro, outro and middle instrumentals showcasing the song's solid drums, percussion and handclap beat as well as, you guessed it, that wicked bassline.
Hope you'll enjoy it, see you soon for the next Lorxst Mix!

A-HA - TAKE ON ME (a Lorxst Mix)

A-Ha - Take On Me (a Lorxst Mix) by celestinocamicia
Righto, here is the first Lorxst Mix, for the unforgettable 1985 hit by Scandinavian popsters A-Ha.
"Take On Me" is a little piece of pop genius, sporting one of the most innovative video clips ever, a keyboard riff to die for, and of course Morten Hacket's multi-octave chorus performance.
I was utterly surprised when I listened to the separate tracks and found out that this seminal synth-pop number also features a guitar track (and an acoustic guitar to boot!) as well as a funky little palm-muted electric guitar bit from Mr Waaktaar-Savoy in the last verse!
But the real gem of this song is the keyboard track: when you listen to it on its own, it has a dreamy, magical quality to it; it features some jaw-dropping spacey pads courtesy of the two most popular digital synthesizers of the time, the PPG Wave and the Yamaha DX7, arranged in an excellent way and, most of all, played LIVE in the studio by Pal Waaktaar-Savoy and Mags Furuholmen, as opposed to the common practice at the time of sequencing keyboards via midi or CV sync, which is what instead happens with the drums and synth bass in this track.
I decided to emphasize these little hidden jewels by building up an extended quasi-acappella intro and some instrumental breaks which bring these moments of magic and genius to the fore.
Enjoy it and stay tuned for more Lorxst Mixes!

WELCOME!!!

Hello everyone!
Allow me to introduce myself: my name is Lorenzo Rutili, but you can call me Lorxst.
I'm 24 years old, I come from Italy, but recently moved to the UK, and I am a guitarist with 12 years of stage and recording experience in rock, pop, blues and funk styles.
I also play some bass, keyboards and percussion and taught myself to use recording and editing software such as Cubase and GarageBand.
Let's cut straight to the chase: what is "A LORXST MIX"?
To explain that, I'm gonna start from something which might apparently have little connection with it all: video games.
You know those music games such as Guitar Hero, Rock Band or Band Hero?
Whilst being a bit skeptical about the games themselves, I am extremely thankful to their developers for going back to the original master tapes of many classic tracks in order to have each of the "instruments" you choose to "play" with your controller.
Many people extract these multitrack masters from said games and put them on the 'net for aspiring remixers and producers' perusal.
Having discovered that, I started scouring the web with the help of my ol' pal Filestube, to get hold of these master tracks and treat my ears to the sound of every single instrument played on each track.
Soon, I discovered I could have great fun with those multitracks, by overdubbing my own guitar, bass or vocal track, or by...playing the producer!
I've always loved the concept of "extended mixes" as you used to get them on the old 12-inch singles of the '70s and '80s, and having learned a lot about how certain mixes are structured by listening to the creations of masters such as Tom Moulton, Martin Rushent, Trevor Horn, Nile Rodgers and many others, I decided to have a go at making my own 12 inch mixes of some of these famous tracks.
How do I do that?
First off, I dump the tracks into GarageBand, having converted them beforehand to a compatible format (most come as .ogg or .flac files), then I just take it away with the old cut'n'paste to form alternate intros, instrumental breakdowns and other additional sections.
I never quantize each project, as we are talking about tracks recorded, in many cases, without a click track, and whose masters were committed to magnetic tape which doesn't always run at an even speed.
So, the entire cutting and pasting is done by examining the waveform view and matching beats on the drum track.
Ideas for the additional sections are not laid out before starting work, the arrangement just pops into my mind as I go along, a full-on experiment.
I never add anything to the mix: no 909 kick drums, no acid synths, all the instrumentation is from the original takes.
I only add some delay or reverb when needed, as well as final mastering compression and EQ.
I decided to open this blog to share these remixes with you, music lovers, musicians, sound engineers, DJ's and other enthusiasts.
That's all for my introduction, stay tuned for the first Lorxst Mix!