As well as the remix I have done for the track Tzarina as Cellsonik, another band called Shadow Box have also reworked this track and it appears on their CD, ninetyeight A.
You can download their version here: Shadow Box – Tzarina
(MP3 192Kbps – 6.4 MB)
other music
This page is dedicated to other musical projects that I've been involved with, somewhere to put music I've worked on with other musicians really. Many people have shown an interest in some of this music so I thought it should be available for everyone to hear.
Chapter 9 - Tonight Matthew We're Going To Be:
This covers album project was put together by Kev Butler, along with a number of other talented musician friends working on each track with him. Most of the 14 tracks were recorded in 2008 and cover a range of different musical styles.
I worked on 2 tracks on this album and also mastered the CD.
The first track is Faith Healer by The Sensational Alex Harvey Band; this is a cover of the version from their 1975 'Live' album. Kev played lead and bass guitar, Dave Sharpe provided vocals and I did the drums, keyboards, programming & mixing.
The second track is When Things Explode by Unkle from their War Stories album. Kev played guitars, Paul Hine was on vocals and I added the synths, beats, programming & mixing.
You can download the 2 tracks below. All MP3's are unrestricted MP3 format (192Kbps).
| Track no. | Track | Time | MP3 | File size |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Faith Healer | 5:42 |  |
8 MB |
| 14 | When Things Explode | 5:33 | |
7.8 MB |
If you are a fan of either The Sensational Alex Harvey Band or Unkle and have listened to these cover versions, I would love to hear what you think of them, please get in touch.
Tzars Of Fashion - Freeze Frame
This CD project was a collaboration between myself and Kev Butler. The idea was for me to handle the techno side of things and Kev to provide the initial song ideas and live input, such as vocals, live guitars and bass. It worked very well considering the equipment I had at the time. This was before I had a computer for audio recording and most of the live tracks were recorded onto a Akai S3200 sampler. I learnt a hell of a lot whilst working on this project, especially about digital audio and what you can do with it.
All the tracks were written & recorded between 1996-97 at Sound Cell Studios. Other musicians that appeared on the CD were vocalist Tony Dolan (tracks 3 and 7) and Paul Robinson adding additional keyboard input.
I suppose if I were pushed into describing the type of music on this CD it would be something along the lines of indie/industrial/techno crossover, although some may disagree, I never know where the boundaries of some musical genres start and end. I don’t like trying to put music in 'boxes', it's crap, so are 'boundaries'...
You can download the album below, either individual tracks or the whole album as a ZIP file. All MP3's are unrestricted MP3 format (192Kbps).
| Track no. | Track | Time | MP3 | File size |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | This Is This | 3:20 | |
4.6 MB |
| 2 | Tzarina | 4:35 | |
6.3 MB |
| 3 | Tomorrow People | 5:32 | |
7.7 MB |
| 4 | Burn | 7:58 | |
11 MB |
| 5 | Angel’s Trumpets, Devil’s Trombones | 6:52 | |
9.5 MB |
| 6 | Freeze Frame | 3:37 | |
5 MB |
| 7 | Begin Again | 6:28 | |
8.9 MB |
| 8 | The Dark: a) The Madness In Dreams b) Vortex | 5:46 | |
8 MB |
| 9 | The Dark: c) Dance The Dance | 3:52 | |
5.4 MB |
| 10 | Leper’s End | 5:53 | |
8.1 MB |
| Total running time: | 53:53 | |||
| Download the complete album as a ZIP file >> | |
73.7 MB | ||
Here are a couple of reviews that were received for the Tzars Of Fashion - Freeze Frame CD:
The Westmorland Gazette - Off The Record - July 3rd, 1998 (local newspaper)
Tzars is a bit like Tears For Fears with attitude. The opening track, called This Is This, is particularly good (the spoken intro grabs the attention) and the song Tzarina has some delicately done keyboards (I'd pick out this song as the single). 
The Mix magazine - A & R dept - Issue 58, February 1999
Cool. A good strong dose of hard rock tinged with techno to move things along. Tzars Of Fashion (great name by the way, chaps) use shedloads of studio equipment, and come out smiling with the livest sound it's possible to get without a full band being present. Kevin, one half of the duo, plays in guitar-based band Spinbox, so this may explain the apparent ease with which they got the stuff down onto his trusty Akai S3200. 'Tomorrow People' is pure Urban Dance Squad; fast and furious with manic singing/raps. The mood here encompasses many namechecks, from Trent Reznor and Prodigy to Led Zep and Jethro Tull, and given the array of influences, it's a wonder that Tzars Of Fashion have managed to put together such a seamlessly coherent 54 minutes' worth of material. 'Burn' contains a judicious sample of Madonna's 'Erotica', and, in fact it would stand up brilliantly as an off-the-wall remix of the megastar's track. The only reservation here is the squeaky clean vocal nuances of Kevin. Stuff like this really cries out for a raucous edge, which he can't quite muster. More booze and fags needed, perhaps? That aside, there are some truly groundbreaking ideas going on, and with a little more honing they deserve to find a comfortable niche in the ever-growing fraternity of dance/rock crossover.
Verdict: Fashionably cool. 8/10
Both Kev and I were very surprised to see this review, especially when you consider all the demo tapes/CD's the magazine must get sent. In this issue there was a demo tape/CD of the month as usual and the next 'ratings' down were 8 out of 10. There were 2 demos at this rating and ours was one of them.
I'd just like to point out that the reviewer got the Madonna sample track wrong, it was in fact from 'Justify My Love', the one that uses the Public Enemy breakbeat.
And while we're on the subject of setting the record straight, the review implies the Akai S3200 belongs to Kev... 4 bloody grand that thing cost me and I don't own it apparently!