Tuesday, August 05, 2003
Bootlegs ain’t dead, they’re just being co-opted. Richard X has a record deal, with a scorching single (“Finest Things,” vs. Kelis) out now in the U.K. and an album shortly to follow. Freelance Hellraiser, he of the stand-up-and-take-notice “A Stroke of Genius” bootie (you remember, the Christina vs. Strokes one), has come completely full circle and has a remix on Xtina’s last European single, “Fighter” (available for download over at base58). Go Home Productions announced this week that he’s posted his last goodies online, and will henceforth be releasing his work through traditional channels (and promises some collaborations, et cetera). But before all of them, before the crazy-mad-funky bulletin boards, before the plethora of DIY mashups, before the Eminem boots, there were Stuntmasterz.
Stuntmasterz were, to the best of my knowledge, a pair of British blokes who’d press up whitelabels of their own creation, causing a stir amongst the better DJs in the know. The first track of theirs I became acquainted with came in the midst of the Stardust explosion. Now, Stardust may have only been a one-off, but what a one-off. “Music Sounds Better With You” is my favorite song, ever, and sounds as fresh today as it did a half-decade ago upon its release (it was, in fact, exactly five years ago that it was hotting up to a fever pitch in the U.K., just weeks away from crashing into the singles chart at #2). “Music” is a ridiculously, brilliantly, malleable track, suitable for mashing up with – well, seemingly everything. Stuntmasterz did the do with Madonna’s “Holiday,” creating “Music Sounds Better On Holiday,” and to my ears at least, birthed an entire cottage industry in the process.
The first time I heard “Music Sounds Better On Holiday,” I didn’t know it was a bootleg. I was in a club, dancing (or flailing, depending on who you ask) away madly, the DJ pumping some primo house blend, when the track started snaking its way into the mix. I thought he was just mixing the Madonna and Stardust songs, live on the decks. I was elated. Now, this was what I go dancing for, to hear magic pouring out of the speakers. The track started, all looped Madonna gulping “come on,” and then that guitar riff (sampled from Chaka Khan’s “Fate,” in case you were wondering) made its appearance, and I nearly wet myself with joy. This is music, I thought. This is pure pleasure incarnate.
Probably some 4-6 months later, I was reading my then-bible, the freshly defunct Muzik - at the time on the cutting edge of club culture and dance and electronic musics, not just in the U.K. but worldwide – and saw “Music Sounds Better On Holiday” mentioned. Was this that marvel I heard (and had heard two or three times since) in da club? I felt fairly certain it was, and contacted my favorite record store, inquiring as to its whereabouts. Nothing in stock, they told me, but a whitelabel could likely be rustled up, but it might be $20 for a one-sided, one-tracked 12”, maybe more. I passed. Meanwhile, Stuntmasterz continued to haunt my dreams.
Fast-forward to autumn, 2001. I’d just started seeing someone new, and he happened to have a cable modem. He introduced me to the joys of file-sharing, and it was all downhill (for me, that is; the relationship ended quite amicably) from there. One of the first songs I searched for, and found (back in the days of Morpheus), was of course “Music Sounds Better On Holiday.” It took me back, and takes me there everytime. But there was more – more Stardust boots, mixing “Music” with Aramand van Helden’s “U Don’t Know Me” and Modjo’s “Lady.” And there was more from Stuntmasterz, at least one more, generally titled “The Ladyboy Is Mine.” This golden nugget pairs Brandy and Monica’s globe-conquering catfight-on-wax, “The Boy Is Mine,” with (yup) Modjo’s French disco bonbon “Lady” to superb effect. And then… nothing.
Are Stuntmasterz still out there, somewhere on the edges of the underground, spinning out webs of delicious, state-of-their-art bootlegs? Or did the hysteria around the scene push them into retirement? Anyone know? If nothing else, we’ll always have “Music Sounds Better On Holiday” - and that's enough.
Stuntmasterz were, to the best of my knowledge, a pair of British blokes who’d press up whitelabels of their own creation, causing a stir amongst the better DJs in the know. The first track of theirs I became acquainted with came in the midst of the Stardust explosion. Now, Stardust may have only been a one-off, but what a one-off. “Music Sounds Better With You” is my favorite song, ever, and sounds as fresh today as it did a half-decade ago upon its release (it was, in fact, exactly five years ago that it was hotting up to a fever pitch in the U.K., just weeks away from crashing into the singles chart at #2). “Music” is a ridiculously, brilliantly, malleable track, suitable for mashing up with – well, seemingly everything. Stuntmasterz did the do with Madonna’s “Holiday,” creating “Music Sounds Better On Holiday,” and to my ears at least, birthed an entire cottage industry in the process.
The first time I heard “Music Sounds Better On Holiday,” I didn’t know it was a bootleg. I was in a club, dancing (or flailing, depending on who you ask) away madly, the DJ pumping some primo house blend, when the track started snaking its way into the mix. I thought he was just mixing the Madonna and Stardust songs, live on the decks. I was elated. Now, this was what I go dancing for, to hear magic pouring out of the speakers. The track started, all looped Madonna gulping “come on,” and then that guitar riff (sampled from Chaka Khan’s “Fate,” in case you were wondering) made its appearance, and I nearly wet myself with joy. This is music, I thought. This is pure pleasure incarnate.
Probably some 4-6 months later, I was reading my then-bible, the freshly defunct Muzik - at the time on the cutting edge of club culture and dance and electronic musics, not just in the U.K. but worldwide – and saw “Music Sounds Better On Holiday” mentioned. Was this that marvel I heard (and had heard two or three times since) in da club? I felt fairly certain it was, and contacted my favorite record store, inquiring as to its whereabouts. Nothing in stock, they told me, but a whitelabel could likely be rustled up, but it might be $20 for a one-sided, one-tracked 12”, maybe more. I passed. Meanwhile, Stuntmasterz continued to haunt my dreams.
Fast-forward to autumn, 2001. I’d just started seeing someone new, and he happened to have a cable modem. He introduced me to the joys of file-sharing, and it was all downhill (for me, that is; the relationship ended quite amicably) from there. One of the first songs I searched for, and found (back in the days of Morpheus), was of course “Music Sounds Better On Holiday.” It took me back, and takes me there everytime. But there was more – more Stardust boots, mixing “Music” with Aramand van Helden’s “U Don’t Know Me” and Modjo’s “Lady.” And there was more from Stuntmasterz, at least one more, generally titled “The Ladyboy Is Mine.” This golden nugget pairs Brandy and Monica’s globe-conquering catfight-on-wax, “The Boy Is Mine,” with (yup) Modjo’s French disco bonbon “Lady” to superb effect. And then… nothing.
Are Stuntmasterz still out there, somewhere on the edges of the underground, spinning out webs of delicious, state-of-their-art bootlegs? Or did the hysteria around the scene push them into retirement? Anyone know? If nothing else, we’ll always have “Music Sounds Better On Holiday” - and that's enough.
# posted by Thomas : 1:56 PM
