O Superman + O Superman

Last night I was sifting through the near-infinite musical tomes that is Soulseek looking for tracks to play at Staircase, and I had the idea that it would be cool to start a set with a little bit of "O Superman", Laurie Anderson's weirdo hit from 1982 (#2 on the UK charts.) It was the right tempo for the music I'd be playing, and it would make a nice introduction for the direction I wanted to go. So I set about finding the track on Soulseek, and managed to stumble upon a remix. It wouldn't be very remarkable, I thought, but I wanted to have a listen anyway...

I don't tend to gush about conventional techno, since I think people gush enough already, but this remix is really, truly amazing. It was released around this time last year as a white label, ripped up clubs in the UK, and then had a more public appearance on John Peel's (R.I.P.) music show on BBC Radio 1. The track even made his posthumous top fifty list of 2004.

Although, true to the underground techno spirit, it's mysterious, anonymous, dj-doesn't-write-their-info-on-the-record kind of techno deal, rumour has it the 12" was put together by a fellow named Henry Cullen, founder of the Hydraulix label, also known as D.A.V.E. the Drummer (yes, the one with the bad website , who also makes techno. Apparently he got picked up the Drummer alias when he was in a "festival squat-rock band Back To The Planet." {discogs})

Here is a recording of Henry Cullen's "O Superman" remix from BBC radio. ... The b-side is a less remarkable remix of an Eminem track, but worth a short mp3 sample. Click here to order a vinyl copy of the release.

Here is an Laurie Anderson's beautiful original. You can pick that single up here.