Click here to listen to Nitzer Ebb’s rare “Join In The Chant (Burn 12” Remix)” via The Big Takeover Magazine.
Song Premiere: “Join In The Chant” (Burn!) 12″ Mix by Nitzer Ebb
Nitzer Ebb – Photo Credit: Hazel Hill McCarthy III
Renowned veteran British outfit Nitzer Ebb are considered one of the progenitors of the industrial dance/electronic body music genres. Formed in 1982 by Douglas McCarthy, Bon Harris, and David Gooday, they stormed the music scene with their uncompromising sound and vision.
Nitzer Ebb went on hiatus in 2010, but they have now reunited for a 2018-19 tour that will take them through Europe and the UK, with more live dates to be announced. The act’s go-to graphic designer Simon Granger is also on board and it will be the first time these four founding members have performed live together since 1987.
On October 5th, Pylon Records will be releasing an extensive box set of Nitzer Ebb’s output. Titled Nitzer Ebb 1982 – 2010: The Box Set, it features 10 vinyl LPs, complete with newly remastered versions of all five of their Geffen / Mute albums, plus five LPs of bonus tracks and rarities.
A limited edition color vinyl box set will also be available and include Nitzer Ebb’s self-released debut album Basic Pain Procedure, found as part of this set only via Pylon Record’s webstore.
The Big Takeover is highly excited to host the premiere of the 12” Burn! remix of the Nitzer Ebb classic “Join In The Chant”. This mix is one of the bonus tracks found on the box set.
The original “Join In The Chant” is a memorable number that invades the ears and brain because of its urgent and addictive cycle of blunt, basic lyrics, McCarthy’s forceful shouts, fast-paced electronic percolation, and a clanging industrial beat.
The Burn! remix of the song takes it even more to the club dancefloor by stretching out the interval between McCarthy’s seething exclamations and occasionally switching up the order of the lyrics. Emphasis is placed on the restless, pelting electronic burble, with added clacking percussion increasing the sonic intensity. The mix is both stark and flowing at the same time, and totally riveting.
McCarthy graciously took some time out of his busy schedule to go over the creation of the original track, as well as how the remix developed. Read the interesting details below:
“Lyrically “Join In The Chant” started very differently, but that was before Bon had written the baseline. We used to have weekly rehearsal/writing sessions in Bon’s parents living room every Saturday. So I’m presuming Bon played it to David (Gooday) and myself on one Saturday probably no later 1985. Once I tried to use the very word heavy lyrics we decided that they should be edited down. I’m pretty sure the title was already “Join In The Chant” so we presumably took our cue from that and the rest is history. We worked on the track further at our then producer Phil Harding’s home studio. We really wanted to get away from a straight four-on-the-floor we were prone to using, so messed around with his drum machine. It was recorded at The Greenhouse, a studio in Shoreditch, East London and was part of the group of tracks we played to Daniel Miller when he came to listen to what we had after recently signing the band to Mute Records. Those tracks, including “Join In The Chant,” became our debut album, _THAT TOTAL AGE which was mixed at PWL the notorious “Hit Factory” owned by the ever colorful Pete Waterman. In 1987 it became the third single to be released by us on Mute and we did a remix with our future producer FLOOD at Blackwing Studios in South East London. Blackwing was where many of the early Mute albums were made including Fad Gadget, Depeche Mode and famously Yazoo, whose album Upstairs At Eric’s references Eric Radclife who owned the studio.”_
“Along with FLOOD’s remix, Phil Harding did one too. On the FLOOD version, and indeed the original album version, there were more syncopated drum patterns used. Phil’s remix (later named ‘Burn Remix’) not only used the old four-on-the-floor standby, he sprinkled a variety of relatively standard percussion and rhythms that were very much part of the pop mainstream in the charts at the time, and featured heavily on pretty much all of the Stock, Aitken, and Waterman tracks that came out of PWL. To be honest, we weren’t that keen on the mix initially and it was actually Daniel Miller who persuaded us of its merits, so we relented. It did fairly well and was especially well received when we performed it live. The following year, 1988, saw the emergence of a club scene that was initially named Balearic Beats after the style of DJing in the clubs of southwestern Spain and Ibiza. The scene was renamed ACID HOUSE about the same time as the ‘Burn Remix’ appeared on Balearic Beats Volume 1 and it enjoyed a massive amount of play, even featuring on the ITN News At Ten on a piece about the newly very drug orientated scene in what was being dubbed ‘The Second Summer Of Love.”“
Find out more details about the upcoming Nitzer Ebb 1982-2010: The Box Set below from the official press release:
This career-spanning retrospective box marks the first time that all five of the band’s albums for Geffen/Mute have been collected in one complete box set. The box set features expanded double black vinyl of each album (10 vinyl LPs in all), with several bonus tracks and hard to find 12” mixes – all carefully curated and remastered by Pylon Records.
The original artwork has also been expanded into gatefold sleeves, with embossing and spot UV finish. It also contains a large size booklet with liner notes by the band’s co-founders Douglas McCarthy and Bon Harris, along with unseen photos, flyers and artwork, detailing their entire career in chronological order from Essex to Los Angeles. These albums have been out-of-print since the early ’90s and have never been reissued prior to this.
The actual two-piece box is made of hard board stock, wrapped with leather paper and the UV design is hot foiled stamped. The box also has accommodated extra space inside for their first self-released album, Basic Pain Procedure, from 1983 and their last release, Industrial Complex, from 2010, to complete the collection by the fans, as these titles have been in print in recent years.
There will be a limited colored vinyl edition of the box, which will also include a re-press of the band’s debut album, Basic Pain Procedure, available only from the Pylon Records website for a short period of time. The Industrial Complex vinyl has been in print in the last several years on colored vinyl, and easily attainable on many online and fine record stores around the world.
Nitzer Ebb 1982-2010: The Box Set will be available on October 5th via Pylon Records
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