Artist: PQM
Title: You Are Sleeping (Remixes)
Label: Yoshitoshi Recordings
By: Michael Schreiber | 9 September 2003
Tracklist:

• A1: Dave From Dallas & DJ Redeye Dub
• B1: PQM Meets Luke Chable Vocal Pass
• C1: PQM Meets Luke Chable Dub Pass
• D1: Dave From Dallas & DJ Redeye Vocal Mix

PQM "You Are Sleeping (Remixes)"

Who is PQM?

His real name is Manny, but his alias “Prince Quick Mix” is what he releases his productions/remixers under including “Insane Poem” and another recent notable “Nameless.” He earned this name when first dj’ing and wowing audiences with his turntable “speed” trick of playing two copies of the same record and slamming the break in as fast as possible to create a new rhythm. While he’s known for his progressive house sounds, he originally began with hip-hop and reggae releases in the duo “Nubian Crackers” on Big Beat/Atlantic, Nervous and Slammin’. Notorious B.I.G. featured one of their works for the underlying rhythm to “Ready To Die.” After a request from a label to do a dance track, he found it pretty simple to throw together a house record and get it signed. Over the years, he’s remixed Celine Dion, Sarah McLachlan, Gloria Estefan, done four Yoshitoshi label releases and has found his many collaborations with John Creamer & Stephane K the most fun and impressive.

What is this track “You Are Sleeping” all about?

“You Are Sleeping” was first released June 2002 and featured the Deephead Pass, Thumpin’ Instrumental, Bonus Beats and DJ Tools. It was tribal drumming workout that was minimal in the inclusion of other samples. But what made it a standout was the bizarre spoken word story told at the breakdown by a man’s experience with picking up a prostitute that hustles to earn money for her smack addiction. He goes on to say he thinks he can save her, ends up selling all his possessions and ends up broke, with her responding to that with “no scratch, no snatch” and leaves him. After recounting being homeless, getting beat up, having the prostitute stroll by and tell him he looks horrible and hang tough, he concludes that it was a bum wrap for being a nice sensitive guy. An Asian sounding female then states “…you are sleeping…you do not want to believe.” You might recall that same female from the end of The Smith’s “Rubber Ring,” but it actually originates from a early 70s project by the “Parapsychic Acoustic Research Cooperative” in which they recorded the unexplained strange voice interruptions that seem to occur during phone conversations and radio & tv broadcasts. This sample is part of those recordings in which they believed they were actually from the after-life or from aliens. Very Twisted.

In 2003, PQM decided to revamp it and called in pal, Luke Chable just in time for the Winter Music Conference. It was the buzz of the night at Danny Howell’s “BED” party, where it was initially premiered. In August, Yoshitoshi finally released that mix along with a dub, plus a remix and dub from some creative Southern talent (Dave from Dallas & DJ Redeye), proving that D:Fuse isn’t the only one who needs to be recognized from Texas!

Who is Luke Chable and what does is sound like when PQM and Luke Chable Meet to create a Vocal Pass and Dub?

If you haven’t heard Melbourne native Luke Chable or listened to one of his productions/remixes, then you’ve definitely been sleeping! Only age 22 and he’s already made his mark with over 30+ productions in the past three years on labels including Zero Tolerance, SAW Recordings and Inversus Records.. He also works under a few other guises which include Quest and the collaborations with Ivan Gough & Phil K. as Dark Alley, with Austin Leeds & Martin Accorsi as 21st Century Fux & A.C.L., with Ivan Gough as Digital Mind Control and with Phil K. as Lostep. His works are played by notables including Digweed, Nick Warren and Anthony Pappa, along with being included on numerous global compilations such as Global Underground 22 and MOS’ Summer Annual. James Holden is whom he currently cites as his biggest influence and later this year they’ll collaborate on a track.

PQM & Luke came together in the studio creating a heavy 4/4 pounding beat for the percussive foundation that has underlying filters to it and makes it sound like an echoed air rush you hear when a jet plane takes-off. It’s also at times muted like its volume is pulled in & out of the track. This is complimented by a brisk tribal bongo rolling repetition which sounds like it rises upward to make a very pronounced appearance each time.

A soft brushing cymbal sample floats in bringing with it snippets of the female vocal that linger for a few seconds through by using delayed echoing filters dragging out the words. Most are sustaining of the word “are….” as either the word “you” or “sleeping” combines with it, while the few others are the full statement “you...are…sleeping” time-stretched a bit. The full male dialogue comes in at 2:28 as its pitch is bended up & down and echoed.

This remix is filled with multiple conclusive segmentation breaks. The first is at 2:00 which quickly seems to lower the volume of the percussion so that the deep bass melody is properly introduced. At 2:42 a full dropout to silence seems like a change-up placement to structurally mark the end of the first segment and beginning of the middle, as well as make the listener put complete focus on the words being uttered. At the 4:00 breakdown only the bassline and 4/4 beat are present with the vocal for :28 seconds as the bass reaches a climax after fully transforming into sharp electric buzzing keys. Also at this moment, the “No scratch…no snatch” phrase is time-stretched and crudely digitized. At 5:18, big rushes of air seem to blanket over everything as the vocal finishes up while becoming digitalized again, transforming in a tremendous sweep of cymbal crashes into the female spoken phrase melting into a new segment. Everything that occurred at 4:00 and 5:18, minus any vocals, seem to be used for a final grand one that peaks around 7:26.

One important element that can’t go without mentioning is the synths. They are particularly interesting and thought-provoking due to the fact they are extremely comparable to those in Sasha’s “Wavy Gravy.” Not only exactly in sound, but also in structured flow and echoes. Listen to both the key solo and piano #2 “Wavy Gravy” samples available on djsasha.com and you’ll see how very alike they are in Luke’s remix, especially from 6:00-7:41 where they layer continuously and intertwine to create an airy, lush soundscape that’s concluded when the bass melody reaches a transformation peak of buzzing electric keys. But let it be known that Luke didn’t do this as an easy act of piracy, for he’s mentioned in interviews how much Sasha’s album has inspired him. In fact, he took the samples of “Cloud Cuckoo” and made his own bootleg remix which gained widespread popularity and even had Sasha proclaiming its brilliance. In “You Are Sleeping,” their traits add a nice touch of beauty to the remix’s other more haunting aspects.

The dub is pretty much identical to the mix minus the vocals, except for at the 4:00 breakdown inclusion of a pitched-down “You think you can save her…” excerpt.

Dave From Dallas & DJ Redeye Vocal Pass

The two producers responsible for the second remix and dub in this d/p may not have a widely known roster of productions to date, but don’t skip over them just because you might not recognize their names. If you do that, you’ll miss two tracks that should be included in any peak-hour big room set that needs its energy kicked up an extra notch.

Dave From Dallas’ artistry was previously showcased via the March 2003 release of his creation “Come To Me Baby” as the premiere track on Yoshitoshi’s recent off-shoot label YO! that spotlights big room anthemic stompers. DJ Redeye is one of Dallas, Texas’ renowned and distinguished turntable masters for the past 7+ years while holding residencies at One and Minc and frequently doing various one-off parties. He’s collaborated with fellow Texan, Jason Vasilas on “Already Mine” released June 2003 on Groove Pleasure and “Possession,” slated for release this fall on Dorigen Music UK.

Both are hard-hitting trippy tech grooves featuring the dark haunting vocals of another local talent, Apolesse (the artist formally known as Adrian of the Thin Men).

Their remix is a bit darker and hypnotic in nature. Just like he did in “Come To Me Baby,” Dave takes a digitalized looped riff of a few notes and latches it aside the percussion so it rides along with it the whole way and becomes a focal point of the remix.

Here, it’s a three-part progression of two quirky “waaa” sounding notes going from first to second back to the first that’s delayed for two seconds longer at each completion. Beats are comprised of handclaps, wispy brushed cymbal taps and continuous quick firing-off crackling metal tap loops. Some tambourine sounding pounds are introduced later in the mix. Altogether they put forth something very bouncy while a deep minor three-note upward in scale melody comprises the bass.

A breakdown occurs as a wispy spin-down sample travels by and brings in three pronounced hollow metal slams which linger out in a long echo. They then repeat to bring in another echoing droning sample which plays underneath a pitched-down listless, barely decipherable vocal inclusion of “no scratch…no snatch” before the beats and looped riff come back in immediately. A second breakdown at 6:20 starts with the female vocal repetition which completely drops out around 6:37 to silence which is broken sharply at 6:41 by a :07 second school bell/fire alarm chime into the vocal “You do not want to believe” that’s echoed out into a “wha..what” vocalization. Just after this, an electric buzzing sample flies around and comes to the forefront louder and a bit more piercing. About the last 29 seconds are made up of a muted fast samba percussion which seems to be introduced as everything else that already has existed in the track are faded out.

Dave From Dallas & DJ Redeye Dub Pass

Multiple bell chimes layered over each other start this off as elements that include handclaps, a steady 4/4 beat and repeating one note squelch are brought in. At 2:13, a three-part twangy progression is introduced to precede the squelching note, in which the first note is held longer in duration before a second note plays back to the first. It somewhat sounds like a non-vocal version of the vocal sample “The Search Goes On” in Trancesetter’s classic “The Search.”

Dave & Redeye tweak the vocals in the dub completely by turning a snippet of the female one into something that sounds entirely different as a ghostly wailing chant. It’s very eerie and sounds like its taunting very close somewhere else in the room. At the breakdowns where these are brought forth, the segment is finished by a gushing air sound climax that spills inward into an echoed buzzing swirl effect.

Big Beats…thick bass lines…full on tricked out, overtly manipulated vocals which will wake up bodies on the dance floor to move in all directions – that’s how you sum up this double-pack. And it’s best to skip that nap and head out to your favorite record store soon because only a limited amount were pressed.

What’s PQM up to now?

PQM is currently working on a breaks remix for his upcoming single collaboration with Phil K and Ivan Gough, “Them” on Yoshitoshi and collaborating with producers Gab Oliver, Kristo and Nubreed. All the while he’ll also be a world traveler heading off to Costa Rica, moving to London in January 2004 until March when he returns to the US for the Winter Music Conference and to dj stateside, and then move back to Melbourne, Australia. No matter where he is, you can be sure that he’ll continue to make sure his new work isn’t a carbon copy of a previous release, for this is the creed he lives by and what makes it all meaningful to him.