Throughout the entire week, I’ve found myself exploring outside my comfort zone to satisfy my insatiable hunger for new sounds, concepts and ideas. I came across this track a while ago and didn’t really pay that much attention to it. However, its raw charm slowly formulated a curious fascination within me and eventually gripped my tastes into obsessive replays. This comes as no surprise though, as the ever brilliant Casey Keyworth has fiercely initiated an onslaught of experimental Avant-Garde productions over the last several years that has banded a growing movement of keen individuals whose sole purpose is continuing the expansion of boundaries within music. His broad tastes extend across a vast horizon of unusual styles and his recent ‘Keyworth‘ productions have consisted of genres such as Progressive House, Deep Progressive and Electronica. Each and every single production contains an elusive, iconic signature that continues to impact young listeners while consequently turning away from the standard EDM construct that has firmly taken root. And what better way to demonstrate his astonishing talents than with his unofficial remix to David Axelrod‘s The Smile.
http://soundcloud.com/keyworth/david-axelrod-the-smile&color=000000&show_comments=false
In order to fully grasp the entire nature of The Smile, It is necessary to include a bit of background on David Axelrod and why his unique ideologies attracted the attention of Keyworth. David was an arranger and producer in the late 1950’s and reached a high point in the mid-60’s as an official producer for Capital Records. His bold usage of advanced productional techniques, (such as Baroque counterpoint, aggressive themes in Psychedelic Art and the environment, and innovative reverb experiments with various instruments and hardware), earned him incredible success throughout his career. He was one of the first artists to perfectly fuse Rock, Jazz and R&B underneath a pioneering movement that was all his own. Thirty years later, his rise to fame transitioned towards a cult phenomenon for the 1990’s Hip Hop generation, with legendary artists such as De La Soul, Dr. Dre, Masta Ace, DJ Premier, Wu-Tang Clan, Fat Joe and DJ Shadow consistently sampling his vibrant, multilateral works. In Keyworth‘s rendition of The Smile, a wonderful reconstruction overtakes the Original with a fresh update while smoothly transitioning its orchestration from authentic instrumentation to artificial soundscapes. In hindsight, nothing is really changed between the two. But that’s the beauty behind this piece. Throughout the track, Keyworth is respectfully paying homage to Axelrod‘s brave defiance of commercial conquest, which is much like Casey’s own path in music.
Keyworth‘s refresh of David Axelrod‘s 1968 single, The Smile, is now available as a free download on Soundcloud, so go click the arrow above and enjoy this incredible masterpiece today.
Keep the music alive. -Q
On Sunrise Sessions, we find tracks that best exemplifies the chilled, low energy vibes of early Sundays to start your day off on the right foot. We want to show you what many are missing and help you discover an entire ecosystem of music that’s waiting to be explored. Not to be held down by genres, we look into music in a variety of styles, including Progressive, Deep House, Ambient and even tracks that aren’t a part of EDM! Singles, remixes, mashups, bootlegs, edits and collaborations will be featured as well as a wide variety of artists ranging from established, well known names to people who purely reside in the underground.
