Word of new ‘Stakker Humanoid’ remixes appeared in August 2007, with an announcement on FSOLDigital of a forthcoming album featuring new mixes by a large number of artists. Earlier in the year, Jumpin’ & Pumpin’ had put out a 12″ with remixes from earlier issues, and to precede Your Body Robotic, four of the more club-friendly mixes of the new batch were released as a 12″.
When the tracklist was first announced, there was a surprise, as it appeared that the album was to feature remixes of a broad range of Humanoid tracks. However, initial listens revealed that despite titles like ‘3AM and Feelin OK’ and ‘Deep Rooted’, the majority of the tracks here are indeed remixes of ‘Stakker Humanoid’. Oddly, the lead promotional track, Feadz’s mix, seems to be as much a mix of ‘E Prom Contact‘ as ‘Humanoid’. A lot of the tracks fall into the electro-house category, the big thing in dance music in 2007, with a few more experimental, occasionally dubstep-leaning mixes scattered throughout, the latter largely by Brian’s friends, family, and friends-of-friends, including a track involving his brother Alan, and his first collaboration with ex-Propellerhead Will White.
Among the remixes are a number of other Humanoid pieces, including the first official release of the 1988 John Peel Session, older tracks ‘Cry Baby’ and ‘Negative Electron’ (although not ‘Your Body Robotic‘), a pair of remixes from 2001, and, of course, the original version of the track (amusingly buried halfway through the second disc). A double LP edition was released alongside the 2CD set, featuring 11 of the 16 new remixes along with ‘Cry Baby’; for the digital release, a separate and somewhat different compilation, Your Body Sub-Atomic, was released. The full 24 track version eventually received a digital release in 2013, and Your Body Sub-Atomic has never made it to Bandcamp.
The front cover features Brian’s daughter Bow, her face distorted under various filters; indeed, the whole artwork is on the lo-fi side, matching the aesthetic of many FSOLDigital releases. The cover pleasingly re-appropriates the text from the original cover, as well as featuring the album’s title along the side. The booklet features further heavily glitched lo-fi photographs and studio images, alongside pinhole.tv, glitch.tv and stakker.tv logos (the latter never appeared as a website), and the EBV and FSOLDigital exploding head logos. Artwork is credited to pinhole.tv and glitch.tv. The album was promoted online with a selection of previews via the then-still-novelty YouTube, visuals credited to glitch.tv.
One’s enjoyment of the album depends entirely on having an interest in these particular types of dance music: the electro house tracks, in particular, feel very of their time. I do recall enjoying them in 2007, as I was reluctantly beginning to admit that I did like some music in the style, but in hindsight some of them sound a bit naff already. There’s surprisingly little acid on the album, considering the source material. The more experimental versions are generally fairly successful, and the 2CD edition is worth owning for the Peel Session alone. In terms of historical notes, the album is distinctive for being the first time a physical release was distributed on FSOLDigital ahead of its major release, appearing on the 19th November update before the 3rd December distribution date.
I’ll leave the remix credits to the appropriate pages to stop this entry turning into a novel.
Release date: 11th November 2007.
Tracklist
CD (CD TOT 56)
1.1. Stakker Humanoid (Feadz 2007 Mix)
1.2. 3AM and Feelin Ok (King Roc Mix)
1.3. Body Electric (Graham Massey Mix)
1.4. Stakker Humanoid (Punx Soundcheck Mix)
1.5. Static Motioned (Cane Mix)
1.6. Orbital (Feeling) (Radio 1 Live Version)
1.7. Deep Rooted (King Roc Mix)
1.8. XO Thermic (Pirate Robot Midget Mix)
1.9. Negative Electron (Humanoid Mix)
1.10. Slam (Radio 1 Live Version)
1.11. Fractured (Legiac Mix)
2.1. Stakker Humanoid (James Talk Mix)
2.2. Human Droid (Mystery Artist Mix)
2.3. Cry Baby (Humanoid Mix)
2.4. Broken Machines (DXU:555 Mix)
2.5. Electron Liquid (Tx Tracker Mix)
2.6. Spinners (Will Propz Mix)
2.7. Stakker Humanoid (12″ Original)
2.8. Hu-man-oid (Sub Osc Mix)
2.9. Stakker Humanoid (Graham Massey Mix)
2.10. Jet Stream Tokyo (Radio 1 Live Version)
2.11. Stakker Humanoid (Plump DJs Re-Touch)
2.12. Stakker Humanoid (Krafty’s Radio Kut)
2.13. Stakker 300 (Stakker Humanoid) (Scan X Mix)
2LP (LP TOT 56)
A1. Stakker Humanoid (Feadz 2007 Mix)
A2. 3AM and Feelin OK (King Roc Mix)
A3. Body Electric (Graham Massey Mix)
B1. Stakker Humanoid (Punx Soundcheck Mix)
B2. XO Thermic (Pirate Robot Midget Mix)
B3. Fractured (Legiac Mix)
C1. Stakker Humanoid (James Talk Mix)
C2. Static Motioned (Cane Mix)
C3. Stakker Humanoid (Graham Massey Mix)
D1. Stakker 300 (Stakker Humanoid) (Scan X Mix)
D2. Cry Baby (Humanoid Mix)
D3. Deep Rooted (King Roc Mix)
Credits
All tracks written by Brian Dougans.
‘Radio 1 Live Versions’ recorded for the John Peel Show on BBC Radio 1, produced by Mike Robinson, first broadcast on 28th November 1988, licensed courtesy of BBC Worldwide.
‘Negative Electron (Humanoid Mix)’ recorded and mixed by Humanoid at 726 Manchester 1988 (Eurotechno).
‘Cry Baby (Humanoid Mix)’ and ‘Stakker Humanoid (12″ Original)’ recorded and mixed by Humanoid – engineered + produced by John Laker (London 1988).
Artwork and design – www,pinhole.tv.
Images – http://www.glitch.tv.
Front cover – Youme Bow Bartlett.
Published by Westbury Music Publishing Ltd.
Fractional Difference 