High Fidelity: D/R/U/G/S' Top 8 Remixes

Manchester’s D/R/U/G/S aka Callum Wright, has subtly seeped into people’s peripheral vision since he first played here at Adventures In The Beetroot Field back at Easter time. Described by Data Transmission in a recent interview as making ‘DIY house,’ his music tends to mix heady melodic highs with total dancefloor stomp. Appearing around the country at some of the bigger festivals after putting out his debut release, ‘Love Lust,’ through Moshi Moshi, we wanted to get a deeper insight into a little something that makes the man tick ahead of his Room Two slot this Friday. In between tour stops he invited us to share in his passion for some rare (and some not so rare) records. As Wright himself puts it: “more than anything it was remixes that got me into dance music, I was mostly listening to ambient and post rock stuff a couple of years ago and it was only upon hearing a few select remixes that my ears where turned. “ 1. Nathan Fake - The Sky Was Pink (James Holden Remix) This was the first dance track I ever heard that made me want to be a producer; it's just the most epic thing. Before this my perception of dance music consisted of Swedish House Mafia and scary 90's house videos on MTV when I was a kid. I was always into ambient music so the way the soundscapes painted by Nathan Fake are cut and pasted around the insanely intricate drums blew me away. Really inspirational stuff. 2. The MFA - The Difference It Makes (Superpitcher Remix) Another influential track for me, I remember reading an interview with some band going on about this, can't remember who. Everything associated with Kompakt is generally amazing, probably my favorite label, so consistent. 3. Massive Attack - Paradise Circus (Gui Boratto Dub) Gui needs to play over here! Promoters get on it… Definitely my top producer around at the moment. There's two versions of this remix kicking about, I prefer the dub version as it’s a slightly different sound to what he traditionally goes for. When you get a vocal as good as this to work with it must be difficult not to make something so good. 4. Fatboy Slim - Praise You (Paul Kalkbrenner Remix) This is unreleased for some reason, but it totally proves that mainstream tracks can be remixed into something amazing. He was the best thing I saw at Bestival even though I think he was just playing iTunes. People got emotional. I love the simplicity of his drum programming. 5. Panash - Jack 2 Jack (Jesper Dahlback Remix) One of my favourite tracks to DJ with; super flexible. 6. Marit Bergman - No Party (The Field Remix) This one is very hard to find! Which is a shame as this is excellent. I've always felt that The Field was underrated, especially by DJs, I can’t recall ever hearing a track of his played out before. 7. Trentemoller - Always Something Better (Trentemoller Remix) Remixing your own tracks is something I kind of do in the first instance of building one so I like this idea. 8. Crystal Fighters - Follow (D/R/U/G/S Remix) My first remix! It’s always such an honor to be asked to do these things, especially when you're already a fan of the artist. One of the very first things I ever did, it’s fun to look back even though it was only a year ago. Catch D/R/U/G/S alongside Popof, Filthy Dukes and Stopmakingme in Room Two on Friday.