Song of the Day

A Certain Ratio’s 1982 single Knife Slits Water gets an updated remix from Andy Meecham, aka The Emperor Machine.

Forty-five years ago A Certain Ratio went into Revolution Studios in Cheadle Hume, Stockport, to record an album called Sextet.

By now they had discarded the dour minimalism of their early work, turning up the elements of funk and soul, and adding a vocalist in Martha Tilson.

One of the highlights was the 12-inch single Knife Slits Water, juxtaposing juddering post-disco funk against Tilson’s diffident vocal.

Now it has been given a very different dancefloor makeover by Andy Meecham, aka The Emperor Machine, remixed from those original session tapes by Andy Meecham.

As it goes on, swirling horns and rattling percussion echo around the dub-like production, underpinned by that ferocious funk rhythm; it really does reinvent the song.

Meecham says his aim was simple: to recapture the sound of 1981 without losing the original raw energy and feel. “The talent, innovation and sheer musicality blew me away.”

The whole Sextet album has been remixed in similar fashion and is about to be released as The Joy Of Sextet – or, on coloured vinyl, as The Joy Of Curacao – alongside a re-release of ACR’s 1986 album Force.

Back in the day the single hit No.1 in the UK Independent chart and, excitingly, CR will be celebrating the anniversary of Sextet and Force with a UK tour in October, playing both albums in full.