dusted: The Dust Brothers and Matt Dike

Everyone already knows how much I love Paul's Boutique, but if you don't, explore the site and I'm sure you'll have a good idea. I love the Beasties but I'm also a big fan of the Dust Brothers and Matt Dike, which is kind of a curse when trying to follow their careers. The Dust Brothers, as in John King and Mike Simpson, aren't nearly as difficult to follow, what with their productions for Beck (Odelay, Guero, etc.) and the soundtrack for Fight Club among other contributions, although I don't get the impression that most of those other works would rank high on their resumes. I read that a lot of artists who hired them for production work treated them like magicians who should be able to work their spell on anyone, which is just not the truth. Take Odelay for instance, there aren't a lot of samples from pre-existing sources on the album, rather they built grooves from hours of recordings they made with Beck and used those as the album's foundation. Then listen to the Rolling Stones Bridges To Babylon and the songs they contributed to, it sounds like their work was included in the final mixes strictly so the Stones couldn't be accused of not being hip, but they haven't been in years so they missed the point of hiring the Brothers Dust in the first place.

Matt Dike's body of work is rather limited. Apart from his works with Michael Ross for Delicious Vinyl (Tone-Loc, Young MC, Jesse Jaymes) and Paul's Boutique (upon which he was credited as a Dust Brother which, accurate or not, was short lived) he provided a handful of remixes, several for Delicious Vinyl artists, and contributed his studio skills to works for Geffen artists (Apollo Smile for example. Remember her? Yeah, practically no one else does either.), Rick Rubin and Henry Rollins' Infinite Zero Records (he apparently mixed their reissue of Trouble Funk's Live double album) and others. For the most part though, Matt disappeared into his own little world of music and privacy. He almost made a comeback in the mid to late nineties as part of a production duo with Peter Reardon named GonsterMacher (which I believe is Yiddish for big shot) that was to release an album and provide several remixes, but the only thing that appeared was a remix for Josh Wink. I so wish he would do some more works or that I could find some of his early mixtapes or unreleased productions because he is so talented and it's such a shame to see so little from someone so sharp. An easy comparison that I'm not the first to make is that Matt Dike is the California hip-hop equivelant of early eighties New York Rick Rubin.

Anyway, after hunting Matt and the Brothers' works, I've collected a number of remixes by the Dusties and a few by Mr. Dike. I'm posting five tracks from each for your listening pleasure, although one of them may haunt you if you listen to it more than once. Also, if you've got any Dust Brothers or Matt Dike productions you'd like to share, let me know because I'd love to get them and, in turn, I'll share them here on the site for all interested.


dusted

01 Filter - Hey Man Nice Shot (Nickel Bag)
Sweet ass remix by the Dust Brothers with horns and unbridaled funkiness! Never thought you could take a song as down as the original version of Hey Man Nice Shot and make it a serious jam!

02 Young MC - I Let 'Em Know (Matt Dike Remix)
Good remix now available with the deluxe reissue of Young MC's Stone Cold Rhymin'. Proof Dike got skills!

03 10¢ - Bubble Bath
Not a remix, but a track from 10¢'s Dust Brothers produced album, Buggin' Out. The album is a bit of a mixed bag with ten tracks clocking in at around thirty minutes, but at least four are classics, and this is one of them. Worth checking out the album which is available on iTunes and Amazon for download, just don't expect brilliance.

04 Fine Young Cannibals - I'm Not Satisfied (Matt Dike Remix)
Not my favorite Matt Dike remix, but not at all bad. Maybe if it had been for She Drives Me Crazy instead.

05 Machines Of Loving Grace - Richest Junkie Still Alive (Cherry Valley Mix)
Machines Of Loving Grace are probably best remembered for their contribution to The Crow soundtrack, which is fair because otherwise they were a decent pseudo-industrial band on Mammoth when that label was being distributed by WEA at the same time as Nine Inch Nails. I'm sure you know who got the promotional push, which is kinda funny since Trent Reznor actually did a remix for them. That's all beside the point though, because this is another rather funky remix in the vein of the Dust Brothers' Hey Man Nice Shot remix. Good shit indeed!

06 Wink - Simple Man (Gonstermacher Longer Remix)
To my knowledge, this is the sole release by Matt and his partner Peter Reardon under the Gonstermacher name, which is not to be confused with the blues-rock band of a similar name. Apparently there is a Gonstermacher remix of the Barenaked Ladies' Alcohol that was supposedly sent to radio, but I can't seem to find any evidence of it's existence apart from this article.

07 Styles Of Beyond - Winnetka Exit (Dust Brothers Remix)

08 The Pharcyde - Ya Mama (Matt Dike Remix)
Already posted this before, but it's such a great remix it deserved a reprisal.

09 EMF - Lies (Dust Brothers 12" Club Mix)

10 Aerosmith - The Other Side (Matt Dike 'Honky Tonk' Version)
This is the mistake. No offense to Mr. Dike, but this remix screams contractual obligation. It's included because I can't find much in the way of Matt Dike remixes so I figured some people would like to check it out, but this is a VERY dull remix that I simply don't enjoy. Again no offense Matt, I'm just not feeling this one like I feel your other stuff.