Zed Bias’s Best-Ever Remixes

Selecting some outstanding examples of the art…

Zed Bias is a name that means so much to dance music – particularly the domestic garage scene, within which it is probably fair to call him a legend.

Acting as both a producer and DJ – and a remixer of high regard – Zed, aka Dave Jones (aka Maddslinky, aka Phuturistix), has been ‘at it’ since the mid-‘90s, and smashed the mainstream a new one with his single ‘Neighbourhood’ in 2000. Since then: no looking back, no resting on laurels, forever pushing forward.

Zed’s new LP, ‘Boss’, is freshly released on the Swamp 81 label. Check out one of its tracks, ‘Boss Skank’, below – and after that, Zed provides insights on his favourite, most creative-cum-radical remixes out there.

And yes, we asked him to choose one of his own.

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Sounds Of Blackness – ‘The Pressure’ (Frankie Knuckles Classic Mix)

“This remix has wowed me for over 20 years, and I still play it now. Mr Knuckles took the original from a fairly poppy gospel song, to a spiritual club anthem.”

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MJ Cole – ‘Sincere’ (Wookie Dub) 

“I heard this again on radio yesterday, and to be honest I forgot just how good this one was. So much more rugged than the original. And that bassline. Just goes to show how diverse the sounds within UKG were back in the day.”

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Azzido Da Bass – ‘Dooms Night’ (Timo Maas Remix)

“What Timo did with this old, second-rate electro track was create a classic sound of his own. It stands up today, production-wise. I still play it regularly and it never fails to smash it.”

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ATFC Presents One Phat Deeva – ‘Bad Habit’ / ‘Veal’ (Loefah Remix/Version)

“More of a recreation than a remix, this one is the perfect set opener: maximum atmospherics and minimal sounds, and not even a beat in sight, just with Loe’s trademark bass rumbles. Truly sick.”

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Raphael Saadiq – ‘Skyy, Can You Feel Me’ (Yam Who? Rework)

“This rework kept all the beauty of the original version, which itself was an instant classic. Yam built up a DJ-friendly but incredibly long intro, and I remember at the time it was out that DJs would feel no worry at all about playing the whole thing, start to finish. One of my all-time fave remixes.”

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Quentin Harris – ‘Beautiful Black Women Come From Brooklyn’ (Zed Bias Remix)

“I loved this song when I first listened to the LP, and when I met Quentin’s manager I bugged him to get me the a cappella so I could remix it. I took it from a low-slung R&B production to a soulful house remix. Quentin never liked it – no accounting for taste! – but over the last few years it seems that the public has spoken. It’s my most-requested remix in my sets, and I have many requests to release it.”

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Find Zed Bias online: Twitter / Facebook

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