Show an artist some love - Tweakerray
I’m talking about the musician Tweakerray.
This is a teaser for his latest album, it’s not released yet, but I have already listened to it (quite a few times and it’s great)
Brilliant, in fact, and I’m not saying this lightly.
I’m not one to promote needlessly, the odd share here or there when I think appropriate, but actually go out on a limb and put time and effort in endorsing something – I do this very rarely. I do believe in effort being recognised, and Tweakerray deserves this attention.
I’ve been following Tweakerray for about a decade now. I stumbled across him almost by accident. Just after my divorce, I was heavily into NIN at the time (still am, and like a fool rushed out and bought the ‘Not the actual events’ bag of dust, much to my disappointment. When it said physical component, I thought it meant media, not soot, anyway I digress…) I was doing a lot of travelling backwards and forwards on the motorway and I had a lot of driving time. I filled it by listening to NIN best of podcast. At there were a number of standout tracks that I listened to, again and again, and again.
These were by remix artist – Tweakerray.
These tracks weren’t just good, they were outstanding. In some cases, better than the originals. You can listen to them here (http://www.tweakerray.de/nineinchnailsremixes.html) If you want me to curate them, I’d be glad to. My advice is that if you like a NIN song, check to see if Tweakerray has done a remix, and listen to that first. The ‘How to Destroy Angels’ remixes are also very good (as is the Gary Numan track)
So, I started to check around and see what else Tweakerray had worked on. I bought a couple of albums that he’d worked on for a FiXT remix competition. Over the years, he’s produced some great pieces. Each one I bought, expounded the virtues to family and friends, and that was that.
My brother bought me a signed copy of the Collector 2 (thanks Garry!) so, it’s safe to say that I was a fan.
In 2014 Tweakerray released a soundtrack (Wie Ein Schwarzer Spiegel)
I’d listened to it a couple of times, but there was a really good track that I liked. Tweakerray was online at the time, and we were bouncing a couple of comments backwards and forwards, and I mentioned that I really liked this track, but the first part was really good, and it would be great if it could be extended. Ten minutes later and he’d sent me a link to track 24 (Shooting in the Rain – Extended remix, check out the link below)
Over the following years, there have a number of EPs, each of getting better than the last
Here are some of his work
He also released an experimental track called "Headless" that is a NIN remix of a very popular, very recognisable song - where, if you purchase it, (it's instrumental), you get the vocal version as well.
Fantastic.
Listen to it and see if you can work out which song it is.
So, I’m moved to write this post, Tweakerray could do with a profile bump, something to counter Facebook clamping down on audience (unless you pay), a generation of people who think the world owes them something, and God-forbid that you have to pay for creative content that you enjoy. Also in an age where corporate backers won’t touch anything that hasn’t been tried and tested, and deemed risk free, just getting the recognition for real talent is incredibly hard. You just have to look at the film industry, or books for that matter. Why should you pay for something entertaining, when there's reality TV or cat videos? I say that with complete sarcasm, because before long, that's all that will be left.
If you have a little time, I encourage you to listen to some of his tracks, purchase the one, if you can, or two, depending upon your taste, there's a vast amount of work there. I’ve tried and tested them, and can honestly say they're great. It's music to live by; while writing, driving, relaxing, playing FPS – whatever.
So, please show an artist some love, buy a track, you won’t regret it.
P.S. if there is any love left after you’ve read this post, bought a couple of tracks, and you’re still feeling flush, there’s always my collection of short stories.
Thanks for your patience and time.
As always
John Winter
