Artist: Armand Van Helden
"For me New York City is the number one melting pot of the planet, the culture clash Mecca, the place where over 180 languages are spoken and where there has been and always will be an endless cycle of fun. For me it's all about the downtown scene, going out for a few hours, hearing the classics getting cut up , it's about the kaleidoscope that is NYC."
Armand Van Helden, February 2004
On March 22nd after a two year hiatus, Armand Van Helden is thrown back into the musical limelight with 'New York: A Mix Odyssey' a compilation featuring three killer new tracks (Hear My Name, My My My and Let Me Lead You), released through Southern Fried records. This is his first ever mix album to be released in the UK and fuses his passion for the rock and house scene of downtown New York.
Highlights? It's a tricky one. First out of the box is Blondie with 'Call Me'. Rising stars of NY electro, girl duo 'Spalding Rockwell' are up next on Armand's disco-slab of American wet dream 'Hear My Name'. Then it's over to Klonhertz's 'Three Girl Rhumba's' Jagger-swagger to blur the lines between rock and dance even further. Sounding like Meg and Jack having their way with a futuristic sexdroid, Felix Da Housecat's 'Watching Cars Go By' cheekily gets to grips with Moyet's powerhouse vocal on Yazoo's 'Don't Go'.
Back to '89 and it's the turn of Ram Jam to show us their "bad mother fucking jam" on heavy rock gem 'Black Betty.' Soft Cell's eyelinered imp Marc Almond takes to the stage next with the seminal synths of 'Tainted Love', before Armand unveils the erupting house masterpiece of his second release 'MYMYMY', which samples Gary Wright's 'Dreamweaver'. East side Detroit's finest, The Romantics bring the tempo back down with 'Talking In your Sleep' and then it's over to Paris's 17th District and hirsute rock gods Aloud for 'Rocky XIII'. Armand digs out his Bontempi for the effervescent 'Let Me Lead You' featuring La Rok and filters it through Company B's '87 vocal electro classic 'Fascinated', before finally dusting away the cobwebs from Yes's art rock 'Owner of a Lonely Heart' to close the mix.
So, back to the man himself. You know Armand Van Helden, right? The self-styled 'bad boy' of house, the man with a mountain-size ego, the six-pack framed poser with his joke of an Ali G-like pencil beard, the money-hungry remixer who famously cleared the dance floor at Space, who really wants to make hip-hop, but can't.
You know Armand Van Helden, right? The same Armand Van Helden that doesn't own a flat, or a car, who chooses to walk around his adopted home of New York, rather than chug about in a chrome-plated SUV. The straight-talking, no-nonsense trainspotter who still spends hours thumbing through thrift stores in search of tunes to sample, the music fan that owns thousands of rock records. You what?
"I love classic rock," says the 33-year old producer. "I love digging in the crates. If you're going to make music then you've got to know music. The groove, the bassÂ… it is house music. Now, rock's fun again, and it's making the club scene fun. I think we're going to find a balance between house and rock."
Armand's name has always been synonymous with killer basslines. You know, the ones that fused jungle's colossal sub-bass with razor-edged, steel-rimmed beats: Tory Amos' 'Professional Widow' (a UK number 1 back in 1996), Sneaker Pimps' Spin Spin Sugar', CJ Bolland's 'Sugar Is Sweeter' and Nu Yorican Soul's 'It's Alright, I Feel It!'
In a sea of 'faceless' artists, Armand floated adrift by a mile. In 1999, 'You Don't Know Me' - reached number 1 in the British pop charts. A top-drawer house album - '2 Future 4 U' - followed, with Armand continuing to mix -up styles. He continued to dent the UK charts too, with club crossover hits like 'Flowerz', 'Koochy' (a top 5 hit in 2000) and 'Why Can't You Free Some Time?' While as a remixer, Armand turned tricks for a string of platinum-selling artists, including Puffy, Janet and the Stones.
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