True, it’s the 40th Anniversary of the moon landing. But it’s also the 40th Anniversary of David Bowie’s space trip Space Oddity. What better way to celebrate than with access to stems like the “little mouse fart” sound effect? (Seriously. Maybe it was a space mouse?)

EMI is re-releasing Space Oddity on a special EP with all the versions — mono and stereo, US and original, and the 1979 re-record. Buy that for US$5.99 on iTunes, and you get the stems, too, including the lovely Mellotron line, the vocals, guitar, instrumentals — heck, there’s even a nice Stylophone stem. For people who don’t have their own remix software, EMI is offering the free PC/Mac iKlax Creator Standard, though I expect you’ll be happier with your tool of choice.

For an additional US$1.99, though, you can get an interactive remix app for the iPhone with still more stems. Interestingly, you can also use this as an on-the-go interactive player for Space Oddity, so you can trip out and get stoned with your iPhon um, yes, erm, relax on your sofa with a special mix of Space Oddity. Shake it, and the accelerometer sensor tells the app to make a random mix for you.

News on the Bowie Website
David Bowie Remix Page

iPhone apps are groovy, but — sorry to say it, folks, the 1969 video is way, way, way groovier. Huge missed opportunity, EMI: you could have created an iPhone camera app that would have simulated the reflective tube effect in the classic Bowie video. Any takers?

The EP itself, though, is better news. There was a 1999 “digital remaster,” but this release comes closer to the original goodness.

Space Oddity has a special place in the hearts of CDM since “oddities” is the catch-all category for everything out of the ordinary in a special way.

So, yes, it’s yet another remix-iPhone app-record promotion, but, come on … it’s Bowie. It’s Space Oddity. It’s the 40th Anniversary of the Moon Landing. (You want trippy? Humans walking on the moon can blow even a 2009 mind.) And it’s also an excuse to embed this video:

small.cat, aka Roald Blijleven, has done what I think is a brilliant remix of the Dance Tracks Digital / Dirtybird remix contest track “Dum.” I heard it as satirical, deconstructing the stems into something quite different. I actually laughed out loud at a couple of spots. I realize of course, that mistaking satire is a sore spot at the moment. But I enjoyed it, anyway. And I mean that in the best possible way – I think the musical result is really satisfying.

And bonus points for doing a remix in Reason for a contest sponsored by Ableton with an included Live set. (Hey, I think you should use whatever music tool makes you happy.) Roald writes:

well i have finished my remix. did it in Reason. it was quite a pain to prepare everything, as the samples they provide were not just notes but full melodies and stuff. so i put them all in Audacity and cut everything up to size to load in Redrum and NNXT. it’s on the website right now, so take a listen. if you do not believe i just created the world’s greatest new hip sweaty-ass jiggling track, let me know. because i can’t think of a single reason not to like it.

It worked for me. My ass is sweating. (Wait a minute – I think label founder Claude VonStroke wanted the track sweating, and ass jiggling. No matter.)

Naturally, the spirit of remixing is coming up with something different than what you started with, so I look forward to hearing what else readers have in store, here and elsewhere.

It’s amazing that, even today, relatively few artists release stems when they want to encourage remixes. A new remix contest with The Martin Brothers’ new track “Dum,” on the Dirtybird label, goes further, by providing not only individual stems, but a full-blown Ableton Live set, completely with warping parameters and even some plug-in inserts. That should mean just about anyone can pick up the track and start remixing – and, of course, Live is a big hit with the remix scene. It’s not the first time we’ve seen this, but coming from Dancetracks Digital, which has made a big impact with its Live-ready downloads, you can expect a friendly set to get you started.

Of course, this is likely to create some truly awful remixes, since it’s actually so easy to do it’s even easier to do something terrible. (That includes me, having fiddled with the set for a few minutes. I’ll have to get back to it to do something not bad.) On the other hand, by taking some of the drudge work out of the task and making it really easy to do a mediocre mix, I think this could – ironically – make it even more clear when a remix is done right and stands out above the crowd.

Interestingly, roughly the same week Ableton are backing DTD and Martin Bros., Digidesign is pushing its new Transfuser product – an electronica and remix-friendly instrument for Pro Tools – with The Crystal Method and Remix Magazine. They are offering stems, but they’re not pre-loading a Transfuser set as DTD is doing with Ableton Live:

Remixing Pro Tools: The Crystal Method Contest

You know who Chemical Brothers and The Crystal Method are. But the cast of characters in the “Dum” contest is worth watching.

Dancetracks Digital has attracted the likes of Danny Tenaglia and Francois K as a kind of boutique alternative to online heavyweight Beatport. The label, Dirtybird, is the creation of DJ Claude VonStroke and has put out his “Who’s Afraid of Detroit?” as well as the debut “Deep Throat.” The latter sold 11,000 copies, which wouldn’t mean anything — except that that’s 21st Century sales of vinyl. The label knows something about how what works on the dance floor, so appropriately enough label founder warns would-be contest participants, “Please don’t bother turning in your big room electro house remix. I want to hear some sweaty ass-jiggling tracks.”

I think I’m going to start admonishing readers to come up with “sweaty nerd, pocket protector-busting I.D.M.”

The track is clever stuff … particularly once the brothers start scat-singing into the mic (hence “Dum.”) But you think you can make it better? That’s the idea. Here’s a sample:

"Dum" Track Excerpt

Possible rewards: exposure (embed-ready players containing submitted remix tracks, and a label looking for new talent), software, music gear, swag, downloads, and even a mixing and mastering session here in NYC.

CDM is working with DTD on the contest, so I hope to provide some insight into the remix scene, Ableton Live, and how labels like Dirtybird tick. Stay tuned.

Dirtybird Remix Contest

And yes, unfortunately, this isn’t Creative Commons-licensed. With the exception of a few, CC-specific labels, even independent labels haven’t yet embraced open licenses. The challenges and opportunities there are a topic for another story.

The era of artists regularly releasing stems for remixing seems imminent. In the meantime, we see occasional examples of artists who get it. Radiohead have a new feature on their tune Nude, promoted with Apple. Purchase stems of a song (that’s by stem, so you pay US$0.99 * 5 stems + 1 full song if you want everything), and you get audio via iTunes Plus. Purchase the full set, and you can also download a GarageBand / Logic Pro-compatible project with all loop, tempo, and key information embedded, as pictured at top. (Unless I’m mistaken, that’s also the ideal way to get uncompressed audio for use in other tools.)

If you happen to prefer another tool for remixing (say, one that rhymes with Mabledon Dive and is often seen running on computers from Apple), these are just DRM-free audio files, so the choice is yours. Upload the finished results to the Web, and the band will review submissions and open them to votes. There are already a number of remixes up at the moment.

NUDE RE/MIX on iTunes

Radiohead Remix Site

Hmmm, nude remixing? Brings new meaning to “bedroom producer.” Sorry, couldn’t resist.

Radiohead does specify that you can’t use these for commercial purposes; it’s too bad they didn’t choose to apply a Creative Commons non-commercial license, which would formalize essentially what they’re saying. But this is otherwise done quite nicely, nonetheless, and I hope we see more of this.

Like remixable music? Nine Inch Nails has a whole remix site, and indie label Magnatune lets you remix all their artists’ work via a Creative Commons license (though they typically don’t offer stems). Online music outlet Dance Tracks Digital goes beyond stems with full Ableton Live-ready projects, suitable for DJs. That’s just for starters; if you have other favorite remix resources, let us know.