‘Love of the music should be the driving force…With that love, sampling can become a tribute; an expansion on ideas long forgotten.’ – Theo Parrish

How does one choose what to re-edit? Was it because the album art jumped out at you while digging through an obscure crate in some obscure place? Is it because the track is sentimental? Did the idea come to you in a dream? Maybe it’s just because the track has just the right amount of gaps to make it something worthwhile. For Adesse Versions (a.k.a Kevin Gorman), one of the world’s leaders in crafting tasty edits and using wondrous samples, all the above and more could be true. Despite this, sometimes the ideal track for a re-edit does not come from within, but from the outside.

Back in September, Adesse Versions asked his global network of fans to take part in a special dubplate competition by throwing out edit suggestions on his Facebook page. The person with the best submission is to receive a 100% exclusive dubplate of the edit, an idea that was born out of a desire to interact with his listeners and “poke some fun at the Discogs rarity thing.” After numerous suggestions, Gorman has chosen his winner and has decided to offer up a free download of the edit via XLR8R for a limited time.

The Winner: “Souvenir Glacé” by Testpattern

Suggested by Ahmed Belkhodja of Switzerland

Adesse Versions Re-Edit:

You can download Adesse Versions’ “Souvenir Glacé” below via WeTransfer.

Download ends on 07/16/16.

We caught up with Gorman to investigate his motivation behind the dubplate competition, his white label, and the current state of vinyl culture.

What brought about this idea to take edit suggestions?
“Basically, I’d run out of ideas for things to re-edit, then I realised I could just get people on Facebook to do all the hard work for me. Okay I’m joking…”

“I often end up chatting with other artists and music fans about the tracks they’d love to see remixed. Everyone has that ‘one record’ they’d love to hear updated. I’ve also read quite a few posts in forums listing forgotten gems. So with these in mind, it seemed an interesting idea. Also, it was a great opportunity to interact with people on Facebook. I have love/hate feelings about social media, so I’m all for doing something with a bit of substance like this. As opposed to just posting about myself eating a Filet-O-Fish.”

“At the same time, I’d seen my ADV white labels going for silly money on Discogs. So I thought it would be funny to do the rarest possible release on my label, with just one copy cut. I wouldn’t be surprised if some others claim they have it in their Discogs collection.”

What was it about “Souvenir Glacé” that caught your attention?
“For me it had the golden formula—simple and interesting melodies or vocals and little or no percussion. It also had a different vibe to the music I’d been sampling recently, which had been very 70s and dusty sounding. Glacé is much more eighties and synthesised, so I knew the end results would sound fresh and different. The lack of bassline was also a bonus, so I took inspiration from a 90s DnB classic and dropped that into the mix. This reggae style bass lent itself to some Smiley Culture style piano stabs too, this and a few 707 drums finished off the edit nicely.”

Was there a close second? Third?
“Yes, there were lots. Especially a Seu Jorge track and one by A.R. Rahman. I’m going to send both of these guys a copy of ADV1, the first Adesse Versions white label (and rarest one on Discogs). Of the others, there were so many good suggestions. The thread is a goldmine for producers like myself.”

Can you see yourself doing this again in the future?
“Yes definitely. Now that you guys have kindly spread the word, a follow-up might even be more interesting.”

What is it about white labels that you find appealing?
“I like the simplicity of them, the directness. However, I’ve only done white labels as Adesse Versions because of the sampled nature of the music. It was never because I worship white labels and all that guff. I don’t like these artists making completely original music and doing vinyl only limited runs. Having lived in Asia, it’s really frustrating when labels do this. It limits what original music you can buy. Sure it’s cool and everything to say ‘vinyl only,’ but what about people in South America or Africa? Or Australia and New Zealand? At the very least set up a Bandcamp page and share your music that way. White labels are for bootlegs, re-edits, heavily sampled material. As a platform for original music it’s a bit pretentious, people please enough!”

How do you think the inflation of records on Discogs (Like your ADV1 record) is affecting vinyl culture?
“I have mixed feelings about this. I understand that it’s frustrating for record buyers. However as an artist, it doesn’t do me any harm to have a rare record. I don’t really like people selling my white labels for big $$$, but I can’t stop them. Visual artists make limited edition prints and charge big bucks for them. Later on, these get even more expensive. At least in the music world you have an opportunity as a buyer, albeit limited, to pick up the records for $10 each.”

“I’m not going to lie, it’s flattering when somebody spends $100 on one of my records. But at the same time, I do feel guilty to the fans who can’t afford to buy something that has long sold out. As much as I don’t like the Discogs sharks, I also get annoyed by the vinyl diehards proclaiming that ‘all records should be no more than x amount.’ Like there is some kind of vinyl moral code that we should all adhere to! If I can accept that dealers totally unconnected to my music make a profit from it, then everybody else should be able to. Just follow the Facebook pages of artists you are into, set up Juno alerts etc and be first in line. If you miss out then move on, life can exist without that special record. Or even better, learn Ableton Live and start making your own edits.”