DJ Hell teams up with Bryan Ferry

11/06/2009
. (rephlektor) It was only a matter of time. Two genre-defining artists together…pop music and dance music's most famous arbiters of taste, collaborating at last. DJ Hell's "U Can Dance" is an interpretation of an unreleased Bryan Ferry song, but it's one that reflects a perfect melding of two distinct personalities, a record that sounds as if the voice and music were made for each other.

Hell, of course, has been riding high on the success of Teufelswerk, his masterpiece of a double album, a journey replete with fruitful experiments and club bombs. One that has yielded both massive hits and not a tiny bit of controversy along the way. Ferry, meanwhile, has been as busy as ever—recording a new album, performing in places as far afield as Siberia, opening up the Cannes Film Festival...basically just being Bryan Ferry.

And now here they are together...It all started in 2006 when Hell dropped in to meet Ferry at his West London studio. At first they discussed Hell remixing an old Roxy Music track, and then it turned into something else - something new (U Can Dance).

They had similar impressions of one another—Hell: "I was impressed by his aura and his look," Ferry: "He impressed us with his sophistication and charm." Fast forward a few years later, and Hell is hard at work on Teufelswerk and putting the finishing touches on the aforementioned song titled "U Can Dance," a serpentine Moroder-esque disco burner. With the help of old friend Peter Kruder, of Kruder and Dorfmeister fame, Hell fashioned the song into a smoldering nine-minute highlight of the double disc set, in which Ferry turns in a typically assured vocal performance.

Ferry may seem like an unexpected fan of dance, but he's been going to clubs since he was a teenager, and in his lengthy career he's worked with legends such as Nile Rodgers of Chic and David Williams from Michael Jackson's band. "It's always a pleasure to work with people from that genre, who follow a singular groove."

The single follows in the wake of Hell's "The DJ feat. P. Diddy" which has won over floors and critics alike with its nearly 30-minute Radio Slave remix and fine work from the likes of Deetron, Jay Haze and others. On "U Can Dance" Hell and Ferry have similarly pulled out all the stops for the remixes, gathering up work from the Grammy-nominated producer Carl Craig, DFA mainstay Tim Goldsworthy and pop electro superstars Simian Mobile Disco.

There's also a video - directed by the suitably subversive Jo Apps. It features five beautiful sirens, styled by Nova Dando of Lady Gaga fame. In the fashion of both Roxy Music and the men behind "U Can Dance," the video captures the song's decadence perfectly... watch it here

TRACKLISTING
1. U Can Dance (Radio Edit)
2. U Can Dance (Carl Craig Remix V.1)
3. U Can Dance (Carl Craig Remix V.2)
4. U Can Dance (Tim Goldsworthy Remix)
5. U Can Dance (Simian Mobile Disco remix)
6. U Can Dance ('Teufelswerk' album version)
7. U Can Dance (Video)

TOUR DATES
Nov 6 2009 - Womb Tokyo
Nov 7 2009 - Mole Sapporo, Hokkaido
Nov 13 2009 - Boogee Basement Graz, Kärnten
Nov 20 2009 - Lux Lisboa
Nov 26 2009 Patrick Mohr x Hell, Munich
Nov 27 2009 - Bergwerk Altenmarkt
Nov 28 2009 - Fabric London and South East
Dec 3 2009 - Vienna International Human Rights Film Festival Wien
Dec 4 2009 - Alte Borse Zurich
Dec 7 2009 - Spacio Atlantico Roma
Dec 10 2009 Patrick Mohr x Hell, Berlin
Dec 11 2009 - Rex Paris
Dec 12 2009 - Watergate with M.A.N.D.Y Berlin
Dec 17 2009 -Wendy& Jim after party-Flex Wien
Dec 18 2009 - Velvet Leipzig
Dec 19 2009 - Park Motel Dresden
Dec 26 2009 - Playground @ Kornhaus, Bern

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