October 2007.
I remember being in the grip of wonderment, as new and exciting opportunities opened up before me.
I was young. I was confident. I was free. I think it's for these reasons that I've recently found myself being compelled not only to revisit this particular album, but also to recall that exact point in time, clutching for posterity. My life seemed so vibrant back then, by comparison.
I was 19 and I had just begun my second year at Oxford Brookes University. I'd moved into a student town-house with university friends and I had recently taken on a part-time job as a sales assistant at Boswells of Oxford, a department store in the centre of the city. My wage, along with the student loan payments, provided me with enough cash and filled me with the dizzy hunger for hedonism. The implications of 'maturity' and 'responsibility' were completely lost on me, and I remember being constantly distracted by my world outside of work. Lost in innocence. I was dazzled by the intrigue and fervour of an active social life (remember social lives?), with a flurry of parties and club nights often on the horizon.
Again, a very vibrant time, by comparison.
I remember the evening of Wednesday 31 October 2007, well, I distinctly remember my journey home from work, and more specifically, the provocative quality of my journey's soundtrack. I walked out of work at 5:30pm into the chilled stillness of the autumn air and I, like the other pedestrians, was replete with jacket and scarf. My head was full of buzz and anticipation, for my house-mates and I were to have a Halloween party that evening. As I made my way down Cornmarket Street, I yearned for a soundtrack to guide me home. I plugged my headphones into my Creative Zen Touch mp3 player (that's 2007, folks!) and loaded up an album that I had purchased the previous week, and the focus of this re-appraisal, Paul Oakenfold: Greatest Hits & Remixes.
I had picked up a copy of this compilation album the day it came out, as I was eager to hear the vast array of remixes it contained, having been a fan of Paul Oakenfold's work for some time already. As such, I was already familiar with some of the tracks, such as the punchy-fun 'Starry Eyed Surprise', Oakenfold's instantly recognisable mix of Joyriders' 'Big Brother' and the high octane charge of 'Ready Steady Go'. However, I was pleasantly surprised to also hear Oakenfold's remixes of tracks by some of my favourite bands, including Mansun's 'Wide Open Space' and Radiohead's 'Everything In Its Right Place'. And with the album acting as a continual mix, on both Discs, the party kept on going.
I'd, however, like to make specific mention to a few tracks featured on the double compilation album, which really encapsulate the unique feeling of that evening, as well as the feeling of that time, for me.
Disc One opens with a remix of Skunk Anansie's 'Brazen', which perfectly personified the harsh and brooding autumnal scape that I was walking through, whereas the Balearic-disco tinged remix of Justin Timberlake's 'Rock Your Body', comfortably set the tone for the playfulness and exuberance that was to ensue that night. But, it was the triumvirate of tracks at the beginning of Disc Two that really formed the feeling of warmth, joy and youth.
The album opens with a glitchy-techno version of Olive's 'You're Not Alone (Oakenfold & Osbourne's remix)', which transitions seamlessly into the confident club-anthem 'Faster Kill Pussycat', before settling into Oakenfold's 2008 tech-house remix of the aforementioned 'Everything In It's Right Place'. The way in which the mix elevates and flows through these tracks really affected me, seeping through my pores and invigorating my bones, and I found myself lost in the wall of sound, on my journey home. In retrospect, the mix tends to keep to its well-oiled craft and remains relatively consistent across the double-album, with a few mild exceptions. That being said, the tone generally holds true, making this a fine collection.
Regardless, on that particular night, the pumping energy of this double album filled my ears and guided me the rest of the way through the streets, and onto my destination – party.
That was 2007, and that was a very different time, not just for me and my naive little brain, but for everyone. You don't need me to tell you that dance music, and, of course, the world and our lives, have changed, transformed and spun off into interesting and unknown directions since that time.
Yet, is it not music that we rely upon to take us to places of comfort and joy? Is it not music that we cling to when yearning for familiarity and acceptance? Is it not music that we reach for, a place to which we travel, to feel safe and enriched by life, rather than in dismay of it? For me, when in times of sadness or disillusion, I escape into my memories (as you may have noticed). Personally, I've always found that music is the ultimate trigger and mechanism to help me create new memories, as well as revisit the past, more than any other medium.
And so, here I sit, in my lonely room, on 31 October 2020, and I insert Disc One of Paul Oakenfold: Greatest Hits & Remixes into the CD deck and travel back in time. Back to a time when I was not alone. When I had no worries.
When I was young.
When I was confident.
When I was free.
When everything was in its right place.
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