Liquid Liquid loom large for many - their classic run of EPs on 99 Records has gotten a second, third, and fourth life thanks to devout fans like the Beastie Boys, LCD Soundsystem's James Murphy, and Domino's Laurence Bell. (This to say nothing of the fact that one of rap's all time classics - Melle Mel's "White Lines" - is based around their song "Cavern.) This new double a-side single from Murphy's own DFA features a torrential version of "Bellhead" he co-produced in 2004 alongside a completely new version of the Liquids classic "Optimo" by Glaswegian party crew Optimo (Espacio).
If you don’t already, know that DFA owes a not insignificant debt to Liquid Liquid. The music they released on 99 Records across the early to mid-80s is as core to our double helix as New York City and the OCR-A font. To us, they are perfect.
The nerds remember that a DFA-produced, torrentially-fast version of their song “Bellhead” appeared on Compilation #2 back in 2005. It’s an all-timer percussion workout, bursting at the seams with marimba, drums, and bells, like the slacker train sound funk of the original went off the rails.
It’s always felt slightly overlooked on that mammoth comp and deserved a proper 12” release for the hordes that buy those things, but given the band have been only intermittently active, we didn’t really have anything to go with it. Domino had already released a compilation and series of remixes back in 2008, not to mention the work done by Mo’Wax and Grand Royal in the 90s preaching the Liquids gospel.
Then one day the band (amazingly, friends for years! they opened for LCD at MSG!) sent us an instrumental version of Optimo (the DJs’) remix of “Optimo” (the song, which the DJs are named after). It wasn’t released in that collection of Domino remixes for whatever reason, and with the absence of the vocal and the presence of a commanding trumpet solo, it perfectly filled that gap in our dreams.
So here they are: two a-sides from one of our all-time favorite bands in a sleeve designed by Liquids bassist and esteemed graphical artist Richard McGuire, finally on DFA.
