Hot Chip 'Boy From School' (Erol Alkan's Rework) taken from his 'Reworks Volume 1' compilation, a track long been out of print and highly sought after on vinyl.
"This rework for Hot Chip was finished in the same weekend as my rework for Justice; two pretty different tracks to work on around the same time, and weirdly enough both those mixes ended up as personal favourites.'Boy From School' took a little longer than 'Waters Of Nazareth', and I spent a few days initially going down the wrong path. The first version was far too faithful to the original and lacked any real space, but once a more Balearic (for want of a better word) approach was taken and the sections were stripped back and extended, only then did it start making sense in a new way. I loved the vocal refrain from the chorus, it's a beautiful melody which I felt should be the centre of the mix, and I ultimately built the track around it. The thundering bass notes were not taken from any analog synth, it's actually a Farfisa home organ's foot pedal, which I'd just picked up from the local Mencap charity shop in Holloway for £50. Once I put one note into the Logic sampler and spread it over the keyboard, it gave me the exact wooden sound I wanted to add to the originals parts. The over driven held notes which come in halfway through were also from another synth, one which I probably only used on this and nothing else: the Akai AX80 running into a Thermionic Culture Vulture. A freehand part which I couldn't decide to keep in or not, but once the length of the mix was in place, it felt like it had a role in the mix.
I still play it out, almost 11 years after it was released, I think it's stood the test of time but that's credit to Hot Chip; the original is a very special track. Another thing I should say is that I'm glad I had this to work on rather then 'Over And Over' (the single previous) which I love and would possibly have no idea what to do with. One thing I learnt is that if you like a track enough, it's best to just leave it alone. Pick another track you feel you can add to, and put your imagination into that." - Erol Alkan
Pre-order 'Reworks Volume 1' on double CD, five piece vinyl boxset or separately on 12" vinyl with his Connan Mockasin rework on the flip side HERE