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viewing 1 To 23 of 23 items
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VER 048LP
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Fracatso was born during a spontaneous weekend break away from home of four good friends, emerging from the collective desire to record together in total freedom. This remarkable album, that will delight you, is made of two distinct sessions recorded in Laura Lippie's Lyon apartment, composed on site using various acoustic and electronic instruments by Lippie, Iueke, Lowjack, and Zaltan, fueled by wine, laughter and song and an honest need for aimless creation and poetical collaboration. During an impromptu meeting in Amsterdam, Zaltan played to Gilb'R these unrevised original recordings lead by the powerful and whimsical words and voice of Lippie, and the known talent of the band creating bucolic arrangements in unformatted musical identities. Gilb'R instantly proposed to release the sessions on Versatile Records on the spot! And hear you have it, Fracatso lives.
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2LP
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VER 047LP
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"This album, a product of two years of studio sessions, saw us engaging in musical dialogues, hitting record when inspiration struck. In the studio, that moment always comes, when a fragile and magical balance happens." --Chateau Flight, 2024
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CD
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VER 029CD
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A lot of water has passed under the bridge since the 2009 release of Etienne Jaumet's Night Music. His hypnotizing music and enchanting live performances put him directly on the map. Between Night Music and the creation of La Visite, Jaumet was not idle. Not only has he worked on numerous collaborations (with, among others, Joakim, Richard Pinhas, Frànçois & the Atlas Mountains) and picked up DJing, but he also released a Zombie Zombie album, 2012's Rituels d'un nouveau monde with Cosmic Neman, as well as Zombie Zombie's soundtrack for the 2013 film Loubia Hamra, and worked with artist Félicie d'Estienne d'Orves on the 2013 installation Satori. At the time of this album's release, Jaumet and his saxophone are on tour with James Holden. As a musician, Jaumet is in total control; he smoothly moves from his saxophone to his drum machine (his beloved TR 808) while turning knobs, modulating synths, and sending his voice through an echo. La Visite is more luminous and jazzy than its predecessor, and was composed and produced within a two-month period in the Versatile studio. It became a piece of introspection, mentally as well as physically. In the title-track, for which Flóp wrote the text, we hear Jaumet travelling through the inside of a body, Fantastic Voyage style. For the recording, Jaumet would arrive at the studio without any precise idea in mind, approaching his work rather intuitively. He works standing up, which brings a very different energy than being seated behind a computer polishing up every detail. He is in total mastery of his set-up, ready to capture that short-lived moment of true creation. The only use a computer has for him is to record his experiments, which are mixed afterward by Jérôme Caron (Blackjoy).
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LP
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VER 029LP
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LP version. A lot of water has passed under the bridge since the 2009 release of Etienne Jaumet's Night Music. His hypnotizing music and enchanting live performances put him directly on the map. Between Night Music and the creation of La Visite, Jaumet was not idle. Not only has he worked on numerous collaborations (with, among others, Joakim, Richard Pinhas, Frànçois & the Atlas Mountains) and picked up DJing, but he also released a Zombie Zombie album, 2012's Rituels d'un nouveau monde with Cosmic Neman, as well as Zombie Zombie's soundtrack for the 2013 film Loubia Hamra, and worked with artist Félicie d'Estienne d'Orves on the 2013 installation Satori. At the time of this album's release, Jaumet and his saxophone are on tour with James Holden. As a musician, Jaumet is in total control; he smoothly moves from his saxophone to his drum machine (his beloved TR 808) while turning knobs, modulating synths, and sending his voice through an echo. La Visite is more luminous and jazzy than its predecessor, and was composed and produced within a two-month period in the Versatile studio. It became a piece of introspection, mentally as well as physically. In the title-track, for which Flóp wrote the text, we hear Jaumet travelling through the inside of a body, Fantastic Voyage style. For the recording, Jaumet would arrive at the studio without any precise idea in mind, approaching his work rather intuitively. He works standing up, which brings a very different energy than being seated behind a computer polishing up every detail. He is in total mastery of his set-up, ready to capture that short-lived moment of true creation. The only use a computer has for him is to record his experiments, which are mixed afterward by Jérôme Caron (Blackjoy).
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2LP
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VER 028LP
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Double LP version. Versatile Records presents Disco Sympathie, a new compilation curated by Vidal Benjamin. Benjamin is an outstanding DJ and digger, considered by his peers to be one of the most brilliant in his field. On Disco Sympathie, he leads the listener on a rediscovery of the sound of the early 1980s in France. It's wacky, happy dance music, and at times it's even poetic. The listener is transported to a time when French producers were not afraid to tackle disco, American boogie, and British and German synth wave, to create something French, poppy, and, above all, fun! Artists include Raymonde et Les Moutards, Sonia, New Paradise, Club Privé, Stéphane edited by Reverend P, Ark, Marie Chaptal, Marc Chantereau, Laurie Destal, Patrice Mondon edited by Pilooski, Nicolas Skorsky, and Christophe Laurent. Housed in a gatefold sleeve with extensive notes.
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CD
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VER 028CD
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Versatile Records presents Disco Sympathie, a new compilation curated by Vidal Benjamin. Benjamin is an outstanding DJ and digger, considered by his peers to be one of the most brilliant in his field. On Disco Sympathie, he leads the listener on a rediscovery of the sound of the early 1980s in France. It's wacky, happy dance music, and at times it's even poetic. The listener is transported to a time when French producers were not afraid to tackle disco, American boogie, and British and German synth wave, to create something French, poppy, and, above all, fun! Artists include Raymonde et Les Moutards, Sonia, New Paradise, Club Privé, Stéphane edited by Reverend P, Ark, Marie Chaptal, Marc Chantereau, Laurie Destal, Patrice Mondon edited by Pilooski, Nicolas Skorsky, and Christophe Laurent.
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12"
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VER 060EP
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Originally started as a student video project contest, Quixote's "Before I Started To Dance" is a left-field, less dance-oriented track featuring vocals by Paris' Lisa Li-Lund. Château Flight produced a dub version, and Prins Thomas's remix is a veritable disco-pop symphony. Get ready to hear the first Prins Thomas vocal cover!
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CD
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VER 020CD
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After Versatile's first compilation ten years ago, the French electronic label returns and still surprises. Versatile is a rarity. A label that succeeded in creating a unique identity that puts instinct before genre. The high standards set by Versatile's boss, Gilb'R, remain intact. Trends come and go, the wind changes now and again, but rather than following the crowds along a given and inevitably ephemeral path, Versatile takes to the open road and allows its artists to release the kind of music they hold dear. Joakim, I:Cube, Chateau Flight and Zombie Zombie have made the most of this creative environment and this uncompromising artistic direction has let them gravitate towards the music they love -- music that's original, wild, elegant, mystical, quirky and a fertile mix of so much more. Truly engaging music is becoming an increasingly difficult feat these days, but what makes Versatile's music vibrate is their belief that good music simply deserves to exist even if it doesn't square with today's market. Rediscover here a heritage, from early American dance music to French and German experimentation, both the popular and the intellectual. After retracing Versatile's steps, you'll be dying for more. Artists include Quixote, Poni Hoax, DJ Ringardos, Etienne Jaumet, Texas Rangers, Fabrice Lig, The Cave Bear Cult and Karma.
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12"
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VER 061EP
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After their album A Land For Renegades and a worldwide tour where their live performance rocks the crowd, Zombie Zombie came back into the studio to deliver us "Dog Walker," a percussive song in the vein of Liquid Liquid, no doubt their more club-friendly track! Danton Eeprom takes care of remixing "Texas Rangers" for a minimal funk riot which will haunt you. Tune alert!
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12"
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VER 059EP
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Lil Tony is a veteran DJ of the Helsinki club scene, and was responsible for some of the best electro nights in the early '90s, and this is his first 12". "Cosmic Afro Pan" kicks off strong with a heavy rhythm, a flanged bass line and little acid noises. "Cosmic Afro Dub" is a dubbed-out version of the previous track, focused on piano keys and the evolution of the beat. A great mixture of Detroit techno and the cosmic sound.
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12"
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VER 058EP
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Fabrice Lig presents chapter one in his Purple Raw trilogy. "The Track" is based around a jerky, syncopated rhythm and a very dry kick. A great mixture of minimal techno and Detroit nostalgia that has been hammered by Dixon, Âme, Alex Attias, etc. "Bump Bump" is built around fat analog sounds and an animalistic groove that keeps on building. It all ends with the very funky "The Riff Pourpre," a perfect crossover between Metro Area and Parliament. Big, fat beats.
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12"
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VER 050EP
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Berlin's Jürgen Ehlert presents a smashing 4-tracker of supertight'n'funky electronic boogie and old school house tracks. "Keep on Keepin' On" starts with a deep intro, then gets huge with hypnotic synth. "Catch The Worm" continues in the house vein, but with a nu-disco touch. "Remembering Mr K Alexi Shelby" sounds like a perfect tribute to all Chicago masters, while "Spaghettidisco" gets back to the '80s with a warm italo track. This EP summons the likes of Pete Herbert and Reverso 68, Metro Area, Lindstrøm and Prins Thomas and more.
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CD
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VER 017CD
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Chateau Flight is Parisian house duo Gilbert Cohen and Nicolas Chaix (aka Gilb'r and I:Cube). Chateau Flight is the latest electronic act to soundtrack for silent movies, and they have composed a score specially written for Les Vampires (1915), a sulfurous feuilleton of 10 episodes by French director Louis Feuillade. Les Vampires was close to being banned for its quasi-apology of criminals, who are presented a lot more seductively than the "good force," which is primarily due to the magnificent Irma Vep (incarnated by the actress Musidora, dressed in black and the first vamp and femme fatale in the history of cinema!). Being first and foremost criticized despite its great public success, the series, packed with its quasi-improvs and its dark poetry, is considered one of the most unique and sophisticated pieces of silent film. This CD features eight tracks, all untitled, varying and placing itself somewhere at the border of electronic music, original soundtrack and Krautrock/experimental stuff. In Spring 2006, Gaumont asked Chateau Flight to do a 40-minute soundtrack illustrating the third episode of Les Vampires, "Le Cryptogramme Rouge," for their luxurious DVD Special Edition. The duo decided to work with a computer and a Viscount Orgue (known for its vintage sound), among other multiple effects. After a week of spotting and experimenting, where the duo called upon the phantoms of the Pere Lachaise cemetery which is close to the studio, the two artists had doubts about their results and invited guitarist Nicolas Villebrun (of the band Poni Hoax) who brought in some more dramatic textures and the missing touch of improvisation. The phantasmagorical and pre-surrealism of Feuillade is omnipresent on this release, a long odyssey of combining and handling vintage and contemporary technology in constant variation.
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12"
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VER 047EP
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"Drumtrax" is the second extraction from Joakim's early 2007 release, Monsters and Silly Songs. This piece, with its dub, is a kind of a secret weapon you can fire up if the audience slows down and you want the crowd to scream again. Radio Slave delivers a remix made for the big rooms. Matt Edwards, aka Rekid and half of the Quiet Village project, sends you into hypnotic psychedelicism. Minimal, with an omnipresent bass, a changing rhythm and a higher tempo than on the previous remixes, this is something subtle and effective.
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12"
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VER 049EP
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Hypnotic and deep but always funky, Stuart Li presents classic techno grooves on Deep Blue. With his elaborate arrangements, his melodic loops and seductive, pushing basslines, he delivers three different, sometimes minimal new pieces. "Deep Blue" whisks you away with a continuous acid line, before transporting you with a deep and flowing house groove. "The March Ahead" starts off with a simple sound pattern and a lush techno beat, then introduces echoing drums plus some very exciting spherical chords. "Pàssaro" winds its way up for five uplifting minutes, becoming more and more dramatic with its techno/trance-y pads and thick percussive beats.
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CD
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VER 016CD
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France's I:Cube (Nicolas Chaix) delivers a live set during the StarBall festival in June 2005 at the Planetarium de La Villette in Paris. Versatile now brings to your starving ears this mesmerizing live performance and invites you to jump into I:Cube's Playmobile spaceship. In this performance, he returns to his first love, with influences from ambient masters (Biosphere, Future Sound of London and Detroit Escalator). In an effort to travel new roads, escape the conventionalism of the electronic music landscape and free us from the Diktat of dark and martial electro, I:Cube's mind mingles with some of his early references such as Philip K. Dick and Ray Bradbury, childhood memories such as L'avenir du Futur, an '80s French TV show with a lethal soundtrack extracted from Tangerine Dream's "Rubycon." During this 55-minute trip, Live at the Planetarium proposes a subtle encounter of concrete music, dub and electronica, skillfully suppressing the frontiers between these styles to achieve a musical supernova. After a first ambient track, I:Cube slides into timeless deep house that leads into dreamy or dubby electronica and Futurist lullabies. After his album 3, Cube invites us into his parallel and psychedelic vision of modern music. A dense and passionate universe colonized by KLF's "space" and Maurizio's tracks, a celebration of the improbable encounter of King Tubby and Philip Glass. This is the album HAL, Space Odyssey 2001's mega-computer, would have dreamed to compose.
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CD
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VER 015CD
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The gunholders of Versatile Records are back with a new compilation. They saved their most deadly cartridges for this total overkill record of exclusive remixes, some of which are available on CD for the very first time. They open the album with a shot straight to the head: "Silent Distance" is a classy pop track remixed by I:Cube featuring Clara Hill's beautiful vocals. Then comes the UFO manga-style track "Ongaku" which blends Chateau Flight's unique electro dub touch to the surprising vocals of shibuya girls, Paris Japanese Choir. Joakim presents us his latest dancefloor killer, the hypnotic "I Wish You Were Gone," haunted by the spook of Ian Curtis and sung by Joakim himself. Then the very trippy remix of "Superflight" by Maurice Fulton comes as a necessary recess before full electronic fire with tracks "Rumours" by As One (aka Kirk Degeorgio), "Arp Surface" and "Chicago Sur Seine" by I:Cube, or "Surface And Submerge" by Basic Soul Unit. At last, the very cosmic track "Taurus" extracted from I:Cube's Live at the Planetarium waves a white flag to finish off the compilation.
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12"
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VER 043EP
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"Toronto DJ and producer Stuart Li -- Basic Soul Unit is blessed with an openness in style allowing him to stay away from specific categorization. In this new EP he travels from classic to modern house and techno: Detroit being an underlying current. With a base of minimalism, he expands with dubby and old school layers. 'Ascend to the Night' builds on deep structure, a creeping tempo launches into anthemic piano chords and strings. 'Jacksaw' suits the dancefloor, having a winding bleepy booty bass. The EP ends on a house groove: 'Notes for the Soul': melodic loops and seductive bassline."
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12"
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VER 046EP
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"After his former and acclaimed album Fantômes and the cine live, three years spent in remixing the Top of the international producer, here is the first single of his new album called 'I Wish You Were Gone' and a new live already applauded in the Festival Transmusicales de Rennnes With this Killah Groove, Joakim decided to build a bridge between Rimini and Manchester. No Doubt, the winter club tune. The artwork was drawn by Joakim himself! You can find the original track on the CD Versatile Hot Shots compilation but here you get an additional fantastic Italo dub mix which is sure to generate massive club play. Already rave feedbacks from Michael Mayer, Ewan Pearson, Erol Alkan, Josh Wink, Lindstrom etc."
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12"
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VER 045EP
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"Versatile Records assembles four of the most notorious gunslingers and sharpshooters for a showdown high-midnight style and as everyone has just one shot to fire, Maurice Fulton, I:Cube, Chateau Flight and Future Beat Alliance all pack some special, exclusive bullets. The genius of eccentric modern disco music Maurice Fulton remixes 'Superflight' to another perfect boogie-style mix of electronic and organic ingredients: a shimmering tableau of percussive vibraphone licks, hints of woodwinds, swirls of acoustic guitar, artistic slapbass, pixie-like vox, all kept together by a tight live-drum beat. I:Cube's edit of 'Taurus' is similar to his recent, fantastic cut on Marketing records, as it slowly builds with exotic, grinding melody fragments and African beats before a heavy steppers-style roots-bassline transforms the groove and sets the start for a hectic dub workout. 'Ongaku' gets revisited by Chateau Flight themselves in the form of the 'Unreleased Electro Dub': mid-paced old-school beats set the basis for the strange Japanese spoken words, a Kraftwerk-style melody and drops of '80s synth fx. champion of deep Detroit style techno Matthew Puffet aka Future Beat Alliance surprises with stomping live-sounding boogie beat and a rather dark, tense atmosphere contrasted with a delicate, alluring yet kinda surreal melody. Four hot shots indeed, everybody aimed accurately, but word is nobody got harmed."
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CD
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VER 010CD
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"Joakim Lone Octet is dead. Joakim has been reborn as a new artist! First influenced by electro jazz, he is now into something more raw, almost punky. While he is an admirer of virtuoso pianists, jazzheads (Alice Coltrane, Sun Ra), indie kids (Pixies) and stupendous electronics (Carl Craig, Plastikman), Joakim's tastes go beyond these genres. In this new album, Joakim deals with mysterious moods. His Fantômes carries the listener through nostalgic interludes, cavernous basslines as well as twisted synth gimmicks and chopped vocoders interrupted by surprising breaks."
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CD
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VER 009CD
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Remixes of Air, Pierre Henry, Serge Gainsbourg, Bebel Gilberto, Femi Kuti, etc. "With their celebrated Puzzle debut, Chateau Flight have imposed themselves as the most fascinating duo to outgrow the French Touch revolution. Time has passed, indeed, since 1996, when Nicolas Chaix aka I:Cube and Gilbert Cohen also known as DJ Gilbr first united in the studio to remix Pierre Henry's Too Fortiche. Remixent documents six years of a collaborative musical evolution and brings valuable insight into the duos vision of music be it electronic, funk, pop, or world. The album boasts impressive credits. All time greats Bebel Gilberto, Pierre Henry, Manu Dibango, and Serge Gainsbourg are featured alongside today's best electronic musicians. Dancefloor pundits will undoubtedly be drawn to pivotal renditions of Brandy, Atjazz and Psycho on da bus while rare experimental materials include the hard to find Rve1 remix of Joakim and others. Meanwhile, the future talks through a brand new version of Soul Fiesta featuring Manu Dibango himself. Much like other Versatile releases, works featured on Remixent demonstrate dedication to painstaking production and thorough attention to other musicians' work -- all gracefully translated into Chateau Flight's unique lingo."
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12"
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VER 018EP
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A1: "Sands Of Time," A2: "Sands (Beats)," B1: "Dune," B2: "Dune (Beats)."
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