2-Hour SPRING HEEL JACK Mix By Jon Zaremba

Charles Manson received subliminal messages from The Beatles via their music.
Spring Heel Jack are my Beatles.
I was first exposed to their music in the mid-90s when I heard "Double Edge" on a compilation called Macro Dub Infection. I was absolutely mesmerized by the song. "Double Edge" was the first time I heard the amen cymbal crash used as the lead for a rhythm track. The beats were more insane than anything else I was exposed to at the time. However, there was more to it than that. It wasn't just the ferocity of the breaks that drew me in. "Double Edge" balanced the rhythmic aggression with beautiful underwater soulfulness. This softness was legit heartfelt...and not particularly ambient. Atmosphere was always part of Spring Heel Jack's music, but where other electronic artists used ambience as padding, Spring Heel Jack used it as substance. It's this sincerity of "Double Edge" that hooked me.
"Double Edge" possessed me for months until I found a record shop who could order the import CD of "There are Strings". A communion between myself and the duo was born the first time I played the album. Yes of course Spring Heel Jack were completely unaware that some backwards dreamer was using their music to conduct magic in the small town of Baden, Pennsylvania in 1995. And I think deep down I realized that too, but it didn't matter. "There are Strings" spoke to me. It told me about my future. It brought me to realizations about my existence. And it inspired me unlike any other piece of music has, or would.
I would sneak out of my house frequently to walk the empty streets of Baden with "There are Strings" loaded in my Discman...headphones blasting the CD on repeat...often until dawn. Other kids my age would sneak out to do whatever teenagers did. I snuck out to telepathically communicate with Spring Heel Jack.
Shortly thereafter came "68 Million Shades". Then finally, I found a copy of the mythical EP "The Sea Lettuce" (on vinyl...later on CD as well), then "Lee Perry", and the singles. And then came "Versions"...good lord, Versions. Still no better use of reverb in any musical recording. The way that album is mixed turns the effects units into actual instruments. Hearing my mantras reimagined in this way drove new waves of magic through me.
After a couple years, I moved to the proper big city of Pittsburgh. It was here that I experienced "Busy Curious Thirsty", "Treader", and "Disappeared". While I wholly love these three albums, my life had changed considerably and I felt somewhat disconnected from the duo. The telepathy failed to work in Pittsburgh, even when listening back to their first few releases.
However, many years later, I returned to Baden as a young adult and was pleased to experience the subliminal messages of "There Are Strings" once again during a post-midnight stroll in the even-more-dilapidated Baden. There is something about that town and that album that connects me to whatever spiritual encoding is present in the music.
Spring Heel Jack was absolutely a critical musical group in my development...and they continue to be so today. Putting this mix together was a beautiful experience. Listening to all of the albums...finding the most essential songs to build a lengthy mix...beatmatching and arranging the songs in a particular order...everything about this mix is special to me.
I live about a thousand miles from Baden now. Plus, I'm old, fat, and worn out. But I can still walk...and can still stay up late, so I hope to return to my childhood town someday. I want to hear this personal mix at full volume in my headphones, alone on the empty streets of Baden...and learn from whatever new messages Spring Heel Jack send me.
TRACK LISTING:
01. The Sea Lettuce Part 1
02. Only You
03. Masquerade Dub
04. Oceola
05. There Are Strings
06. Eestj
07. Roger Tessier
08. Midwest
09. Suspensions Dub
10. Island Version
11. Pan
12. Outerlude
13. Wide as the Moon
14. Crash Dub
15. Is
16. Winter
17. Bank of America
18. Sirens
19. Bells
20. Galina
21. The Wrong Guide
22. Double Edge
All of this music was mixed from my own personal collection of physical media. This upload falls under the category of "fair use" and the video will not be monetized.