Originals | Bootleg Remixes

I have been a big fan of Caroline's work since her Chairlift days and when "Door" came out it was in pretty heavy rotation on my playlist. Recently, I was driving around town, "Door" came on and the repeating line just made me think this would be a great Melodic House track. It's been a minute since I did a rinse and here we are.

Follow Caroline Polachek:
▶ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4Ge8xMJNwt6EEXOzVXju9a?si=BpL_xrVXSsWXSfLwJDkeZA
▶ IG: https://www.instagram.com/carolineplz/
▶ Web: https://www.carolinepolachek.com/
▶ SC: https://soundcloud.com/carolinepolachekmusic

Free Download

FREE DOWNLOAD: Caroline Polachek - Door (James Halon Remix)

To kick off 2024, I wanted to feature a remix of my favorite Pop track of 2023 (if not the last decade). When "Vampire" dropped last summer, I couldn't stop playing it. The vocals, lyrics and overall hook was just the right amount of grit and sheen. I couldn't shake it. At the end of the year, I fired up Ableton, tore the track down to nothing but Olivia's vocals and rebuilt it from the ground up with all new synths & sounds. Here is my fresh take of "Vampire" in 2024.

Download here: https://hypeddit.com/olivarodrigo/vampirejameshalonunofficialremix

For more free downloads, check out: 
• https://soundcloud.com/3rd-avenue-free-downloads
• https://bootlegbazaar.bandcamp.com

For more updates follow us here:
 • https://bootlegbazaar.substack.com/

Download

FREE DOWNLOAD: Oliva Rodrigo - Vampire (James Halon Unofficial Remix)

A Halon exclusive Tech House bootleg of Fever Ray's live "I'm Not Done (Still Not Done)" created for and previously only available in the Graffiti Series mix set https://soundcloud.com/h-a-l-o-n/alkaline

Fever Ray - I'm Not Done, Still Not Done (halon rework)

A few months into the 2019 Graffiti Series project I couldn’t get Toro Y Moi’s “Freelance” out of my head. It had such a great hook, and the bones of the song felt rooted in the deep house sound with a loose chill vibe. The original is much shorter (3:50) and has an almost classic pop structure, but I felt with some tweaks, such as chopping and restructuring it would be a killer dance jam. After a rapid fire session in the studio the reworked version became the opening track for the May Graffiti Series mix  https://soundcloud.com/h-a-l-o-n/c-i-n-c-o

Toro Y Moi - Freelance (halon extended rework)

One of my favorite experiences listening to music is when a moment, either due to the melody, harmonics, emotions or some undefinable quality, causes me to get goosebumps. It doesn’t happen often, but when it does it is memorable.

This is what happened to me the first time I listened to Brittany Howard's remarkable "Stay High". Off of Brittany's first solo project, "Stay High" is a simple straight forward strummer with a focused beat and bassline, allowing her amazing voice to tell the story and really add the energy as the song builds and breaths.

I wanted to take that perceived simplicity and leverage it to create deep tech track to open my final Graffiti Series set https://soundcloud.com/h-a-l-o-n/solstice. I took some key elements from the track and built a simple bass and beat line off the original then structured it to be more in the tech house side with percussion and elements. From there I let it build.

Brittany Howard - Stay High (halon deep rebuild)

Throughout 2019 I was making bootlegs and remixes for a few of my favorite indie tracks. Three of them were released in my Graffiti Series mixes, but one I kept in my back pocket for when I played out.

Back in 2014, SBTRKT dropped a single from his upcoming album featuring Vampire Weekend's Ezra Koenig called "NEW DORP. NEW YORK.". I loved it when it dropped and it was on regular rotation for a while. Jump to early 2019, I am listening to the radio, they play the track and I realized New Dorp would make a killer Tech House edit.

After a productive studio session, my rework was ready just in time for my first Dance Klassique set and it went over like fire in the crowd. Every time I drop it people ask what it is, so for my final 2019 bootleg I wanted to share it with everyone. Enjoy!

SBTRKT - NEW DORP. NEW YORK. ft. Ezra Koenig (halon rework)

After hearing Vagabon's mellow house inspired "Water Me Down", I was driven to remix it as a deep/tech house vibe mover. Taking some vocal chops and finger snaps, the darkwaters remix is a full rebuild around those two core elements, adding new drums, synths, patterns and melodies. This track walks the line of something entirely new, but due to Vagabon's lyrics and voice, I wanted to keep this labeled as a remix.

Vagabon - Water Me Down (halon darkwaters remix)

💿 Labels & Releases
Sound Avenue, 3rd Avenue, Crossfade Sounds, Massive Harmony Records, ThreeRecords(UK), Session Road Music, Future Avenue, Polyptych Ltd, PDD Tamed, Analog Heart Records, Sounds and Frequencies, Another Life Music, Echoes From Past Worlds

🎧 Upcoming Live Streams

I live stream DJ sets every Tuesday (Breakdown Therapy) on Twitch.tv from 8pm - 9:30pm Pacific Time. Every session has paired VJ mixes using HalonVision, which is a custom built programmatically generative mixing system that creates a new and responsive experience each time it is turned on.

Melodic Dreams is now a monthly series streamed live the first weekend of the month on Twitch.tv. I record the session and the replay is available on YouTube and SoundCloud the following Monday morning.

===
Promos: promo @ jameshalon.com
Contact & Booking: bookings @ jameshalon.com
===

🌴 Based in Riverside CA, past residences in San Diego CA, San Francisco CA and Dallas TX.

Starting out under the moniker DJ3 circa 1996, James Halon was a resident at Record Resource and played events in Denton and Dallas TX. Moving to San Francisco in 1999, James started weekly events with For The Music & helped found the music side of False Profit.

James ran the sound system for False Profit at 43 Norfolk and put on many amazing nights at the warehouse. He has also joined forces and played with many crews and venues, including Dub Beautiful, Ambient Airlines, Space Cowboys, B-Family, Eklektic, Future Breaks, Tenderloft, Tags Trance Trip, GrooveTech Radio, Anon Salon, Trust, Wish, Mighty SF, DNA Lounge, 1015 Folsom, and many more.

2004, James co-founded Cedub Studios and moved away from DJing to focus on production and engineering for local artists. During this time he helped create and launch Fake Science as a podcast, then expanded to online digital music distribution and A&R. He produced tracks under the Cell Culture act with Chris Walcott. He also produced tracks as The Clockmakers with DJ Yap, under the moniker DJ Bespoke.

In 2009, James moved from the Bay and headed to San Diego. After taking a longer than expected break to settle into his new home, James is built out his studio and has returned to producing and DJing. Starting in 2020, James began weekly live streams, featuring new, classic and original tracks focusing on all things House x Techno. In the summer of 2021, James was invited to become a resident of the San Diego based collective Digital Cocoon.

In the summer of 2022, James once again packed up and this time moved to Riverside, CA. There he has been able to expand his music studio and streaming rig, allowing him more time to write, produce and play music. He still regularly travels to San Diego to support and participate in Digital Cocoon events and other area shows.