this seat is reserved for remixes
On my Top 15 of 2009 post, I listed Skream's remix of La Roux's "In For The Kill" as one of my favorite tracks of the year so far. Lost in my earlier filled-out-and-deleted post was the explanation of how truly epicly Skream's remix transformed La Roux's original. I'm a fan of her work as it is, enjoying her set at Osheaga, and I'm especially fond of "Bulletproof," the tune she closed her Montreal show to a few weeks ago.
So with that in mind, I approached the Nacey remix of "Bulletproof" on hypem with some hesitation - something common for remixes, as I usually don't like my favorite songs to be messed with. Nothing ruins a good track like some "up-and-coming" fart adding some deep bass and synth stabs to something that didn't need any re-working in the first place, not to mention dragging the track out to boredom-inducing lengths of 6 to 7 minutes. Add to that the fact that I've grown increasingly dubious of the top 20 on hypem and its tendency to overpopularize crappy dancefloor electro (as chosen by hypem member's number of "favorites" on a certain track), as well as my unfamiliarity with Nacey, and I didn't think this remix had much a hope.
Imagine my surprise when I ended up with a song that was not only 5 seconds shorter than the original but...wait for it...better than Skream's above remix of "In For The Kill." The original "Bulletproof" is everything in a nutshell concerning La Roux's sound: it bleeds the 80's, brings her voice to the forefront (and she has decent pipes, especially for an electro-pop singer), throws in more than a fair share of keyboards and synths, and doesn't really do much for you on a deeper level lyrically.
Nacey's remix on the other hand starts off with the vast soundfulness of a church, and fills that with strings and a few repeated and haunting piano and keyboard chords. While keeping La Roux's original cadence, Nacey puts her voice a little further back on the track, and lets the strings and piano take over until a great beat drops in around 1:20 in. The percussion picks up at that point and you're treated to finger snaps, ambient wooshes and an overall epic sound that manages to be more immediate than the "In For The Kill" remix, as well as more focused and forward than that reworking. Add in the great strings solo at around 2:40, just to punctuate the antiquated feel of an orchestra in a church here, and I'm not really sure if this wouldn't surely nudge "In For The Kill" out of my Top 15 for the year.
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