Sunday Night Spotlight | No. 1

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.

La Roux - Bulletproof (Nacey Remix)

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.

Et moi je t'aime un peu plus fort

the ever-so-cute Coeur De Pirate

I've been meaning to blog this post for quite a while, because it's a nice little study in remixing. I remember I was browsing hypem.com like I usually do, all the way back in February, when I stumbled on "Comme Des Enfants (Le Matos Andy Carmichael Mix)" by an artist named Coeur De Pirate. It had a long song name, and a strange French-sounding artist, so I quickly filed it under "over-remixed Euro trash." I also remember though that it had an inordinately high number of "loved"s for the popular list, so I figured I'd give it a spin.

What followed was a slow, dark and brooding rendition of heartbreak, set to a bopping synth and dancefloor ready thump. I understand my fair share of French, but I really didn't pay attention to the lyrics, as the soundscape was more than enough to hold my attention for the numerous listens I gave the song over the weeks.

Then - and this is where the specifics get cloudy - one of my best friends and I began to talk about the song or the artist; the exact nature escapes me. But we were driving along one day, and I was playing the remix, and she somewhat jokingly/somewhat seriously said "what the fuck is this shit?" (she's endearingly vulgar). I explained it was Coeur De Pirate, and she replied with "oh hell no it isn't, this is some techno, crazy, stupid shit," then grabbed her phone and played the original version of "Comme Des Enfants." It was light-hearted, bubbly, piano-driven and a pop song in every sense of the phrase, a drastic contrast to the remix I was so enamoured by.

Once I saw this side of Coeur De Pirate, I was instantly struck. As it happens, I work at an office where we're only allowed on cbc.ca in terms of outside internet access, relegating me to listening to podcasts from CBC Radio 3, an all-indie, all-Canadian institution I've somehow been blind to for the last 4 years (ignore the fact I picked up a cool poster they came up with when the site first launched, that then somehow managed to stay up in my room for years without me actually visiting the site). Anyways, before I get off track, it turns out they play Coeur De Pirate, and that she's a bonafide Canadian songstress. Go figure.

Back to the music itself though, I mentioned this was a nice little study of the remix. A lot of remixes just add some drums, some synth, re-arrange some words, and voila, a cheap retake on something that probably wasn't even that great to begin with. I'm not gonna try to guess why this remix made it so big based on the singer herself and any perceived popularity, but musically, it's genius in the way it takes the original and reconstructs it, while retaining virtually only the lyrics themselves.

There's maybe an ode to the piano of the original in the build-up of the remix, but from there on out, it's one extended, dark tilt on an otherwise joyous-sounding song. I say sounding because translated, this song approximates to a love-triangle (somehow explained well-enough by my aforementioned non-French-speaking, Coeur-De-Pirate-loving friend), and CDP being stuck in the middle of it all.

"But he loves me still, and my love for you grows a little bit stronger" is roughly what the chorus amounts to. The jumpy and happy nature of the original does nothing to capture that spirit, but strangely the remix does it perfectly. In my limited experience, I have to say that's one of the few instances in which a remix (not a cover mind you) does a better job of conveying the message of a song than the actual original.

Now for all my talking, it's still up to you to listen and decide for yourselves. You can have it one of two ways: take my path, and hear the remix first, then be surprised by the original; or listen to the original and be envelloped by the immenseness of the remix afterwards.

You can only choose one. Someone tell that to Coeur De Pirate though.

Original: Comme Des Enfants - Coeur De Pirate

Remix: Comme Des Enfants (Le Matos Andy Carmichael Remix) - Coeur De Pirate

The best-most-annoying-song you'll hear this summer

yes that's actually them. yes I thought they were black too

They're Das Racist, and they're supposed to make pretty wack music, on purpose though. This song can easily get on your nerves, but rest assured that they know it sounds stupid...as opposed to, oh, I don't know - fucking Soulja Boy, who actually thinks he's good.

Keep that sense of irony in mind when listening to this one. That's probably the only thing that'll keep you sane through two friends arguing about meeting up at the exact same "combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell" in New York for almost 4 minutes. Well, that fact, plus the awesome guitar riffs, synths, horns and everything else accompanying this catchy remix by Wallpaper.

If this isn't stuck in your head after the first listen, whether for good or bad, then you might be brain-dead. Or racist. But I think they meant for you to be the second one. Anyways:

Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell (Wallpaper Remix) - Das Racist

An introduction to Emil & Friends

I'm sorry, but I can't help but think of Emeril Lagasse when I see this band/group/ensemble/outfit's (who really knows? they're a mysterious bunch) name. It's just this mental image of a chef on a guitar and a mixboard in the kitchen - apron, white hat and all.

This is crazy creative music as far as I'm concerned. Emil & Friends just seem to come out of left field on these songs, and it's refreshing, exciting, and out of the ordinary in a good way.

"Fire Flower" is the song that first introduced me to the group (thanks to the blousesydney blog for that one), and it was the heartfelt guitar plucking that caught my attention from the start. Of course the song progressed, and admittedly I felt the sombre mood didn't help my opinion of them much. However, my interest had been piqued.

Fire Flower - Emil & Friends

This was followed many months later by a re-working (more cover than remix) of the effervescent "Sleepyhead" by Passion Pit. Though the ever-so-catchy "ahhh-ahh-ahh-ahhhhhh-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-aaaaah" remained intact, the acoustic take and the sleepy lyrics (Passion Pit's mistake of the year? a song titled "Sleepyhead" from a singer ready to bust the roof off with a voice that would wake a rooster) really helped accentuate an already-great tune for me. It was so laid back, so cool; so sure of itself, yet with the fragile voice of something ready to break down.

Sleepyhead - Emil & Friends

The quintessential piece of the puzzle is Emil & Friends' brilliant remix of Little Boots' "New In Town." I'd already heard and been impressed by the Fred Falke and Drop The Lime remixes, but this one brought something completely new to the table. Heavily Vocoder-ed lyrics, an electro beat ready for the dancefloor, and a jumpy song that had about 4 or 5 distinct sections, that somehow all melded together for one energetic blast of music. Throw in the slashing guitar solo, and it's a sonic buffet of cliches and music styles, all fitting together in a way they really shouldn't. And it works.

New In Town (Emil & Friends Remix) - Little Boots