Our weekly look into the blogosphere where we talk about six tracks we found out about in the previous Wednesday-to-Wednesday seven-day period.Track of the week:
‘Wonderful Life’ by Hurts (Mantronix remix)
Now, don’t laugh, but I actually thought I was listening to some sort of remix of a Michael Jackson B-side at first! Never thought you would hear that in a paragraph dealing with a Hurts’ song, did you? Mantronix puts some disco in the track though, and it works amazingly well. The voice and the narrative lend themselves perfectly for such a reworking. Those two elements combined with their new environment give it this kind of 80s quality. And suddenly lines like “So don’t let go / never give up it’s such a wonderful life” don’t sound trite anymore, but just part of that underground disco aesthetic. Now, it’s not full throttle disco, if you perhaps got that idea from this. Bit more understated, perhaps even more synth 80s than disco. Like an early Spandau Ballet/Eurythmics mixture, without the swagger of the latter and the commercial appeal of the former in the later stages of the career (followed that time line?). Even for people who don’t want anything to do with Hurts because of that hype thingy they are surrounded by, this might actually be worth a shot if you like your 80s stuff.
http://hypem.com/#/track/1156136/Hurts+-+Wonderful+Life+Mantronix+Remix+
‘Shadows’ by Au Revoir Simone (Jens Lekman remix)
I know some people who are positively in love with Jens Lekman. For some reason I have yet to intensely listen to his oeuvre. Much the same with Au Revoir Simone, with the difference that I once saw this trio at a festival and that didn’t really add to my motivation to listen to them. This combined effort, though, is lovely. Sweet, dreamy, angelic, slightly whimsical: it has a bit of a Mary Poppins vibe to it, yet slightly more dreamy and slightly less of Poppins’ cocksureness (It is a classic, you know?). Lovely to have on while strolling alongside a pond with this. To stay in meaningless cinematic phrases, it also has a bit of that Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers vibe to it. Dreamy with a smile. Very nice this one is.
http://hypem.com/#/track/1157066/Au+Revoir+Simone+-+Shadows+Jens+Lekman+Remix+
‘In the Summer’ by Crystal Fighters (French Fries remix)
This definitely is for “in the summer”, and I can see myself beach partying on this one (except, I hate the beach. Don’t ask.) Definitely has that Spanish/Bask (don’t want to offend anyone here) vibe to it. And a bit club, which took me aback at first, but after the first few moments it isn’t as bad as I initially thought. It definitely has that Bacardi commercial thingy going on, only slightly less commercial and slightly more party. Love the mixture of sounds and how they almost talk you into moving your hips a bit with that I’m-a-cool-motherfucker face on. There is enough variety in this (and loving the stripped bit around the four minute mark) for it to go on as long as it does (six minutes), and the beat is very dancey. I’ve liked Crystal Fighters’ output so far, however when I saw them live I was disappointed a bit so I tended to shy away from their music a tad in the past year. This puts them on my radar again, just fun, summery dancey music.
http://hypem.com/#/track/1148284/Crystal+Fighters+-+In+The+Summer+French+Fries+Remix+
‘You Ain’t Got It (Funk That)’ by Nina Sky
A track clocking under three minutes! My goodness, when was the last time we witnessed that? Low paced funk by Nina Sky. “You ain’t got it / you ain’t good enough” someone says through perhaps a vocoder, or something else manipulating the vocals into something more mechanic. So that kind of takes the 70s take-your-act-elsewhere attitude away a bit. That Aretha Franklin thing where she goes you better think twice (naturally, that’s Celine Dion, but I wasn’t referring to an actual quote, but the attitude). It gives it a more contemporary feel though, for what that’s worth. It is a nice little track, not feeling anything special with this one, but for a three minute slight funk song it is decent enough.
http://hypem.com/#/track/1154654/Nina+Sky+-+You+Aint+Got+It+Funk+That+
‘New Zombie’ by Headman (The Swiss)
Not sure what The Swiss are on about, because when I listen to their tracks I find them sometimes a bit understated. However, their remixes I find a bit on the crude side. So explain that one to me. After the first bit I start to like this one a tad more, because Headman has that Robotnick thing going on and the remix does fit that. So I guess this time it is part of the overall aesthetic of the underground DJ. It reminds me a bit of that ‘Obsessions for the Disco Freak’ song Robotnick released last year. Bit in that mold. Bit Vitalic as well I guess. Definitely something for the late hours. Not sure what he is banging on about (“It’s the enigma, in the machine!”), but that’s all right. Definitely a tune you might hear during one of those this-night-I’m-going-to-dance-and-nothing-but parties.
http://hypem.com/#/track/1155887/Headman+-+New+Zombie+The+Swiss+Fresh+FM+Remix+
‘Turnpike Ghost’ by Steel Train (RAC remix feat. Tegan & Sara)
I like the piano start and immediately thought, oh yeah, it’s a RAC remix, this must be good. But apparently I’m not as in love with the Tegan & Sara vocals as a plethora of other people seem to be, because actually I find the vocal contributions quite a turn off. Below the vocals there’s a lovely mellow track throbbing forward, delightful for hot summer Sundays like today. However, in some parts I can’t help but thinking, gee, didn’t Alanis Morissette do this one already?
http://soundcloud.com/remixartistcollective/steel-train-turnpike-ghost-rac-mix-ft-tegan-sara
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