Best Remixes from 2009

Here they are, a (fairly biased) personal top 10 remixes of 2009, although I did cheat a little bit and include extra remixes, so it's more of a top 16 or more...

Bit of a mixed bag, although drum 'n' bass remixes are probably a little bit more prominent than is representative. Also I've left out Skream's La Roux remix as this top 10 isn't about relevance or scene prominence, it's just not good enough for my list (see 2009 retrospective)

#1

M83 - Run Into Flowers (Midnight Fuck Remix by Jackson)

Takes the slow progressing wave of noise from the pseudo-shoegaze original, tones it down, then rips it apart with the masterful hand of some kind of Aphex Twin-esque deity, the subtly popping beats sucking the volume out of the bulk of the track on each beat, with the effect of a regular brain-numbing pulse. It's just fucking beautiful, especially at 3:20 when that refreshingly cheeky tinny sample comes to play. Hell, do the dirty and listen to it while following the title's instruction (I mean midnight fuck, not run into flowers, although it's really up to you).

#2

The Temper Trap - Science of Fear (Mistabishi Remix)

The first DnB remix on the list! This track was both the first I heard of The Temper Trap (and the reason why I'll never like their music even nearly as much as this) and Mistabishi. Pioneered by the ever-resourceful Tony 'London Elektricity' Colman on his Hospital Podcast, this track showed Mistabishi to be more than your average spacey producer. Having said that, this track is very spacey, listening to it does feel consistently like falling, very fast. Not one for the dancefloor.

#3

Mystery Jets - Two Doors Down (Duke Dumont Reconstruction)

Is this even a remix? I can't hear a single reference to the original, but that's not a problem! The first minute or so sounds like the soundtrack to some kind of dragged-out sickening revelation in a psychological thriller, like the protagonist has just realised he's murdered his wife or something. In as nice a way as possible. The remaining seven minutes cues progressively heavy bass drums interspersed with haunting vocal melody and slightly creepy xylophone. It sits very well on the ears and fits more into that 'mindfuck' style of mix, one for a three A.M. listen in bed.

#4

London Elektricty - Just One Second (Apex Remix)

Back to the DnB, and my Hospital Records bias is really starting to show at this point... This track took the gentle melody of the original but took away all that slight unease that tends to accompany a lot of LE's tracks - that weird discord between the heaviness of his breakbeats and the annoying lounginess of his house-inspired live samples - by smearing the whole thing in reverberated atmosphere, giving the female vocals so much more weight. I hate to say it but this is one of those rare family-friendly DnB tracks, but with all the spine-tingling feel of more underground ambient and techy jungle. Lovely.

#5

Grum - Heartbeats (Weird Tapes Remix)

As you'll see from my 'Year of Tapes' section in the 2009 retrospective below, I've got a lot of love for this producer, and his remixes just keep on giving. The original was a bit annoying in a 16-bit old skool bleepy kinda way, but Mr. Tapes breathed new life into it in a wonderfully innocent-sounding bleary way. It's as ever-changing as all his remixes and just as catchy. BUT he did a few of these which are probably as good, so also try his bouncier Peter Bjorn & John - It Don't Move Me (Weird Tapes Remix) and his unbeatably joyful Fool's Gold - Nadine (Memory Tapes Version).

#6

Enter Shikari - We Can Breathe in Space, They Just Don't Want Us to Escape (Grayedout Remix)

Don't judge the band for one second, their unique blend of hardcore and, err, (electronic) hardcore hasn't been matched thus far. This in-between-albums single was thoroughly underrated as well, its dramatic shift in sound to a more poppy, easily-digestible one put off many fans - that and it's bloody awful title. This very extensive remix twists the track about all over the shop, its nice and dark buzz-saw synth lead and sinister delays adding a whole level of depth to the track. It all comes together in a nice melodic climax, after a fair few minutes.

#7

The Prodigy - Omen (Noisia Remix)

I had to fit the Prodigy in somehow! Although a little repetitive, I think the breakbeat ensemble deserve a lot of respect here for producing one of the few decent remixes of the band that came out of the last album (and there were A LOT). I love the original, and this doesn't do what other remixes did and just shift the tempo and chuck a load of beats over it to try and ADD anything, because there's nothing to add, Liam Howlett is the master of the big beat mix, and can't be bettered. That's why this fairly adventurous substitute of a lot of the original's beats and synth lines works so well, it's classic Noisia grimey synth dives perfect for the dance floor. I also enjoyed Sub Focus' remix of Take Me to the Hospital, but then I am Sub Focus' bitch...
NOTE - it's worth buying the original of the Noisia remix off iTunes as the full-length HQ version is tricky to find otherwise.


#8

Ellie Goulding - Under the Sheets (Pariah Remix)

This apparently upcoming folktronica songstress has only impressed me when remixed. This version retains only minimal snippets of her vocals, comprising a beautifully ambient dub-tempo remix overall, with a gradual upsurge in danceability. Jakwob also remixed this track (here) in more traditional dubstep fashion, but his dubstepping over her Starry Eyed (here) is what brings wobbly tears to my eyes.

#9

Deadmau5 - Ghosts 'N' Stuff [Feat. Rob Swire] (Nero Remix)

I'm being very biased here, as this track happens to completely represent a poignant memory of sheer madness and excitement coupled with a general atmosphere of substance-fuelled bravado (the opening DJ set to a Chase & Status live show) for me. But I think that might come across in its unfathomably grimey drop at 1:59 - you'll understand. This remix is actually unnecessarily long and repetitive, if not a bit too slow, but played through a decent sound system it might make you wet yourself. Also in Sub Focus' bitch fashion, his remix is worth a listen, it's less long-winded and more consistent. Did anyone give a shit about the original? Rob Swire's probably got better things to do, fingers crossed Pendulum don't descend completely into chart-friendly rock 'n' bass.


#10

Gossip - Love Long Distance (Fake Blood Remix)

I'm not sure anyone paid much attention to this year's gossip album, I know I went no further than the first single and this remix, but perhaps that was foolish of me. Anyway Fake Blood has done well with this ultra dance-floor friendly blend of guitar pop and electro house, his signature sampled 'fake blood' vocal tag at 2:59 securing his respect in cool indie clubs across the western world. I think this works better than Soulwax's earlier remix of Standing in the Way of Control, and beating Soulwax says you're doing well.

Miscellaneous Remixes

These few slipped into my iTunes recently and I thought they were worthy of a mention as they got me quite excited (note not excited enough to include them in the top 10):

Radiohead - Videotape (Xaphoon's Dubstep Remix)

The Chemical Brothers - Hey Boy, Hey Girl (Soulwax 2ManyDJs Remix)

Phoenix - Fences (Neo Tokyo Remix)


There's always room for more 2009 DnB remixes:

Moby - One Time We Lived (Matrix & Futurebound Remix)

Mistabishi - From Memory (Matrix Remix) - nice, but doesn't better the original's drop

Bad Company - Bullet Time (Spor Remix)

Zed Bias - Neighbourhood (Logistics Remix)

2009 Retrospective

Don't worry, I'm not NME and I know it (although let's be glad of that) so I'm not about to pretentiously list the top 10 of everything (Up The Bracket 2nd best album of the decade? Hell no), just throw in a few of my highlights slash what I felt really signified the year musically - with LINKS APLENTY :) There won't be too many surprises.

Please let me know about any dodgy links, but also, given the amount of links to shared files here I hope anyone taking advantage of them does try their best to balance out sharing with PAYING, and doesn't re-host the files. I've got no love for haters of the industry.

Here goes...

A Remix

La Roux - In for the Kill (Skream Remix)

Yeah, if you didn't hear it you were either in a cave for the whole year or Jo Whiley (actually that's not fair. I'm sure this was the one dubstep track she plugged relentlessly this year like she had plucked it fresh out of a stream with her bare hands).

In no way was this the best remix of the year, but it played a big part in foregrounding to the mainstream that sultry bitch that is dubstep, and actually it does inevitably tickle the ear drums when the bass comes in - subwoofer or decent headphones essential.

Skream's ever-so-clever new format of dub remix (take latest single from electro-songstress; start with a-capella vocals smeared with reverb; cue sub bass) was also hilariously and relentlessly mimicked by other producers - see Nero's remix of La Roux's I'm Not Your Toy. Also fairly similar and probably inspired by Skream's remix, but infinitely richer, was Jakwob's cheeky pair of Ellie Goulding remixes: here and here.

There were, however, s o many (arguably better) remixes, which you can check out in my separate 2009 Remixes section.

An Electro-Pop High 

Passion Pit - The Reeling

2009 saw 80s electro-influenced music proverbially ejaculate all over the mainstream. Now, forget your Ga Gas and your Little Boots(es?), your Miike Snows and your Phoenixes, (although definitely check out Love Like A Sunset); Passion Pit hit that perfect balance between joyful, dancy pop sensibility and something less preoccupied with the industry.

The EP Chunk of Change which kick-started the electronic band was intended as a gift for frontman Michael Angelakos' girlfriend, and it's that genuine emotional feel to their music, added to Angelakos' signature falsetto and charmingly naive live presence (I've never smiled so much in a concert) that sky-rocketed the group above similar acts in 2009, when their album Manners came out. Also, ignore the over-hyped Sleepyhead, it's all about Little Secrets and Let Your Love Grow Tall.

An Anniversary

Warp Records

Grizzly Bear - Two Weeks

Yup, the above track signifies the enigmatic, pioneering and unbeatable label Warp Records, who turned 20 this year, leaving behind quite a legacy! I'm not about to write a history (those more in tune with the label, skip the next paragraph) but, for any who are unfamiliar, Warp started out when two guys in an obscure Shefield record shop started financially backing new and exciting electronica. The first few releases included tracks by Nightmares On Wax and LFO, and the label went on to pioneer the legend that is Aphex Twin, as well as Boards of Canada, Autechre and Squarepusher to name a few. As well as going on to start releasing a few films (including Shane Meadows' This Is England) the label have signed more conven tional indie and rock artists such as Maximo Park, Grizzly Bear and Born Ruffians.

So yeah, the anniversary has spawned a series of Warp20 compilations (including remixes, covers and new material) and a box set, but also given us all a chance to look back on the challenging, unconventional beauty of the music left in its wake.

Highlights for Warp virgins to check out include a good chunk of Aphex Twin's work obviously (check out anything from the Come To Daddy EP, notably the Little Lord Faulteroy Mix and more soul-calming Flim and Iz-Us; but also Windowlicker and its epic and facking hilarious music video) and some more old-school Autechre (here). Also worth checking out is the bizarre sonic-pervert Tim Exile (here) and indie-wise, for anyone who's unaware of them (they were that twee little live band in that Skins episode where Cassie randomly turned up in New York), Born Ruffians, who are definitely worth a listen - a million miles away from Warp's characteristic sick-and-twisted electronic vibe.

Okay, so that was a bit of a chronological wander away from 2009, whoops. Back to the present.

A Drum & Bass Label

Hospital Records

Oh, as if I hadn't mentioned enough electronica... Well fuck it, the boys at Hospital have been doing very well this year, releasing (almost) golden boy Mistabishi's wonderfully eclectic album, discovering the beautifully enigmatic Bop (see my separate review) along with a cohort of Russian producers released in their Future Sound of Russia compilation, and also reaching number 100 in their unbeatable podcast, which is definitely worth listening to. Wannabe-cool Jack-the-lad uncle Tony 'The Colmanator' Colman might prove a bit annoying at first, but his fairly frequent discovered gems of DnB and the like are rewarding enough to warrant getting used to his interruptions.

Their compilation Sick Music should make non-believers understand - try Beautiful Lies, Red Mist VIP, the Apex remix of Tony's Just One Second and Empty Streets just for a taste...

A Comeback

The Prodigy – Take Me To The Hospital

Yeah, I know, the Prodigy never really left (although the considerable gap between all of their albums makes each new release seem like a comeback) but their contribution to this year did feel pretty momentous and very nostalgic, what with the welcome return of Liam Howlett's wingmen Maxim and the enigmatic Keith Flint on the new record - the first time they'd collaborated on an album since The Fat of the Land twelve years ago! Actually, I say collaborated, I think 'yelled over Liam's masterful production' would be more truthful, but it's still nice to hear the group as, err, a group.

Despite not being a proper comeback, I have to say it felt more impactive than the more traditional comebacks of The Specials and Blur, but then the Prodigy do love to make a whole fucking lot of noise...

Having said that, the Prodigy never were an album group and Invaders Must Die did what they always do, destroying dance-floors with massive singles but sacrificing consistency in doing so. Still, relative wank like 'Thunder' and 'Colours' were among the relatively few tracks spoiling the album, Howlett keeping his good name with madness-provoking singles Omen, Take Me to the Hospital and Warrior's Dance.


They did milk this album to the point of ripping the prodigy's neon teat... Each single was remixed to death (ignore the poison of any remixes of Invaders Must Die or Warrior's Dance - there's no remedy for Chase & Status' signature 'look it's us shitting drum and bass all over the Prodigy' IMD remix) with the exception of the tastefully done Noisia remix of Omen and (classic) Sub Focus remix of Take Me to the Hospital. 

An Album

You know what, I'm not choosing one. I don't think it was the best year for them by any means. I'm an album man through and through but there were no For Emmas this year. Having said that I enjoyed Memory Tapes' Seek Magic (see A Year of Tapes below), The Flaming Lips' Embryonic (see A Lack of Rocking and Rolling below), Bop's Clear Your Mind (listen), Mistabishi's Drop (see A Genre, a Sample Too Far and a DJing Shambles below) Passion Pit's Manners (see top) and Enter Shikari's Common Dreads (try, try) amongst others.

Also be sure to check out Sparklehorse & Danger Mouse's collaboration Dark Night of the Soul - an album full to the brim with famous guest singers including Strokes frontman Julian Casablancas, Cardigans' singer Nina Persson and Iggy Pop. The release was an eclectic mix of emotional extremes (to be expected from the bizarre mental state of Sparklehorse) and was so obscure that it wasn't actually released due to legal reasons. The only way to get it is by illegal download, so google away. If you can't be arsed to download the whole thing first, then try Revenge (ft. Wayne Coyne) and The Man Who Played God, and take my word for it that every other track boasts an equally unique sound.

A Year of Tapes


Memory Tapes - Bicycle
Any excuse to mention the producer behind aliases Memory Tapes, Weird Tapes and Memory Cassette: Dayve Hawkes. Enthralled but by no means satisfied by my exposure to Weird Tapes early in the year, discovering Hawke's other chief alias Memory Tapes was like a child wetting themselves watching the original star wars trilogy for the first time after watching the latest prequels (except that Weird Tapes' work was also intelligent, spiritual and completely Jar Jar Binks-free).


While Weird Tapes seems to cling more strongly onto the legs of more established electronica, Memory Tapes strays away more from its dominating genre with vocals and surly guitar parts, delving more into the pop spotlight. To be honest though, they both sound pretty fucking similar, and pretty fucking good. Critics have used the term Glo-Fi to describe their shimmering blend of haunting and gloriously uplifting melody, bolstered by immaculately smooth and dynamic production and grounded by eccentric, yet dancefloor-friendly beats.


Tapes have been all over 2009, with Weird Tapes' 2008 release More Tapes (try My Babe Walk) bleeding through into the beginning of the year, not to mention the full-length Memory Tapes album Seek Magic, which boasted the Tape-loving producer's incredible versatility. And it's this versatility that's so impressive; Tapes production varies from the slightly eerie with massive breaks (Weird Tapes - The Talking Dead) to the accessible and joyful smothering moody guitars (Memory Tapes - Plain Material) via the occasional momentous and grandiose ambient 20-minute masterpiece (Memory Tapes - Treeship).


On top of this, the man's been smothering his remixing across the board over 2009, his blog We're Tapes featuring a new remix every few weeks! My favourites are the soul-ticklingly warm Fool's Gold Remix, the oddly bubbly retro progression of the Grum Remix, and the subtly chopped-up remix for Peter Bjorn & John. The group have also been remixed themselves, receiving attention from the Horrors in the form of their remix of Bicycle.

A Genre, a Sample Too Far and a DJing Shambles

(Dubstep)

Mistabishi - Printer Jam (Barbarix Remix) 

Hospital Records' early-2009 jewel in their crown, DnB (and more) producer Mistabishi made a very nice entrance to the scene this year with an incredibly diverse and smoothly produced full-length album (check out No Matter What and White Collar Grime). But the track which most tickled the mainstream was Printer Jam - guess what noise is sampled throughout? The original was clever but ridiculously unnecessary and crass, but what eventually followed was this remix, which took unnecessary and crass and multiplied them ten-fold to the point of being beautiful! 

Yes, it's a dubstep remix, and dubstep is a genre which (although not new) has really broken through to the mainstream in 2009, thanks to the likes of Skream (see A Remix above) and Chase & Status, who are now working with the likes of Rihanna and Snoop Dogg. That dark and mysteriously badass genre has stopped shooting up behind the bike sheds, leaving its selective clique of tech-heads to hang out with the cool kids. Sell out? Make up your own mind. 

As for DJing shambles? Well, as much as Mistabishi's production talents sparked a pretty respectful reception overall from the drum & bass community, this was all but swept away after an embarrassing incident at a recent gig of his, where fans began to notice that he was pretending to choose and spin records, while he was actually just playing a pre-recorded mix CD and arbitrarily wiggling his turntables and knobs on his mixer just to seem like he was doing something.

Apart from provoking, expectedly, an uproar amongst fans and turntablists, I think this might just say something slightly depressing about the world of DJing. As much respect as we have for DJs' mixing and sonic manipulation skills live, it's all too possible for some twat to just play us a CD with absolutely no improvisation and still have everyone going just as mental.

A Lack of Rocking and Rolling...

I realise that this retrospective has been thoroughly biased towards electronica, dnb and the like - while this is in part owing to my personal aversion (or ignorance) towards a lot of modern rock, pop and folk, I think that the year's not been so good for it...

This is an electronic age and a lot of the most exciting and boundary-breaking music released has been electronica or one of its illegitimate relatives (like that bastard teen cousin dubstep, not to mention obscure three-times-removed genres such as neurofunk, glo-fi etc). The (partly) refreshing wave of fresh electro-influenced rock and pop, as well as more obscure genres, has perhaps served as the antidote for the noughties' progressively shit crop of landfill indie music - we can blame The Strokes for that one probably.
Certainly rock music seems to have branched off into such an umbrella term that there doesn't seem to be much that we can comfortably dub 'rock' any more. It seems to me that you've either got your indie rock (each word in this genre having been rendered meaningless by this point), your emoey MCR-esque Fallout Boy conformist whiney tripe rock or your guitarists' rock - I mean the kind of rock that only rock musicians listen to, a genre so circular that it's spiralled into a-melodic noisy image-central auditory vomit. It seems that only at rock's borders can pure magic be found, as alternative giants Radiohead, The Flaming Lips etc. just keep on producing magic. (We all enjoyed their tribute to the last WWI vet Harry Patch, and await Thom, Jonny and co's 2010 album release, and many have been enjoying Wayne Coyne's incredibly weird last 'Lips album Embryonic - ch-ch-check it.) Plus anything Josh Homme has touched seems worth a listen, him single-handedly maintaining rock 'n' roll's pulse, and acceptably silly Biffy Clyro's persistent touring and new album does seem to come pretty close to ticking all the rock boxes - there's nowt much wrong with That Golden Rule, it serving as a direct cut-copy-paste reincarnation of Puzzle's Living Is A Problem (complete with pointlessly syncopated strings/drums/guitar section) which was also fuckin' awesome.

It was unfair of me to mock folk's progression however, as everyone's favourite posh boys Mumford & Sons have been blazing a trail across 2009 (we still prefer early tracks White Blank Page and Liar) and even borderline folk-pop golden boys Noah And The Whale returned on partly good form with the progressive and melancholy The First Days of Spring. It just seems folk had a hard act to follow what with last years incredible Dark Was the Night compilation (try Jose Gonzalez' Nick drake cover Cello Song, a bit of Feist & co and Decemberists' eight-minute 'is it annoying, actually I think I like it' epic Sleepless - then actually buy the album, its proceeds going to charity, you heartless cunt) as well as the wake of Fleet Foxes and Bon Iver. Actually Justin Vernon did release Bon Iver's pretty nice Blood Bank EP (lovely) in January and side-project Volcano Choir's album Unmap recently (try Island, IS).

 

An Attempt to Prove I Listened to Some Hip Hop

The Bloody Beetroots - Awesome (ft. Cool Kids)


A Couple of Tracks that Needed Mentioning But Didn't Fit Anywhere Else

Pretty Lights - More Important Than Michael Jordan

SebastiAn - H.A.L.



All done! Try not to get lost amongst the web of repetition and sea of download links, I don't expect anyone to try everything, but if you find one thing you love then my work is done.

Please comment away in terms of your agreement/disagreement.

Bring on the next decade...

Callum's Almost Monthly Mix - November

Here's the Student Voice playlist that never was...

I decided to make this blog the main home for my mixes as this way I've got full control over form and (most importantly) length, and I can provide LINKS LINKS LINKS so that you can listen rather than count on my shit-spouting attempts to describe and promote the tracks.

Having said that, this one was a bit disjointed as I've been a combination of ill, in a hurry and frustrated, so while the tracks are genius, my descriptions are pretty fucking poor. Cheers to Duncan for the first track!

Also I would like to get a streaming player for the whole mix put here at some point when I sort the technical malarkey behind it, so apologies for that not being here now.

Enough chit chat. Here it is:


1. The Correspondents – Wanna Go Home
Yup, it's swing jazz and I like it... Seductively scatty female vocals intersperse jazzy breaks and brass (touched with the cheeky remixing hand of Mr Chuckles)
DOWNLOAD

2. Francois and the Atlas Mountains – Be Water (Je Suis de l’Eau)
Some fantastically twee french hippies sing around a campfire about being water. make up your own mind.
DOWNLOAD

3. Phoenix – Fences
New single from the parisian alt-rocker chums of Daft Punk, smokey disco elegance smeared with indie cool. (I actually prefer other tracks off this album, namely Love Like A Sunset, but this is the new single, fits better in the mix and I'm fucking lazy so can't be arsed to change it)
DOWNLOAD

4. The Flaming Lips – The Sparrow Looks Up at the Machine
Mirrors the 'Lips new album - exciting sonic experimentation and Wayne Coyne's mystical warbling hidden behind layers of muddy instrumental
DOWNLOAD

5. Memory Tapes – Plain Material
The man behind Weird Tapes/Memory Tapes/Memory Cassette has already proved his production genius, and he's topped it here. My favourite single for months. The unassumingly barren intro of distant vocals and guitar progresses unexpectedly into pure shimmering electro brilliance. Flawlessly joy-inspiring and fucking catchy.
DOWNLOAD

6. Julian Casablancas – 11th Dimension
The Strokes frontman shows off an unexpectedly awesome solo project, here 80s dance elements complement his characteristic drawl. This track's been blogged to death so I figured I'd jump on the (oh-look-he-sounds-better-when-not-in-the) band-wagon
DOWNLOAD

7. Vitalic – Your Disco Song
Expansive synth hook descends into euphoric techno with retro robotic vocal samples and echoey blips.
DOWNLOAD

8. MRSA – Chemicals
Beautifully (almost naively) joyful melodies descend cheekily into one of the simplest but most satisfying drops i've heard in a while, then run together into blissful DnB sonic genius.
DOWNLOAD

9. SebastiAn – H.A.L.
Watch your volume meter... Massive laser synth bass gives way to what sounds like robot erotica. More than a little bit fucking sick.
DOWNLOAD

10. Randomer – Scapegoat
Reggaeton-esque exotic beats fused with grimey elastic bass lines and yelping chipmunk vocal samples. It sounds far too subtle and boundary-breaking for me to call it dubstep...
DOWNLOAD

11. Pretty Lights – More Important Than Michael Jordan
A mixtape in itself. Thoughtful electronica merges into choppily-sampled hip-hop with plenty of wobbles on the way.
DOWNLOAD

12. M83 – Run Into Flowers (Midnight Fuck Remix by Jackson)
Not a clue what the original sounded like but the tampered product sounds a treat. Transient and otherworldly voices and synth lines are subject to the playful sonic ripping and tearing of demon producer Jackson, whoever that may be.
DOWNLOAD

13. LCD Soundsystem – Bye Bye Bayou
The disco legend returns with an obscure cover. The repetitive but alluring vocals and simple beat are occasionally joined by varyingly warped stereo sound effects. Not sure why it’s good, but it is.
DOWNLOAD

14. Portico Quartet – Paper Scissors Stone
Ear-tickling and dynamically fluctuating modern jazz, a bit reminiscent of Cinematic Orchestra. Also one quarter of their otherwise standard instrumental lineup is a Hang player (a weird steel drum/marimba type thing) so they get some prop for that.
DOWNLOAD