Mastering the Remix

At its best, music inspires and commands our attention. At its worst, it frustrates and infuriates. And the latter happens because of the ferocity of our love for our aural art form. We love music too much to let harm come to it.

Like uncanny valley, anything slightly off can fill our tastes with rage and alienate that deviant sound from the pleasure centers of our brains. We crave specificity, even in the abstraction music hides in sometimes, and we lust after the sounds we’ve grown to love, no matter how unapparent those patterns seem in whatever our current flavor-of-the-week track is.

Our taste in music evolves through subtle, slowly changing shifts, slower than the millimeter-per-year crawl of the Earth’s tectonic plates (but about as personally powerful and cosmic). So remixes walk a really fucking thin tightrope. We need change, but too much change at once can catch us unprepared. Sometimes, remixes drag us through the mud with whatever god-awful-thing DJ_X has done to them, but sometimes, and somewhat amazingly, they allow us to reconsider tracks in ways we normally never would.

Perspective is everything, and one of the best ways to battle useless conviction to solidified ideas, and this is especially true of art, is to prepare yourself for the inevitable — that you will change. And change, like remixes, can be a beautiful thing; sometimes, we desperately need it.

Like Mos Def once said, “Everything’s got space between it, the planets, trees, your eyes. Your eyes get too close together, it’s a whole different world. You can lose perspective.” But at risk of trying to pin some personal explanation to Mos Def’s words, I won’t. I’ll just tell you that he’s got a good idea. When things get too intertwined, it’s hard for us to ever think about unraveling them. We get lost in webs of our own design.

With that in mind, I put together a list of my ten favorite remixes of the year. Subjective and beautiful. Don’t let my words color you. And don’t think of this as a masterpiece; think of this as my perspective. Enjoy. And enjoy wherever your music takes you.
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 Favorite Ten Remixes of 2011


10. Pretty Lights - Summertime

9. Sun Glitters - A Dragonfly in the City (Teen Daze Remix)
 

8. Shangri-Las - Remember (Adventure Club Dubstep Remix)
 

7. Theophilus London - Why Even Try (RAC Remix)
 

6. UGK, Outkast & George Michael - International Whisperer’s Anthem (Skratch Bastid’s Sexy Sax Mix)
 

5. Mr. Little Jeans - The Suburbs (Arcade Fire Cover)
 

4. Sia - Breathe Me (Butch Clancy Remix)
 

3. Birdy - Shelter (Photek Remix)
 

2. Florence + The Machine - Shake It Out (The Weeknd Remix)
 

1. The Irrepressibles - In This Shirt (Röyksopp Edit)
 

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  • 10 Plays
  • The Suburbs (Arcade Fire Cover)Mr. Little Jeans

The Top 50 Pretty Solid, Probably Pretty Great Songs of 2010-ish

To Be Brief:

Let’s be honest. 2010 was a strange year. It’s been long, difficult, and full of transitions. Many have simply tried to get by in whatever way they could. For me, that’s meant having a few extra ramen noodle packets and trying not to grow jaded and old (in my terribly old mid-20s that is) while I sift through cringe-worthy news articles. Oh, Psychology Today, what would we do without you? (http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/extreme-fear/201009/the-sad-science-hipsterism)

The good news, though, is that 2010 was as big of a year for music as any. That is, if you looked beyond the top 40 charts. The past few years have been huge for electronic music, but 2010 felt more like a year of indie bands that made up their own mini-genres. (Seriously, Freak Folk?) So obviously, just like every year, everyone will hate everyone else’s best of lists. With that in mind, we come to mine.

In the latter half of the year, I made it a point to find a new song that I enjoyed every day: a worthy thing for any music lover to try in 2011. Hype Machine, various podcasts, and a handful of friends all helped shape my musical tastes, so credit goes where credit is deserved. For now, though, I leave you with music. Here’s to my favorite tracks of the somewhere around the year-ish.

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—Click Song Titles to Listen—

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50) Of Montreal - Coquet Coquette

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49) Oryon - Gotham

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48) Pony Pony Run Run - Hey You (Vanguard Remix)

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47) Gorillaz - On Melancholy Hill

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46) Susana ft. Josh Gabriel - Frozen (Nic Chagall Remix)

(Be sure to check out the full 8+ minute version if you like this.)

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45) Lady Gaga - Monster (Richie Beretta Remix)

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44) Adele - Rolling in the Deep

Bonus: Check out this remix by Keljet!


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43) Deadmau5 - Right This Second

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42) Chromeo – Night By Night

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41) Ocelot – Beating Hearts (Louis La Roche Remix)

Bonus: Check out the original for more of a club vibe.

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40) Hey Champ – Face Control

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39) Skrillex ft. Penny – All I Ask of You (Myndset Remix)

(hit the play arrow!)

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38) Janelle Monae – Tightrope (ft. Big Boi)

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37) Steve Aoki ft. [[[Zuper Blahq]]] – I’m In the House (Gigi Barocco Remix)

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36) Crystal Castles – Not In Love (ft. Robert Smith)

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35) Cults – Go Outside

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34) Baroness – A Horse Called Golgotha

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33) Caribou – Odessa

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32) The National – Bloodbuzz Ohio

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31) Digitalism – Blitz

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30) Owen Pallett – Lewis Takes Off His Shirt

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29) Grum – Through the Night

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28) Arcade Fire – Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)

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27) Crookers ft. Yelle – Cooler Couleur (AC Slater Remix)

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26) The Hold Steady – Barely Breathing

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25) Kanye West – Homecoming (Discotech Remix)

(hit the play arrow!)

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24) Wick-it the Instigator – Big Boi vs. The Black Keys – Black Bug (MASHUP)

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23: Medina – You & I (Deadmau5 Remix)

(I did say 2010-ISH!)

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22) Fang Island – Life Coach

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21) Skrillex – Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites

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20) Yuri Kane – Right Back (Anton Firtich Remix)

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19) Girl Talk – Oh No

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18) Oh Land – Sun of a Gun

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17) Robyn – Indestructible (A-Trak Remix)

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16) Goldfrapp – Rocket (Grum Remix)

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15) Kid Cudi – Pursuit of Happiness (Steve Aoki Dance Remix)

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14) Das Racist – hahahaha jk?

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13) Duck Sauce – Barbra Streisand (Fare Soldi Remix)

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12) Lindstrom & Christabelle – Lovesick

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11) Kanye West (ft. Dwele) – Power

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10) Hot Chip – Take It In

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9) Tame Impala – Solitude is Bliss

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8) Lady Gaga – Bad Romance (Skrillex Radio)

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7) Ellie Goulding – Little Dreams

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6) Pendulum - The Island Pt.1 (Dawn)

Bonus: An amazing blending of Part 1 and Part 2!

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5) Cee Lo Green – Fuck You

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4) The Naked and Famous – Girls Like You

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3) Robyn – Hang With Me

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2) Human Life – Wherever We Are (Grum Remix)

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1) Marina and the Diamonds – I Am Not A Robot (Clock Opera Remix)

Fin.