The Remix is not necessarily a way to extend single sales. The Remix does not need to out do the original. The Remix, at least the good one, needs only to change the mood of the piece. Whether the mixer makes a jubilant song into a sad one or turns an airy melody into a jump-out-of your-seat-cuz-you-need–to-dance-motherfucker tune, the Remix is its own art form.

When Kevin told me it was remix week I said, “well, I AM a sucker for remixes.” My creeping procrastination caused, like a term paper turned in two days late with the excuse of a dead great aunt, into this last minute hodgepodge of remixes that I dig.

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The first chunk of reworking comes from the Mistress of the Remix – Bjork. She must give out vocal tracks to everyone on the hipster mailing list, because the mixes just don’t stop. I’ve chosen three by some of my favorite mix masters.

Mark Bell, her collaborative producer, performance partner and all around electronic wunderkind remixed this track and turned this song into a big, orchestral movie score.

Bjork | Bachelorette (Mark Bell Optimism Remix)

Alec Empire took on Joga and muddied up this love song:

Bjork | Joga (Alec Empire Mix)

Photek puts a light dose of drum n’ bass on this one:

Bjork | I Miss You (Photek mix)

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Beth Orton gets the treatment too. Maybe I just have a thing for pretty voiced women getting worked over with strange new beats, I don’t know.

Two mixes of the same song by heavy hitters Roots Manuva and Four Tet:

Beth Orton | Daybreaker (Roots Manuva Remix)

Beth Orton | Daybreaker (Four Tet Remix)

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Kings of Convenience, the indie folk-pop duo from Bergen, Norway, never shy away from a good mix, since singer Erland Oye can be found behind the ones and twos from time to time. Another from Four tet:
Kings Of Convenience | The Weight of my Words (Four Tet Remix)

According to BBC’s 1xtra Drum n’ Bass gurus (voted on by the public) this was the D n’ B remix of the year done by the Artists of the Year (GO Pendulum). Who am I to argue.

The Prodigy | Voodoo People (Pendulum Remix)

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I have to throw this quirky Beastie mix in.

The Beastie Boys | Intergalactic (Fuzzy Logic Remix)

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The RZA joins Choco to take on Charlie Parker.

Charlie Parker | Bebop (Choco And RZA Remix)

And finally, yet another an airy voice with Beth Gibbons heading up Portishead. Here’s a ’70’s riff rock remix of the ’94 sex dripping single Glory Box.

Portishead | Glory Box (Toy Box remix)

OK. I’m just gonna lay it on the line here: I may have a man-crush on Josh Homme. This will come as a disappointment to my cohort Royce, who recently (and to my disbelief) called Queens of the Stone Age “overrated.” So I socked him. And that was that.

Homme is the architect/singer of Queens, drummer (an average one) for Eagles of Death Metal and an all-around rock star. When I saw Queens in concert last year, I was bowled over. Having been to so many indie shows, where the singers are in a sort of emotional, affected haze, I forgot what a true rock show felt like. There is no namby-pamby, heart-on-the-sleeve, woe-is-I sap. Trust me, I like all that. But Queens? I mean, if I was gonna be in a rock band (hey, I played drums in middle school) … that’s the way to do it. Just rock. What more can you say? As a wise man once said (OK, it was Paul Rodgers and Bad Company), “It’s all part of my rock and roll fantasy.”

It seems Homme is now taking to remix production. And here’s a couple.

U.N.K.L.E. | Eye for an Eye Backwards (Joshua Homme and Alain Johannes remix)
Death from Above 1979 | Black History Month (Josh Homme remix)

BONUS:
Queens of the Stone Age | No One Knows (U.N.K.L.E. remix)

• Here’s that trailer for the Bloc Party DVD that’s due out Jan. 17. You can buy it at an indie retailer near you.
• For anyone in Arizona, Rob Dickinson, former lead singer of The Catherine Wheel, is playing Anderson’s in Scottsdale on Jan. 26 for only 5 freaking dollars. Solo, acoustic, so I hear.
• I’m worried my Sun Devils will not win a single Pac-10 basketball game this season. The safe guess is that spells the end of Rob Evans’ tenure at ASU.
• Four days until Panthers at Bears …

Welcome to the redesigned site, a long overdue project I’ve been dabbling with for months. My main goal was to steer clear of a cookie-cutter Blogger look and go for a cleaner, more streamlined look. Does it work?

Many thanks go to my best bud John, who toiled over the drawing for the banner and withstood my many demands. To his wife Gabriela, who showed me the dark and mysterious ways of HTML and Dreamweaver. I am in debt for their patience. And to Eric, whose clean layout led me to, um, borrow some of his coding (with his permission, of course). There likely will be tweaks here and there.

The idea for the banner drawing was inspired by some old Twilight Zone watching, specifically The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street (Season 1). In sum, a neighborhood in Suburbia, USA, becomes convinced of an alien invasion. When a boy who reads sci-fi says human-looking aliens usually precede the invasion, the once-friendly neighbors start pointing fingers, speculating who might be the alien. As Rod Serling recaps: “There are weapons that are simply thoughts, attitudes, prejudices – to be found only in the minds of men.”

Neighbors turn ugly in The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street.
In keeping true to the redesign theme, I’m offering up the inaugural Remix Week. In addition to any regular posts, I’ll make available a few of the many remixes in my music library: whether from CDs, vinyl or cassettes. Other than that, I have no particular procedure for how I’ll pick them.

And what about remixes, which once seemed the proprietary domain of hip-hop? Why do we love (or loathe) them so? As my sometimes contributor Royce likes to say: “I’m a sucker for remixes.” To that end, remixes have become bait for consumerism. Full albums of remixes are becoming commonplace. Look at Bloc Party: Did Silent Alarm really need to be remixed? Probably not. More likely, the clamor for Bloc Party created an opportunity (in the form of sales) that Vice Records would be dumb to pass up.

So, what draws you to remixes? I have many in my collection, though I’m hard-pressed to think of a remix I like better than its original. But is that ever the point? Sometimes I fear my impression of the original will be tainted somehow. On the other hand, a really well-done remix offers a new vision or perception of the song.

My first selection is Z-Trip’s reworking of The Jackson 5’s I Want You Back. In this instance, Z-Trip maintains the true spirit of the song, but adds an updated drum loop, really putting the focus on the beat. Z-Trip’s respect for the original is evident, and he still is able to put his imprint on it.

The Jackson 5 | I Want You Back (Z-Trip remix)
(From Mowtown Remixed)

My second choice is an example of a remix that makes me wonder: Why? Paul Banks of Interpol takes his own group’s song Narc and strips it down to a bare minimum. It’s not that the remix is particularly bad; but I quite enjoy the original, so it’s difficult to frame the lyrics/music in the much slower, moodier remix.

Interpol | Narc (Paul Banks remix)