Total Redraw: Dance Edition

Remixes that really shake things up

To continue from Monday’s part 1, White Noise now presents some of the best dance remixes from recent times that have been lurking in our music vaults. Again, special attention is paid to remixes that really change the original, and a lot of these are tracks from the non-dance world that have been given a special rework by a top producer.

Tracklist:

Storm Queen – Look Right Through (MK Don’t Talk To Me Dub)

Classixx – Into The Valley feat. Karl Dixon (Julio Bashmore Remix)

Groove Theory – Tell Me (George Fitzgerald Refix)

Florence & The Machine – You’ve Got The Love (Jamie xx Remix)

The Weeknd – What You Need (Prison Garde 808 Edit)

Radiohead – Lotus Flower (Jacques Greene Remix)

The xx – Crystalised (Dark Sky Remix)

Hard Drive – Deep Inside (Pearson Sound Refix)

Amerie – One Thing (French Fries Remix)

Zed Bias – Neighbourhood (El-B Remix)

The Drop – Looking To The Sky (DjRum Remix)

Fat Freddy’s Drop – Cay’s Crays (Digital Mystikz Remix)

Bo Saris – She’s On Fire (Maya Jane Coles Remix)

TRG – Broken Heart (Martyn’s DMC Remix)

Modular Pursuits – No Boundaries (Daphni Remix)

Mosca – Tilt Shift (Julio Bashmore Remix)

Late Nite Tuff Guy – A Deal With God

Boards of Canada – Olson (Midland Re-edit)

---

Special thanks to my friend Tom for helping me compile this playlist. Check out his superb mixes on Soundcloud.

Hope you enjoyed the remix roundup, I’ll leave you with a taster of one last track; a forthcoming release from Lorca mixing up FaithEvans and Nuyorican Soul – Enjoy!

Songs to come down

For today's playlist I've created two short compilations of tracks to come down to. Whether that's after a really heavy night out or a difficult period emotionally, I think these tracks will suit any downer period. Not that these are really sad songs, I tend to prefer downbeat or curious to out-and-out despair in songs unless I'm in a serious sulk. So here are a couple of collections of tunes to relaxedly get you through those glum times.

I've divided the selection into two, an Acoustic playlist and an Electronic playlist. Please note these aren't strict names, for example I'm aware Baths and Shlohmo aren't really acoustic while Memory Tapes is only arguably electronic, but the titles just refer to the overall feel of the playlist. The other thing to mention is that I've compiled these playlists as downloads on Mediafire for the first time, so if you like them just click on the playlist title and take them with you wherever you go.

Enjoy! (or, you know, despair...)

Acoustic

Kicking off with a couple of classic tracks, firstly the suitably titled and pleasantly jazzy I'm Comin' Down by Primal Scream is both low-key and relaxed, proving a perfect intro. Lou Reed's soft vocals coast through Candy Says and we move onto more recent fare, such as Baths' ambient interlude Rafting Starlit Everlades and the over-exposed but not necessarily overrated The xx with the taut Infinity. One of Animal Collective's first truly brilliant tracks, Banshee Beat follows, with a tense and hushed soundscape full of twittering noises and Panda Bear's glorious wordless vocals at the end. Next a couple of piano tracks from more electro-centric artists; James Blake mournful debut closer Measurements* and Aphex Twin's slow and melancholy Nanou2. Beach House makes the first of two appearances with their particular brand of syrup-thick composition and Victoria Legrand's always-perfect vocals. Another downbeat Baths track moves through to Bonobo's gorgeous Black Sands which becomes grander and more fluid as it goes on, all rather impressively in waltz time. Then the ever-peculiar Books meditate on the meaning of the word 'aleatoric' and we enter a final stretch composed of some of my very favourite songs. The immensely simple and powerful Take Care by Beach House is without a doubt in my top 5 tracks, and this feeds into one of Do Make Say Think's best, the meditative Soul and Onward. How to Disappear Completely is majestic and sweeping, as well as being my firm favourite Radiohead track (cue arguments), and it suits the mood perfectly, leading into the final track; where we hear Jason Pierce's uniquely raw brand of sorrow in Spiritualized's comedown lullaby Goodnight Goodnight.

* - If I've put an asterisk next to a track it means it wasn't on youtube so won't play on the embedded player, but the song will still be in the downloadable compilation don't you worry

Dance Playlist and Track Reviews

So I've got another selection of great dance tracks for you guys, just a collection of tracks that have been worming their way into positions as permanent installations in my brain. Here we'll move through some lovely garage beats via choppy vocals to 2-step and a couple of choice remixes, all perfectly suited to getting you moving throughout the night. Also obviously these are all fairly high scoring as they're my personal pick of tracks. Enjoy!

Shower Scene – Huxley

This track just has everything. With its classic UK garage stylings it builds over a simple but brutal beat to a drop that could knock out almost any contenders so far this year. We are treated throughout to a tense vocal loop and some stabbing synths but it's the force of this track that makes it a winner, not the precious details. Gonna be a hard one to beat.

4.5/5

Locked – Four Tet

Hebden's latest single for Text came off his upcoming fabriclive mix. Four Tet crafts a simple house shuffle and interlaces a few meaty bass drops and a luscious pitch-shifting synth melody to create a real winner. It's restrained but tough while remaining pretty, exactly what we've come to expect from the Tet's more dance-orientated releases.

4/5

Another Girl – Jacques Greene

I know this isn't the newest track but in my opinion it's one of the best of the year so far and so I had to squeeze it in somewhere. Greene's shimmery, patient sound is made up of some sharp snares and deep bass throbs, but it's those emotive, sighing, story-telling vocals that give this cut its special shimmer and that will keep you coming back. That ecstatic looped sigh has gotta be one of the sounds of the year.

5/5

Culture Clubs – Ital

Again, I know this isn't super new, but I've not found space to plug it until now. Ital's new release for Not Not Fun's dance label 100% Silk is better than I could've hoped, and is definitely in my list of best tracks of the year so far. A simple house click is undercut by warping, pitch-shifting synths that never quite sit still, and when that vaguely tropical melody comes in it's too clear this track is on another level; a gorgeously detailed composition likely to cause euphoria.

5/5

RDI (Girl Unit Remix) – Breton

Fresh from club anthem Wut, the best of Night Slugs serves us a delicious slice of woozy bass in this remix. Sirens cry out over harsh synth loops and ocean-deep sub bass to deliver a hot (yes, and heavy) tune that it's very difficult to stop listening to. Gun gestures at the ready.

4/5

Box of Birds – Antix

Okay, a psytrance track from a while back is definitely not the 'coolest' inclusion into this playlist but I just discovered it and I really can't stop listening. Here a clipped distending rhythm contorts around a heavy bassline and immediately fills the room, resulting in a real unexpected dancefloor favourite for me. Each change is welcome and interesting while the core of the track is always guaranteed to get you moving, and that's all you need really.

4.5/5

Lotus Flower (Jacques Greene RMX) – Radiohead

I'm half harking back to the fantastic Twelves remix of Reckoner I put in a playlist a while back, this track luxuriously plays Yorke's inimitable vocals over a constantly shifting composition that switches up every minute into a new part. It's fantastic as a whole and one of the better Radiohead remixes floating around, but be sure to stick it out to the full-throttle beat masterfully conjured up in the fourth minute.

4/5

Into the Night (Nicolas Jaar Remix) – Azari & Iii

End of the night house closes the playlist with my very favourite track of the moment. Followers of this blog will know I'm a big fan of Nico Jaar, and the very simple reason for this is that everything he touches... well, you know. This masterful rework strikes me as a great deal more thought-provoking than A&I's straight-up original, with an emphasis on that warm piano and an irresistable beat coupling midway through. The acid deviation towards the end of the track is oh-so-welcome, but what really shines here is Jaar's teasingly clipped vocal samples that make you wait before the whole line is revealed in its isolated, emotive glory. As always, a stellar production from Jaar tinging effortless clubby warmth with the slightest hint of melancholy he so interestingly brings to his compositions.

5/5

Remixes #1 - Dance Mixes

I've reviewed a good few albums so far, and every so often one artist you like will remix another, and sometimes they get it just right.

Here's a little collection of some great tracks that have been remixed to make them more dancefloor-friendly:

Burial & Four Tet - Moth (Silinder Remix)

Great remix giving the whole track a lot more structure and punch.

Fever Ray – If I Had a Heart (Fuck Buttons Remix)

Really dark remix with classic Fuck Buttons stylings in re-invention; a great big wash of sound and a pounding beat.

Gold Panda – Marriage (Star Slinger Remix)

Fantastic remix with a dubby throb and a mad, rushing appropriation of all the elements that make the original so great.

How to Dress Well – Ready for the World (XXXY Remix)

XXXY injects garage with great drops and foot-shuffling beat.

M83 – Run Into Flowers (Jackson's Midnight Fuck Remix)

Glitchy appropriation of M83'S untreated synths. One of the best mixes I've ever heard.

Radiohead – Reckoner (Twelves Remix)

The much-remixed track is brilliantly remodelled into this with great beats driving Yorke's classic falsetto way into the distance.