Usually when you hear a remix - or a cover - it falls under the same, or at the very least, a similar genre as the original. For example, Kayne West, a hip-hop artist, using a Daft Punk song as the basis to his new song, or MSTRKRFT remixing a Justice song. Very rare is someone able to take two different genres and clash them together. Richard Cheese does a brilliant jazz-lounge version of Madonna's Material girl. (Humorous, but very effective). Or My!Gay!Husband! covering Fiest's 1, 2, 3, 4.
Recently, I stumbled across a cover artist by the name of Obidiah Parker. Parker has done a very successful acoustic version of Hey Ya! by OutKast. More recently however, I stumbled across Parker's version of Idioteque by Radiohead and was a little disturbed.
Idioteque is a brilliant electronica song done by Radiohead using samples from electronic instrument experiments in the 70s. The beat is driving, the pads are swelling, and Yorke's soothing and ambient voice climaxes into punchy and rythmic furry during the chours. It is a beautifull song and one of the first to bring me into the wonderful world of radiohead.
Parker's version is a piano ballad version of the song. All off the raw energy is lost and it turns into, well, a piano ballad with soft "pretty boy" vocals on top. There is one point in the song where he tries to capture the rythym of the song by pounding out chords on the piano.
But who am I to hate? Parker was ambitious and creative enough to do something different. In the words of one thesixtyone.com user, "Somebody took a brilliant song and retranslated it, showing a different side of something we all thought we knew. It's like looking into a mirror with someone else's eyes." Is it simply because I am so attached to the original that I do not like the new take. Does the fact the new verison makes me uncomfortable make it effective art?
What's your opinion?
And while we are on the topic of remixes and thesixtyone.com, let me put in a promotion for my dear friend behind the tremulance. He has made a brilliant remix of Cut Copy's Hearts on Fire.
Have a listen and then give him a bump. And check out the site while your there. It's really quite neat.
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1 comment:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPLNWGLEPxw
girl talk is the amalgamation of all things you were speaking of. he takes all of your favourite songs and remixes them into dance club anthems. check out his stuff. there is bound to be something that you'll like.
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