Here are three tracks that I took a shot at remixing. One made it on to a limited edition CD-R included with vinyl purchase, one was for a remix EP that was posted then deleted from digital history, and the last was for one of those websites that has electronic musicians I’ve never heard of throw up stems to a track for people to remix in order to win an @ and some hardware for a program I don’t use.

If you’re so inclined and have absolutely nothing else going on in our life, give the originals a listen before checking out my remixes. Do it to show love for the OG artist, and also to see how one can take the stems of one person’s music and say, “Yeah, you made some pretty noises but I’m just going to make a whole new song out of them.” What a dick. Ammirite?

The process was fun and I haven’t listened to these tracks in three or four years, so they were basically new to me. But damned if I didn’t end up really liking them. Here’s what my thoughts were for each track after I listened to the original and then tried to do something with the stems to honor the original. And any snark you read is directed at moi. The original artists made some good stuff, and I thank them for the opportunity.

1) Mater Suspiria Vision “Baba Yaga”- this whole song sounds like an intro, but it never gets to what it’s an intro for. I’ll take care of that.

Original:
matersuspiriavision.bandcamp.com/track/baba-yaga

———

2) Novel Fae “Rural States”- this is really pretty. Like, it’s hitting all my pleasure zones. How about I turn it into an elevator version of a Sigur Ros song?!

Original:
novelfae.bandcamp.com/track/rural-states-2

———

3) Nick Hook “The Jungle”- this song is hella short and it only gets going during the last few seconds. I’m in a “trying to learn how to program drum and bass” phase, so fuck it.

Also, that percussive synth got all up in my Chill Feels. Made me feel like I was luxuriating somewhere tropical. But not the jungle, as the title would imply. I’m of Werner Herzog’s opinion that the jungle isn’t singing and teeming with life…. it’s fucking screaming in horror. No, those synth sounds make me feel like I’ve got a good beer buzz on a protected beach in a 3rd world country and while I feel guilty and am absolutely recognizing my privilege, I am also quite happy to be able to just sit here with a fucking beer and not have vendors all up in my face trying to sell me everything from Abibas shirts [not sic, knock off] and chicken skewers (OK, that guy could come through. I wouldn’t mind)

All that said, I’ll say it: this remix is a fucking banger. Yeah, I said it.

Original:
nickhook.bandcamp.com/track/the-jungle

———

I would love to do more of these but :
A) I don’t have the energy to hustle for shit like this, and
B) these three tracks aren’t going to necessarily compel anyone to want me to take their song and make a whole other song with it because FUCK their original song.

Clearly I’m more interested in reworking rather than remixing, which was the actual job. I’ll step into my own office… BECAUSE I’M FUCKING FIRED!

So, enjoy…?

Margaritas and high fives, motherfuckers.

-TNB