Remix

PREMIERE: Jonah Parzen-Johnson - Too Many Dreams (Remix) [feat. twig twig]

Will Shenton

With twig twig's new remix of Jonah Parzen-Johnson's "Too Many Dreams," from last summer's I Try To Remember Where I Come From, the track is wholly transformed. Where the original simmers and meanders, a meditation on its intertwining saxophone and electronics, twig twig's is punchy right out the gate. Opening with elastic synths and an anticipatory falsetto, it's not long before Parzen-Johnson's saxophone bursts into an explosive hook, propelling the song from one irresistible groove to the next.

The collaboration between artists as stylistically diverse as Parzen-Johnson and twig twig makes for some startlingly intricate textures as well. At any given moment, the interplay of synths, percussion, sax, and ever-so-slightly distorted vocals gives the track a richness that's a joy to unravel. "Too Many Dreams" is a blend of ingredients that demands more exploration, and we hope we'll see these two working together again in the future.

Catch Jonah Parzen-Johnson on his EU tour:

13/4/18 - Lisbon, Portugal - Culturgest

14/4/18 - Paris, France - Le Zorba

15/4/18 - Köln, Germany - Salon De Jazz

18/4/18 - Opwijk, Belgium - Nosta

19/4/18 - Ghent, Belgium - Bar Mirwaar

20/4/18 - Charleroi, Belgium - Pointculture

PREMIERE: Le Couleur - Underage (In Flagranti Remix)

Phillipe Roberts

Some remixes take special care in disassembling a recording. Zeroing in on minute melodic inflections that even the original artist may not have heard, they surgically remove the vestigial waste and leave you with only the purest of grooves, a Platonic ideal of bodily manipulation. Some remixes display a kind of reverence, a deliberate hesitation in scraping the sacred whole for parts. Some remixes prefer a scalpel.

In Flagranti, on their remix of Le Couleur’s “Underage,” prefer a bulldozer. The laid-back, tropical lilt of the original is sacrificed entirely—its sophisticated exterior shattered, the duo up the tempo and double down on the beat to create a high-powered, intensely explosive release of the densely packed pop energy at its core. It’s hack and slash from the minute the track starts, all sharp edges, with stroboscopic bass arpeggiations fluttering about and those glimmering synths crashing like thick waves of neon across an expanded landscape. In Flagranti do tremendous work playing with dimension; the refurbished song breathes easier even as it constricts around a more jagged pulse.

By the time a vocal sample from the chorus begins to infiltrate the mix, you’ve lost track of time and place, marooned somewhere out on the dancefloor. But In Flagranti know how to reel in a listener with confidence, dangling out all sorts of sonic bait in the form of sensor sweep reverse hi-hats that bend around each other in a feedback loop, and sampled French vocals detuned into a long, slow drip of unintelligible encouragement. Carved up to within an inch of its life, “Underage” is a snapshot of controlled chaos.

PREMIERE: Flowerman - What The Water Gave Me (Remix)

Raquel Dalarossa

Though Emiliano Flowerman is best known for his work in projects like Eda Wolf (with Finnish jazz vocalist Dea Juris) and the earlier FLWRS + Maralisa (with Maralisa Simmons-Cook, now of Space Captain), the NYC-based producer is venturing into new territory. His first official solo release is a dance track that loosely plays with and reworks Florence + the Machine’s “What the Water Gave Me” to captivating results.

Flowerman’s penchant for robust vocals is no secret given his track record, but here he plays with Florence’s layered voice in inventive new ways. “There’s this one part in the middle of [“What the Water Gave Me”] where all the instrumentals fade away and it’s just this really powerful chorus. That moment of that song just always felt really powerful to me,” he explains, “so I actually just dropped it into Ableton and started creating some synthesizers actually out of that sample.”

The final product may be rooted in the Florence track, but it’s very much its own entity. The mix is atmospheric yet booming, and follows in the footsteps of SBTRKT’s aesthetic. It’s a natural fit for any New York City dance floor, and hints at an unfolding new avenue for Flowerman’s production work. “The solo stuff is something I’m very interested in. I’m in the very beginnings of putting together a solo record,” he confesses, adding that his “solo style tends to be a little more dance-y…so it’s been more fun.” Fun for him to compose, and certainly fun for us to listen to.