the chainsmokers

June was a great month for new music. Here are the songs I listened to most in June:

20. Django Django – Shake And Tremble

19. My Morning Jacket – Big Decisions

18. A Silent Film – Strong Enough/Message In The Sand

17. Walk The Moon – Different Colors

16. Mumford and Sons – The Wolf

15. Waitress – Hop Along

14. Brandon Flowers – Diggin’ Up The Heart

13. Ratatat – Cream on Chrome

These Brooklyn cats are such bad asses.

12. Muse – Dead Inside

Will and Kathryn from SYTYCD!

11. Death From Above 1979 – White Is Red

Probably my favourite tune this Canuck duo have ever done.

10. Jamie XX – Loud Places/I Know There’s Gonna Be Good Times

9. Awolnation – Woman Woman

One of the many catchy tunes on Awolnation’s latest LP.

8. A Silent Film – Paralysed

I’m miffed and sorry that this song and the EP from whence it comes have not not received more attention/YouTube views.

7. The Chainsmokers f. Great Good Fine OK – Let You Go

Massive dance anthem deservedly getting a tonne of play.

6. Tame Impala – Cause I’m A Man

So unique, so fresh, so good.

5. Best Coast – Feeling Ok

Took me maybe 4 or 5 listens before I was hooked.

4. Beirut – No No No

Welcome baaaaaack Mr. Condon! So happy new Beirut music has arrived.

3. Awolnation – I Am

What a great album from Aaron Bruno and company. Even this sort-of ballad sounds raw and rife with energy. Love the vocal harmonies on this track.

2. Ed Sheeran – Photograph/Photograph (Felix Jaehn Remix)

I guess I was out to lunch, as I didn’t know about “Photograph” until recently. I’m not surprised it’s become a worldwide smash; Ed Sheeran is damn near incomparable at writing simple yet affecting melodies and lyrics. The original is great, but I might even dig the remix more. Felix Jaehn is on fire right now.

1. Miguel – Coffee

It’s his voice. It’s that melody. It’s that this ‘clean’ version is more hard-hitting than the explicit one. It’s that, “word play, turns into gun play, gun play, turns into pillow talk, pillow talk, turns into sweet dreams, sweet dreams, turn into coffee in the morning.” It’ll go down as one of my favourite lyrics of the year. One of my favourite songs too.

I wrote the following last year, but the words don’t belong to 2013. What follows is an evergreen sentiment that applies to all remixes. Here it is:

Transformation can do many things to an object. It can make something louder, quieter, bigger, smaller, heavier, lighter, darker, brighter, and so much more. The process of transformation is of some measure science, art, and parts unknown, and thus, cannot be coerced into formula.

Remixes seek to transform, in some manner, the source material into something new, fresh, and vibrant. The best remixes do this, and also pave a bridge of familiarity to the original. Developing something new while maintaining some semblance of the old is an enormously difficult task, and that’s why it rarely happens.

If a remixer is smart, the simple act of picking the right song to treat will come with a certain amount of cache, and will garner a certain level of intrigue (read: there will be a built-in audience). But that doesn’t mean the remix will end up being good. So many are not. There are some though, that are good, and some, even better than that. Not only do they transform, they transcend: the source material, emotions, and every so often, time itself. To be lost in a piece of art where an entire dimension ceases to exist is one of the joys of the artistic process, and indeed, one of the joys of this life.

To remix is to change. The best of the best though, remember to keep something of the original intact, whether it’s on the surface or buried deep beneath it. The great Roman poet Ovid, in his sprawling poem, “The Metamorphoses”, gives us an idea that serves as supreme directive for approaching remixes, “Omnia mutantur, nihil interit (everything changes, nothing perishes).”

50. alt-J – Left Hand Free (Lido remix)