THE DROP
[THE WORD ON EDM/DANCE MUSIC] WITH NIAMH “IL VAMPIRO” MCCOOL [NIAMH.DOLFI.MCCOOL@GMAIL.COM]
Ahhhhh, Pop Remixes. The ubiquitous mainstream song tweak, popping up everywhere on SoundCloud and Bandcamp, something whipped out by DJs to spice up the mix.
hi hats are added, transforming the song into a trance tune. This style of remix is often called a ‘flip’ or an ‘edit’ EG Stand Up Tall Baile/UKG Edit. What I find interesting about X Song as X Genre remixes are their ability to make unfamiliar genres accessible, as they flip the exclusive and somewhat snobbish attitude of some music subcultures. What I mean by this is that Pop music is often considered to be ‘lowbrow’ art, regularly dismissed as vapid, generic, non-genuine and technically subpar, particularly by music nerds (I am pretty guilty of this too). When an artist remixes a pop song, transforming it into a different genre, they are attributing value to it; the remix becomes part of the music subculture. This exposes sounds and subcultures previously unfamiliar to people, and it also connects the subgenre to the wider music world in a genuine and sometimes moving way.
Remixes are not new by any stretch of the imagination and it’s hard to pinpoint exactly who started the practice and where; hip hop, disco, dub and dancehall were all involved in making Remixing what it is today. So today, I am going to take a little look at some of the remix trends I’ve noticed in the EDM community and explore the philosophy that underpins that curiously ubiquitous thing: the pop remix.
FKA Twigs in collaboration with Dazed Beauty, AVANTgarden and MUA Lyle creates beauty from Rubbish
Visual by Niamh Dolfi-McCool
What do I mean by Pop Remix? I am referring to the remixing, editing or ‘flips’ of songs which are, or have been, extremely popular. Songs that are instantly recognisable and have an iconic or nostalgic quality. A classic example of the Pop Remix is the bountiful crop of Toxic by Britney Spears remixes that have appeared over the last couple of years. There was a time around 2018/2019 when it was difficult to not hear some version of this iconic tune on the dance floor. There are a number of reasons why Pop Remixes are popular. The most obvious being that for smaller creators, audiences are more likely to click on, or respond to, something they already recognise than an unfamiliar original piece. The Pop Remix also has a distinct ‘internet’ flavour. Eduardo Navas in his book Remix Theory says a remix is: “...a global activity consisting of the creative and efficient exchange of information made possible by digital technologies…[and] supported by the practice of cut/copy & paste”. The referential nature of the internet is the perfect breeding ground for the Pop Remix. There is a style of remix that I am going to clumsily call ‘X Song as X Genre’. X Song as X Genre is pretty similar to your standard remix, in that the original melody or vocals is kept (mostly) unchanged but the production is completely changed. Like D v D remix of Naughty Girl by Beyonce, the vocals remain, while a driving heavy kick, synthy arpeggio, and crisp agitate PAGE 18 PAGE 18
Similarly, the ‘mash-up’ retains the quality to recontextualise and change the meaning of popular music. The mash-up is a pretty simple concept: combining two or more songs together. The unique quality of the mash-up comes from its ability to alter the meaning of the original pieces by combining them. Take Computer Jah, where VLVT Jones chops and combines Computer Love by Zapp with The Going Is Rough by Cocoa Tea, creating a unique mix of ‘80s computer pop and dub. Typically, the mash-up goes in one of two directions: combining songs that have an adjacent meaning or energy; or combining songs that are completely different from each other. With the former, the two (or more) songs emphasise and exaggerate each other, like DJ Gaylord’s bonkers mash up of Lady Gaga’s Lovegame and Crazy Frog. For the latter, you get interesting and unlikely combos like Kylie Vs Ludacris – I can’t lick you out of my head. There is a fair amount of criticism against remixes. Some of them fair, others not so much. Criticisms against big artists remixing lesser-known artists works and gaining all the credit is an issue. There are also the cases of individuals being remixed ‘out’ of their own songs like in the remix of Peng Black Girls where Amia Brave was cut out and ‘replaced’ with the more wellknown Jorja Smith. Remixing decisions like these should be criticised; they perpetuate the idea that there is only ‘one spot’ for women, particularly BIPOC women, in the music industry and that they are replaceable. The most popular critique I hear is: “Make something new”. Ironically, I think it captures one of the reasons why remixes, particularly the pop remix, continues to grow. It’s not really possible to make something new, not entirely, but by playing and transforming pieces, artistic innovation can occur. @bmamag
