Top Ten - Remixes of 2008

Those who don’t know better often regard the humble art of the remix as being ephemeral and gimmicky.

The remix floats around, before being carried away by the gusts of trends and fashions. This is probably true of some of the B-side filler variety remixes where the producer coughs up some part-time electronic reworking and snorts up the hefty mixer’s fee, but for some the remix is a chance to really get to the heart of a song.

The remix can be the true voice of the dancefloor – driven by the crowd, it produces moments of genius silenced by the swing of the club door.

ClashMusic.com counts down the best from 2008...

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10. Ricardo Villalobos – ‘Minimoonstar’ (remix by Shackleton)
Chile’s minimal icon is capable of crafting otherworldly electronic music on his own merit, but this Shackleton remix seems to extend deep into the Pacific Ocean. The clicking beats rattle along like insects on a hot summer night, while Shackleton’s synths slip in and out of the near tribal rhythms. Minimal to the point of silence, it hints at the future glories ahead for both parties.

9. Black Ghosts – ‘Something New’ (remix by Galactic)
The voice of Simian on ‘We Are Your Friends’, Simon Lord’s tonsils are like old friends to established and virgin clubbers alike. His group The Black Ghosts produced a minor pop classic this year, and Galactic’s fiddle with standout track ‘Something New’ resulted in this Lindstrøm-sampling banger.

8. Shackleton – ‘Death Is Not Final’ (remix by T++)
Shackleton’s bass-heavy techno-inspired dubstep has been as refreshing as disco dancing in the Arctic Circle. The Skull Disco imprint may be getting wound up but its legacy lives on in the work of anyone experimenting with bowel-shifting ultra-bass. This inspiring T++ remix manages to be both mournful and euphoric at the same time. Don’t ask us how.

7. AC/DC – ‘Thunderstruck’ (remix by Crookers)
Crookers took the dance world by storm this year, with their eclectic tastes blowing the perception of clubland as an increasingly uniformed abode. This timely re-tooling of the returning Australian hard-rock legends became a missile for crowd abandon in the Crookers arsenal, as Brian Johnson’s snarl erupts over some ear-splitting beats.

6. Rolling Stones – ‘You Can’t Always Get What You Want’ (remix by Soulwax)
Now this is what you call cheek. Turning the Stones’ elegiac chant into a snarling electro monster, it transformed Mick Jagger into a dancefloor icon all over again. The Belgian beat boffins dominated 2008 with a series a quality mixes and their stunning tour film ‘Part Of The Weekend Never Dies’. You have to wonder what they’ve got up their collective sleeve for the New Year.

5. M.I.A. – ‘Paper Planes’ (remix by DFA)
While still not well known in Britain, MIA laid waste to the US Billboard charts with this scud missile of a track. Blending timely lyrics concerning war and immigration with a neat Clash sample, Diplo’s production seemed impossible to better. Enter DFA, and with typical balls of steel James Murphy’s simply deleted the Clash sample. Almost unrecognisable to the original, this isn’t so much a remix as a demolition turning ‘Paper Planes’ into an edgy 99 Records style post-punk classic.

4. Liquid Liquid – ‘Optimo’ (remix by Optimo)
Probably the most logical remix of the year, Glasgow vinyl virtuosos Optimo get their teeth stuck into the track that gave them their name. The DJ crew have spun Liquid Liquid’s output in their sets for years, blending their cyclical grooves with some arch techno and house. This remix took the punk-funk framework and looked forward, finding echoes in Chicago and Detroit, but remaining faithful to the street-wise charm of the original.

3. ZZT – ‘The Worm’ (remix by Erol Alkan)
Emerging from Berlin with little more than a filthy bassline and a gleeful “woo” sample, ‘The Worm’ is a masterclass in economy. Fast gaining favour among dance fans, Alkan took the original and injected some serious cortisone into its veins, producing a pumped-up monster. Loud, proud and filthier than Boy George, this reworking has everything that makes Erol great.

2. MGMT – ‘Kids’ (remix by Soulwax)
Goodness knows where the electro DJs of the world would be without this – they’d have to finish their sets without the same wide-eyed abandon that’s for sure. Taking the original’s hippy-child vibe and running with it, this remix transformed MGMT into a pair of dancefloor-shagging monsters. If you haven’t been in a sweaty pit of people chanting THAT addictive synth line then truly, you’ve missed out.

1. Hercules & Love Affair – ‘Blind’ (remix by Frankie Knuckles)
Legend has it that DFA delayed the release of ‘Blind’ just so Frankie Knuckles (pictured, top) could come out of hospital and remix it. We think that Hercules’ mainman Andy Butler would approve. Knuckles’ bongo-led reworking gets close to the disco-house nirvana Butler promised us, as the outrageous rhythm buoys a stunning performance by Antony Hegarty. Apparently debuted on New Year’s Eve, ‘Blind’ trails behind it the promise of a new start. Inspiring.

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