What's the Deal With Remixes

Are you a remix fan or not a remix fan?



The Walk It Out remix feat. Andre 3000 is one of few remixes I like more than the original (the link has better sound quality than the embed). Another example for me is the Til I Collapse Remix with 50 Cent, Eminem, and BIG's chorus track:



Most of the time, when I hear a remix it pales in comparison to the original. For example, T.I.'s Rubber Band Man Remix is not nearly on par with the original, nor is Jay-Z's Dirt Off Your Shoulder Remix nearly as good as its source material. Those originals are two of my favorites, but I can't stand the remixes. One thing I will say in Jay-Z's favor is that at least he got creative with his remix and threw it over a sample of Bittersweet Symphony by the Verve, which is an interesting pairing.

My theory is that when we hear the remix first and like it, then the original becomes the de facto remix - a bastardization of the song we hold in our minds. That's the only time remixes are better. What about for you?

4 comments:

  1. Walk It Out remix was ok, nothing special.

    I liked Till I collapse.

    I did not like either Rubber Band Man or the remix.

    I didn't think anything special of Dirt Off Your Shoulder, but I enjoyed the remix.

    I'm gonna say that originals and remixes can and should be analyzed and/or appreciated mostly independent of each other. You should look at them like the Indiana Jones movies, not the Back to the Future movies. I liked the first and third Indiana Jones movies significantly more than the second and fourth.

    You can like an original and not the remix, vice versa, both or neither.

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  2. Aaron, am I to understand from your comments that you have not heard any of those songs before?

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  3. Well I amazed that you haven't heard ANY of those songs before

    I can't believe you weren't at least amused by Andre 3000's rapping at the start of Walk It Out - the intentionally awkward sound, lyrics like "Your white tee well to me looks like a nightgown/ Do your mama proud take that thing two sizes down" and the riff on car's values

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