05 October 2005

new order, "bizarre love triangle (richard x remix)" (from the waiting for the siren's call 7", currently unavailable.)

this is markedly better than his remix of gwen stefani's "cool"--and it's not all to do w/ source material either.

the other day, i described x as "backward-looking and forward-sounding," and so one immediately sees the difficulty for him in remixing gwen's hit, as it is exactly that, resembling one of those prince songs of the 80's that he penned under a different name, only made w/ 21st century technology. his decision to just put a new rhythm track under it comes across as resignation or frustration (or simply cash-grabbing--surely he's earned it at this point).

remixing "bizarre love triangle," on the other hand, a song nearly twenty years old, puts him under no obligations to sound "current." indeed, if anything, he makes it sound even more 80's--think the "extended dance mix" from substance crossed w/ prime exposé, only not, as he would have formerly, literally--in the process revealing the '94 remix (from the best of new order), an attempt at forward-sounding, as the real anachronism.

instead, it is new order themselves, on the a-side, who are left to both look forward and sound current: "waiting for the siren's call" is easily their finest single since "regret." viewed in this light, the x remix is but an added bonus.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for this.
What other Richard X mixes do you have?

fred said...

unfortunately, that's it.

the remix of gwen stefani's "cool" should be easy enough to find. less easy to find--for me, at least--was his mix of ciara's "goodies" w/ m.i.a.

happy hunting!