Slow

Van Rivers has taken one of the standouts of Twin Shadow's debut and made it into a slow and sweaty therapy session. The electric keyboard bass line falls like drops of water condensing inside a 1985 VW bug; the heavy kick drum and tapping high hat confirm the year. Instead of the overflowing drums and guitars of the album version, Van Rivers gives us synth space and vintage sounds from a quickly becoming cliché decade. The major success of the remix however is that it allows the elegiac lyrics of George Lewis Jr. to really be heard--it's as if he thinks saying so will make it so.

Cut Copy: "Take Me Over"

The strumming rhythm of the guitar riff and the hand drums seem made for a day at the beach--on the moon. This uninhibited dance pop is more of In Ghost Colours and less of "Where I'm Going." The unremixed chorus of "Take Me Over" is carried mostly by the simulated sound of wet cheek popping, which is actually very important to the idea of the song; to not be taken so seriously.

Touching Down

Fade in never felt so good. The orchestral layers distract from the simplicity, but it's a regular-time downbeat that sounds like traveling around a carousel. It rests only to enter bridges that sound like stepping off into a carnival. The strain of his voice's limit and the power of an evocative guitar lick is euphoric. It sounds like the return of a nostalgic love. Maybe it's a hard song to separate from the context that it is introduced, or perhaps that context is just perfect.

I Only Know (What I Know)

James Blake - I Only Know (What I Know)

When I played this for my friend, he immediately noted that for a hyped artist it is incredibly esoteric. It took me more than a few listens to appreciate this, maybe because as David Bevan wrote, it "sounds like infinity trapped inside of five minutes." Listen to it in the dark.