Truly memorable remixes require reinvention. Whether Lil Wayne stealing beats from rappers like Mike Jones and turning them into new songs with complete concepts during his mixtape heyday, or producers like Hudson Mohawke, Baauer, Shlohmo, Jamie xx, and Lido (far from an exhaustive list, but a notable few), the greats know how to make a work that exists alongside the original as an almost entirely new vision.
While Brooklyn duo Brasstracks still has much to prove as producers and remixers, they’ve begun carving a unique path with stellar reworkings of TNGHT’s “Higher Ground,” Gallant’s “Weight In Gold” and now Goldlink’s “Dance On Me” built on live horns and heavy beats. Blending horn stabs that almost sound pulled from a vintage Beats by the Pound production with hard-hitting drums and a jazzy, big band sensibility (and a fun, unexpected interpolation of Isley Brothers classic “Shout”), Brasstracks push Goldlink’s omnivorous club sensibilities to uncharted territory. “Dance On Me” remains engineered to make you move, but in the hands of able remixers it becomes an almost entirely new beast. Listen below.
Catch Brasstracks on the road with Lido through October:
10/20: Vancouver @ Imperial
10/21: Seattle @ Crocodile
10/22: Portland @ Mississippi Studio
10/24: San Francisco @ Mezzanine
10/27: Los Angeles @ Fonda Theatre
