[divider]Worlds (2014) – Porter Robinson[/divider]
This was an easy choice. Arguably (but, not really) the top dance music album of last year, Porter Robinson’s Worlds is a musical masterpiece. The amount of work put into the 22-year-old’s debut album has been well documented, and the result was one of the most beautiful albums in recent memory. And we want more. We’ve been treated to plenty of underground remixes of the bounty of quality tunes that Worlds provides, but we want to see what ‘EDM’ could do with our favorite album of 2014.
We want to see if the current climate of dance music is really that far removed from the world that Porter Robinson was able to create. Imagining a big-room take on Flicker, a deep house version of Divinity, or a bass-heavy beast in Lionhearted has our mind and hearts racing. Of course, a work like Porter’s would likely require remix artists of a similar caliber and level of dedication, which we know there isn’t a shortage of throughout dance music. So, Astralwerks, call up Dillon Francis, Disclosure, and Doctor P, and let’s make this happen.
[divider]Load (1996) – Metallica[/divider]
Our recent trip to Portland to catch The Glitch Mob at the Roseland Theater taught us many things. One of the main things was that Metallica needs more bass-heavy remixes. Their take on the legendary heavy metal band’s new tune, Lords of Summer, is an immaculate blend of our well-known sound from TGM, and the heavy metal, old-school feel of Metallia. Between the vocals of front-man James Hetfield, to the solos of Kirk Hammet, and the revered drumming of Lars Ulrich, we don’t doubt the bass music community’s ability to have a heyday with their tunes.
We picked one of our favorites Metallica albums, Load, for our material of choice. Not necessarily classic Metallica, and an album that heard the outcry from many who’d been listening to the group for more than a decade, history has been the ultimate judge on Load. Tunes like Ain’t My Bitch, Until it Sleeps, King Nothing, Hero of the Day, Bleeding Me, and more throughout the 14-track album have made their way into Metallica-fan’s hearts and are among the countless quality tunes they’ve created.
Coupling this album with either another single artist or group, such as The Glitch Mob or Destroid, and getting a full album of ‘Metallica vs. ?’ is an interesting idea. But, with the bevvy of great songs, and great bass-heavy dance music acts out there, not doing a compilation and letting everyone at it might be doing a disservice to the work. Regardless of how it happens, we need more Metallica-based dance music remixes in the future, and Load is a great place to start.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9AE3K3_MAo
[divider]A Night at the Opera (1975) – Queen[/divider]
What artists like Pretty Lights, Bassnectar, Porter Robinson, deadmau5, Kaskade, and more could do with the vocals of Freddie Mercury, and the incredible melodies put together by Queen, has us foaming at the mouth. Picking an album was easy enough to do, as we went with one of their most highly acclaimed albums, A Night at the Opera. At the time of its release, the album was the most expensive ever recorded, and features classics such as Death on Two Legs, You’re My Best Friend, Love of My Life, Good Company, and of course, Bohemian Rhapsody. The album went platinum in six countries and is still enjoyed by many, 40 years later.
Similar to how we feel Worlds should be handled, A Night at the Opera deserves close attention and a delicate touch. Definitely best done as a compilation work, imagining the different takes on these tunes that the best in dance music could provide is an endless endeavor. So, we’ll stop now, and begin badgering everyone we know to start remixing Queen until A Night at the Opera has the remix album that it deserves.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsyXx3BJd1k
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