Remixes are presents which gift wrap is as important as what is inside

In this wednesday's cultural post, Absolute B questions the legitimacy 

of musical covers and remixes.

I often get the same answer when I tell people that I listen to electro music: “electro music is not real music ! It's just a bunch of sounds created by computers”. There is no discussing with those who share that point of view. However, I always have great discussions with those who think that “DJs don’t create anything, they only remix pre-existing songs”. We can indeed question the legitimacy of a remix. Why would one choose a song and modify it and what for, especially when that song is already really good ?

To me, there is only one answer: Christo! This couple of artists created environmental works of art and is mostly known for the wrapping of monuments. That monumental and ephemeral work consists in wrapping buildings like the  "Pont Neuf" bridge in Paris or the Reichstag (the german parliament) with fabric. They define their art as "the result of a reflexion and  an aesthetic intuition imposed to a pre-existing environement". 

In other words, it is their own way of remixing other people's work. They offer the public monuments wrapped like presents in order for them to re-discover building the buildings they pass by everyday. And once unwrapped, these buildings can be appreciated from another different angle.

It is the same for DJs. The only difference being that they don't hide but modify. Remixing means celebrating a pre-existing piece by offering a different vision of it, a vision of the piece reflected through the artist's mind. The track is deconstructed and then reconstructed, often on the basis  of a different rhythm. However, the melody or the vocals are kept intact in order to preserve the spirit of the original song. That is what differenciates a remix from plagiarism. 

A remix can also better a song according to the DJ's aesthetic by emphasizing an aspect of the original while modifying the overall genre. As an example, I'll choose Julien Doré's remix of the french song Moi, Lolita originally sung by Alizée. The cover is remarkable as it transposes a summer hit from the 90's into a real pop-rock song with noticeable lyrics. 

Cover by Julien Doré

[Original song here]

That is what I try to explain to all the remix-skepticals, hoping that the next time they listen to a (good) remix, they'll know how to appreciate this present coming straight from the artist's mind. 


Absolute B.