Austra – Beat And The Pulse (Vondelpark remix)

‘Remix’ is a bit disingenuous, actually. This is a complete, almost unrecognisable rework. It is so different, in fact, that I had to check two different streams to make sure that I was listening to the right thing.

The original version of Austra‘s ‘Beat And The Pulse’ crept up on me. I liked it, certainly, but I didn’t immediately love it. Something was missing. Bass, maybe? But I kept finding myself returning to it, and gradually, over the course of a few weeks, I realised what a wonderful, terrifying song it is. The arrangement is sparse, and yet it smothers you in thick, almost EBM-esque noise.

Vondelpark‘s rework is truly as far from that original as you could imagine. The aggression, the scarcely concealed threat is gone – replaced, somehow, with Lost In Translation two-chord swoon and pitch-shifted vocal loops. Heart-meltingly, smiling-and-crying beautiful. A very strong contender for remix of the year so far.

http://soundcloud.com/tlobf/aust-beat-and-the-pulse