Song of the Day Round 15: Soulwax

While Brain is drinking away his pain in Mexico, no doubt surrounded by sexy girls and mountains of contraband substances, those of us who remain in frigid Canada must carry on with our daily duties.  For me, this means filling in for Brain while he's gone.  I took a small break last week, but I'll try to step it up.  Meh

Anyways, today's blog is a tip of the hat to the Belgian brotherly duo that goes by the name of Soulwax or 2ManyDjs (depending on what they're doing).  They got their start in alternative rock (although you can hear the electronic inclination even at this early stage), but quickly realized that analog instruments alone are too limiting, and branched into more experimental (also this) and electronic sounds. 

Just when they had reached a really comfortable groove, they did what all good bands should do: reinvent their sounds.  Soulwax - an electronic group - recorded Soulwax Nite Versions, which is a live band covering Soulwax and other electronic acts...LIVE.  The logic is a little twisted, but freed from the shackles of conformity to any one genre led the group to make some huge new sounds.  Along with their original material (listen to the whole thing), they also developed a penchant for the remix.

Taking on every genre, Soulwax turned out hit after hit after hit after hit.  Their live shows are epic (get your hands on 'Part of the Weekend Never Dies,' their tour documentary), their DJ sets have a massive amount of energy (check out their 2005 BBC Essential Mix - one of the all time great), and they definitely hold  the title as one of my favourite all time electronic acts.  Enjoy your song of the day...a double feature showcasing the reciprocity of the remix!!

Soulwax - NY Excuse

Justice - NY Excuse Remix

I can't help but tell the story behind this song.  Soulwax had one more single due under their record deal, but ran out of inspiration in Europe.  One of the band's friends lived in NYC, and the brothers were looking for an excuse to visit her.  Though she's not a singer, Soulwax recorded their friend, the vocalist on this track, for an excuse for the record label to fly the to New York.  This excuse that we're making - is it good enough for what you're paying???