Rex The Dog
Posted by BrokenSilence | Filed under Mylo, Rex The Dog, The Knife, Yazoo
I’ve been slow on the posts of late as I’ve been a little under the weather, which is random, because that never happens. But I did want to post up something at least.
Rex The Dog has been putting out some killer view points on other people’s music. He was originally JX, a British dance project by DJ and oft remixer, Jake Williams. In the 90s JX put out a few singles as well as some remix work. And today he goes by the name Rex The Dog. Why the name change? No idea. But given the tracks he’s been releasing, that is of least concern. The Dog also released his own album last year, ‘The Rex The Dog Show’, which reached #38 on the UK dance charts. Another thing I want to point out is that Rex The Dog is a full on persona of a dog, and that is how he is sometimes interviewed. And the website is amusing. Here is a link to his own site, specifically the remix section and the Dog’s own comments on the mixes. Pretty funny.
http://www.rexthedog.net/remixes.htm
The Knife - Heartbeats
How do you attempt to remix one of the greatest songs of all time? With care, caution and attention to every detail I would hope. Emotive lyrics, nostalgia, dark synths, brooding drum beats, and a harpsichord. One cannot ask for much more in a song. Rex The Dog astonishes with this mix. The first one he did under his name. The Dog’s primary goal is achieved; the song is transformed from the brooding, introspective wonder that it is, into a jumpy dance floor track you can move to. It’s faster, of course, and Rex throws in heavy house beats to cause full on bodily movement. He even chops up the lyrics, reverbs them back and forth, for an interesting and enjoyable detail. It’s a brilliant idea really. Take one of the best songs that people love listening to, which is slightly too slow for dancing and infuse speedy life into it. I easily picture this track played on dark, colorful dancefloors while the youth moves frantically to the new sounds of an old favorite.
The Knife - Heartbeats (Rex The Dog Remix)
Mylo - Drop The Pressure
‘Drop The Pressure’; a bouncy bassline mixed with an electro funk house beat, paired with a vocoder reiterating “Mother Fucker’s gonna drop the pressure”. The Dog ignites this single with such power. When I play it I can automatically feel the heaviness of the newly infused bass throughout my chest. It’s more techy, darker and rough. Most of the vocals, the little there were to begin with, are stripped away and muddled into stuttering, electronic reverb, which adds nicely to the cut up beats of his darker and more melodic mix. Is it more dancey? Equally so I’d say, but not as refined as the original, which is nice, as it now has a dirtier, grittier feel to it.
Mylo - Drop The Pressure (Rex The Dog Remix)
Rex The Dog - Bubblicious
Yes, we will be covering one of Rex The Dog’s own tracks. I actually love this track. It’s off of his album, ‘The Rex The Dog Show’. ‘Bubblicious’ is a house infused, electro track and here is the beauty of it. It samples a vocal piece from Yazoo’s track ‘Midnight’ sung by Alison Moyet. Yazoo (Yaz) is one of my all time favorite bands (you’ll know them as Vince Clarke’s second band, the other two being Depeche Mode and Erasure) and when I heard that vocal in the song I was so impressed, especially because it fits in so well and is so much more powerful than when sung on ‘Midnight’. The track itself is extremely fast, with futuristic, fly by, laser-y synths, fuzzy bass lines and programmed drum beats, all for creating a melodic, jumpy, dancefloor track. It sounds very much like Kraftwerk.
Tags: Alison Moyet, Kraftwerk, Midnight, Yaz, Yazoo
