During the eighties artists started including “extended versions” on 12” singles for DJs to play out in clubs. Eventually people started offering their songs for other people to mess around with. The results were normally dull and were just filler—a good way for the artist not to waste one of their own songs on a b-side, and easy money for the remixer. Nothing’s changed on the whole, but every so often one comes along that far outshines the song it’s based on. The Chemical Brothers established themselves through a string of them in the mid-nineties and in doing so re-invigorated the art of remixes by bringing attention to the idea that not only was it an easy way to credibility for the remixee, but that it was also an effective medium of experimentation for the remixer…

Do: keep the best bit in, and re-construct

Aphex Twin remixing Flow Coma by 808 State

Richard D. James’ attitude towards remixing has always been cynical to say the least. He named his remix album 26 remixes for Cash and once, having been commissioned to remix a Lemonheads song, forgot all about it until the deadline appeared so grabbed the nearest tune and sent that instead. Funnily enough, they didn’t use it. This song, which appears on the aforementioned album, starts with scratching as percussion before Aphex Twin takes the classic acid sound of the original and covers it with a variety of breakbeats. Then he tops it off towards the end by making a demonic organic bassline out of his own sampled voice.

Do: create a new genre

Dub Pistols remixing Good God by Korn

In time Korn’s sound would become clichéd and tired, but for a while they knocked out song after song of vulnerability and anger that their peers couldn’t touch. That’s when they made songs like “Good God.” Korn’s original was already a wonderful expression of male rage- loud, aggressive but ultimately impotent, but Dub Pistols have chucked some sparse breakbeat, sirens, and heavy bass over the original’s bassline and created a monster that’s too angry for most dancefloors and too funky for Korn. The fact that Dub Pistols hold off for so long means that when Jonathan Davis’ scream comes in, it carries more power than it did in the original.

Don’t: use it as an excuse to not bother trying

The Art of Self-Destruction part one by Nine Inch Nails

Trent Reznor loves a remix album. He always seems to accompany his albums with new records full of re-interpretations. Reznor is no stranger to piss-takingly dull over-indulgence—as anyone who bought The Fragile can attest—but his Further Down the Spiral album pushes these boundaries. The album features mixes of songs from the near faultless The Downward Spiral album, and almost every song is a waste of notes. This version of “Mr. Self Destruct” (remixed by Reznor and friends) is just one example. He would never have put it on a studio album, so why is it worthy of a release here? Further Down the Spiral must be the best selling album only to ever get one listen per copy. One too many.

[buy stuff here / here / here]