Soulwax - Nite Versions

Thank God I did a little Soulwax research before writing this post. I would have looked like quite the fool to any Soulwax aficionados out there. Here is the thesis to my original post:

Soulwax has bypassed the remix middleman, by creating a dance album that hints towards rock origins.

Sounded pretty good to me, until I read this:

"Nite Versions is an entire album of brand new interpolations and reinterpretations of tracks taken in part from their highly acclaimed Any Minute Now – replayed and reworked, twisted to work on the dancefloor and a homage to the extended 12” format."

As Steven Colbert would say, "I CALLED IT!" (cue red, white and blue balloons dropping from the ceiling). I think Soulwax would be happy with my initial thoughts on the album, because it's a testament to the success of their endeavor. Here I thought I was being all tricky talking about a remix album existing as an official release, when Soulwax was already a step ahead.

Nite Versions holds its own amongst one of my favorite dance releases of the year, MSTRKRFT's The Looks. Its strongest sections come when the original songs resurface for a few moments, before being swept away by the dancefloor beats. The reworkings of Any Minute Now remind me of a De Kooning's painting called Excavation. In this piece De Kooning applied several layers of paint to a canvas, and then took a chisel and scraped off areas of paint to expose the older layers underneath. Thus he excavated the painting. My image of Nite Versions is that the Dewaele brothers took Any Minute Now, buried it under a flood of dance beats, and then slowly excavated out pieces of the original.

It's clear that the renaissance artist of the 2000's is someone that can create a rock album for day and an electro-pop disc for night - David and Stephen Dewaele are the poster children for this movement. With both Soulwax and 2ManyDJs in their arsenal, the brother duo are a perfect weapon. If you want more details on their intertwining projects, consult wikipedia. With the current wave of technology, artists have the resources to helm every aspect of production, putting people like Jesse Keeler and the Dewaele's ahead of the pack. However, outside influences can be vital to the creative process, and I feel the best artists still understand that (i.e. Thom Yorke's use of Nigel for The Eraser). If you enjoy a good session of dancing, buy Nite Versions HERE.

[mp3] Soulwax - Miserable Girl

I have both versions of "Krack" up as way for you to examine the track's Nite Version transformation.

[mp3] Soulwax - Krack
[mp3] Soulwax - Krack (Any Minute Now version)


De Kooning's Excavation: