Solar Bears make their second Comedown Sunday appearance with their achingly beautiful remix of How To Dress Well's Suicide Dream 3. Vocoders, sustained strings, and minimal bass take the original from orchestral filler piece to a cosmic epiphany. Deliberate and haunting, it feels like floating prostrate through space, gliding listlessly towards infinity.
Suicide Dream 3 (Solar Bears Remix) - How To Dress Well
There's nothing to brighten the Monday blues quite like some Balearic beats1. Thank goodness for Jensen Sportag, who have recently provided us with a beautiful, rousing remix of Shine 2009's So Free, which features vocals by the one and only Paula Abdul. Two weeks ago darling Cascine celebrated their one-year birthday, and gave away this track as a reverse birthday present. A nice gesture from the nicest label ever. (Stop drooling, Mikayla.) The remix is killer, but little else can be expected from the Sportag boys, who are quickly rising to the top of my ones-to-watch heap.
So Free feat. Paula Abdul (Jensen Sportag Remix) - Shine 2009
And while we're on the subject of Cascine, be sure to get this remix signee Chad Valley did of Active Child's (feat. How To Dress Well) Playing House. It strips down the original, focusing on the inimitable vocals of Pat Grossi, which really didn't need all that bass-heavy accompaniment present in the original.
Playing House (Chad Valley Remix) - Active Child ft. How To Dress Well
I'll have to say, it took me awhile to get into How To Dress Well’s 2010 debut, Love Remains. Lo-fi R&B is not really something I’m all that versed in, but HTDW’s main man Tom Krell certainly is. At first I had trouble wading through all the layers of effects, the super minimalistic production and the blown-speaker vocals. It just wasn’t coming together like it should. All the passion and emotion was there in Krell’s crooning, but it was like the rest of the music was holding it all back. Regardless of what I think about the album now (totally rules, go buy it), my initial reaction was that Krell had tremendous potential, but was wasting a lot of it with his execution. I was just a little unsure if the guy was really any good, or just some sort of shtick. Oh, how I was wrong. Enter How To Dress Well’s newest EP, Just Once.
The EP is a reimagining of Krell’s work, and it’s absolutely stunning. The songs are stripped down, performed in an orchestral setting, and void of the endless layers of effects and samples. On Suicide Dream 3, the vocals are front and center in the mix, with Krell exuding an almost Antony-like persona at times. The song is absolutely gorgeous and is terribly heart wrenching, stemming from both the music and the subject matter – it’s a tribute to Krell’s late friend. Stream Suicide Dream 3 and pre-order the release over at Love Letter Ink's Bandcamp.
As I’m sure you know, I think Star Slinger is fantastic. His unique blend of hip-hop, r&b, and house production styles is something unique and amazing indeed. He’s one of the top producers in the game right now and, after a year or so on the scene, has yet to put out a weak track. His latest success is a ‘refix’ of How To Dress Well’s Ready For The World. RFTW is a song that I had thought about using on Comedown Sunday for ages, but refrained due to its ghostly nature. The original is nothing sort of haunting—and I’m not sure if that’s the best hangover remedy. My problems were solved last night when Starslinger uploaded this track. Here he takes the ghostly, hazy production quality of the original and brightens it, while simultaneously upping the tempo via his now-signature breakbeats. The result is less eerie; in fact it’s practically dreamy, like a warm blanket of starlight was draped over the piece. As with most work Star Slinger does, he’s giving this track out for free (thank you sir). Grab it below, and be sure to head over to his Soundcloud to update yourself on his catalogue.
Ready For The World (Star Slinger Refix) - How To Dress Well
