Most Likely To: make creating six bags of confetti seem like a good idea.
There are too many remix records of late. Really, most of them are terrible. Head Like a Kite’s No Ordinary Caveman EP is an exception. Hearing new artists take a crack at songs from There Is Loud Laughter Everywhere is even more enjoyable than I expected. This approach makes sense, considering that Dave Einmo, Head Like a Kite’s front man, is a type of remix artist himself, sampling ambient sounds from his environment as the backbone of his songs.
While the high quality of the EP is helped by the strength of the source material, Einmo’s labelmates, who make up the chorus of remixers, pull their weight as well . Pseudonyms abound! After a reprise of the album version of “No Ordinary Caveman,” Nobody (aka Elvin Estela) adds a gentle melodic undertow to his “totally spaced” remix. Next up is Boom Bip’s (aka Bryan Hollon) take on “Daydream Vacation (Boom Bip’s Homecoming Remix.) Actually surpassing the original, Asya’s voice rings out above a riffy percussion track. Instrumental beat maker Antimc (aka Matthew Alsberg) creates a version of “Six Bags of Confetti” — the Skinny Gold Chain remix — stays true to the original, but emphasizes the guitar riff before unleashing a wall of synthesizers and drum machines. Fresh from “Love to Make Music To,” Daedelus offers “We Were So Entangled” (Daedelus Plucks That Broken Arrow Remix), creating music to make love to. The EP’s pinnacle is Her Space Holiday’s (aka Marc Bianchi) cover of “No Ordinary Caveman.” Bianchi’s take brings nuances from the original to light in a new way.Thanks to the imprint each artist makes on Einmo’s songs, the EP actually sounds good from start to finish rather than existing as a mere curiosity. It’s just what we might expect from Einmo’s friends, after all, that’s what Head Like a Kite is made of. - The Donnybrook Writing Academy |
