Mixed & Mashed 01: Kris Menace

Remix culture has grown and evolved greatly since altered versions of songs began appearing on the flipside of vinyls in the '60s and '70s. With the rise of disco, the concept of the extended version became popular to make tracks suitable for club play, and eventually artists started toying with the arrangements and structures of their revised songs rather than just elongating them. Aided by the rise of hip-hop, artists and producers began remixing the works of other artists, and the remix has grown in popularity and relevance ever since. Today, many singles are remixed numerous times to appeal to different audiences, including all shades of dance remixes for club play in differing environments, hip-hop and r&b mixes to vary genre accessibility, and countless more innovative mixes that completely reinvent songs to the whim of the remix's producer.

I've recently been listening to a lot of mixes by dance artist/producer Kris Menace, which generally transform the songs in question into upbeat, quirky dance numbers on par with or surpassing the work of some of my other favorite mixers (Jacques Lu Cont and Alan Braxe immediately come to mind). You may not know the original tracks, but these mixes definitely stand their ground regardless. Be warned, they are all extremely catchy!

Air, "Mer Du Japon" (Kris Menace Remix)
Róisín Murphy, "Overpowered" (Kris Menace Remix)
Robbie Williams with Pet Shop Boys, "She's Madonna" (Kris Menace Vocal Re-Interpretation)
Dirty South & Evermore, "It's Too Late" (Kris Menace Remix)

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