We never need much of an excuse to post about Björk but we’re delighted that we can finally showcase a song we first heard seven months ago at Hudson Mohawke‘s headline show at XOYO. When he opened his set with what was obviously his own remix of ‘Virus’, by far our favourite track from Björk’s latest and named as our third favourite song of 2011, we nearly exploded. What made it even more exciting was that it had seemingly been unheard anywhere else and subsequent Google searches around that time suggested that even its mere existence was unknown apart from by those who had been in attendance.
Whilst HudMo is best known for being a component of the maximalism sound, some of his more recent productions have taken a subtler approach more rooted in the hip-hop productions being peddled by the likes of labelmate and collaborator Lunice (we’re thinking specifically of ‘Cbat’). His take on ‘Virus’ is probably even gentler than you’d expect and treats the fragile beauty of the original with the respect it deserves, whilst beefing it up significantly. A bit like the 8 feet tall / 3 feet wide bodyguards that follow Beyoncé around when out in public, adding considerable bulk but giving her plenty of room to breathe. Including layers of high pitched synths, extra tinkling chimes, some heavy but balanced crunk beats and most importantly a heavenly brass arrangement, he manages to transform the most beautiful song from ‘Biophilia’ into something fit for a member or royalty.
Pre-order the track as part of the ‘Biophilia Remix Series III’ at Amazon, or cop it elsewhere when it’s released this coming Monday. Until then this Soundcloud stream, emanating strangely from the west African country of Guinea-Bisseau, should keep you satiated.
EDIT:
Bugg’n, the first track from Hudson Mowhake and Lunice‘s collaboration as TNGHT has just appeared for full streaming purposes and it’s pretty perfect. Just the right amount of noodly electronica, Neptunes-esque beats made by robots, dubstep dynamics minus any ridiculousness and a considerable amount of chin-stroking weirdness. Yes.