“Knife (Girl Talk Remix)” – Grizzly Bear
(Words/music: Grizzly Bear and The Clipse, arranged by Greg Gillis, non album track)
With the formal promotional cycle for Veckatimest gearing up, Grizzly Bear prepares to step into the spotlight as the “band of the moment.” I’ve only heard a few new songs, but these new songs seem worthy of the band’s swelling audience. For the most part, Grizzly Bear’s first two albums are acquired tastes. Proponents tell you that this is “patient” music – compositions that require a few listens to appreciate. While this usually suggests dense arrangements, these songs require patience due to their unorthodox sounds. At times, Yellow House jars the listener with dissonant chords only to follow with gorgeous vocal harmonies, creating this deliberately raw sound infused with a strangely dark, slightly sinister undercurrent. “Knife,” Yellow House’s breakthrough track, combines both the sublimely sinister with the melodically beautiful. The members of the band intertwine their vocals, presenting countermelodies for each melody – the Beach Boys are the frequent touchstone, yet it’s far more unsettling than anything on Pet Sounds. Allmusic calls it a “hazy love song” and from the vocal introduction through the first two lines it’s a fitting description. Then, when it feels like it might get comfortable, Ed Droste changes the course by singing “with every blow / comes another lie.” Ultimately, the song seems more about betrayal by a loved one than being in love, but the band plays with this tension through the entire song – dark harmonies undercut every beautiful melody, creating a woosy, slightly disorienting, and darkly beautiful song.
Greg Gillis must hear something similar, as he turns “Knife” into a weirdly compelling hip hop hook. By adding vocals from the Clipse’s “Wamp Wamp” and a few extra percussion sounds, Gillis hones in on the aesthetic feel in the original song. While most of his work as Girl Talk feels like iTunes run through a blender, Gillis seems to approach this mix in a way that focuses our attention on the original’s melody. Ed Droste becomes an unwitting Nate Dogg by providing the melodic hook, and the bits of vocals scattered throughout the verses makes the track seem haunted. If the original sounds dark and beautiful, Gillis emphasizes the ghastly qualities to the vocals. Sure, it neuters the nuances in the original track, but Gillis shows how to use a remix to highlight a specific part of the original song. The net result is an adventurous and exciting remix, and while few would suggest Yellow House raises testosterone the way this remix might, it shares the same adventurous, experimental spirit as the parent album.
More on Grizzly Bear: Allmusic | Amazon MP3 | Emusic | Last.fm
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