What a year these three guys from Australia are having. Their full length release this year “In Ghost Colours” adorned the top of my year end list, followed by a few different Single EPs and now this final “Far Away EP” to close out an already stellar year. The EP is available in digital format only in the UK so you can thank me later for gathering all of the tracks together in one spot (consider it my christmas gift to you faithful readers). The remix line-up for this blissful track includes the likes of Hercules & Love Affair and Bag Raiders, two acts that I’ve been in big support of for years. Other than four official Far Away remixes, the other two coming from fellow Aussie Damn Arms and New York’s Golden Filter, the EP contains a remix of “Hearts On Fire ” by Aeroplane (who recently remixed Friendly Fires as well), an edit of “So Haunted” by Knightlife, and the possible highlight of the entire EP: a brand new track entitled “Sands of Time.”
I was expecting to start the review by praising Hercules for their remix because I have been beyond impressed with all of their material to this point, but to be honest their effort on Far Away doesn’t impress me at all, and to be honest it’s my least favorite of any track on the EP. Their typical minimal-progressive-disco style just doesn’t seem to fit in the world of Cut Copy, and the result is an average at best remix that just becomes another one in the sea of never ending mixes these days.
mp3: “Far Away” – Hercules & Love Affair remix
As I mentioned earlier, another Australian can be found on this album, Damn Arms. His mix of “Far Away” is far and way the best edit of this track out there. He doesn’t do anything too drastic to the track, adding some light-hearted fun in the line of bells and chimes, and the result is what a remix should really be: plain and simple a more fun version of the original track, nothing too crazy that it’s overdone.
mp3: “Far Away” – Damn Arms Remix
I’ll let you the reader weed your way through the other official remix, along with some other goodies I dug up. It’s not as if these tracks aren’t worth having, because any fan of Cut Copy will thoroughly enjoy these bangers (I know I really did), It’s just that i I don’t feel like writing a ton about each of them, so enjoy!
mp3: “Far Away” – The Golden Filter Remix
“Far Away” – Bag Raiders Remix
“Far Away” – Bezzi E Fabio Pop Remix
As far as other non Far Away related material goes, this EP still has a lot to offer. The “So Haunted” Knightlife mix doesn’t let down at all, taking a track that I never really enjoyed on the album and transforming it into something more likely to be heard in a club than anything else in the album. Thanks to a repititious and infectious beat that builds and expands throughout the track, So Haunted becomes larger than life this time around.
mp3: “So Haunted” – Knightlife Sun Soaked Reprise
There isn’t much I can add about Hearts On Fire, it’s damn near the best song to come out of 2008. A blissful pop masterpiece that is gleaming with horns and 80’s styled vocals, weaving in and out and taking the listener by total surprise by the end. So here comes the remix, dun dun dun…the verdict isn’t too bad at all. Granted they take a lot away from the album recording and choose to include more of the sampled vocals, Aeroplane end up with with a nice little track that is different from the original in a good sense (they really love that sample, trust me).
mp3: “Hearts on Fire” – Aeroplane Remix
Cut Copy saved some of their best work for last this year, with “Sands of Time” caboosing this excellent EP. The track starts off like nothing else on In Ghost Colours, but eventually evolves into a familiar flavor of delightful electro pop fun. I’m gonna leave this section short, and say that Sands of Time has been on play non-stop on my iPod, and expect the same if you download this great closer.
mp3: “Sands of Time” (previously unreleased)
And as an added bonus for getting this far down in the post I’ll provide you with quaint little DJ mix that they threw together for Radio 1. Enjoy! Radio 1 DJ mix mp3
ONE TIME ONLY! WHILE SUPPLIES LAST! Cut Copy’s remix of Maroon 5’s top 100 hit “This Love,” just one of the many incredible bands on their new remix album. “This Love” – Cut Copy Galactic Beach House remix mp3
8.2 out of 10
The music market might be slumping, seeing as it is the middle of the winter and nobody dares to release anything important this time of year, but the t.v. gods delivered a nice little gift today. The Flight of the Conchords, New Zealand’s fourth most popular guitar-based digi-bongo acapella-rap-funk-comedy folk duo, have released the Season 2 premiere via Funny or Die. The half an hour long episode feels much like anything you watched last season, which means tones of laughs and, of course, plenty of music. (oh yeah, and the funniest shirts/sweaters you’ll ever see courtesy of Brett). I won’t give away anything, just watch the episode for yourself! Sadly no news yet on when the next episode of Albi the Racist Dragon will appear.
MIND INVERSION 