Jason Shawhan lists his top 15 remixes of 2008. His diverse tastes and varied influences are on display here. Tracks are listed as: Artist - "Title" (Remix)
1. Interpol – "The Heinrich Maneuver" (Phones)
Like nothing either Phones or Interpol have done before, an electronic skirmish between quavering indie angst and deepest electrohouse expanses.2. Bodies Without Organs – "Barcelona" (Oscar Holter)
Who'd have thought that Swedish pop at its most glistening could be so effortlessly turned into aggro Bodymusic? Holter's Ebb-y synths set off Martin Rolinski's vocals magnificently.
4. Sam Taylor-Wood – "I'm in Love with a German Film Star" (Mark Reeder)
Released October 2008 on Kompakt Records
Finally, a retro-80s mix that sounds like it could actually have been popular in the 80s. Moody, propulsive, and smoothly energetic.
5. Kreesha Turner – "Don't Call Me Baby" (Digital Dog)
www.KreeshaTurner.com
Retro-pop turned dancefloor dominator by the careful application of exquisite synth programs. The diva house anthem of the year.
6. MGMT – "Kids" (Soulwax, Pet Shop Boys)
Versatile for dancefloor kinesis and introspective disco moments with this pair of mixes, MGMT justified the hype with this enveloping anthem.7. Hercules and Love Affair – "You Belong" (Riton Rerub)
The spirit of Inner City and late-80s house steams out of this mix's grooves, percolating and pummeling with velvet snare hits.8. Alphabeat – "Boyfriend" (Pete Hammond)
EMI
The Remix comeback of the year, with ex-PWLer Hammond taking his sequences for Bananarama's "I Can't Help It" and making twenty years of dancefloor trends collapse in a glorious storm of handclaps and synth bells.
9. Britney Spears – "Break the Ice" (Doug Grayson)
Courtesy Jive Records
There was no better combination of Ms. Spears' breathy coo and hard-hitting programming; slight glitchy undertones that highlight what was great about the original production, while at the same time crafting a new context for its soundscapes.
10. Robyn – "Be Mine" (Ocelot)
www.Robyn.com
When this mix gets going, cutting up, resampling, and reweaving Robyn's vocal into a tidal wave of emotional uncertainty, it has the kind of power that few tracks ever really achieve- and it's all thanks to having a strong melody to play with.