Starry-Eyed

Cortney Tidwell - Don't Let The Stars Keep Us Tangled Up (Ewan Pearson's Objects In Space Remix)
Remix of the year so far for me. Berlin-based English producer Ewan Pearson, fresh from helming a number of tracks on The Rapture's second album, reimagines this track from Nashville singer-songwriter and Bjork soundalike Cortney (that's how she spells it) Tidwell as "shoegazing space-disco." Pearson, taking a cue from his excellent Goldfrapp remix from last year, transforms the song into a spacey epic which unfurls gracefully over an unhurried twelve-minute running time. Retaining just a snatch of liquid country guitar from the original, he drapes it in a galaxy of fuzzy synths, clicks, and sonar bleeps which build layer by layer til the gravity of the thing becomes to much and it collapses in on itself, dissolving into a swirl of synths and Tidwell's wordless backing vocals. Cosmic.

LCD Soundsystem - Someone Great
LCD Soundsystem's new album Sound Of Silver, while still impressive, is more of a refinement of previous sounds than a staking out of new sonic territory. The album proves most effective when James Murphy drops his protective cloak of irony, (Most evident on lead-single "North American Scum" the latest in Murphy's series of "scene" tracks) as on the driving, piano-led nostalgia of "All My Friends" and the poignant "Someone Great." Recycling a section from Murphy's disco-centric 45 33' piece, "Someone Great" is a melancholy electro-shuffle, all pulsing keyboards and tinkling glockenspiel with a delicate, rueful vocal from Murphy. More heart, less hipness next-time please.

Gui Boratto - Like You (Supermayer Remix)
Kompakt label-head Michael Mayer and artist Superpitcher (who's a past master at this sort of downbeat minimal) team up for this remix of a tune by Brazilian producer Gui Boratto, who released his debut album Chromophobia last month (And mighty fine it is too). Riding a clipped synth line that's reminiscent of Superpitcher's classic remix of "The Difference It Makes" this one threatens to escape heavenward but remains firmly earthbound, creating a simmering tension that's retained throughout the track. Throw in some clattering old-skool breakdowns and a beautifully melancholy vocal from Boratto's wife Luciana Villanova and you've got a lovely slice of tear-jerking techno.