Trentemoller - Moan

Trentemoller, "Moan (Trentemoller vocal remix)" (YSI link)

Trentemoller, "Moan (Radio Slave's Mix For K)" (YSI link)

I was trying to think of a good follow-up to the Suicide post, trying to think of some current stuff that has just a profound effect on me, that can scare the shit out of me. This track, Trentemoller's "Moan," comes close, albeit in less visceral, immediate way. These two remixes of the punultimate track of Trentemoller's album The Last Resort are both excellent, but it's the epic Radio Slave one that really blew me away.

Radio Slave a.k.a. Matt Edwards has been one of the top remixers for the past few years, reworking everyone from The Knife to Kylie. This one's an 11+ minute affair, a glitchy, cuts and clicks house number, the kind of song that slowly creeps up on you, works its way inside and totally fucks with you. It's all founded on a minimalist percussion sound and a glitchy, sandpaper sound, and that works throughout. The vocals, from Ane Trolle, are chopped and ghostly, singing about an obsessive love in a breathless voice, it's perfect. It's amazing how something this minimal can be so powerful and also leads me to a bigger point.

I'm not sure what it is about electronic music, but it seems to be the only genre able to convey the paranoia and obsessiveness that is such a pivotal part of great art for me. I'm guessing it's because of the machine-based nature of the music, that disconnect helps create some edgy and disturbed music. Nothing in rock or rap comes close, although there are exceptions (Geto Boys, maybe Company Flow and Cannibal Ox?) The glitchy sounds, the haunting vocals, it all reminds me of The Knife, one of my favorites from last year, one of the first to get tagged with the haunted house moniker. Another reference point for me was Tricky's first album, Maxinquaye, one of my all-time favorites, which featured a similarly disconcerting, paranoiac, downright creepy sound (and lyrics). The Trentemoller remix is excellent, much more suitable to the club with its big, farting sound. But, it's the Radio Slave mix that is one of the best songs I've heard this year.