Remixers have a lot of options. They can add extra stuff to a song: by adding instruments; by making the track longer; by adding stutter effects… but a lot of times the best way to add to a track is by cutting stuff away. This remix of Pendulum‘s trancey “The Island Pt.I (Dawn)” (not to be confused with Pendulum’s electro freakout “The Island Pt. II (Dusk)”) demonstrates the virtues of addition-by-subtraction. Paradoxically, the remix is a more exciting listen despite the fact there’s a lot less in it.
Here, San Francisco-based DJ/producer Max Vangeli teams up with Steve Angello and AN21 (both of Swedish House Mafia fame) and improves the track dramatically by cutting away all the nonessentials.
The remix takes a goosebump-inducing left turn into silence at the drop, announcing its intentions to make the synth the centerpiece. Pendulum’s more meandering verse-chorus-verse structure is discarded in favor of a more economical (or should I say obsessive?) repetition of the song’s synth hook and a snippet of vocals. Add in a few subtle electro-flavored production touches (a glitchier opening hook, more pumping against the kick), and the whole thing just seems… tighter. More purposeful.
Pendulum – The Island (Steve Angello, AN21 & Max Vangeli Remix)
