Rainbows Remixed

The remix album is nothing new. Since the '80s artists have been letting producers and other artists remix their music. Of course, the whole idea came from the clubs, where it's been going on a lot longer. Used to be, it was done to add a more dance-friendly beat to a song, or make it more club-oriented.

Over the years, DJs and remixers have slowly put more and more of themselves into these new versions. Sometimes in very cool ways, sometimes in ways that caused some head scratching. In the '90s the art of the remix was taken to whole new levels, with DJs and producers not just remixing, but in some cases re-imagining a completed album. To some, this was blasphemy. To others, it was exciting. Some say that DJs are simply stealing other artists' music and screwing it up. Obviously the people on the other side of the process feel very, very differently.

I think what both sides should admit to themselves and each other is that the creative process can be funny thing. We don't always choose what we are inspired by, or even sometimes what we are inspired to do with our ideas. On top of that, "borrowing" ideas in music is nothing new. Hell, borrowing ideas in art is nothing new, much less music. Art is nothing more than a human being's interpretation (or re-interpretation) of life; usually a physical, emotional, mental, or spiritual object or aspect of their environment. The best art—and also music—reflects all four. Pieces of reality combined with figments of our imagination and filtered through our own, unique creative process.

This is the modern remix. A musical artist hears a piece of music created by another musical artist and is inspired to create/interpret/alter/experiment. The end result may not be something the original artist or their fans even like, but I think it's time for everyone to back down and realize that, yes, it is art.

With that, listen and consider Amplive's Rainydayz Remixes of the Radiohead album In Rainbows.