New AW Remix: Yelle “Que Veux Tu”
Hello friends!
It’s been a while – sorry about that. 2011’s been hectic… lots to catch up on! These last few months saw the release of two albums I co-produced and am extremely proud of. The first is Project Jenny, Project Jan’s “Home Sweet Home,” for which we earned a prestigious NPR ‘Song of the Day.’ The second was The KickDrums‘ “Meet Your Ghost,” released on Last Gang Records. They’ve been tearing up the college music charts and spreading like wildfire across the ol’ interwebz.
Aside from the production and the usual remixing, what’s by far been keeping me busiest is MY next project! It’s been roughly two years in the making, and it’s some of my favorite music I’ve ever recorded. It’s a new direction for me, and I CAN’T WAIT TO SHARE IT! Not going to spill the beans quite yet, but there will be plenty of goodies to come soon, so keep your eyes peeled…
Moving right along, it gives me immense pleasure to share my latest remix of YELLE’s “Que Veux Tu.” YELLE is an indie-pop trio from France, comprised of singer, Julie Budet, and producers, GrandMarnier and Tepr. Their most recent album, “Safari Disco Club” (via V2 and Downtown Records), is an irresistible romp through synth-heavy 80’s dance-pop… in French… it RULES.
I first became connected to YELLE through one of those how-awesome-is-the-internet moments… I got a Google alert linking to an interview with YELLE in Rocket Magazine. I naturally checked it out, and lo and behold, Julie mentioned that my Temper Trap “Sweet Disposition” remix was her favorite song at the moment! My jaw hit the floor, and I immediately mentioned it on twitter… Next thing I know, I’m emailing with them, and they want me to remix their new single, to be included on their Beatport Remix EP. And so, here we are… Man, I love the internet…
I had a LOT of fun making this one. As always, I scrapped all the elements of the original version except Julie’s vocals and recorded all new parts from scratch. It’s such a fun song, and her voice is so sweet and playful – I wanted to try to create something a little more contrasting and gritty than the original. I started out by recording different interlocking guitar parts and then degrading them with a few effects. Here’s a video of me tracking some of those parts:
I tried to keep building the song up over time so that it would feel like it exploded into the choruses, and so that the sections AFTER the choruses would feel like an ever bigger release. I made sure that each texture and counter-melody could fit with each other, so that I could bring them all back in at the end of the remix for a (hopefully) big finish. Another thing to look out for are my handclaps – I was really trying to make a “hook” out of them… This is also the first remix in which I bust out some whistling. Lastly, one more fun fact, that crazy high-pitched melody that comes in after the chorus, right around 1:02 – 1:15, is actually Julie’s voice! I processed & mutilated the crap out of it to create an almost synth-like texture out of it… neat, huh?
Anyway, it was an honor to work on this one. I adore YELLE and think they are massively-talented, and I feel crazy lucky to be involved with them. I hope you like what you hear, and please feel free to share this one far and wide… Be sure to follow YELLE on twitter (@YELLEtweets) and “like” them on Facebook.
Love,
A
Add comment July 31st, 2011
