And The Grammy Goes To....

This year, five artists are nominated for the Grammy award for Remixer of the Year, Non-Classical. Out of those five, the only one I'd heard of before was Richard "Humpty" Vission, and I hadn't knowingly heard any of his music. Since the 43rd Annual Grammy Awards are being held on February 21, I decided now was a good time to familiarize myself with the tracks the Recording Academy has anointed the freshest, and also to pick who I think will take home the award.

The nominees are Deep Dish, Hex Hector, Maurice Joshua, Peter Rauhofer, and the aforementioned Richard "Humpty" Vission. Six remixes by each artist are up for perusal. Madonna's Music seems to be the favorite track to remix this year; there are no less than three different nominated versions of it, by Deep Dish, Hex Hector, and Vission. American Pie comes in second with two, both by Vission. Like Madonna much, Humpty?

Deep Dish's Cheez-Whiz remix of Amber's Sexual is up first. It's really dark, full of clattering beats and echoing bass. Amber's vocals are pushed way back in the mix, and the defining part of this song, the "dee da dee da dee da dee" that I hated so much in the original, is gone. Because of that alone, it's a great remix. Unfortunately Dish's Dot Com remix of Music sounds just like Sexual, only with Madonna singing. And the Deep Dish Poof Daddy remix of True by Morel is just more of the same, despite a little go-go flavor in the beat and the retaining of the gay-positive lyrics that made it a club anthem. Dish's own Mohammed is Jesus, however, is divine; a single, trancey keyboard riff and whooshing Stone Roses-like vocals leave trails of light on my brain.

Hex Hector's HQ Club remix of Toni Braxton's Spanish Guitar is a garage delight. The lightness and positivity I found wanting in Braxton's original are here in spades. Whitney Houston's I Learned From The Best (HQ2 Club Mix) begins with almost two minutes of unaccompanied drumming, and then layers snares upon kicks upon cymbals, building the beat till Whitney's voice comes spiraling right out the middle. Hex doesn't dress up Whitney's vocal too fancy; he knows it shines enough on its own. I bet this is fantastic in a club. In contrast, there's no buildup at all in his HQ2 Radio mix of Music. He takes us right into the chorus, then drops us into the verse amid strange, dischordant tones and echoes. Music's normally such a happy party song that it's disconcerting to hear it made eerie like this. I'm not a fan of Hex's remix.

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