The 29 Best Remixes of 2009

I don’t know about you but 2009 was the year I fell in live with remixes. Starting TBE opened up my world to so many amazing reinterpretations of both great and not so great songs. Having always been more of a cover song guy this was new territory for me but I dove in headfirst and have been enjoying the ride so far. Good music is a personal thing and messing with great music is even more so. This is very much a subjective list and is based on nothing besides how much I love and respect the work done. Oh, and the numbering system is pretty much bullshit but I had to put them in some kind of order. Anyway, enjoy. I certainly have.

29. French Horn Rebellion – Beaches and Friends (Hey Champ Remix) / The opening seconds pretty much sum up this perfect pool-party/beach jam.

28. Hockey – Learn To Lose (Labrinth Remix) / The remix that introduced me to one of my favorite new acts of ’09. It will always have a special place in my heart and on the dancefloor.

27. LMFAO – Shooting Star (Party/Rock Remix) / I’ve still never heard the original but this remix makes me wanna party like a fool. Something about their goofy swagger just works here.

26. Sharam & Patsy Cline – She Came Along (feat. Kid Cudi) / Yeah, this is actually a track by Sharam that samples Patsy Cline and features Cudi on vocals but that’s complicated enough to earn it ‘remix’ status in my book. I just love the bass line in this jam.

25. William Fitzsimmons – I Don’t Feel It Anymore (George Raquet Remix) / Tough to give a remix treatment to such a melancholy song so props to George for pulling it off with style and grace. Beautiful stuff.

24. The Maccabees – Love You Better (Russell Lissack Remix) / Some rock music just doesn’t lend itself to being tastefully remixed but Russell pumps this one up nicely, spastically hurtling the track along with perfect momentum.

23. Shakira – She Wolf (Calvin Harris Remix) / Love that cowbell! Calvin does a great job of pulling this one off the radio and slamming it right onto the dancefloor.

22. Little Boots – New In Town (Fred Falke Remix) / This jam is the definition of Little Boot’s pre-Hands hype and those were good times for for both her and us. A monster remix that sprawls big and wide, this got me super-pumped on the dance floor more than once.

21. Phoenix – 1901 (What Kind Of Breeze Do You Blow – E-Mix) / Not really being a drug guy I am talking out of my ass here but this remix seems like what uppers would feel like. I can’t stop twitching along to that bassline and even though I know I look like a spastic I’m OK with it.

20. Snob Scrilla – Heartbreak Scorsese (’96 Bulls Remix) / Besides being a HUGE track in it’s own right, it’s even more impressive if you know the original. This kind of reworking is what remixing is all about. Crank that wobbly-ass bass up to 11 and get your sweat on! “Never could take off my cool!”

19. Britney Spears – If U Seek Amy (Weird Tapes Club Mix) / I just don’t think I am a good enough writer to explain the brilliance of what Weird Tapes has done here. Britney has always had bangers but this takes her shit to a whole new level.

18. Big Gipp – Hot (Treasure Fingers Remix) / The best demented fun-house themed remix of the year. Hands down. An anthem for dirty zombie pimps worldwide.

17. Passion Pit – The Reeling (Calvin Harris Remix) / Calvin strikes again, this time injecting Passion Pit with that bottomed out bass-line magic that just makes me swoon. It also makes me want to sing along at full volume with closed eyes and flailing limbs. Back up!

16. Das Racist – Combination Pizza Hut And Taco Bell (Wallpaper. Remix) / A lot like Taco Bell itself, this jam is a real social filter, able to separate the generally awesome from those who have trouble kicking back, enjoying life, and occasionally ingesting re-hydrogenated beans.

15. Peter Bjorn & John – It Don’t Move Me (Miike Snow remix) / Bleeps, bloops, gleeps, wunks, chreaps, swoings, dweezs, wryeaws, reanooweens, and other fantastic sounds are used to perfection. It’s as if the song has taken on a life of it’s own and at any moment could leap from the speakers and pop-n-lock itself all up in my actual face. Sweet.

14. The xx – Shelter (Death To The Throne Remix) / There is nothing quite like taking a steamy sex-fueled ballad and turning into and massive club destroyer that should probably not be played to too many indie kids at once lest their be a group heart attack during the inevitable mass freak out.

13. The Killers – Spacemen (Steve Aoki & The Bloody Beetroots Remix) / It’s like making a sandwich with six pices of huge, some diced epic, some fresh funky, all between two slices of grandiose. Serve with a tall glass of handclaps!

12. Britney Spears – Radar (Bloodshy & Avant Remix) / Things are beautifully weird here with the Miike Snow boys smearing Britney with all their signature sounds as well as huge handclaps and foot stomps. Hard to explain. Easy to love.

11. One eskimO – Givin’ up (Don Diablo Remix) / It’s rare that a song can simultaneously inspire fresh dance moves as well as glassy eyed introspection. Hamstrings and heartstrings beware.

10. The Drums – Down By The Water (The Soundmen Remix) / Oh man, I love this. Take a timid love song that couldn’t open a bag of chips without scissors and give it the biggest set of balls in stock and a mission to move bodies weather they like it or not. This one is built for car stereos and open windows.

9. Chris Cornell – Part Of Me (ft. Timbaland) (Grandtheft Disco Remix) / Chris Cornell may have made some questionable career choices in the past few years (the original recording of this song being one of them) but there is no denying that voice. Nor the epic beats laid upon this jam by Grandtheft.

8. Drink Up Buttercup – Even Think (Andrew W.K. Remix) / It’s nice to see that Andy Dub’s shameless party-at-all-costs attitude extends to his remixes. This thing just screams good times!

7. Pixie Lott – Mama Do (Linus Loves Radio Remix) / I’ve yet to hear the original but this monster remix soundtracked my summer and I’m pretty damn certain it’s an improvement on this pop tart’s radio fodder. Go Linus! Go Linus!

6. John legend – Everybody Knows (RAC Mix) / Sometimes a remix is great because it pulls out all the stops and leaves you with no choice but to get hyped. The more impressive path is the one taken here. RAC deftly weaves in a few choice instruments, creating a massive remix in it’s own humble way.

5. Busy P ft. Murs – To Protect And Entertain (Crookers Remix) / This remix may very well have dropped in ’08 but since it was my anthem of ’09 it makes the list. It’s absolutely huge and that wobbly bass ear-punch gets me so ridiculously pumped it’s not funny. Lives have been saved by this not being played while I’m in the club.

4. Daniel Merriweather – Change (Feat. Wale) (Gigamesh Remix) / It’s just a perfect remix of an already fantastic track. Respect is paid to the original while still adding enough individual flavor to keep it in solid rotation all year.

3. Kings Of Leon – Use Somebody (Andre Anjos remix) / Did someone mention staying in rotation all year? Yeah. Exactly. Andre Anjos (a.k.a. RAC) rubs his perfection all over this one.

2. The Very Best – Julia (Javelin Re-do) / This is not one of the best for being a perfectly executed textbook remix but rather for being so original and raw. Javelin have lit the songs shoes on fire and sent it careening down a steep hill in a rusty wheelbarrow. Coming dangerously near disaster at every turn it manages to arrive unscathed and with a hell of a tale to tell. Soak it it, a remix like this is one in a million.

1. Miike Snow – Animal (Fake Blood Remix) / We all love “Animal” and we all love the circus so it is only logical that when the two have a sordid love child it is awkward and loud and pushy, but also irresistibly charming and unbelievably catchy. And how they got that gym whistle to not be annoying is worth an award all by itself.

Get all The Best Remixes of 2009 in 2 zip files!

Part 1 (29-16) /// Part 2 (15-1)

Looking for the original posts on these jams or just more by these artists? Use the “Tagged as:” links below!

Be sure to catch all the 2009 round-ups.

• Best Albums / The Top 15
• Best Albums / Honorable Mention & EPs
• Best Songs – Pt. 1 (Jan-June)
• Best Songs – Pt.2 (July-Dec)
• Best Remixes – YOU ARE HERE!