VD's Best Music of 2010, Part II

Yay, I'm finally doing this again!

Continuing on with VD's Best Music of 2010, this is my list of my favorite remixes of the year! As anyone would know from my twitter, I'm basically obsessed with remixes. I don't even know why, I'm probably just a whore in need of a dancefloor. BUT ANYWAY: I WROTE WRITE-UPS. They're small and weird and full of unnecessary caps, but that's me anyway. I'm also tired and not proofreading this, so it could really be any number of things! That's always fun.

Without further explanatory bullshit:

VD's Best Remixes of 2010
(WARNING: I say 'synth' a lot from here on. As it should be.)
25. Hurts, "Stay"
Remixed by Groove Armada
Entirely captivating and amazing, while, at the same time, entirely void of content. It makes little sense but it's fantastic.

24. Lady GaGa, "Alejandro"
Remixed by The Sound of Arrows
Drastically different and impressive. So smartly put together on TSoA's part. I love them, I wish they'd remix more. ♥

23. Ellie Goulding, "Starry Eyed"
Remixed by Russ Chimes
It basically IS disco. One of the best remixes on the list you can just DANCE to without having to think about it. The instrumentation is OUT OF CONTROL.

22. Kelis, "4th of July (Fireworks)"
Remixed by Richard X
The differences between them are STAGGERING - X created dark, swirling synthpop out of some of the most boisterous electro-house I've heard in forever. A GENIUS at work, people.

21. Hurts, "Better Than Love"
Remixed by Italoconnection
Only released on the Italian release, which is a shame, because it's absolutely SYNTHILICIOUS. (I love making up words.) It really goes even beyond what Hurts themselves do with the instrument, especially in terms of nostalgic creation. It's really very sexy.

20. Cheryl Cole, "Promise This"
Remixed by Almighty
To be quite honest, I'm not sure why I like this so much. Is it because it's Cheryl? Nah. Is it because the club mix is nine minutes long? Possibly. Is it because it's so gay? Probably. Is it because I imagine myself near a giant wind machine when I listen to it? Most likely. ...see also the gay thing.

19. Alphabeat, "DJ (I Could Be Dancing)"
Remixed by Ian Masterson
SYNTHS SYNTHS SWEET JESUS THOSE SYNTHS. /productive comment

18. Gabriella Cilmi, "On a Mission"
Remixed by Wideboys
I NEVER hear anything about this mix, even when people love the less interesting, non-Wideboys version! It grabs you and DOESN'T LET GO TILL THE END. Bonus points: the repetition of "I AM A WOMAN" - makes it.

17. The Saturdays, "Ego"
Remixed by Almighty
5:10. It entirely defines it and that is all I need to say. Oh, and that's the only one on this list that is exceptionally better than its original. Just FTR.

16. Goldfrapp, "Rocket"
Remixed by Richard X [Eight Four]
The magnificent Mr. X (new to twitter just today btw!) created two different remixes, the Eight Four and the One Zero (get it?). There's nothing wrong with the latter; I just like the former a loooot more. It sorta deprives the song a lot of its original power, but instead transforms it into something JUST as retro in an entirely different way, even making it dancier. Amazing.

15. Armin van Buuren vs. Sophie Ellis-Bextor, "Not Giving Up on Love"
Remixed by Dash Berlin
Ghostly and dark as hell, like a overbearing nightmare with these little flashes of pure light floating about. AND THAT'S EXACTLY WHY IT'S AMAZING. The speeding up at the 4 minute mark leading into that instrumental bridge, ahhhhh. That's the kind of shit I live for.

14. Kylie Minogue, "Get Outta My Way"
Remixed by Kris Menace
Sometimes it plays out like an extended version (which is redundant), but it's mostly just brilliant. ESPECIALLY the use of those kickdrums.

13. Hurts, "Wonderful Life"
Remixed by Freemasons
Why don't more people worship THESE Freemasons? I mean, really. In their beautiful, magical fashion, they spice up the purposefully drab "WL" with this omnipresent synth beat that is absolutely suited for it. Couldn't be better.

12. Florence + the Machine, "Cosmic Love"
Remixed by Short Club
The constant acoustic guitar plucking atop the harps and synths being so playful together really signals how massive and stunning this is.

11. Ke$ha, "Your Love is My Drug"
Remixed by Dave Audé
ACTUAL euphoria. One would never expect a remix of a KE$HA song to be this lovely and brilliant, but thankfully there's always Audé to be awesome.

10. Marina & the Diamonds, "Oh No!"
Remixed by Grum
Grum can remix in his sleep, I'm convinced. There's always a new mix of his coming out! Somehow they're almost always great, this being the year's key example. Brief compared to other mixes on the list, but perhaps better because of that. It adds its own retro personality to a song already brimming with it and it works SO well.

09. Robyn, "Dancing on My Own"
Remixed by Fred Falke
Falke is pretty much the KING of remixes, isn't he? His 2010 was perhaps quieter than the year before, but this packs such a punch that it doesn't really matter. Full-out bass-driven disco, and I love every second.

08. Marina & the Diamonds, "Hollywood"
Remixed by Fenech-Soler
A very nice, very crazy rush of pulsations that I love getting high on. (I also adore how it turned me on to F-S, they're GREAT if you don't know.)

07. Alphabeat, "DJ (I Could Be Dancing)"
Remixed by Biffco
Biffco, and its genius Richard Stannard, are always underrated but vital as a pop production team, with this single mix being a primary example. Taking the already great "DJ" and dipping it in even more delirious synths while giving it a spankin' new subtitle? Fantastic work.

06. Robyn, "Dancing on My Own"
Remixed by Buzz Junkies
Successfully makes it absolutely upbeat and blissful without really losing the song's emotional weight. Frankly that's a win in and of itself. But then it's also listenable as fuck, which helps.

05. Selena Gomez & the Scene, "Naturally"
Remixed by Dave Audé
Probably (quite easily) the best remix of a Disney-manufactured song ever. And the scary part is, they completely embraced it! One of the more shocking musical events of the year was seeing Audé's name mentioned on the Disney Channel of all places. Crazy.

04. Sophie Ellis-Bextor, "Bittersweet"
Remixed by Freemasons
Taking what they've co-produced (as they did with Kylie's "The One") and spinning even more gold from it. Faster tempo, more crunching synths, just a racier vision of the candy-coated perfection of the original - and it's still enough to make you joyously explode.

03. Armin van Buuren vs. Sophie Ellis-Bextor, "Not Giving Up on Love"
Remixed by Jorn van Deynhoven
WHOAAAAAA. This is some BEAUTIFULLY EPIC shit right here. Somehow it makes me existential. While on an ungodly amount of the best acid ever created. And that middle section? TRANCE INFERNO.

02. Robyn, "Hang with Me"
Remixed by Starsmith
Following the release of the electronic version, I...felt a little underwhelmed, I'll admit. The production was awesome, but it felt a bit lifeless? And then, like magic, Starsmith slams it out of the park and creates my favorite version of the song IN GENERAL. It has the beats AND the emotion, AND that insanely awesome intro. I LOVE STARSMITH.

*druuuuuuuuuuuuuuum roll plz*

01. Marina & the Diamonds, "I Am Not a Robot"
Remixed by Clock Opera
Incandescently perfect. From the moment I first heard it, I don't think I ever had a different #1. It's sweeping and loaded with strings - the complete antithesis of a modern pop remix. It almost twists the song's emotive nature to that of despair (the vocal modulation with 'our love faded' - amazing), which is DAMN remarkable, only to turn it back around to the hopeful, shining brilliance with a BEAUTIFUL crescendo.

I LOVE IT SO MUCH I COULD JUST EXPLODE.

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So, yeah. Thoughts? Anything?