Track Review: “Sexy Results (Remix MSTRKRFT Edition)” by Death from Above 1979

REMIX! That seems to be the logical impulse for bands and DJ’s alike, with DJ’s being inspired by indie artists and groups feeding their hunger to make people dance. Recent remixes of Bloc Party’s Silent Alarm and Beck’s Guero (as Guerelito) are among the higher-profile examples of full-album treatments, with single-track mash-ups and adaptations having a long-standing presence.

Toronto’s trash-rock twosome Death from Above 1979 have taken to twiddling knobs on the tracks of last year’s You’re a Woman, I’m a Machine pulsing out a nearly track-for-track dance-up in the form of Romance Bloody Romance, released in October. Having strewn their rough and tumble rock sludge across the world sharing stages with Queens of the Stone Age and Nine Inch Nails, Jesse and Sebastien decided to “clean up their act” with some dirty, sweaty sex.

The first single to hit hipsterphilic dancehalls is “Sexy Results.” Beginning with the original’s French whisper and retaining one repeated verse to help get the message across (as if the kinky funk and song title weren’t enough), Jesse reworks “Sexy Results” by trading off the original’s tinny stomp for a funky swerve with synth twitches. Think somewhere between LCD Soundsystem’s hugely popular “Daft Punk Is Playing in My House” and the remix of Spoon’s “I Turn My Camera On” and you’ve got the sound. The dance single’s sexy vibe was already present lyrically on You’re a Woman, I’m a Machine: “sexy woman let me take you to your bedroom/ let me show you how I work.” Add a couple dozen more “work, work, work” thrusts for emphasis and a 4-4 beat and feel free to call it dance, disco, funk, whatever. Just don’t call it prude.

The real news about this mix and the other tracks on the album is the beyond over-the-top review Nick Sylvester gave it on Pitchfork. The introduction: "Worst release of 2005. Beyond awful." Rating: 0.5. Zero point f'ing 5!? That's by far the lowest Pitchfork rating Bostonist has ever seen. 0.5 is not only uncalled for (and wrong), its irresponsible. Bostonist is not amused.

Michael Walker and Matthew Durutti contributed to this post.