A couple of weeks ago, I found myself preoccupied with the notion of communication. A friend and I were discussing the fact that no matter what you do, no matter how silent you are without movement, you are always communicating something. There’s something to be said about that — the fact that we can communicate with each other before we even know how to speak. Our body language is something so marvelous and mystifying, one that is constantly studied because it is such a spectacle.
As much as there is fascination in a lack of movement but still being able to communicate, I find it even more fascinating that we can do the total opposite: be extremely loud, creative, strange, beautiful, all with sounds. With sounds, we can translate emotions that we want people to feel. We can also translate those emotions without sound, but something like music, which exists all around us, from even non-human creators (the sounds of a subway, a busy street that’s collective sound is one that cannot be pinned precisely on one thing). This is much of the reason why I love and have such a deep rooted emotional connection to music. It’s also why I have so much trouble explaining my passion for music — because it often comes off as tacky or corny. But there is something definitely to be said about the lack of words that we use to show our affection for music, definitely apparent in the way it makes people move. Clashing two forms of communication: silence vs. body.
Here’s a track that creates exactly that for me. From the moment that slow beat drops in the beginning, combatted with an alternating faster beat, you know that you’re in for a trip. You feel it in your bones, as each new sound is introduced in the first minute. As soon as the vocals kick in you’re already somewhere else. And that somewhere else has you flying. You might be lost. But the grunty deep vocals of Billy Idol are solid enough to ground you in the end.
I’ve got Yaqui to thank for introducing us to the lovely and fantastic talent behind Virgin Magnetic Material (aka Shai Vardi), for I can safely say that all of the remixes I’ve heard from him have been sublime, to say the least. In a very non-intrusive and sexy way, the track’s originality maintains composed, with a twist. For me, it strikes a happy emotion within similar to the reaction I have when I meet someone who smiles and talks out of the side of their mouth, with a sort of slant. It’s cool and sexy but they’re probably only doing it because they are used to it — while I stand in awe at the cool that radiates from out of their mouth…I’m also including a Queens of the Stoneage track that I found to be particularly sexy. If you were wondering what exactly Virgin Magnetic Material means, it’s defined on his Soundcloud page as, “core or shield material that has never been magnetized,” specifically in relation to the electronic world.
Enjoy!
Billy Idol – White Wedding (Virgin Magnetic Material Remix)
Queens of the Stoneage – Make It Wit Chu (Virgin Magnetic Material Remix)