A small obsession of mine are slow, dark remixes of fun upbeat songs. I'm not sure how it started, but I began keeping a mental collection of covers that skew dreamy, electronic and dark. Here are my favourites:
Daughter -- Get Lucky
I think it all started from this song. When Daft Punk asked their fans to make covers out of their electronic dance piece Get Lucky, Daughter put her own unique spin on it, and gave us this mellow, minimalist version that puts a dark twist on the originally upbeat lyrics. I was mesmerised, and mildly obsessed how reinterpreting the song worked.
Obsession
The original by Animotion is a forgettable little 80s number. The version by Karen O (from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs) that was the intro of Flesh And Bone -- an amazing, but very dark series about ballet -- translated it into a moody and dark piece. I also think the video is pretty cool.
Wszystko Czego Dzis Chce
The original 80s version by Trojanowska is a fun, emancipated song where the girl laughs at the serious plans of the guy, saying she just wants to "fly / there and back / from your arms straight to heaven". Monika Brodka's dark synthwave version makes the same lyrics express a stifling mood with no hope for the future. The video of Monika in the communist-era bar with the pissed-off dancers is just perfect.
Arca Machote
Arca took this little latino reggae number Quiero Una Chica by Latin Dreams and made this electronic dream out of it. The vocals have a longing quality to it that gives me goosebumps.
Aaj jaane ki zid na karo
This is the one case where I don't necessarily thing the new version is better, since the original is very sweet. But the version from Ay Dil Hai Mushkil is very danceable, plus it's got Aishwarya Rai in the video. "Tonight, don’t insist on leaving. Just keep on sitting close to me".
Crazy In Love
The original is run-on-the-mill young Beyonce, but the version she did for 50 shades is a whole mood:
