It seems as of late that the electro kids are jumping on the revival bandwagon. And so it is: week after week another classic gets the Dr. Frankenstein treatment, usually to my absolute disgust.
Celebrating 20 years of Delicious Vinyl, owner Rick Ross has apparently decided to defecate on his legacy by allowing Peaches, Mr. Flash and some run-of-the-mill Ritalin DJs to sprinkle glitter and rainbows all over the dusty grooves. Granted Tone Loc and Young MC remixes are excusable, (busting a move with your wild thing never stops being fashionable), but the Pharcyde and Masta Ace are owed better treatment. RMXXOLOGY will be a sad birth, out August 18.
I would have burned my chic Delicious Vinyl t-shirt I copped at Urban Outfitters, but Hot Chip soothed this misanthrope by turning Pharcyde's “Passin' Me By” into a funeral symphony to love's blunders. Hot Chip leaves the intro's bouncy keys, then flips the script with trembling organs and a woeful, bluesy guitar soliloquy that swoons over Hendrix licks and draws the defeatism of the Pharcyde's lyrics to the front of the mix.
I always related to the “Passin' Me By” message, took special likening to it as a youth in all my clumsy bouts with love, but Hot Chip have created a new reason to heed the words of the Pharcyde. Gone are the light-hearted pleasures of “yes indeedy I wrote graffitti on the bus.” Now the vibe dwells on “I guess a twinkle in her eye is just a twinkle in her eye.” Sigh.
Suddenly, its not fleeting moments of missed connections, but lingering regret as your letter comes back three days later: return to sender. Damn, Hot Chip.
