The Rebel Remixed: A Batch of the Best David Bowie Remixes

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via GIPHY

With the whole world mourning the passing of David Bowie, there are eulogies coming from every corner of the globe at a dizzying pace. In the information age, those tributes are conveyed and disseminated at lightning speed so that even after less than 24 hours of his absence, on one hand it’s hard to say anything that hasn’t already been said elsewhere. But on the other hand, there are as many perspectives on Bowie’s legacy as there are voices to tell his tale. Everybody knows Bowie as a stylistic chameleon, seamlessly shifting modes, moods, and personas from album to album, tour to tour. But part and parcel of that mercurial quality is his status as a visionary and a searcher, a man who was nothing if not an early adopter.

One of the many things Bowie got a jump on way ahead of the pack was electronic music. Not only did he make use of synthesizers early on, by the mid-to-late ’70s, on his legendary “Berlin trilogy” of Low, Heroes, and Lodger, with the aid of Brian Eno, he made use of electronics in a way that was as innovative as it was influential. Bowie’s two-way love affair with electronics never ended, and there’s an endless supply of remixes by prominent electronic artists out there to prove it. Here are just a few, comprising what we think of as the cream of the crop, offering one more way to remember an artist who was bigger than life and just as complex.

David Bowie – Love Is Lost (Hello Steve Reich Mix by James Murphy for the DFA)

David Bowie & Philip Glass – “Heroes” (Aphex Twin remix)

“Hallo Spaceboy RMX” (Pet Shop Boys)

“Heart’s Filthy Lesson (Trent Reznor Remix)

“A Better Future” (Air remix)

“Sunday” (Moby remix)

“Telling Lies” (Adam F remix)

“I’m Afraid of Americans” (Photek remix)

“Let’s Dance” (Rabbit in the Moon remix)

“Blue Jean” (extended dance mix, Jellybean Benitez)

“Sound and Vision” (808 State remix)

Jim Allen

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