Well, this was a surprise. The boundaries between indie rock and electronic music have been dissolving for a while now, but who could have foreseen Ducktails' Matt Mondanile — also a guitarist in the straightforward indie-pop band Real Estate — seeking out cult icon DJ Sprinkles for a deep house remix of his new single "Letter of Intent"?
It turns out that Mondanile is a fan of the underground dance-music scene where Sprinkles, a.k.a. Terre Thaemlitz, is a star. Maybe it shouldn't have been a surprise at all, given Daniel Lopatin's synths in the original.
But the interest wasn't exactly mutual: Thaemlitz hadn't heard of Ducktails or Real Estate when their label approached him in December. But after listening to "Letter of Intent," he signed up for the remix.
The end result sounds almost nothing like the single, with the exception of the original's flute, which sort of hangs in the background while Sprinkles goes to town on some nasty bass and elegant piano chords. It's a remarkable reinvention.
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