Crucial Track for 20 May 2025

"I'm a Cuckoo (The Avalanches Remix new fade)" by Belle and Sebastian

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What’s a remix or cover you like more than the original?

Taking a song and doing something to it to make it new is a really subtle art. The Reflex is the undoubted master of this - I love how he'll take a classic soul/disco/funk track and show the essence of it in entirely unexpected ways, but he lives in a hinterland of questionable legality so his work is not readily available.

Of officially sanctioned and available tracks, this edit of a Belle & Sebastian song by The Avalanches is very special. The original is a classic sixties-tinged guitar pop song with a Thin Lizzy-like guitar line; The Avalanches keep the vocal but change the instrumentation to this incredible joyful tribal celebration recorded with a group of African refugees living in Australia. Makes it a complete different song. As much as I like Belle & Sebastian, I love this version far more.

(If you're interested there's a great making-of article about this track from Wired.)