Ideally, when a producer tackles a remix, they create something that sheds new light on the original, providing a work that can live alongside the source material as a worthy companion piece. In some cases, these remixes add a new dimension, accentuating familiar elements or adding touches that push a song in a slightly different direction.
In some cases, often far more exciting ones, remixers tear down the pieces and slam them together in a musical Frankenstein that is as much a new take on an existing song as it is a personal statement of style.
The Johnny Cage remix of Justin Timberlake’s “Tunnel Vision” is this sort of multi-layered beast, part remix, part mashup, part original production with room to breathe beyond either of the latter. Big bass, skittering vocal chops, warm arpeggios, buzzing stadium synths, samples from Aaliyah’s “One in a Million,” and, last but not least, bits and pieces of JT’s “Tunnel Vision” get thrown into a pot that feels like a refined take on the Girl Talk method–a constantly shifting sonic journey tied together by a solid backbone. Give it a listen below