The 10 Best Blog House Remixes No-one Asked For, according to Giant Swan

"#Pre-lash soundtrack m88888z o___0"

Remember blog house? A genre that’s pretty hard to define, it existed nebulously as the stuff that the DJs would play after nu-rave bands like the Klaxons had performed and was farmed out by the digital fanzines of the time around 2006-9. A predominantly French genre, with many tracks emanating from the Ed Banger/Kitsuné catalogues, it was huge at its time but has since become somewhat maligned as a genre.

Robin Stewart and Harry Wright aka Giant Swan are a pair who grew up in the clutches of blog house, and therefore remember it fondly as the sound that first got them into dance music. The music the Bristolian duo make, however, is worlds away from the proto-EDM and maximalist electro-house of the era – the band are named after a track by the Blood Brothers, after all – and they create experimental, noisy strands of techno. Live, it’s aggressive, physical dance music, and they’ve distilled that raw energy into their self-titled debut album, which arrives on their newly-minted label, Keck, next month. In anticipation of this, Harry has selected the ten tunes of the blog house renaissance that have stuck with the band over time.

1. Revl9n – ‘Walking Machine (SebastiAn Remix)’

“SebastiAn was my favourite artist to come from this scene. Loved all of his remixes, solo material and even his most recent productions actually… The track ‘Ross Ross Ross’ is like some proto-EDM shit – he’s still a massive influence on me. A lot of this stuff really got indie kids like myself into dance music and then from there electro, techno, etc. God bless nu-rave hehe <3”

2. Daft Punk – ‘Technologic (Digitalism Remix)’

“This was the perfect time for Daft Punk to return I think! I also thought ‘Human After All’ really highlighted how much all these blog house artists owe the MIGHTY DAFT PUNK…. It was probably remixes like this that actually got me interested in them, and helped me understand more about their lineage and cultural impact… ALL HAIL OUR ROBOT OVERLORDS!”

3. Britney Spears – ‘Me Against The Music (ft. Madonna) (Justice Remix)’

“THIS ONE IS AMAZING. Love the way they’ve edited vocals and the the interesting use of – blah blah.. THIS SLAPS OK!?”

4. Spank Rock – ‘Bump (Switch Remix)’

“Blog house!? More like prog house, am I right!?!? Original song is amazing, ruined by Switch in the best and weirdest way possible.”

5. Late Of The Pier – ‘The Bears Are Coming (Metronomy Remix)’

“I think I love ALL of Metronomy’s remixes!? So was very hard to choose, haha, but I think this one has aged super well and they’ve done well to shake off the cringe from this era into something more Mercury Award-approved lol #timeless #fightme 8)”

6. Klaxons – ‘Atlantis to Interzone (Crystal Castles Remix)’

“ERA-DEFINING! Loved CC, but all love and power to Alice Glass now <3”

7. Chromeo – ‘Fancy Footwork (Crookers Remix)’

“This was a classic amongst our friends at the time. #Pre-lash soundtrack m88888z o___0 Waaaay better than the original I think soz Chromeo ;P”

8. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – ‘Heads Will Roll (A-Trak Remix)’

“I recently ‘dropped’ this at the ‘club’ and it went OFF! To be fair, this was was in East London at The Horrors show afterparty lol. Fish. Barrel. Unlimited Ammo. 8)”

9. Kelis – ‘Bossy (Crookers Remix)’

“This obviously didn’t need to happen but so so pleased it did, haha.”

10. Digitalism – ‘Homezone (Proxy Remix)’

“We found Proxy to be the #HARDEST out of all this lot… ‘the Korn of Bloghouse’ lol.”

And they’ve supplied a bonus choice:

SebastiAn – ‘Ross Ross Ross’

Listen to Giant Swan’s ’55 Year Old Daughter’:

Giant Swan’s self-titled album arrives on 8th November 2019 via Keck – pre-order it here. Find their worldwide tour dates and purchase tickets here.