This is one of those stories that deserves a full narrative arc. It starts in the spring of 2009 when demo versions of Marina's seminal meditation on Humanity, "I Am Not A Robot" drop through UK publicists to US music outlets. The song is, of course, a complete stunner and crushes us immediately. The remixes prove just as valuable. This will later be a running joke: Guess what? Still not a robot.
Fast-forward to the winter of 2009-10 (Frightened Rabbit will suggest this is The Winter of Mixed Drinks, a name for which the jury is still out), and Marina's debut record leaks on the US market like a hurricane leaks into a major metropolitan area. People are destroyed, concerned parties look for shelter. And it is into this mess that another voice steps. Rumors begin to circulate about a remix of "Robot" so good it will get its own single release. We are used to the hyperbole and yet, this is different. The rhetoric is that of earnestly surprised, stunned insiders. Clock Opera reflects over his twitter about the profound excitement surrounding this recording. This is not particularly surprising. But like a bad teen murder movie about a cursed cassette tape, anyone who hears this thing is immediately killed by it. We wait.
Minutes before heading to the airport in late March, a copy of the remix hits my hard drive. It is a complete recasting of the original with a chopped, stunning chorus made of found parts. Never pick up. Anything. You don't ring ring run. The nonsense speaks. Guess what? Still not a robot. Prepare to be human, remixed.
Listen :: Marina and the Diamonds - "I Am Not A Robot" [Clock Opera Remix]
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