Cinnamon Girl :: "Devil In Me" [Noosa Remix]

Everyone's a DJ and most songs have remixes. We are, in essence, modern in our criticism and edification. The guiltiest of pleasures, Cinnamon Girl is a hot mix of Robyn and La Roux on spasmodic single, "Devil In Me," now reimagined by New Yorker synth-dealers Noosa. Of course, this proves divisive (see above). At least one acquaintance of ours reflected on "Devil In Me" by saying, "This is no Robyn," which is exactly what someone who likes Robyn would say about Cinnamon Girl, before adding, "until this song is huge and I love it." And this is the final turn of the circle."Devil In Me" is an unselfconscious pop song about our collective, unrestrained id, at the fringe of being an enormous, everywhere anthem. The Noosa remix preserves much of the framework of the original, only clouding some edges and dulling the chorus from an amphetamine raison d'etre to a more echoing but still yelping reflection on the evil that lies in all of us. One of those most destructive of those human ills is criticism. So, let "Devil In Me" speak on its own terms, maybe not a guilty pleasure at all, a thesis statement for all the downtown kids who stayed out too late and never knew how to apologize.

La Roux - "In For The Kill"

People are saying this will be the year for La Roux. Which, more astutely was referred to by the BBC as, "it looks like everyone is doubling down on electro for 2009." Where is music headed? We don't know much but we're operating on one truth: indie music is dead, the only question is, what will its funeral sound like? It could sound like La Roux's "In For The Kill." A song, that if not for slightly fuzzed out vocals and a more aggressive synth-line, could have appeared on Lily Allen's first record. Ouch. True story.

And this is not to imply that Lily Allen killed indie rock. That would be both too much credit and not enough. And it isn't that La Roux is making the same glossy, international pop as people like Duffy and Lily, but there's something about all this music that's just so inoffensive. It doesn't challenge anyone and frankly, Duran Duran have to be asking themselves why they ever became unfamous. If this is where things were going to end up, why bother with hair-metal, grunge-rock, modern alternative, rap rock, lo-fi, rock revival, and indie garbage? Why go through phases at all? Why didn't music just stop at Depeche Mode's Violator? We already had a policy of truth. We didn't need to go anywhere to get here.

That being said, La Roux's "In For The Kill" is about as fun as wrecking an expensive car. Hopefully you don't have too much invested and it's better if you do it when no one is looking. The car is full of airbags and, frankly, you're sturdy as hell. You won't get hurt. But hopefully no one saw it happen. So you scratch out the VIN number, remove your personal effects, unscrew the license plates and walk down the side of the highway. It was a little embarrassing and a little awesome. But it's best we all just forget it ever happened.

Listen :: La Roux - "In For The Kill"
Bonus :: La Roux - "Quicksand"