Still. Just like there are more or less creative genres/artists in electronic music, there are more or less creative remixes. Pogo is definitely pushing all the boundaries of “remix”. Nobody thought to remix anything other than a song, doing so with movies subverts assumptions the way John Cage’s 4’33″ did (though less challengingly) or Stomp does with percussion.

As much as the songs stand up on their own, the video portion is more than a “music video”. It’s not a marketing afterthought. It’s part of the composition and sequenced/presented as such. Which is simultaneously inescapable if you’re going to remix a film, and pushes the boundary of media that a remix can exist within.

But then, the original works (Gardyn, Joburg Jam) aren’t remixes of other compositions. They’re remixes of original spontaneous happenings, perceptions, life. They’re arrangements are similar in a sense to any classical work, but kind of reversed. Rather than a composer choosing which instruments play which parts, maybe writing a part specifically for an instrument, and the conductor directing the performance, in Pogo’s case the performers play/present whatever is on their mind at the time and those performances are later crafted into an arrangement.

In that way it’s also kind of the reverse of a typical jazz/rock/blues solo. Rather than having the musical structure predefined and then letting spontaneity happen within that structure, the spontaneity happens first and the structure comes later.

I’m not coming up with any catchy names, and disagree about “remix” not applying to the “remixes”. But the original works definitely break new ground and I’m interested to see more.

A Bitmix.

Thank you so much for continuing to make beautiful music! You continue to brighten my day with every piece you release. It’s unique and wonderful, and I wish I could have seen you in Chicago T_T ! Next time you are in the states hopefully I can take time off. :D

Christina