French duo Nôze are back on Get Physical with the second remix 12-inch of tracks from Songs on the Rocks. This time, Vakant fixture Mathias Kaden and My My member Lee Jones give their take on Nôze's hedonistic live-life-for-the-moment number "You Have to Dance," a track that—while perfectly embodying the duo's flamboyance and blatant pleasure-seeking—seems mismatched with the more sober spirit of the remixers of choice.
Kaden's Beatpolka remix is pinned down by a short and loopy four-note bassline, perhaps keeping in the 2/4 tradition of polka. The German takes snippets of scat singing, whistling and beat boxing and weaves them around brass samples and snare heavy percussion, while the mouthacapellapolka remix is a two-minute DJ tool in which the original vocals are layered on top of an orally produced backbeat. Both mixes sound like a slightly more upbeat take on Vakant's signature sound. Basically, it's everything that you would expect from a Mathias Kaden remix of Nôze. No more, no less.
Whereas Kaden's remix pulls the more organic parts from Nôze's master tapes, Lee Jones focuses on the electronics. The Brit's remix sets off short vocal refrains and loops them around in different ways, stretching and echoing Nôze's dancing command. The echoing synths give the track a big-room sound, discarding the more intimate feel of the source material. While remixing is all about putting your own spin on a track, it's hard to get excited about Jones moving a unique song into such generic territories.
Nestled on the B-side here is that original, a track that gives you the impression that the duo had good times aplenty in their studio as they were making it. There is a lighthearted spontaneity and improvisation in the cabaret-sounding track, which combines whistling, electric guitars, wind instruments and thick French accents. If Kaden and Jones had spent more time thinking about how this vibe was compatible with their own—and less time on studio wizardry—it stands to reason that the outcome would have felt more inspired.
Buy Nôze - You Have To Dance at
Tracklist: Nôze - You Have To Dance
 1 You Have To Dance (Mathias Kaden's Beatpolka Remix)
2 You Have To Dance (Mathias Kaden's Mouthacapellapolka Remix)
3 You Have To Dance (Lee Jones Remix)
4 You Have To Dance (Original)
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