I am a little late, but here are my thoughts on the two Shred Envy remixes. The TL;DR is that I only really like the Pictureplane remix.
Here is why.
First, I am admittedly biased. Outside of appearances on the NMA, I originally learned about HEALTH after discovering emo rapper Lil Peep’s collaborations with Pictureplane. There is even a HEALTH fan in the comments suggesting that Peep flaunted some HEALTH merch, though I could not find any evidence of this, so take that with a heavy grain of salt. Lastly, HEALTH has toured with Pictureplane multiple times.
That being said, even if I did not already know who Pictureplane was, he is the literal pioneer of witch house, one of my favorite genres of music. On top of that, he has collaborated with the likes of Lil B, Portrayal of Guilt, Narrowhead, and Machine Girl, among many others. So when I saw that Pictureplane had done another HEALTH remix, a big, Grinch like smile came across my face.
The song completely flips “Shred Envy” into a lo fi, synth pop adjacent banger. While many people I have seen found the remix jarring because of this, I find it refreshing to get a remix that is not fully sad or depressing. It is the sonic equivalent of what lo fi beats want to be but cannot. Pictureplane’s remix would fit perfectly as the bittersweet ending of a sci fi drama film. Almost as if to say, “We did it, but at what cost?” Maybe I am looking too far into it. The track is vibey and spacious without being overpowering. The way the LFO cuts in and out on the vocal chops and synth passages is pure ear candy. With very subtle variations and a perfect length of three minutes and twenty four seconds, I really wanted more.
Due to my ADHD being particularly rough, I usually do not listen to dance music without a lot going on. I am getting better, but this track, if you are like me, could be that gateway into enjoying music where you sit down and pay attention to every single detail.
As for the Tokyo Rose and Alex remix, I do not know. I am really burned out on outrun and synthwave, and this was the most Conflict DLC level boring remix I have heard, somehow having too much going on with no real variation. The stock guitar, hollow drum fills, and synth tones really irritated my ears. I understand that I just said I am very ADHD, but I listen to Coheed and Cambria. Even across genres, it is possible to make a fun, catchy song that is not stock or overly long. Chat Pile and Rush come to mind. Hell, even the doom metal band Sleep has a track over an hour long that I have enjoyed several times because it is not tonally boring.
Liking certain tracks is not something we all have to agree on, but music has to have something, and maybe that something is soul.
Catch HEALTH on the run of remaining Latin American dates supporting Pierce the Veil:
12/07 Lima, PE @ Centro de Convenciones Barranco Arena
12/10 Santiago, CL @ Teatro Caupolicán
12/12 Buenos Aires, AR @ Complejo Art Media
12/14 Curitiba, BR @ Live Curitiba
12/16 Sao Paulo, BR @ Espaço Unimed
HEALTH will also tour with Carpenter Brut this spring, with the following dates announced:
03/31 San Francisco, CA @ The Warfield
04/03 Portland, OR @ Roseland Theater
04/04 Vancouver, BC @ Vogue Theatre
04/05 Seattle, WA @ Showbox Sodo
04/07 Salt Lake City, UT @ The Union Event Center
04/08 Denver, CO @ The Mission Ballroom
04/10 Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue
04/11 Chicago, IL @ The Salt Shed
04/12 Royal Oak, MI @ Royal Oak Music Theatre
04/14 Toronto, ON @ History
04/15 Montreal, QC @ MTelus
04/17 Boston, MA @ House of Blues (Boston)
04/18 Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Paramount
04/19 Philadelphia, PA @ Franklin Music Hall
04/20 Washington D.C. @ 9.30 Club
04/22 Nashville, TN @ Brooklyn Bowl (Nashville)
04/24 Albuquerque, NM @ Sunshine Theater
04/29 Phoenix, AZ @ The Van Buren
05/01 Los Angelas, CA @ Hollywood Palladium
05/04 Dallas, TX @ The Bomb Factory
05/05 Austin, TX @ EMO’S
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AloJapan.com