https://soundcloud.com/markredito/better-off-alone-alice-deejay
To hear this modern classic in such a new vessel is like the spirit of a pharaoh oozing inside a brand new Maserati, escaping the dust of death, transferral from one set of wrappings to another. Whilst Alice Deejay's original 'Better Off Alone' was in itself a major earworm of the late '90s, it was a Eurodance sensation of the time and was tempered with the trappings and tropes of the genre. It has been given a new lease of life in 'Alone' by Crapface, an homage to a track for which a certain segment of the online music community is eternally grateful; we're talking things like nightcore, PC Music and its peripheries.
The plaintive, haunting vocal melody of the original is played in on intricate medley of tuned percussion and synths in Crapface's version, replete with sound effects and irregular beats, wildly juxtaposing against the pogosticking dance of the original with a focus on space and texture, the clinking-clomping chimes sounding stark, monumental, lonely against a voidsome backdrop. These are then twisted and warped on a bed of booming bass before the "talk to me…" section rolls in, which is more of a direct successor to the original than the rest of the track. It is an exercise in celebrating a classic without being a straight cover, or a remix. Instead it has been painstakingly transposed, the essence of the original encased in crystal in a continuation of cultural preservation.
- π This was released courtesy of label, collective and brand, Palettes.
