Earlier this year, the California psych rock quintet Xu Xu Fang premiered the tune “Noir State Beach”. The song marked the group’s first single in six years. Now, you can stream a remix of “Noir State Beach” by the famed Cologne, Germany DJ The Modernist (Jörg Burger). Burger clearly knows the song well, as he hones in on its central groove and rides it out for the entirety of the song, emphasizing the song’s boot-stomping rhythm. Like the best tunes by Spoon and Swans, it’s a remix that exploits hypnotic repetition to the maximal level.
Xu Xu Fang member Bobby Tamkin told PopMatters a great deal about the remix. He explains, “I first discovered Jörg Burger — aka The Modernist — through his Burger/Ink album “Las Vegas” with collaborator Wolfgang Voigt. It was the catalyst for my interest in German minimalist electronic music, and what was happening musically in Cologne. After writing ‘Noir State Beach’, I noticed that the riff and drive resembled the repetitive, dance-driven bounce or shuffle that embodies a lot of the Modernist’s recordings, and much of what I heard on Kompakt Records. This wasn’t by design, but maybe after years of listening to Burger and people like Michael Mayer, Gui Boratto, and GAS, it filtered in.
“When the Modernist presented his “Noir State Beach” mix, I listened to it on a loop at full volume in my car for about an hour while driving across Los Angeles. I was hooked and super excited within the first 20 seconds of hearing it.
“With remixes you don’t know how it will turn out, or if you’ll even like it, and he was obviously very much at home with the song. I was in awe that not only did I have my own pounding version of this type of music, with a kick drum that filled the interior of the car, and a march that flattened anyone within 20 feet, but that one of my favorite artists in that style created it.
“His additional instrumentation almost feels as if it should be in the original version. I still can’t really believe how well he nailed it. The Modernist delivers on every level I had hoped for, and I am super grateful that he liked ‘Noir State Beach’ and decided to create this hypnotic, relentless, and spooky mix.”
Xu Xu Fang is set to release a new album by the end of the year.