David Shaw caught my attention towards the end of last year when his debut album So It Goes established his talent for genre-surfing and culture-riffing. So It Goes opened with the laissez faire but rather convincing Finders Keepers, as one of the highlights on the album it isn't much of a surprise to see it get the remix treatment.
This release comes with two mixes - one from La Royal and Yesco and the other from Richard Fearless. Surprisingly the original doesn't feature - a bit of a missed opportunity for Shaw to bring people into his album given that it's still quite distinct from either of the versions here.
La Royal applies a sinister dance floor disco rub to the track, creating a dark throbbing techno vision of lasers and distorted bass. The vocal is placed disorientatingly high in the mix, with Shaw seemingly coming from somewhere beyond the rest of the music, almost like we are all just tiny dancers in his mind.
Richard Fearless' mix is both typically analogue and typically fucked up. It's a claustrophobic, growled threat of a record, full of abrasive synths and electronic gurgles and clicks. Fearless' production style suits Shaw's camp, knowing vocal treatment, creating a cool, aloof record.
If you didn't pick up So It Goes this serves as a pretty good reminder as to why you should check it out.
Finders Keepers Remixes is released on Monday through Her Majesty's Ship, available for pre-order from Amazon.co.uk on MP3 [affiliate link].