Tag: nicolas jaar

Nicolas Jaar Live At The Boiler Room, NYC – Mix Of The Week

Since being introduced to the music of Nicolas Jaar some months back off the coast of Nicaragua, I’ve been listening to his releases fairly steadily.

Recently, he performed at a Reb Bull Music Academy party in New York City, where he laid down a live performance made up of (what sounds to be) all new material.

The set lasts about 47 minutes and is a bit of a slow starter, but once Mr. Jaar gets some momentum, it’s an absolute stomper.

Also, the entire time I was listening to this set, I couldn’t help but wonder what it would have been like if James Blake had crashed the party…

This set made me homesick, missing the Cape Town music scene.

Sneaky Sound System Big Remix (Nicolas Jaar’s Always By Your Side version)

I was very recently introduced to the music of Nicolaas Jaar while on a beach/ surfy trip to San Juan Del Sur in Nicaragua and I’ve been scrounging for any tracks, DJ sets or remixes by the man ever since. His remix of Avalance by Just Friends, which is a cover version of a Leonard Cohen cover version, also made it as a selection for Cover Version Friday.

Today’s Tune Of The Week is another Nicolas Jaar remix, this time of a track by Sneaky Sound System entitled BIG. And what a BIG remix it is

The hypnotic drum pattern opening the track instantly took me back to Michael Jackson’s criminally underrated “They Don’t Care About Us’ but it was the shy, seductive guitar loops wafting through the track that really had my head bobbing. This is drinking music, or driving music, or loving music. This is music.

The Sneaky Sound System Big remix is even more appreciable if you know the original. BIG is a slice of throwback 90s-inspired techno pop that saw a memorable remix by John Dahlback, and the contrast of this version makes it this Nicolas Jaar remix all the more enjoyable.

Just Friends Avalance (Nicolas Jaar Remix) – Leonard Cohen Cover Version – #coverversion Friday

On a weekend spent in San Juan Del Sur in Nicaragua, I met the amazing Shane and Emma from Ireland who introduced me to the music of Nicolas Jaar. How the hell I had missed out on this man for so long, I have no idea.

Today’s cover version is a Nicolas Jaar remix of a track by a group going by the name of Just Friends. Interestingly, the vocalist is Sasha Spielberg, daughter of Steven Spielberg.

This remix of Avalance is atmospheric, rhythmic and hauntingly beautiful that counterbalances Leonard Cohen’s deep, melancholic baritone with a light and airy but equally melancholic alto female vocalist.

Just Friends Avalanche

This is a cover version of Leonard Cohen’s 1971 acoustic guitar driven masterpiece ‘Avalanche’ taken from the album ‘Songs of Love and Hate.’ Listen to Just Friends Avalanche below.

[blockquote]You who wish to conquer pain, you must learn, learn to serve me well.[/blockquote]

Leonard Cohen – Avalanche