Electric Youth are no strangers to Vehlinggo readers, given that they’re among the small group of musicians whose music is responsible for this website’s existence. Earlier this year the duo were among the profoundly talented artists who contributed reconstructions to the legendary Ryuichi Sakamoto’s Async Remodels.
Today, Vehlinggo is proud to premiere the music video for the “A Real Hero” co-writers’ grooving remix of Sakamoto’s “Andata,” which originally appeared on Async in 2017 via Milan Records. The video is directed by Maximillian Piras and produced by Roast ‘n Post, centering on geometric art on an album cover that comes to life. It’s a minimalist and mesmerizing approach that matches Electric Youth’s work well.
“We hadn’t remixed other artists in the past, but when we were offered the opportunity to remix one of our musical heroes we couldn’t say no,” Electric Youth’s Austin Garrick and Bronwyn Griffin said. “From his work as a pioneer of electronic music, to his life as an innovative composer, Ryuichi Sakamoto’s melodies have been capturing our hearts since our teens.”
“It’s that melodic through-line we find in our favorite work of his that was as strong as ever on ‘Andata.’ That served as our inspiration to create a remix that celebrated our love of his work, both past and present, bridging the gap through his heartful melodies,” the duo continued.
Here’s an in-depth interview with Electric Youth from December 2017, in which they talk about Breathing, their soundtrack to a lost film, and their work on their upcoming album, among other things.
In 2016 Vehlinggo interviewed Electric Youth, along with College, Johnny Jewel, and Cliff Martinez, about the fifth anniversary of Nicolas Winding Refn’s Drive. “A Real Hero,” the 2010 song by College and Electric Youth, is generally considered the central theme song of the film.
Sakamoto has been an influential artist since the 1970s — with his band Yellow Magic Orchestra, he was at the vanguard of pioneering synth-pop, techno, and house music.
Earlier this year Milan Records released Async Remodels, a sort-of companion piece to his lauded Async LP from 2017, an album conceived in New York City as a soundtrack to a Andrei Tarkovsky film that doesn’t exist, according to Milan. The Remodels album features reworks from an enviable slate of talent: Electric Youth, SURVIVE, Oneohtrix Point Never, Arca, Yves Tumor, Cornelius, Fennez, Alva Noto, Anenon, and the late Jóhann Jóhannsson, among others.
Wow. Love this.