There's remixes that stay true to the original mix and that obviously shows faithfulness on the remixer's part. It has its pros but it could show a lack of originality, ironically. Then there's remixes that sound nothing like the original and yet, people dislike it because it has nothing in common with the original. I actually prefer the latter though because it shows that the producer/remixer was thinking outside the box for better or for worse, but usually it was for the better imo. For example, I think Luke Chable's remix of Union Jack - Two Full Moons And A Trout was well done. it has a nice trippy buildup, but people consider it one of the worst remixes of the track. oh well.

I like remixes that essentially interpret the 'spirit' of the original from a different musical perspective; a different view of the same landscape. I don't mean to bloat the thread with YouTube vids, but a recent example that immediately comes to mind is Rob Garza's remix of Tycho's 'Ascension:'

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He traded sands for skins, skins for gold, gold for life. In the end, he traded life for sand. Afari, Tales

The only real requirement is to end up with a good piece of music that isn't a complete retread of the original. On some tenuous remixes you might wonder what association it has at all with the original, but if it's a good track, who cares?

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Mixes:
> Maximum Elevation [Progressive House]
> DI.FM 26th Anniversary Guest Mix [Progressive House]
> Live @ Dance:Love:Hub London, 11.10.2025
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if the production stands alone, then the fact it is a remix isn't important.

for remixes, in my mind all the credit goes to the remixer - and not the original artist. the remixer needs to own it... no matter how recognisable or wildly interpreted it turns out.

Its a good remix if DJ Koze produced it.

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Corjay - Spring Funk '14 [Downtempo Funk / Jazz / Disco / Deep House]

It should always be recognizable to the listener that it's a remix of the original track as opposed to thinking it's a completely different song altogether. I also really despise "remixes" which are pretty much a carbon copy of the original.
I hate to shamelessly plug here, but check my remix of Taucher's track "Pictures Of A Gallery"
It retains the overall feeling of the original track but also adds my personal style to the song and a few new elements.

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Elitist and smalltime label owner
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A lot of good points in this thread. It really shouldn't matter how random the remix is as long as it's a good piece. It should also be respected as a production as well

As a teen, I thought sander kleinenberg's remix of system f - exhale was terrible compared to the original. It has fuck all to do with the original, but now as I'm older, I've realized how sick sander's remix really is.

I agree that ultimately the only criteria is that it just be a good piece of stand-alone music; there's plenty of material I enjoyed without even knowing it was a remix of something else. But I also think we can demand more if we're making a point to look at it through the perspective of a remix, and assigning some special significance to its relationship to the original (which we don't necessarily have to do).

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He traded sands for skins, skins for gold, gold for life. In the end, he traded life for sand. Afari, Tales