By Kavit Sumud | February 7th, 2013
Charli XCX’s “You (Ha Ha Ha)” is already going down as one of my favorite singles of the year. I raved about it back in January when we covered it here on Indie Shuffle, but the remixes, notably Goldroom‘s, left me a little wanting. I found it inexplicably perplexing that remix artists kept removing what I felt was the core of the song: her sample of Gold Panda‘s “You.”
So, when MS MR announced they were taking a stab at the song, my spider sense started to tingle. After all, of anyone on the scene, these 90s/Oughties explorers and makers of “Hurricane” and “Bones” are perfect companions for Charli XCX’s vision. I mean, you could consider this track a gift of thanks for Charli XCX’s remix of “Bones” (which helped further catapult the band into the indie stratosphere).
MS MR took this through all of its potential landmines and helicoptered it into the echelon of outstanding Charli XCX reworks. I’m talking about the gold standard of Hackman‘s and Balam Acab‘s takes on “Nuclear Seasons,” which I listened to last year on endless repeat. Besides the masterful slowing down of the track, my favorite new part is when they strip her voice to almost acoustic level in a way that’s reminiscent of that glorious time Lykke Li performed “I’m Good, I’m Gone“ with a megaphone.
2013 is shaping up to the year of MS MR. Check out more at their SoundCloud.