Buena Vista Social Club/Coldplay-Clocks(the single)

Hip-O Records

by: Lee Jon

Rarely do two year old albums get much attention, but then again, not everyone makes music like the Buena Vista Social Club. The year 2006 saw the monumental release of their collaborative juggernaut Rhythms Del Mundo. “Clocks,” in particular is one song on that album worthy of a surgical review in 2008 because of its extreme importance to the concept of the remix. It’s an airtight collaboration between the musicians of Buena Vista and the rock group Coldplay. “Clocks” is more than just a song. It’s a breathtaking reinvention of the idea of the remix. When you first hear it you daydream of endless breezy Havana nights under bourbon stars. Part of the song’s genius is that it’s literally two songs in one; so seamlessly stitched together that you feel the melding of two worlds. It starts out with the familiar haunting piano to Coldplay’s original “Clocks” and then betrays the ear with a delicious spiral into a conga drum-filled riot. Yet it’s neither this nor that. It is both Coldplay and Buena Vista at once, seamlessly occupying the same sonic space. It’s genius because it strays a million miles from the conventional cookie cutter remix concept that is so pervasive today. The remix today as we know it often consists of little more than technoizing and therefore destroying what may otherwise be a perfectly good song. That formula when applied to a good song strips it of its acoustic beauty. Buena Vista has turned the concept of the remix as we know it completely on its head. Instead of time stretching, beat-matching or picking the right synths, it’s simply about finding the groove of the song and adding the right flavor to it. What this Buena Vista remix shows is a resurgence of great live music interpreted by great live musicians. It’s what a remix is meant to be and a delicious morsel for the senses.

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