Linkin Park’s “Recharged” remix album offers a slew of remixes from artists within our electronic realm. Similar to their “Reanimation” album, the “Hybrid Theory” remix work that was released in 2002, each track off of Linkin Park’s most recent twelve-track, “Living Things”, release has been reworked elegantly and brilliantly to offer new melodic structures, vocal edits, and drum patterns, among other things.

Tom Swoon and Paul Van Dyk’s versions of “Burn It Down” don’t disappoint, however they simply provide dance elements and sound designs that have already become a staple in the progressive house genre – I wasn’t very impressed. Where on the other hand Vice takes things a step further by not only infusing “I’ll Be Gone” with futuristic hip-hop elements, but also recruiting Pusha T to compliment Shinoda’s bonus vocals. Nick Catchdubs’ visions of “Skin to Bone” must have been similar to Vice’s in that he also adds the talents of rappers, Cody B. Ware & Ryu. Schoolboy also takes a refreshing stab at “I’ll Be Gone” with cross-genre synth styles that dabble in the areas of electro, dubstep, and beyond.

Next up is Dirtyphonics’ cut of “Lies Greed Misery”, it isn’t for the weak hearted. They stay true to their name by throwing down a grimy drum n’ bass rework filled with sonic synth structures. Then of course you have the original, moombaton flavored mix of  Linkin Park & Steve Aoki’s “A Light That Never Comes” followed by a stellar Rick Rubin remix. Rick Rubin took “A Light That Never Comes” down a few notches by taking away quite a few layers before adding a fresh and relaxing tribal beat – this is possibly my favorite remix off of this album. Killsonik’s version of “Lost in the Echo” is heavy dubstep while Enferno’s take on “Powerless” is uplifting and trance-y. Then there is Rad Omen’s remix of “Roads Untraveled”, which Mike Shinoda describes as a mix that provides “elements of house, trap, and folk, all in the same song.”

Finally Linkin Park’s “Recharged” album posses two remixes of “Until It Breaks”, by Datsik and Money Mark Headphone. Both differ greatly as Datsik’s cut is aggressive and powerful while Money Mark’s is light and mellow. Lastly, I can’t forget to mention the two most impressive and surprising mixes on this album which come by the hands of Mike Shinoda. He took “Victimized” and “Castle of Glass” and placed them into his creative realm which he goes into detail about in our interview below. Over all this album, while strictly under the electronic dance music umbrella, gives listeners a listen to several sub-genres displaying that “EDM” is more than just fat sounding festival music.

Mike Shinoda Interview:

Photo Credit: James Michin

Tyler: When collaborating with Steve Aoki did you find it difficult to bring the differences in your sounds together? What were important elements of your own band’s sound that you felt needed to be represented in the collaboration?

Mike: I think you can hear it all in the first minute of the song. I laid it out so that you get a taste of a unique sound, followed by something very “Linkin Park,” which evolves into an “Aoki” moment at the drop. Both Steve and I contributed sounds to all those parts though; it was a very collaborative effort.

Tyler: Prior to organically connecting with Steve Aoki on Twitter, did Linkin Park plan on foraying into the electronic dance music scene?

Mike: Not really. When we released our LIVING THINGS album, we wanted to give something cool to the fans who got it directly from linkinpark.com—we always try to make it special for fans to buy our albums directly from us. So we offered a free remix a month. In collecting those remixes, we got so much cool stuff that it became the RECHARGED remix album.

Tyler: “Recharged” – LP’s second remix album – is out now and offers a very impressive list of producers. How did the band go about selecting the artists featured on the record? Which reworks stand out the most to you?

Mike: I was really excited when we got the Datsik and Killsonik remixes, and the Vice remix with Pusha is definitely a standout. I also love what Rick Rubin did with A Light That Never Comes.

Tyler: EDM is becoming saturated with music that seems to follow a predetermined formula. What sets the remixes on this album apart from other remixes and originals within the scene today?

M: If you listen to EDM in particular, I think you realize that a lot of subgenres are represented on this album. If you see a review of RECHARGED that calls it a “dubstep album,” you instantly know it’s being reviewed by someone who doesn’t really know what they’re talking about. But even stepping outside of EDM, the album has a lot of different flavors—some songs represent multiple genres at once. For example, on the Rad Omen remix, there are elements of house, trap, and folk, all in the same song.

Tyler: You have two of your own remixes on this record and they’re quite remarkable. Tell me a little about how you tackled remixing your own projects.

Mike: Thanks! VICTIMIZED was a pretty simple approach—it’s based on the jungle and gabber techno I listened to when I was in college. A good friend of mine was a DJ who introduced me to those artists, and I wanted to do a modern take on that style with the VICTIMIZED remix. My CASTLE OF GLASS remix was a journey; the verse section was the first thing I made, which originally lived in a Justice/Daft Punk kind of world. But I didn’t want the song to be two-dimensional or a rip-off, so I dirtied up the sounds and added a little of a prog-rock kind of feel. Then I added the ambient intro. After that, I had the idea to take it somewhere really unexpected, which is where the last movement came in. I think that last section is where the real musicality and magic happens, introducing the dreamy synths, new chord changes, vocoder vocals, guitar, and piano.

Tyler: Throughout music history there have always been styles or genres that explode in popularity and often wane just as quickly. Electronic dance music seems to be reaching the peak of its explosion. What do you think needs to happen for the industry to ensure EDM can continue to move forward?

Mike: Just like anything in music, the song will be the key. Cool sounds are transient and temporary. Great songs can live forever.

Tyler: Is “Recharged” all we can expect to see from LP under the EDM umbrella, or could you see yourself pursuing the genre further? Any plans to work with big-name producers in the future?

Mike: As Linkin Park fans know by now, each release is a surprise. You never know where we’ll go next. The next album will almost definitely not sound like the last ones.

Many thanks to Mike Shinoda and his PR & Management team for setting up this interview. 

This article was written by: Follow @TyGuyMusic

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