Extended Plays 2010-2011

These songs and remixes come from the EPs that Tracey Thorn released over a 12-month span. The milky-voiced chanteuse from Everything but the Girl opens with an arresting cover of Vampire Weekend’s “Taxi Cab”; her deep inflections hover above rudimentary rhythm sequences, spare synthesizers, and an electric piano that all endearingly sound a bit like a karaoke machine. English electronic music producer Ewan Pearson gives the version of Thorn’s own “Why Does the Wind?” a clean radio edit to keep it under the four-minute mark. There are a few other remixes of this tune; the standout is by Michel Cleis, who eschews trendy house throwback tones for a minimal layering of tribal drums and sweeping strings under Thorn’s singing. The heady “Kentish Town” gets a gauzy redesign by WALLS, in which krautrock-inspired drones pulse lightly against Brian Eno-esque tones and looped snippets of Thorn’s vocals. Her heavenly take on Sufjan Stevens’ “Sister Winter” is another brilliant gem.