Sun Airway get the Solar Bears remix treatment

When you get into the ambient dancey synth-vibes of Sun Airway’s 2010 debut album Nocturne Of Exploded Crystal Chandelier it makes sense that their songs are deserving of some remixes. And that’s just what the fantastic electronica duo Solar Bears have done to Sun Airway’s soaring, um, Pet Shop Boys-like “American West.” On it, the Bears (John Kowalski and Rian Trench) turn up the Euro-disco quotient a bit and stylize it ala Giorgio Moroder until the end when they fade out and slow down the beats and it floats softly towards pop heaven.

Sun Airway – American West (Solar Bears Remix) by Solar Bears

Sun Airway (Sort Of) Go Country

When Philly’s Sun Airway rolled in to San Francisco to film a session for Yours Truly they decided to rewrite “Oh Naoko” – a song from their debut album Nocturne Exploded Crystal Chandelier – and turned the exhilarating ambient dream pop song inside out, giving it a galloping sweet alt-country spin.

Yours Truly writes:

Originally recorded in Jon Barthmus’ basement, “Oh, Naoko,” the lead track from their Dead Oceans debut, Nocturne of Exploded Crystal Chandelier, is a dream-pop plea to the fragile beauty in Haruki Murakami’s Norwegian Wood. The atmospheric, pillow-top electronics were a fitting bed for the theme to rest on, keeping the song very open, as there’s a little bit of uncertainty about love surrounding Naoko. But, when Sun Airway cruised into Different Fur Studios amidst their recent tour with Bear In Heaven, acoustic guitars, pinky slides and violins in hand, they came prepared to re-construct “Oh, Naoko” from an electro-pop wanderer to a folk-pop rambler, transforming every hopeful plea to Naoko into a valiant proclamation of love. And, all the while, redefining the idea of what makes a song great.

You can read more about the band’s session here and compare the album version and the Yours Truly version right below. It’s tough to say which one we like best. How about you?

Oh, Naoko (album version)

http://vimeo.com/17508323