House of Balloons is the debut of Toronto-based Abel Tesfaye (there's some speculation as whether it is just him), and it’s a stunning, sultry array of dubstep-tinged productions. With such achingly soulful vocals the album is ripe for remixing and, sure enough, the bootlegs have been plentiful. Inevitably many of the remixes have revolved around mid-range dubstep silliness (somewhat defying the point of the productions – that stand out exactly because they are deep, not brash). But these are my picks so far: Cralias splinter the track up, glitching the vocals and add some deep, low-slung bass beats that bump along under the strung-out chorus:
The Weeknd – The Morning (Cralias Remix)
Pelski favourites and hotly-tipped Prince Club turn in a straight-up house edit. A nice and simple rework – does the trick:
The Weeknd – The Morning (Prince Club Edit)
First I ought to mention that My Panda Shall Fly played an awesome set on the Pelski stage at Glade: filled to the brim with obscure garage as well as fast-paced techno cuts. We’ve already posted his remix once, a refreshing ethereal take, with off-kilter drums, atmospheric rain FX and a crackling of white noise:
The Weeknd - Love Through Her (My Panda Shall Fly's Forgotten Version)
A dubstep remix that’s nicely restrained (in comparison to the bro-steppers out there) with gently snapping 808 drums and squelchy, effects-laden bass:
The Weeknd - High For This (NastyNasty Edit)
Adam Port provides a deep yet buoyant tech-house take:
The Weeknd - What You Need (Adam Port Edit) by Adam Port