I’ve spilled quite a bit of virtual ink covering the ridiculously prolific, New York-based producer, DJ, remixer and JOVM mainstay Rhythm Scholar through this site’s almost 15-year history. During that period, the New York-based JOVM mainstay has built a national and international profile for crafting slickly produced, crowd-pleasing mashups and remixes.
2024 has been a rather busy year for Rhythm Scholar. He has remixed a handful of some of the most beloved songs of the 1980s:
- A woozy remix of one of my favorite Tears for Fears tunes “Change”
- A club friendly remix of Duran Duran‘s 1984 track “Wild Boys” a that featured chopped up vocals for the hook, several Duran Duran samples and a blazing Andy Sexton guitar solo while retaining Simon Le Bon‘s vocal, the memorable hook and the synth melody
- A remix of Tears for Fears’ “Mad World” that retains Curt Smith‘s imitable vocal and pairs with a subtly modernized remix with bursts of strummed acoustic guitar, thumping beats, swirling atmospheric synths, twinkling keys and soulful horn solo
To celebrate the 40th — god, 40th! — anniversary of the release of The Police’s “Wrapped Around Your Finger,” one of my favorite Police songs ever, the JOVM mainstay turns the beloved song into an uptempo club banger that retains Sting’s vocal and elements of the song’s melody but paired with skittering, tweeter and woofer rattling beats, glistening synth arpeggios. The song also features some mischievously placed samples from “Synchronicity Part 2,” “Voices In My Head” and more, as well as something from Andy Summers‘ solo work.