One of the early American pop highlights of 2015 has been Chris Brown and Tyga’s “Ayo,” a joyous number seemingly taking cues from DJ Mustard to create a twinkling song with a few unsettling touches (those echoing vocal samples). It’s good! Kyoto’s Cool Japan has basically remixed “Ayo” for his “I Need U,” which mainly pitches the speed up and turns a languorous bit of celebration into a hyperactive zipper. The real highlight is how Cool Japan’s chipmunkd version finds a new source of unease (my favorite word!) — the distant vocal cries of the original now blaze by, and instead those those once bright chimes turn dissonant and creepy in this new, super-bouncy environment. Listen above.
