For 2021's first
Throwback Thursday, I figure there are few better places to start than with one of my earliest memories of 'EDM' (a term that hadn't yet been coined), this
Deadmau5 Electro Mix of
Christina Aguilera's "
Hurt." While officially released as a JP (Jonathan Peters) & BSOD (Deadmau5 &
Steve Duda) remix, I first encountered it through Nigel Newton's Galaxie Dance channel on Bell Satellite Radio, mislabeled as a
Deadmau5 mix. Regardless of its accreditation, this electro offering is immediately identifiable all these years later. Matching the power and intensity of Christina's killer vocal chops, this remix is all but unhinged in its throbbing and gut-wrenching glory. Staying away from the incongruous strings and focusing more on the raw, strained emotions of "
Hurt," JP & BSOD capture the overblown and overwhelmed intensity of the original. Defying the critics who called the original over the top and schmaltzy, this remix doubles down on the overwrought weepiness. And I, for one, feel this was the right choice. Spasmodic and seething, convulsive and crazed, this electro affliction now matches the impassioned ethos of its lyrical content. Its energy is inescapable, empowering its listeners and making the workouts I was doing at the time fly by. Get a shot of that fight or flight adrenaline below.