Two of 2011's most engrossing and annum-enveloping artists proved to be David Lynch and Zola Jesus. An unlikely pairing perhaps, although avant-garde points in common may be somewhat patent. For quite converse reasons each came to prominence (and indeed in the case of Nika Roza Danilova, eminence) as the year matured: Lynch stumbled into the circus that is contemporary music armed with Crazy Clown Time, a quintessentially esoteric record that amused, bemused and astounded in equal measure, while Zola Jesus' Connatus embodied a pop opus that was not only exceedingly pleasurable but also provided a listening experience that could never conceivably be considered guilt-inducing. It was the live show however that clicked and glitched everything into place, her barnstorming at November's Le Guess Who? a live highlight of our year. She herself is known to shy away from the remix and the concept of, as are we. Yet she's also now known to have been, quite feasibly, incapable of turning down Mr. Lynch's request to tinker with In Your Nature. Here, the two collide wonderfully, the slow-burning oomph beneath the creaky glaze of Crazy Clown Time set to clatter ominously, penetratively beneath Danilova's invigorating, guttural howling. The unorthodox optimism of In Your Nature never sounded quite so imperative as when laced with Lynch's lingering, omnipresent sense of pessimism... Zola Jesus - In Your Nature (David Lynch Remix)
