"Georgia"

by Band of Horses

"No One's Gonna Love You"

by Cee Lo Green

(Sony)

There are a lot of split singles and EPs lately; maybe the recession is inducing more two-for-one packages. This is the biggest-deal one, a 7-inch from a big star and a group of budding ones making nice with one another's catalog, and each brings out a different side of the other—in both cases with the help of a larger ensemble. Band of Horses' cover of "Georgia" is more upbeat than they usually come across, and Ben Bridwell's clear vocal is up to its mood—and yes, having the University of Georgia's Redcoat Marching Band along for the ride helps. (They're arranged closer to late-'60s Beach Boys than to oompah marches.) "No One's Gonna Love You" has long been my favorite Band of Horses song, the one place their grandeur seems most offhanded, even modest, but Cee Lo giving it his all (and the synths', and orchestra's) works okay, too. Makes you wonder how many other variations it can—and will—withstand as a composition.

"Heart Is Strange (Active Child Remix)"

by School of Seven Bells

"I'm in Your Church at Night (School of Seven Bells Remix)"

by Active Child

(Lefse)

Sometimes a split single is just an excuse for simpatico artists to remix each other's work. A friend of mine once compared School of Seven Bells to late-'80s Rough Trade etherealists Shelleyan Orphan: "That's not a bad thing," she immediately amended. "I like Shelleyan." "Heart Is Strange" explores a peppier synth-disco angle quite nicely—the bridge is especially cool—but that old-time drift is better served by Active Child's remix, which switches the beat to a spare, coiling pitter-patter; remodels the track into an echo-laden homage to (simultaneously) 4AD and OMD; and adds a weird dub ending.

Somewhat strangely, Active Child's "I'm in Your Church at Night" undergoes a similar metamorphosis at S7B's hands—from sell-the-song high drama to more of a mood piece—but if anything, the remix makes the track slightly poppier. By muting the vocal under stuttering mid-'80s disco drum programming and vast, echoing guitar and synthesizers, S7B's Benjamin Curtis takes his soundscaping even further out than he's gone with his own band. Presumably, his bandmates, Alejandra and Claudia Deheza (the latter of whom has since left the band), prefer not having their voices drowned out by dense waves of harmonics for too long. That's what remixes are for. recommended