Pitchfork

On the 2006 New Waves EP's idyllic, idealistic banger "25 Years and Runnin'", the Tough Alliance sing, "Now I know that New York is where a boy can have some fun (whoa, whoa, oh)/ If I only could change where I came from." The punk-inspired Swedish electro-pop duo have shown some interest in the Big Apple elsewhere in their music, too, putting a gunshot-laden cover of 50 Cent's "Many Men" on their debut EP back in 2004 and, via their Sincerely Yours label, releasing a Honeydrips song that samples Woody Allen's Annie Hall, as well as a Jonas Game video featuring a prominently placed New York Yankees cap. Whoever Alvy Singer is, he goes by the same name as Allen's character in Annie Hall, and he previously moved "Leg 7"-- originally on TTA's limited-edition instrumental LP Escaping Your Ambitions-- from the beach to the club in his "Leg 737" remix.

Singer is up to similar tricks on his remix of TTA's "Neo Violence", a track previously remixed by Sweden's Stevie Tech Nicks and here redubbed "New York City Violence". Gone from this version are the A New Chance version's warm-weather acoustic guitar strums and closing dialogue apparently borrowed from Vincent Gallo movie Buffalo '66; sampled horn fanfares and a practically submarine bass line are added to the mix instead. TTA's bright melodies and incorrigible lyrics remain: "Truly sorry, thought you'd get the wink/ It's in our nature to be out of sync." The remix and a new track by Singer are out as part of a new mp3 series from Stockholm-based Kitty Litter Records, who explain: "Alvy Singer in Annie Hall wrote a drama about failed love. Alvy Singer writes songs that [are] nothing but true love." Violence? Sweet. (via Discobelle)

MP3:> The Tough Alliance: "New York City Violence (by Alvy Singer)"
[original track from A New Chance; out now on Sincerely Yours]