"Golden Skans" is a song released by

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

band

Klaxons Klaxons were an English rock band, based in London. Following the release of several 7-inch singles on different independent record labels, as well as the success of previous singles " Magick" and " Golden Skans", the band released their debu ...

on 22 January 2007, taken from their first album '' Myths of the Near Future'', which was released on 29 January 2007. The song reached number 16 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

on download sales on 14 January (two weeks before the release of the CD) and climbed to number 14 the next week, eventually reaching number seven after the CD release. It was a minor hit in Belgium, charting on the

Ultratip Ultratop is an organization which generates and publishes the official record charts in Belgium. Ultratop is a non-profit organization, created on the initiative of the Belgian Entertainment Association (BEA), the Belgian member organization of ...

charts of both Flanders and Wallonia. The track was also released on French label

Ed Banger Records Ed Banger Records (sometimes referred to as Ed Rec) is a French electronic music record label founded by Pedro Winter in 2003 as a division of Headbangers Entertainment. It focuses on house music, particularly French house, as well as alternati ...

as a French-exclusive remix EP. In May 2007, ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' magazine placed "Golden Skans" at number 40 in its list of the 50 Greatest Indie Anthems Ever. In December 2007, ''NME'' voted "Golden Skans" as the best

NME single of the year Every December, British music magazine '' NME'' compiles a list of what it considers the best single or track of the year. It was started in 1975. The list is usually published in one of the issues sold before Christmas – in 2006 it was published ...

in 2007; furthermore their debut album was the NME album of the year. In October 2011, ''NME'' placed it at number 97 on its list "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years".

Background

According to a radio interview with the Klaxons, the name "Golden Skans" is derived from a performance luminaire, the "Golden Scan" manufactured by

Clay Paky Claypaky S.p.A. is a developer of professional lighting systems for the entertainment sector (theatre, television, concerts, nightclubs and outdoor events ) and for architectural applications. The company is based in Seriate, near Bergamo, about ...

Music video

The song's music video, directed by

Saam Farahmand Saam Farahmand (born 1979 in London) is an Iranian-British film and music video director. A fine arts graduate of Goldsmiths, Farahmand is considered, according to ''The Guardian'', "one of the most talented music video directors of his generation ...

, is heavily influenced by " Can You Feel It" by

The Jacksons The Jackson 5 (sometimes stylized as the Jackson 5ive, also known as the Jacksons) are an American pop band composed of members of the Jackson family. The group was founded in 1964 in Gary, Indiana, and for most o ...

. It features a message at the beginning very similar to the words spoken by the narrator in the "Can You Feel It" video. It also features other elements from the Jacksons' video including an inventive and contemporary use of light and dark with all three band members represented as light particles wearing different coloured ribbons, destroying certain shapes and moving dramatically to the music.

Track listings

* CD 1 (RINSE002CD) # "Golden Skans" # "Golden Skans (

Erol Alkan Erol Alkan (born 30 May 1974) is an English DJ and producer of Turkish Cypriot descent. He grew up in Archway in North London. Career DJ and club promoter In 1993, Erol Alkan started DJing in various indie nightclubs in London. His first ...

's Ekstra Spektral Edit)" * CD 2 (1720646CD) # "Golden Skans" # "Hall Of Records" # "Golden Skans (Erol Alkans Remix)" # "Magick (

Simian Mobile Disco Simian Mobile Disco are an English electronic music duo and production team, formed in 2003 by James Ford and Jas Shaw of the band Simian. Musically, they are known for their analogue production. Ford is also known for his production work. ...

Remix)" * 7-inch single 1 (RINSE002S) # "Golden Skans" ive_in_Manchester.html" ;"title="Manchester.html" ;"title="ive in Manchester">ive in Manchester">Manchester.html" ;"title="ive in Manchester">ive in Manchester# "The Bouncer" [Live in Manchester] * 7-inch single 2 (RINSE002SX) # "Golden Skans" # "Atlantis to Interzone" [Live in Manchester]

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Covers

The song has been covered on

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

's ''

Live Lounge The Live Lounge is a segment on the British radio stations BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 1Xtra. It was originally hosted by Simon Mayo, and later by Jo Whiley on her weekday mid-morning, and later weekend lunchtime radio shows, then by Fearne Cotton ...

'' on different occasions by both

Mark Ronson Mark Daniel Ronson (born 4 September 1975) is a British-American DJ, songwriter, record producer, and record executive. He is best known for his collaborations with artists such as Duran Duran, Amy Winehouse, Adele, Lady Gaga, Lily Allen, Robbi ...

and

Kaiser Chiefs Kaiser Chiefs are an English indie rock band from Leeds who formed in 2000 as Parva, releasing one studio album, ''22'', in 2003, before renaming and establishing themselves in their current name that same year. Since their formation the band h ...

. In 2010, the Portuguese band

Clã Clã is a Portuguese pop rock band of a mixed nature in terms of style, ranging from moments of pure balladry, through jazzy details, to enthusiastic pop songs. Biography The band was formed in November 1992 in the city of Porto, consisting of ...

made a cover for a national radio show called "3 Pistas" (3 Tracks). Since then, they released a video clip for the song.

In popular culture

An instrumental remix of the song has featured in the background of television trails for ''Brothers & Sisters'' on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

, for

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...