Kris Wadsworth-Mainline Remixes 12” (Hype LTD)

Kris Wadsworth has become one of the premiere deep house guys around that consistently comes up with the goods while showcasing a gentle understanding of the intricacies dependent upon the genre’s success. The original version of “Mainline” was a great homage to the late 80’s Chicago house scene with its extended intro, jacking beats, and floaty and freeform female vocals.  He made the whole affair all the more unique by getting a bit ethereal with a dark underlying melody and chugging bass line accompaniment reminiscent of all the best Balearic beats.  

Enter the remixers that adorn this new 12” on Hype LTD, starting with Sven Weismann who tones things down with a 90 second piano intro.  A slowed, organic drum beat begins to take shape amidst a repeated synth line like a band getting warmed up to perform for a live audience.  Despite the electronics, the remix gets away with having that sort of feel: live instrumentation with a dedicated pulse, but with the adventurous flair of not knowing where it’s headed next.  Distant horn blasts and hi-hats come and go, but steady is the beat, synths, and vocals, righting the ship right when you think a capsize is just around the corner.  This goes on for over nine minutes, and not a single second gets wasted.

The second remix comes courtesy of Jimmy Edgar.  Jimmy Edgar?  Purveyor of deep house?  His name is hardly bandied about in this genre’s circles, but it certainly should be after evidence of his reworking here.  Proving that less can sometimes be beautifully more, Edgar takes the blueprint of the original and moves it slightly sideways and forward, coming up with a sound that’s sexy, groovy, and shamelessly danceable.  Repeating a lone bass stab for the better part of ten minutes, he thrusts the synth line into a tunnel of flange, taking an already skeletal song and stripping it down ever so slightly by beginning with an incredibly infectious energy instead of building to it.  Repetition proves more effective than dynamism here, and 10 minutes later Edgar showcases his best and funkiest track of his career.  

Once in a great while remixes surpass the original, and “Mainline” is one of those glorious moments.  A record truly made for both the club and your headphones.

Score: 9/10

Tropics - Parodia Flare

The idea of “shoe gaze” music, while once revered as a true alternative to the mainstream, swirls and gathers around popular music, continuing to permeate the landscape with each passing year.  Walls of guitars, twinkling synths, spacey vocals, and a generally stoned vibe are not so rare any longer, making it increasingly difficult to differentiate the quality from the junk.  Chris Ward, a.k.a. Tropics, isn’t so concerned with maintaining the classic ethic of the genre as much as carefully building his own soundscapes and and foundations.  ”Parodia Flare”, his first full length for the classic Planet Mu label, shows Ward demonstrating a desire to extend beyond a simple gimmick, yet finds a challenge in supplanting himself in a place all his own.  

It’s difficult not to hear the Beach Boys-influenced vocal arrangements on tracks like “Wear Out” where the sun-stroked guitars and hazy groove welcome in the indian summer.  The production is near flawless on this track, and though Ward revisits very familiar themes with its predictable timings and structures the production stands above the ordinary.

Where the album paints a clear direction with its scope it also has a refreshing willingness to wander in electronics.  ”Celebrate”, while not distracting from the sparkling guitars, remains warm and human despite the obvious circuitry creating its mood.  Like Mark Clifford’s Seefeel before him, Ward maintains a wispy instrumental jangle while conjuring distant voices which swirl around each measure.  ”Telessar” revisits a long lost disco staple with its retro pads, loops and grooves that most closely resemble Bernard Fevre in his prime.  While the track is a standout on the album, it also presents an obvious lack of focus with the album in general.

On “Playgrounds” and “Sapphire” Ward falls into a near indie-rock abyss counteracting the earlier electronic experiments, and leaving the listener wondering what one track has to do with another.  While the production is still capable, Ward has issues with staying on point instead of offering a gentle and natural ebb and flow to his ideas.

“Parodia Flare” is an album of good tracks.  Listening to it from beginning to end will prove challenging as it is difficult to become fully engaged with its miss-mash of ideas in favor of one solidified vision.  While the album can be genuine, the lack of clear direction will ultimately leave the listener unsatisfied.

Score: 5/10

St. Vincent - Strange Mercy

The hipsters have found their new darling in St. Vincent, and she is able to deliver an appropriate album to make casual music listeners swoon the world over.  For the rest of us trained ears, though, “Strange Mercy” proves to be an exercise in borrowing each and every note from some other band who has been able to accomplish a unique sound with far more grace and aplomb.  When your presentation is as slick as St. Vincent’s, it doesn’t matter what the quality of the music is like.  She’s pretty and skinny in that Kate Moss type of way while she does manage to have a very distinctive voice to boot.  She’s on the 4AD label which has always been a staple of coolness going back to the Pixies in the mid-80’s, and this brings her a credibility to listeners before the first note is even heard.  All the pieces are there for this to work, however, the music never extends itself beyond a collection of familiar territories.  Every single track is lifted from another, and I’ll break it down for you.

One of the most clear influences on “Strange Mercy” is Bjork with the electronics and stuttered structures and vocals.  Opening track “Chloe In The Afternoon” could have been lifted right from Bjork’s 1995 album “Post” complete with skittered beats and and meandering melodies.  Perhaps most ingratiating is St. Vincent’s identical vocal style to Bjork in this track.  I guess you can’t fault someone for sounding like someone else, but when you listen to the rest of the album and realize that St. Vincent really doesn’t sound like Bjork it makes you wonder what the hell she’s trying to accomplish by emulating the singer.  Influences: good.  Plagiarism: bad.

Second song “Cruel” picks up the pace and does it’s best impression of the Knife with an uptempo nu-disco beat with quirky vocals and nerdy guitar work.  You might think you’re listening to Aneka’s 80’s classic “Japanese Boy” when listening to this song, but unfortunately for St. Vincent, this is 2011.  

“Cheerleader” is P.J. Harvey circa “To Bring You My Love”.  Quiet beginning with strumming guitars leads into stomping blues rock and wailing vocals.  Like the first track where St. Vincent is channeling Bjork, she emulates Harvey’s voice here, and while you respect the singers great taste in music, you can’t help but think this was being done far better 16 years ago.

Fourth track “Surgeon” is a carbon copy of Leila who had a short-lived stint on the classic label Rephlex.  It’s slow, slightly hop-hopish beats were fresh and new twenty years ago, but again, here in 2011 it’s not going to wash.  What’s most disturbing about this track is St. Vincent has probably never even heard of Leila, making this artistic lift tedious at best.

“Northern Lights” is Belly.  Enough said there.

“Strange Mercy” goes back to Leila with it’s slow and meandering jazzy feel and inspired vocals.  Easily the best track on the album.

The rest of the album is spent revisiting these artists and themes, exploring production methods closely associated with Beck, Radiohead and even the Sneaker Pimps.  An album sounding lazy isn’t necessarily a bad thing as long as the focus is pushing forward with its own distinct identity.  ”Strange Mercy” is completely devoid of any personality, and is far too focused on establishing itself with tried and true methods.  It’s production sounds nice, it’s slick and polished, and hey, the singer is cute, too!  For children and hipsters that will do just fine.  For the rest of us, it’s nowhere near enough.

Score: 3/10 

Radiohead - Actress, Illum Sphere, Shed remixes

The fourth in the Radiohead remix installment will finally give you enough space to fill up that CD you’ve been looking to create ever since the first 12” was released.  There has been nary a bad move in this series thus far, and these three remixes will round out your homemade remix album quite nicely.  However, there may be more on the way which is definitely no bad thing.

Actress dismantles “Give Up The Ghost”, applying his familiar disjointed and distant electronics, completely removing Thom Yorke’s vocal making its compelling drive that much more pleasing.  Throughout its six minutes it revels in its static tone, but is lifted ever so slightly by a distorted melody to draw the listener just close enough to finish through.  Actress isn’t concerned with paying homage to Radiohead as much he is dedicated to moving the band in a direction he thinks the song should go.  Radiohead’s original version is one of the best on the album, and proves to be one of the most challenging to remix due to its stripped-down nature.  Radiohead flirts with sparse electronics in their version while Actress forces it upon them.

Ryan Hunn’s Illum Sphere project decides to back off “Codex” and provide a stark rendition that keeps the vocals full intact.  His additions are minimal, yet they make a difference.  Adding hi-hats and echoing organs turns the already emotional track into an ethereal experience, providing an immediate intimacy.

Shed is known for his minimal techno explorations, and the remix of “Little By Little” is no exception.  Abandoning beats for mood is the order of the day in this case, and Yorke’s vocal is condensed down to a mere echo providing support to quivering snares and broken beats.  It’s over all too soon, but is effective in forming an uneasy mood.

Another solid addition to Radiohead’s strong of twelves.  Keep ‘em coming.

Score: 8/10

Radiohead - Feral (Lone Remix)/Morning Mr. Magpie (Pearson Sound Remix)/Separator (Four Tet Remix)

The third of four remix twelves from Radiohead’s great “King Of Limbs” album, this newest installment proves that it’s more or less impossible to fuck up a Radiohead track.  

Fresh from his outstanding R & S release “Echolocations”, Lone swoops in to work his house magic on “Feral” (if you somehow missed that EP, do not waste any more time and pick it up immediately).  What transpires is a track more closely related with the dubstep genre but with warm analog sounds circa classic rave era.  Lone exercises a mastery of old school production techniques whilst interspersing that sound with fresh ideas.  The breakdown in the middle of the song will tear you apart and remind you what it may sound like if Boards Of Canada were to remix the ‘Head.

Pearson Sound is next with their remix of “Morning Mr. Magpie”.  There usually has to be a turd in every remix collection, and out of the three records released in this series thus far, this is for sure to be the stinky one.  Pearson Sound phones in their remix that meanders for four and half minutes with stuttered beats and short melody breaks before it just stops with no fanfare.  It never starts, builds, or ends, and materializes into the mid-section of a demo tape that hasn’t seen the mixing board yet.  

Thankfully, Four Tet is up next who rarely ever makes a misstep.  One thing you can say about Kieran Hebden is he’s remarkably consistent in an inconsistent way.  He traverses genres effortlessly, but always makes it memorable.  One of his very few average remixes was for Radiohead back in 2004 with “Skttrbrain”.  It was a whole lot of feedback and scrappy beats that didn’t do him justice, but he more than makes it for it here with his remix of “Separator”.  He pays respect to Yorke’s fragile voice as he dedicates the first half of the track to the lyrics while contributing a very subtle wind chime effect.  When Yorke is done, Hebden provides a heart-tugging melody and a jazzy, downtempo beat.  It’s a very thoughtful mix, appreciating the subtlety in timing and restraint.

Another winner in the Radiohead series.  This is going to make one hell of a remix album.

Score: 8/10 

Radiohead - Morning Mr. Magpie (Nathan Fake Remix)/Bloom (Mark Pritchard Remixes)

Not only are Radiohead the band of choice with every music aficionado with a brain in their head, they are also proving to have exceptional taste in music regardless of their ages and mindsets.  Nathan Fake and Mark Pritchard are chosen this time around, and they construct some of the finer remixes of the year.  

Nathan Fake transforms “Morning Mr. Magpie” into an early Autechre beat-skip vibe complete with warm synthesizer melodies whilst keeping Thom Yorke’s vocal fully intact.  Many electronic artists of the day are making conscious decisions to cherry-pick their inspirations direct from the early-90’s heyday of the electronic music explosion, and it sounds all the better for it.  Structure and thought are being put back in the sound, and if any band deserves it’s Radiohead.

Speaking of that classic early 90’s sound, Mark Pritchard is one of the few artists today that helped mould the wave of British interpretations of American dance music, yet his recent career has been dedicated to maintaining his contemporary technical wizardry with some of the most affecting compositions of the decade.  His Harmonic 313 remix doesn’t sound like any of his releases under this moniker, but it haunts you all the same.  Where his 313 persona mostly comes at the listener with hip-hop influenced techno beats, this remix of “Bloom” might have fit better under his Africa HiTech work as it more closely relates with its dark baseline and ragga-style beat.  Yorke’s vocal is more or less absent in favor of grounding a spooky synth wave that flutters throughout.

The real gem is Pritchard’s solo mix.  Any fan of Can is going to have a lot to sink their teeth into with its metronome, prog-electro beat with Yorke’s vocals put through a vocoder to stunning effect.  It’s a builder of a mix that ends with a Kraftwerk-ian synth melody taking a powerful position over the gently fading beats and grooves.  

Any time Mark Pritchard’s name is on a record should be reason to buy.  This new Radiohead 12” is no exception.  

Score: 9/10 

Locossolus - Locossolus

Any album featuring Andrew Weatherall, Dj Harvey, Prins Thomas, Lindstrom, and Emperor Machine is going to be a serious ass wiggle of an experience.  You know you’ll be getting healthy does of the funk via highways of dub, disco, and house all served up in a big, bulging, beat-ridden package.  Locossolus, the new album on International Feel Recordings, delivers the goods, and leaves the listener wanting more of this unique collage of retrospective nods to the old school produced and delivered with a hypnotic and modern pulse.

A collection of twelves spanning back to last year, Locossolus is the brain child of DJ Harvey.  Harvey has made himself a name by scouring the depths of disco and transforming his inspirations into years of house and dub mingling.  This release is no different, only he now invites others to join his party.  

As accustomed as we are to Harvey remixing others, the first stand out track is Weatherall’s take on “Gunship”.  Having ditched Keith Tenniswood and the Two Lone Swordsmen guise a few years back, Weatherall has been determinedly constructing disco and funk juggernauts that will shake any dance floor to its very foundation.  The space echos and bass line he presents with his mix don’t sound dissimilar from “Metal Box”-era P.I.L., minus the Lydon ranting.  Harvey’s original is also included here and manages to be a flawless hybrid of 80’s Prince guitar-inflected grooves while revisiting the minimal beats of DHS’s “House Of God” single from 1990. 

Harvey’s most obvious nod to disco is in the track “I Want It” with its call and response lyrics, Moroder-esque bassline, and loping tom tom breaks.  Upping the ante even further is Prins Thomas and Lindstrom.  They remix the track into a fever of horn blasts, funky guitars, piano riffs, and hi-hats that will make any disco spin.  They amp up the volume of the vocals as well, which gives their mix an urgency that turns a well-constructed dance track into an even more intense experience.  Thomas and Lindstrom are simply doing what they do, and you’ll be grinning ear to ear when the “Hey Venus” chorus comes chiming into the production.

Emperor Machine comes in later with a 20-minute monster of 8-bit inspired madness, turning the earlier proceedings on their heads.  With a seven minute ragga intro with the mantra “Locossolus” repeated ad infinitum, it slowly evolves into a driving funk machine with old-school rock noises and synth lines that would make even Bernard Fevre proud.  The mantra returns eventually, tying up the elements rather nicely.

Harvey’s “Next To You” is a great slab of 80’s toms toms mixed over a slow groove with relaxed vocals.  With its piano rolls and Vangelis-inspired synth stabs it manages to produce a soundtrack vibe while somehow conjuring up the ghosts of Style Council’s “Long Hot Summer” and “Money Go Round”.  

With all of the “nu-disco” being released, this album stands out rather uniquely.  It’s a tough task to make such a dated sound become fresh and relevant today, but through their benefits of experience and love of dance music, Harvey and his cast of characters have managed to find an ecstatic medium.  Locossolus is an album that will please the disco diehards and the house aficionado’s alike.

Score: 9/10

Radiohead - Little By Little (Caribou Remix)/Lotus Flower (Jacques Greene Remix) 12”

Radiohead have set the remixers loose in what will be a string of limited twelves focusing on their most recent album, “King Of Limbs”.  The first two offerings from Caribou and Jacques Greene are an absolutely outstanding start.

Caribou’s Dan Snaith decides to attack Little By Little and manages to take a pleasingly disjointed track and transform the original into a glassy and delicate adventure.  Snaith’s last album “Swim” was an excellent foray into the pleasures of four-to-the-floor dance sensibilities, and with its focus on electronics proved to be his finest album to date.  His mix of “Little By Little” is a bit different from that formula, but the earnestness of his melodies and beats make a strong impression.  The string loop combined with the retro synth squiggles compliment each other perfectly, mixing together to form a remix that would be proud to stand by any of the best Radiohead tracks.

A new comer to the music scene, Jacques Greene has recently regaled us with some strong house singles that prove he’s an up and comer with or without Radiohead’s help.  Of course, getting the nod from the big guys certainly isn’t going to hurt, either.  His mix opens with a synth line straight out of an early 80’s John Carpenter soundtrack (tell me that sound doesn’t remind you of Escape From New York!), and proceeds to build smoothly towards an attentive crescendo.  He avoids the four/four beat and lays down a funky electro vibe while looping Yorke’s vocals over and over.  “Lotus Flower” is a very precious track which can prove to be difficult for a remixer to build upon and still create something fresh.  Greene does an excellent job in recreating the focus of the song and setting his sights on the dance floor.

Pick up this 12” if you can.  These are the best Radiohead remixes to date.  The upcoming 12” features remixes from Nathan Fake and Mark Pritchard.  Can you say “EXCITEMENT”????    

Score: 9/10

Check out the newest latest from our friends at Fact Magazine:

http://www.factmag.com/2011/07/01/stream-jacques-greene-and-caribous-radiohead-remixes/

Biosphere - N-Plants

The name “Geir Jenssen” has become synonymous with “isolation”.  When we think of Biosphere we think of his stark compositions such as the “Insomnia” soundtrack, or his early forays into techno on albums such as “Patashnik”, or his general bleak take on electronic music in general.  Jenssen has taken a tired ambient genre and transformed it into an exciting cinematic experience which rivals any “darkwave” or other sinister styles that claim to plunge into the deeper parts of the psyche.  On Biosphere’s latest, “N-Plants”, Jenssen achieves something he hasn’t reached before in bringing all of his styles from the past into one cohesive piece of work.  In doing this, he has never sounded warmer or closer to his beloved machinery.

Always present on a Biosphere album is its soundtrack quality.  There isn’t a single instance in the Biosphere catalog where you wouldn’t be able to paste the music against a celluloid backdrop and not be able to make the viewing experience more rich because of it.  Opening track “Hendai-1” is a stark mood piece with an underlying and sinister synthesizer foundation stringing the faint melody and percussive elements together into an intriguing introduction.  “Shika-1” follows, and sets the tone for the rest of the album.  It’s a warm, dynamic, and human moment with Jenssen abandoning the cold and minimal sounds of most of his recent work and exploring melodies and drum patterns more akin to his early albums.   

“Ikata-1” is similar with its more open approach and subtle hand claps whilst layered upon a simple foundation.  Instead of being intent on establishing a complete and total reduction of the senses, Jenssen pulls you in closer and illuminates the way.  With “Monju-1”, the sound of a foreign voice crawls into the ear and whispers with an intense sincerity, and empathic tone.  It’s been quite some time where any vocals were present on a Biosphere album, but Jenssen makes sure it is poignant when it does appear. 

“N-Plants” is the sound of being welcomed after a long, solitary, intense journey.  Jenssen is a master at creating landscapes of sound mirroring our need to be entrenched in mystery and unease.  This album extends its hand and brings you inside after the freezing walk through the tundra.  “N-Plants” has more form and shape than any Biosphere album before it, but instead of completely departing from the signature sound, Jenssen uses his power of subtlety by incorporating old tricks and applying them to what he knows works.  The foundation is what’s important, and he slowly builds upon it by immersing himself in melody and form.  He’s never sounded more full and realized, not being shy to be overtaken by more traditional arrangements instead of immersing himself with desolate minimalism.

Oddly refreshing is the album’s detour into nostalgia.  Much of this album sounds as if it was imported from the mid-90’s with its employ of synthesizers and drum pads, but instead of sounding washed-up and exhausted, it comes together in a naturally progressive way.  Jenssen’s nod to the old school is sincere, and you feel that he only references his past self to make his present sound more complete.

To say “N-Plants” is the best Biosphere album would be a silly thing to claim.  The albums all feel like a natural extension of the other while never feeling like a silly conceptualization project.  Jenssen is capable of producing music that feels like icicles being jabbed into your spine.  He conjures a remoteness that can be stifling yet inspiring.  “N-Plants” is a departure from this aesthetic without losing any intensity.  It’s not as emotionally devastating as most of the Biosphere we’re used to, but we don’t mind being uplifted, even for an infinitesimal amount, after trying to adjust to the darkness.

Score: 8/10  

Bon Iver - Bon Iver

Justin Vernon definitely does not suffer from the dreaded “second album” curse.  As many artists before him have realized first hand, the tricky sophomore effort in the world of albums is always something looked upon with a not uncertain amount of skepticism.  “Bon Iver” proves, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that Vernon is far from a one-trick pony, and his future explorations in sound and soul will be an extraordinary aural pleasure to behold.

“Bon Iver” opens with a lone guitar string wavering before it’s joined by Vernon’s fractured falsetto and a drum march that triumphantly solidifies the emergence of a new attitude that, quite flawlessly, evolves from “For Emma, Forever Ago”.  The rumination and melancholy of that first album transforms immediately into an exit of sorts; Vernon is stepping out of that remote cabin and allowing the sunshine to hit his face.  The introspection is still there, but he’s “breaking ground” as he sings on opening track “Perth”.  The burbling horns and synthesizer flutters crash in with more drums, and before you know it you’re one song into an album impressively expansive.

On the following track, “Minnesota, WI.”, Vernon sings “never gonna break” over a devastating slide guitar solo, and you can’t help but disagree with his lyrical assessment.  He’s pushing and pulling you in odd directions, making you feel such warmth from his voice, but so much sorrow from the instrumentation.  These sonic intricacies reflect something very refreshing in its unquestionable earnestness.

On the album’s most sublime track, “Holocene”, Vernon shows that his lyrics don’t necessarily even need to be heard.  His voice alone on this track compliments the building melodies and instrumentation where his words simply flow through the music like water.  Understanding his verbal message becomes almost a moot point as the music itself carries such a weight as to transcend anything that can be put to speech. 

On “Wash.”, Vernon experiments with more ambient textures as he plays alone with a piano loop and snyth waves, illustrating he isn’t afraid to tinker with whatever toys that have been made available to him.  He isn’t content to simply strum his guitar and make a traditional album by any means, and “Wash.” reflects an intense sincerity in the music.

Almost inexplicably, the album closer, “Beth/Rest”, is the musical sister to any late-80’s Kenny G. mood piece.  Somehow, it works brilliantly.  The cheesy organ and outdated drum machines seamlessly lead into Vernon’s relaxed vocal as if this sound was the most nonchalant and everyday occurrence you can imagine.  This song shouldn’t work, but as the track that ties up the rest of the album before it, “Beth/Rest” is the perfect end statement to “Bon Iver”  In a way, this songs otherworldly sound mixed with its slightly retro vibe is the only way an album this different can conclude.    

Justin Vernon excites because he is a true original.  He turns influences and genres we’ve heard a million times before into noises we’ve never experienced.  Who expected him to solely rely on auto tune to record “Woods” from the “Blood Bank” EP, then turn around and sell it to Kanye West, in turn creating that much more of a fan base for an entirely different style of music?  Vernon’s biggest talent is embracing elements from all corners of music, and leading the listener down paths that haven’t been trodden before.  It is quite a rare and wonderful thing to hear such an immensely talented song writer with no specific allegiances to one type of sound.  

Vernon lays bare an honesty with mesmerizing results.  Where he goes next is an enticing thing to ponder.  His ability to always play the right note, sing the best lyric, introduce the perfect melody, and know when to end it all is uncanny.  His music always makes the right move, even though we have no idea where we want it to go.  He doesn’t give us a chance to think these things through, yet he blazes a trail for us and makes sure we’re hearing things we’ve never heard before.  It is this sense of unpredictability that yields mystery and freshness that is not often heard.  Vernon is an expert at conjuring similar paths and morphing those familiar ideals with a truly unique and masterful vision.  “Bon Iver” doesn’t so much transform as it does transcend. 

Score: 9/10