Iz & Diz: Love Vibe Remixes Vol. 1 (Remixes by Pepe Bradock & Brett Johnson)
Aesoteric

Iz & Diz: Love Vibe Remixes Vol. 2 (Remixes by Jimpster and DJ Joshua)
Aesoteric

Joshua Michaels (Iz) and Dwayne Washington (Diz) began making music together in Chicago in 1994 and subsequently recorded singles for labels like Balance, Silver Network, Classic, Seasons Recordings, Tweekin Records, and Aesoteric Records. The pair gained international recognition for their “Mouth” track and a related remix EP of versions by Pépé Bradock and Greens Keepers, something that these six riffs on the 2000 deep house classic “Love Vibe” could duplicate.

Dismantling and reassembling the original in a “Confiote de Bits Reconstruction,” Parisian producer Pepe Bradock swathes the song in soulful haze on the inaugural volume. In his “Better Days” mix, Brett Johnson gives the song a straight-up house treatment without losing any of the original's elegance.

On volume two, Jimpster seriously ups the hypnotic groove ante in an entrancing mix with a crisp bass-and-drum pulse providing a driving underpinning to the song's languorous vocal performances and piano flourishes. Joshua's dubby “Vibe” remix accelerates the tempo slightly and elevates the tune in bubbly and buoyant manner.

The last volume hands the tune over to artists residing in Barcelona in the coastal stronghold of Catalunya. A dramatic departure from the previous versions, erikOtanabE's chopped and sliced post-minimal techno mix brings the tune closer to the foundsound and Microcosm camps while Tres Manos & GarcyNoise transports the original back to its sensual roots in a pulsating, Luomo-tinged “Love Twizz” remix.

Needless to say, the six versions offer a textbook case study in how an original can retain its identity despite being broached so elastically. Though the six are all strong, Jimpster's version verges on definitive, while the third volume sounds perhaps the freshest for introducing a slightly more experimental sensibility.

October 2006