VA: Resampled Part 1
Stroboscopic Artefacts

VA: Resampled Part 2
Stroboscopic Artefacts

In the wake of Lucy's Wordplay For Working Bees comes more superb material from Luca Mortellaro 's Stroboscopic Artefacts imprint, in this case two sets of remixes that are in certain moments come close to being as incredible as Mortellaro 's own Lucy set. In the Resampled releases, eight producers who contributed to the sixteen tracks comprising the label's Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta Sampler series individually remix tracks by eight other artists. Once again we're presented with a brand of forward-thinking experimental techno that's leagues beyond the norm in terms of imagination and artistry.

The first of the two releases gets off to a heady start when a bulldozing kick drum pulse powers Lucy's seventeen-minute overhaul of Xhin's “Arrival,” one of the peak cuts in the Resampled releases. In its first six minutes, the colossus roars like an out-of-control locomotive until the intensity escalates when hi-hats appear to give the track additional thrust—until, that is, entropy sets in and the whole gradually slows to an exhausted halt. Jonas Kopp's “Argatian” treatment of Inigo Kennedy and Isodyne's “Lagrange Point” could do with a little less of its hammering, seven-note beat pattern, but all is forgiven when a swirling windstorm rises to twist the cut into dizzying shape. Like Lucy's treatment of Xhin's track, Kopp's likewise kicks things up a notch at the halfway mark, in this case by deepening the tune's relentless broil. The Resampled material is also distinguished on production grounds alone, as evidenced by the multi-layered spaciousness of Donor's “Distress” remix of Chevel's “Trevisun,” which sprinkles its metallic techno drive with dub atmosphere. The jets cool for Obtane's “Puppetmachine” makeover of Hironori Takahashi's “Medue,” an ethereal beatless treatment that isn't unwelcome, given the relentless rhythm-based propulsion of the three accompanying tracks.

Opening in jaw-dropping form with the future tribal-funk of Modern Heads' “Jumplex” treatment of Perc's “Wooden Art,” Resampled Part 2 serves up one stunner after another. Imagine a surging hornets' swarm paired with a pounding pulse and you've got some idea of the tune's dizzying character. Dadub's merciless “Metropolis” remix of Forward Strategy Group's “Inside The Shadows” is just as epic, while Frank Martiniq's luscious take on Sasse's “Face2Face With Reality” brings a creamy dub-techno vibe to the release. Sounding like some idealized spawn of Deepchord, Intrusion, and Chain Reaction, the slinky stepper rolls out its delectably smooth swing for a ten-minute ride one would like to never see end. Somewhat like Resampled Part 1, the second release closes with a beatlesss exercise, though Claudio PRC's “Perspective” Remix of Abstract Souls' “Abstract Subway” is rather more apocalyptic, sounding a bit like what a microphone might pick up when human life has disappeared and overdriven factory machinery is all that's left running. Needless to say, any listener with even a passing interest in experimental electronic music would be doing him/herself a great disservice in not checking out these releases and Stroboscopic Artefacts in general.

April 2011