textura

Albums
Bayaka Pygmies
Maya Beiser
James Blackshaw
Caffeine Patrol
Call Super
Andrea Carri
Causa Sui
Matthew Collings
Philip Corner
Crandell & Timson
Gareth Dickson
Dryft
Jordan Dykstra
Roman Flügel
Future 3
Graveyard Tapes
Hildur Gudnadottir
Mary Halvorson
Hecq
Idlefon
Yuta Inoue
Jacaszek & Kwartludium
Franz Kirmann
Lachrylic
Machinone
Null
Ocoeur
Octet Ensemble
Oliveros/Rothenberg/Hill
Glen Porter
Gabriel Prokofiev
Rob Reed
Steve Roach
The Sticks
Tangent
Tapage
Taylor | Grosse
Transllusion
Weathers & Chrisman
yMusic
Yokotsuka Yuuya

Compilations / Mixes
Calyx & TeeBee
Deetron
Total 14

EPs / Cassettes / Mini-Albums / Singles
Blu Mar Ten
Break / Fields
Elika
William Ryan Fritch
Andy Vaz

Blu Mar Ten: Famous Lost Words Remixes: Part 1
Blu Mar Ten Music

Break / Fields: Duck For Cover / Reel Funk
Symmetry

This first installment in a projected three-part series of remixes of tracks from Blu Mar Ten's 2013 Famous Lost Words album solidly hits the mark on a number of counts. Not only is the source material strong, with stunning vocal turns by Agne Genyte adding significantly to Blu Mar Ten's compositions, but the tracks receive superior makeover treatments from Break and Frederic Robinson, too. Considerably more than just a drum'n'bass workout, “Break It All Apart” derives a great deal of its impact from Genyte's sultry performance—though it's hardly lacking for toughness either. If anything, pairing her gorgeous, melancholy vocal with Break's lightspeed beat thrust sounds to these ears like some inspired stroke of genius, and neither should we forget that it's Blu Mar Ten who's responsible for the magnificent blueprint their guests are so fortunate to be working from. Robinson's jazzy overhaul of “Somewhere” is radical, to say the least. In fact, Robinson less remixes the track than reinvents it altogether when he replaces much of the cut's original instrumental material with his own idiosyncratic concoction of beats, strings, keyboards, horns, and percussive effects. It's up, then, to Genyte to maintain the connection to the original, and her smooth vocal proves to be more than capable of doing so. Perhaps the highest compliment one could pay to the remixers is that their versions are so dynamic they make this listener want to pull the original album off the shelf and rediscover it anew.

Break's also got a new single of his own, this one (available as a digital download only) on his Symmetry label and featuring a cut by himself and one by Fields. The punchier of the two tracks, Break's “Duck For Cover” eases in stealthily with brooding film noir atmospheres and a rolling groove before soulful expressions by an unnamed female vocalist pushes it to a higher level. Thereafter the tune alternates between punchy drum'n'bass episodes—the tune's insistent beat chug ear-catchingly augmented by congas—and brief interjections from the wailing vocalist. “Reel Funk,” Fields' first solo track on Symmetry, makes good on its title by spritzing its electro-funk pulse with a complex weave of rapid-fire percussive effects and low-slung bass rumble. Tailor-made for a club setting and a high-end system, “Reel Funk” inhabits a different world from “Duck For Cover,” even if the bongos-styled percussion detail draws a connecting line between the two. Truth be told, the single's tracks aren't at the same level, compositionally speaking, as the ones on the Blue Mar Ten release, though the single's still definitely worth a listen.

October 2014