Ok, in an effort to do something worth while with this blog, I'm going to be reviewing a couple of records each week, First up is an update of a track by an old favourite of mine, Chicago legend Armando. "Armando-Downfall(Jason Fernandez remix)" sounds nothing like the original, although that's probably the wisest choice, since most of the original 303 12's are pretty hard to improve upon. Instead, Fernandez builds up to a climax that's quite unlike the original after floating along in a spacey dub, with occassional mini breakdowns, each time increasing the pace with snare rushes and spacey synth yelps, completely (and wisely) understating the 303 of the original. To be honest I don't think I've ever heard an acid track remix sound better than the original, with the possible exception of Slam's vocoderific kickass rework of "We Are Phuture" from 1996, and even then, it was so good because it was totally original while being suggestive enough of Phuture's 1987 original to provoke a lot of dancefloor fun and nostalgia. Although there are others in this remix package, including the always reliable Advent(which I've yet to hear, the Fernandez mix alone tells me the others might be worth a look, especially if, like this, they aren't mere "updatings" with samples of the original.
For my second review, I've picked Photek's "Avalanche", my reason for doing so is that I've been led to believe its Photek's first true foray into dubstep and I'm eager to see if these tracks do for Dubstep and me what "Into the 90's" and "The Hidden Camera Ep" did for my eventual partial acceptance Drum & Bass. I have to say that, while i'm loving this E.P, it's not really Dubstep as I've come to know(and at times be confused by) it. The title track certainly has the "fast, but slower"element that Martin Hannet would no doubt be extremely heartwarmed to hear, but it really bears no relation to the "other stuff" I've heard(not being able to recall any names for now, except Slugabed, Ill Blu and Slack), being almost accessible as "Into the 90's", a title that is now totally retro, sob! "Slowburn" is another "as close as it gets without actually becoming" dubstep, that I imagine would work well as a builder, reminding me somehow of the Coil remixes of Nine Inch Nails. "This City" is more my kind of thing, nice techy-house beats with warped speech samples and flanged up synth washes, helpfully supplied with nice clicky stripped down beat sections, all the better to mix with. "101" is similarly housey, though a bit more minimal, and is also the type of song I'd be far more likely to play out, unless Dubstep goes beyond saturation and all other styles of dance music become illegal(or people just refuse to dance to anything else), in which case you'll probably find me arguing with the 17yr old current crop of DJ's that they should at least accept Photek as "propah" Dubstep, so I can still play something I actually like, in a genre I don't fully understand. Actually, the Boddika Drum Machine remix of "101" sits perfectly between house and dubstep, and wouldn't sound out of place in a breaks or cross-style set by, say Plump DJ's or James Lavelle and contains some nice clear non-specific vocals. While admitting my ignorance to a sound I've yet to fully appreciate, I have to say that Dubstep(thank fuck it didn't stay as "Grime")reminds me of the origins of Drum & Bass, wherein the pioneers doubled the speed(or played 33's at 45rpm)of hip-hop records, except this time they forgot to take out the originals so now we have two records playing at compatible, but totally different speeds, to make a new and, to me, bizarre whole. I always knew someday "the kids" would come up with something I would basically understand, but still be unable to grasp. I just didn't want it to be true.
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