Handing out the EPs “As Iron Sharpens Iron” and “One Verse Sharpens Another” to internationally acclaimed artists for remixing was not driven by the need to legitimize the music by Ricardo Donoso for the club use. As noted in a review – current work is his closest to dance canons, or could it be trance canons – they were already there. And even more after the reworks.
One might expect that Yves De Mey, a modular synth expert and Opal Tapes artist, is hooked on impudent experimentalism but the Belgian prefers rather dreamy layers in “The Sphinx”. Opening the “Diagonal Environment” with Holy Mountain-style spoken word, Recondite delivers a techno resident’s view. With a tension-building break and flaming arps, it recalls Emmanuel Top’s most energetic moments back in the days.
Subtext label owner Paul Jebanasam scratches the surface of ambient in “Affirmation”, adding drone-charged chords and dissonant signals to the lot. John Tejada, who mastered the album, sticks to laid back tech house in “The Redeemer”, without reinforcing the original’s entrancing nature. Andreas Tilliander’s TM404 project closes the chapter with acidic additives and glowing timbres in “Open Drawer, Full Of Masks”. Good things done here.
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