Alex Smoke vs. Tolga Fidan
Fidan carefully works his way around Smoke's delicate strings and soft woodwind refrains; burying, recovering and smothering them in shimmering cymbal breakdowns and percussive bass
The Vakant r offshoot continues its quest to reinvent the remix, with Tolga Fidan taking Alex Smoke's Neds to pieces, whilst Smoke rewires and reconfigures Fidan's Ilsa. The 'r' series has so far produced absolutely killer tracks and though these are fine remixes, this double-A single is more like a reverential essay in 'compare and contrast' with Smoke and Fidan treating each other's originals a bit too respectfully. Fidan carefully works his way around Smoke's delicate strings and soft woodwind refrains; burying, recovering and smothering them in shimmering cymbal breakdowns and percussive bass. On the flip-side, Smoke summons up some chattering techy drums and a jolting bassline, allowing fragments of the original's orchestra to pierce the noise, before setting Ilsa's entire spectral ensemble jacking in a piece of cinematic, boom-crash electronica. Awesome, hypnotic floor fillers, but there's none of the immediacy a completely fresh cut from either of them could muster. [Liam Arnold]
Released: Dec 4
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