Jesus, talk about pulling out the big guns. This is probably the best dedicated remix plate I’ve ever come across, and not only in the names that’ve stepped in for the reworkings (out to the label, All Saints, for some of the best curation and pairings we’ve seen) but the sheer quality is just fantastic.
The trumpeter Jon Hassell has been on our periphery for time, mainly through The Wire and various compilations. Much like Jandek though, despite always liking what I’m hearing, I’ve never dug deep enough to get a full understanding of the man’s workings.
Couldn’t resist grabbing this one though, four tracks of Hassell’s output on the All Saints Records label remixed by some of our favourite names of the moment, and our already high-expectations were surpassed. Bandshell, Patten, No UFO’s and Some Truths aka Bass Clef all not only delivering in style, but really stepping up and pushing their sounds to the limit of what they can get away with.
Bandshell kick things off with the furthest removed interpretation, taking on ‘Inversion’. Twenty seconds of lo-fi loop settle you in before peaking bass and distorted synth chords explode out the speakers in the spirit of a Pete Swanson live show. It still holds structure though, still ladened with digital wobble and a strange form of digital breakdown that snaps you out then re-enters you in to the trance.
Things slowly tidy up from that point on, but presumably remain far removed as Patten’s version of ‘Metal Fatigue’ bounces along as some form of Lone styled techno. The mid-sucking kick drum chugs along surrounded by shiny and shimmery chords, but unexpectedly murky at the same time.
No UFO’s remix of ‘Ba-Ya Dub’ takes inspiration from Basic Channel, with dusty echoes for the lower-frequency, scattered snares and hits too sparse to form proper patterns. Our favourite cut then comes from Bass Clef aka Some Truths in the last five minutes of the record. Not sure what the original of ‘Elsewhere Is A Negative Space’ was like but Bass Clef does well to give us glimpses as he resamples and plays his well through a wicked track of analog synth led magic.
Limited styles on this, get on it quick. Strange launch video below featuring a snippet of the Patten reworking.