Fans of James Holden can finally grab their paws to another one of his “Balance” tracks as Avus’ “Real” now sees the light of day. Looking at the vinyl release, I’m curious with what happened to the beaty tools, reprises, and possible experimental fixes that were seen previous from Border Community? Has it gone away for good, or is it because Avus decided not to add those tools so that listeners and DJs will focus specifically with the original. This comes to mind, as the last release also did not include a beaty tool, or a reprise. Whatever the case may be, I hope that BC doesn’t give up one sweet for another. This fourth official release from the BC line-up of dance music also gets a wacky remix from their second son, Nathan Fake.
Continuing his love affair with deep left-of-center techno and experimental sounds, Holden’s Border Community sets its eye on Avus, alias Scott Edwards. He was last seen on Mindset Recordings with his “A Dark Purpose” LP. His name is still new to me, and most likely to others who might be reading this, but surely enough, after this release, I’m sure we’ll all remember his name from here on out. The Original Mix by Avus himself is a very techy track – even more so than any of the previous three releases. Driven with cruel drum-lunacy, this is the foundation that sets up everything else that comes along. Samples added in between the drums and acid style b-line float nicely as well. This is an exploration of dubby and techy sounds with eargasms of sliced drumbeats. Avus’ original is a flight across borders of dance sensibility and a home listening experience.
Nathan, what can you say that most people (especially DJs) don’t know about this lad? His style of gorilla acid and trenched tech-synths are so sick and twisted that it makes your heart burst while your stomach is filled with butterflies. His first official remix duty is constructed very much like his “Outhouse” track; yet, the level of depth and execution wasn’t what I’d expected. Usually reinterpretations are stronger, as it is more emphasized as the friendly “Club” track and that’s what Nathan wants from his remix. Remixes tend to take over the original as it gets the grace of the A-side – this doesn’t. Nathan’s remake also doesn’t go more into the home listening experience as well. Although I may sound hypercritical to him and his remix, I just thought he would have achieved a level superior with his vast amounts of talent. The remake is a very chunky blend of acid-glitz glam with heavy edits. As cool as that sounds, this just feels and sounds like a mechanical clone of his first single. Don’t get me wrong, I luv Nathan’s style and I am a massive supporter, but this doesn’t live up to his first single. Outhouse made Nathan one of the most highly regarded talents in the future-electronic-gene-pool, but this remix seems as though he doesn’t know where to go, or what to do with it. As this is his first remix duty, maybe I should lay off a bit. Currently, it’s best that he concentrate more on his own material instead of dissecting others.
A nice release from BC and Avus coming out the same time as the North American release of Holden’s Balance 005. Avus holds his own with the rest of the family, while Nathan needs a bit of time to re-polish his techniques. Watch out soon with young Swedish superhero Petter and his 6-track EP for Border Community out later in the year. If anyone is disappointed as well with Nathan’s remix of this, I’m sure he’ll return in full force with his EP off of Satoshi Tomiie’s Saw Recordings.
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