Nina Kraviz's debut LP was one of the finest house long-players of last year, displaying acres of character and an impressive stylistic breadth. Kraviz's productions tend to be sparse, an assemblage of simple but distinctive elements—perfect for remixing, one might assume. The second 12-inch of album reworks is a Detroit special, featuring contributions from Motor City house veteran Marcellus Pittmann and DJ Stingray's Urban Tribe project.
The subtly soulful pads that surface briefly in the original version of "Working" already owed a little something to Pittman's understated productions (see 2011's "The Mad Underdog"). Pittman ignores the parallels, though, preferring to zero-in on a handful of tiny, half-recognisable samples and refashion them into a mossy deep house number. The resultant track is far from welcoming, but its weirdness is compulsive—the snatches of chord, wonkily re-pitched and drip-fed into the mix, are a particular highlight. Stingray's mixes (there are two, although the differences are minimal) hold fewer surprises. "Taxi Talk" is one of Kraviz's most unabashedly poppy moments; Stingray inverts the tone, placing her smoky utterances in a forbidding electro framework. The steely grids of hi-hats, cold synth textures and booming 808s are all fine examples of the form, but the overall lack of dynamism makes this a difficult one to get excited about.
The subtly soulful pads that surface briefly in the original version of "Working" already owed a little something to Pittman's understated productions (see 2011's "The Mad Underdog"). Pittman ignores the parallels, though, preferring to zero-in on a handful of tiny, half-recognisable samples and refashion them into a mossy deep house number. The resultant track is far from welcoming, but its weirdness is compulsive—the snatches of chord, wonkily re-pitched and drip-fed into the mix, are a particular highlight. Stingray's mixes (there are two, although the differences are minimal) hold fewer surprises. "Taxi Talk" is one of Kraviz's most unabashedly poppy moments; Stingray inverts the tone, placing her smoky utterances in a forbidding electro framework. The steely grids of hi-hats, cold synth textures and booming 808s are all fine examples of the form, but the overall lack of dynamism makes this a difficult one to get excited about.
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Published /
Tue / 19 Feb 2013 -
Words /
Angus Finlayson -
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Tracklist /
A Working (Marcellus Pittman Remix)
B1 Taxi Talk (Urban Tribe Don't Lie To Nina Remix)
B2 Taxi Talk (Urban Tribe No Strings Remix)
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