- The debut title from Midwich, MEQ makes good on the Chicago label's mission to release "electronic music from the urban wilderness of the Midwest." Nearly every musician involved with the double 12-inch—from Moon Pool and Dead Band founder Nate Young to its clutch of remixers (Michael Dykehouse, James T. Cotton and BMG among them)—either lives or has lived along the I-94 corridor between Detroit and Chicago. More than mere backstory, this Midwestern theme permeates the music itself, which brings together three of the region's most vital musical exports: techno, house and noise.
In addition to the original "MEQ," a lumbering slab of garbagetronica fantastic in its own right, seven radically distinctive remixes are included. Ghostly International veteran Dykehouse warps Young's noisy original into a flamboyantly manic romp through interstellar squelch and motor booty funk. Ectomorph's BMG, in contrast, submerges the music in rumbling dark matter colored by laser-guided synth splatter. Ice Cold Chrissy (AKA Coyote Clean Up) splits off in yet another unique direction: fuzzy, celestial house that feels like a lost recording from a mid-'80s house party. Young, who also started Michigan noise outfit Wolf Eyes, closes out MEQ with a remix that's significantly more blasted and wasted than the original. It's a fitting end to an uncompromising release.
TracklistA1 MEQ
A2 MEQ (Michael Dykehouse Mix)
B1 MEQ (Patrick Russell Mix)
B2 MEQ (JTC Mix)
C1 MEQ (BMG Interdimensional Mix)
C2 MEQ (ErNo Mix)
D1 MEQ (Ice Cold Chrissy Mix)
D2 MEQ (N Young Wolf Eyes Mix)