- New (and old) ways to hear the greatest drum & bass album of all time.
- Goldie has gotten a lot of mileage out of his 1995 LP Timeless, but wouldn't you if you made one of the most successful electronic music albums of all time? Still the gold standard for a dance music long-player—as well as drum & bass in general—Timeless has reappeared in various forms and anniversary editions over the years, including the tantalising Burial remix of "Inner City Life" released out of nowhere in 2017. The latest bit of legacy building comes in the form of a double-album remix package, collecting some highlights from the past as well as a disc of new remixes that run the gamut from big room jump-up to delicate jazz fusion. Like most remix albums, it's a mixed bag, but it offers new ways to hear some of the most familiar and beloved British dance music all over again.
The disc of new material focuses on the Metalheadz roster, which shows the enduring label in good health. Break delivers a satisfyingly melodramatic remix of "Inner City Life," featuring plenty of zippy techstep basslines, while the late Marcus Intalex turns it into a leftfield techno track under his Trevino alias, keeping the track's edgy, nervous atmosphere intact. Searchlight's jazzy lounge remix of "State Of Mind" is another major highlight, showing off Zero T and Dom Purcell's musical chops (their rework of "Sensual," on the other hand, wanders off into bland fusion territory). On the big room side, Grey Code's "Kemistry" remix beefs up the original for modern dance floors, while OneMind's dexterous and percussive, Photek-ish take on "Kemistry." J:Kenzo's remix of "Jah" is captivatingly minimal, with passages of ton-heavy breakbeats sandwiched between unsettling gulfs of sustained strings and almost nothing else.
These new remixes are nothing to sneeze at, but most fans would gravitate toward the disc of archival selections, which includes Photek's mind-blowing remix of "Still Life"—one of the best examples of his precision bludgeoning out there—while the proto-liquid drums on Peshay's "Back From Narm Mix" of "Angel" take flight like a majestic bird of prey. 4hero's turn on "Inner City Life" time stretches every sound until it's a psychedelic array of gurgles, and Nookie's "94 Remix" of the same track is vintage jungle at its rawest. Like the original Timeless, these versions are stone cold classics. You're probably already familiar with them, and if you're not, well, here you go.
Which leaves Timeless: The Remixes in a tricky place. If it had included all the remixes of Timeless ever created, it would be a compendium worth owning for any UK dance music fan. As it stands, though, it's a solid package focusing on reworks of tracks that have been played out endlessly for almost 30 years. But when most of them are this good, it's hard to complain. Once those vocals come in on Break's splendidly polished remix of "Inner City Life," it's hard to do anything but smile. They could release another Timeless remix package in ten years and it'd probably have the same effect.
TracklistCD 1
01. Inner City Life (Break Remix)
02. Kemistry (Grey Code Remix)
03. State of Mind (Searchlight Remix)
04. Angel (Scar Remix)
05. Inner City Life (Nookie's '2021' Remix)
06. Jah (J Kenzo Tribute Remix)
07. Sensual (Searchlight Remix)
08. Inner City Life (Trevino Remix)
09. Kemistry (OneMind Remix)
CD 2
01. Angel (Peshay Back From Narm Remix)
02. Inner City Life (4hero Remix "Remix 1")
03. Inner City Life (Nookie's 94 Remix)
04. Angel (TeeBee Remix)
05. Kemistry (Doc Scott Remix)
06. Still Life (Photek Remix)
07. Inner City Life (Baby Boys Remix)
08. State of Mind (Hip-Hop Instrumental)