- The Presets being the kinky version of fellow Aussies Cut Copy that they are, it was not a surprise to hear DJ Hell snapped them up and released their first album in Germany on his Gigolo imprint. I mean, just look at The Presets: visually and sonically speaking, they ARE Helmut’s wet dream materialized. ‘I Go Hard, I Go Home’ is the latest single taken from their ‘Beams’ album, and you can see the attraction: this highly melodic, half digital/half electrical piece of modern pop is packed with sonic madness and delayed vocals about – you guessed it – getting hard and going home. It sounds like what post-Fischerspooner electro-fueled pop music should sound like nowadays: it is overtly stilted, slightly pretentious, totally enjoyable and possibly disposable after one half of a listen. Not that there is anything wrong with that, mind you…
This Modular-released single, though, comes backed up with a bunch of remixes, but sadly, half of them don’t seem to get what we’re really dealing with here. The ‘Club Mix’ and the Ascii Disko remix are turning ‘I Go Hard’ into a pumped-up and beefier number, but the original was already crawling under over-produced steroid-like effects, thus rendering these remixing works rather pointless, albeit probably more danceable. Juan Maclean’s rework is more fun, slowing down the pitch a bit and recasting the vaguely evocative vocals in a gay discothèque in space: it’s one step closer to the sound he developed on ‘You Can’t Have It Both Ways’, his unchallenged best track so far, so I won’t be the one complaining. But my vote goes to Hell’s own remix, which get rids altogether of any Presets traces and turns the track into a ‘Bounce Your Body 2 My Box’-style jacking bassline fest. It has been a slow year for Hell, but with old productions from the early ‘90s being remixed and released this Fall, a new mixed compilation on Fine Records, and this lively remix work, it is good to have him back: not necessarily hard, but home nonetheless.
TracklistA1 I Go Hard, I Go Home (Club Mix)
A2 I Go Hard, I Go Home (Ascii.Disko Remix)
B1 I Go Hard, I Go Home (Hell Remix)
B2 I Go Hard, I Go Home (The Juan MacLean Remix)