International Pony - The Sweet Madness EP

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  • Give International Pony credit: They may be signed to a major label, but they certainly act like an underground act. Then again, it's hard not to expect much less for any group that counts DJ Koze as one of its members. Koze, along with Cosmic DJ and Erobique make up the band and this is their third single in support of Mit Dir Sind Wir Vier. That underground thing I was talking about? This slab of vinyl comes more than two years after the album was released, making the word "support" a very relative term. Whatever the hold up in releasing it, though, the results were worth the wait: Jackmate's remix of "Solid Gold" kicks things off in amazing form, sounding like what Supermayer might come up with if they suppressed their ultra-epic instincts once in a while. It aims for the heartstrings, but it never seeks to cut them and set you adrift. Subtlety, of course, isn't International Pony's strong suit. (Refer to the cover art of this single, if you don't believe me.) But Pépé Bradock takes the dreamy dope-hop of "Bubble in the Bottle" (included here) and smooths it out until it's a refined little number. Well, as refined as Bradock gets: Shrill synths recall aborted bird calls, a clear-headed breakdown radically alters the fidelity of the track (things go underwater for a bit) and the a cappella reveals that what we were hearing on the proper remix was something frighteningly avant-garde after all. But in listening to Bradock's expert deconstruction—and that's the only word for it—it's clear that International Pony's working methods are of a piece. Both have an innate pop instinct that they simply can't ignore (e.g. The stunning chords that come in during the middle of this release's IP original, "The Royal Pennkaums," Bradock's "Deep Burnt") and one that they simply can't imagine not tweaking to their own twisted and fascinating ends. If these are going to be the results when that sort of collaboration occurs, I can only ask for many more.
  • Tracklist
      A Solid Gold (Jackmate Remix) B1 Bubble in the Bottle (Original) B2 Bubble in the Bottle (Pépé's Beats) C1 Bubble in the Bottle (Pépé Bradock Rmx) C2 Bubble in the Bottle (Pépé's Acapella) D The Royal Pennekaums
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