DJ T. - Shine On

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  • DJ T.'s The Inner Jukebox is exemplary of a trend amongst certain Northern European producers to drift towards the sounds of early house along the Chicago/Detroit axis. While this is quite laudable, even exciting, the results obtained thus far have been more exploratory than explosive. "Shine On" takes a strong step in the direction of the latter, particularly in the remixes, provided by the stellar Motor City Drum Ensemble (who is, of course, just one guy) and by DJ T. himself. For T.'s own "Twisted Re-Work," Koch does little beside run the damn thing through a bunch of damn filters. But, wait! This isn't remixed, just tweaked, as the '90s-evoking title is quick to remind us. And it's rather good! Trading in the perhaps too bright colors of the original for a set of darker, more muted tones, T. has nonetheless retained the clunky, almost wooden percussion that generated much of the initial charm. It's somehow more joyous and less derivative in this shadowy, hypnotic re-visioning; a more oblique reference to a Chicago and a more direct nod to Brussels. The indubitable star of this here outing, though, is the MCDE, who still understands the value of a good pair of headphones. He takes the somewhat flat melody of the original and makes a shimmering, wobbly monster out of it (reminiscent in some small ways of GPM's own Booka Shade), weaving in and out of dense, old-school drums that would have sounded like sheer bliss banging off the walls of the very Warehouse that we can only assume MCDE is referring to with this "Warehouse Dub." Between the two of them, Koch and Plessow have managed to split the seam of "Shine On" open and revealed two halves, each more raw and more beautiful than we expected when all we had was the shiny exterior.
  • Tracklist
      01. Shine On (Vinyl Mix) 02. Shine On (Motor City Drum Ensemble Warehouse Dub Mix) 03. Shine On (DJ T's Twisted Re-Work)
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