If ever a release were to sum up 2009's genre-smudging tendencies, it's this one: the ever-so-sinister "Defect"—a classic slab of dark, growling techstep plucked from Ed Rush and co's seminal '97 long-player, Torque—remixed by two of modern-day techno's finest. On paper, it's almost too good to be true (and, insofar as the results are functional rather than breathtaking, it is). But then, two excellent techno tracks—one a rock solid roller, the other a pleasingly steppy floor-filler—are two excellent techno tracks, historical antecedents be damned.
The A-side is deep, tough and jacking, and boy does it roll. It's vintage Peter Van Hoesen, with an added layer of aggression that, thanks to rock-solid percussion a la Shed's "That Beats Everything," makes it by some way his floor-friendliest number to date. The original's menace is all there, right the way down to the snarling bass and ice-cold pads, but it's transformed into a sleek, pulsing 4/4 burn that's as sexy as it is paranoid. Twisted Spine you say? Go on then.
Perc's take is less instantly recognisable, but no less effective. Staying true(r) to the breaks-schooled original, he opts for a Surgeon-esque techno-going-on-half-step flex, garnished with the odd junglist snare stab for added darkside cred. As with the A-side, it's full of intimated violence, never quite peaking but foaming and frothing as it rehearses whatever carnal act it has planned. It's a fittingly pent-up update: true to the spirit of techstep (and, to a lesser but no less significant degree, dubstep), but positively reeking of techno.
The A-side is deep, tough and jacking, and boy does it roll. It's vintage Peter Van Hoesen, with an added layer of aggression that, thanks to rock-solid percussion a la Shed's "That Beats Everything," makes it by some way his floor-friendliest number to date. The original's menace is all there, right the way down to the snarling bass and ice-cold pads, but it's transformed into a sleek, pulsing 4/4 burn that's as sexy as it is paranoid. Twisted Spine you say? Go on then.
Perc's take is less instantly recognisable, but no less effective. Staying true(r) to the breaks-schooled original, he opts for a Surgeon-esque techno-going-on-half-step flex, garnished with the odd junglist snare stab for added darkside cred. As with the A-side, it's full of intimated violence, never quite peaking but foaming and frothing as it rehearses whatever carnal act it has planned. It's a fittingly pent-up update: true to the spirit of techstep (and, to a lesser but no less significant degree, dubstep), but positively reeking of techno.
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Published /
Wed / 9 Dec 2009 -
Words /
Max Bacharach -
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Tracklist /
A1 Defect (Peter Van Hoesen's Twisted Spine Remix)
B1 Defect (Perc Remix)
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