JB³ - Forklift (The Remixes)

Joey Beltram's Forklift was one of those seminal early 90's techno songs that even though many may not know it by name, when played it's one that everyone almost instantly recognizes. The main version of Forklift used a very distinct, hi-pitched single note synth as it's lead with some classic 909 drums underneath. Several years after the original was released, a remix 12" was released that included interpretations by Luke Slater and Damon Wild. Although Slater's remix overshadowed Damon's version, it's still very much worthy of recognition. What I like about this mix is that the bassline is reworked almost entirely, and as the title suggests, only very tiny fragments of the lead are used to almost make it sound as if it's a separate piece in and of itself. Damon restrains from tweaking the bits of the lead synth until the last 30 seconds, when he starts to go nuts playing with the cutoff and resonator

Issued around the same time as Jeff Mills's More Drama, the Filtered Remix has a monotonous, looped synth layer, not too distant to that of The Fuzz (Loophole Mix), which confused me a little, the first times, when neither of those tracks was very familiar yet. Later on in the track, as the filter is operating in full effect, the resulting sound is somehow similar to the heavily processed Acid line of Acid Junkies' Two Minds In Motion. In early 1997, before finding out what the track was, those comparisons lead me into referring to it as the Jeff Junkies, or the Acid Mills track. Then, of course, it became difficult to not know what it was, seeing the huge hit status it reached, but it was only years later that I realised the remix was named after another Slater track.

Ten years later, the original (already an oldie in 1997) sounds a bit dull, Wild's mix has been completely forgotten, but Slater's is still immediatley recognisable and terribly efficient, skilfully combining stripped-down passages, tension build-ups and eruptions of sound.
Surely, it qualifies as a very serious contender for the best remix ever crown.