Monolake - Alaska Remixes

Let's be honest: hasn't the year 2006 provided us with quite a surprising number of fairly good electronic releases? But let's also ask ourselves: how many of them pretty much actually blew our minds...?
Well, to me personally this is clearly one of those very few. Soon after generating excellent public overall resonance Monolake's fantastic "Alaska Melting" gets followed by a trilogy of remixes by two of the easily most interesting Techno producers nowadays, Substance a.k.a. DJ Pete who recently more than delivered with his remix for Rhythm & Sound, and Surgeon who probably needs no introduction.

The outcome is more than spectacular: the original's cold, claustrophobic aesthetic was brilliantly adapted, similarities are soon being recognised - and yet each of the three re-works impresses as indepent and innovative. Surgeon for example. Not only does his remix lack the often criticised compressed linearity (on the contrary, it elegantly uses the generous length of eight minutes to develop quite an interesting dynamic including a nice, long outro), also the sounds he uses fit the original's theme amazingly well.
And there is more to come. Substance's first remix particularly impressed me with its loud, distorted basses that will inevitably remind you of earthquakes or bomb impacts rather than of music, which adds even more to "Alaska"'s industrial, oppressive feel. Something else i love about it is its slow, broken tempo which i daresay resembles that of Dubstep (Style Police - please spare my family!). Finally Pete's second remix is straight, solid Techno with an addictive bassline and those spooky, dubby sounds that make you want to spend the rest of your life in a dark, hazy warehouse.

All in all one of the very best and most innovative releases of the year and definitely one to nourish my enthusiasm for a long time. Please... MORE!!