- Remix, refix, rework, redub—in dance music we've got a boatload of terms for different spins on original productions, and they've often got less to do with the processes involved in the transformation than they do genre conventions, old habits or how well they roll off the tongue. Adesse, a techno producer we've ostensibly heard of but who's currently hiding in the shadows, went with "versions" to describe his steppin' reboot of three '90s dance music classics pressed to just 200 slabs of wax. But to this critic's ears, "covers" might work even better: despite big shifts in tempo and texture, Adesse's versions stay admirably faithful to the tracks they stem from.
Adesse's treatment of "Bang the Box," Richie Hawtin's 1993 love letter to Trax as Jack Master, is indicative of the approach. Where the original's reverb-y gut-punches are thrown to the beat of sauntering hi-hats, Adesse lobs the very same ones with ultimate precision, backed by sweaty, sway-inducing, and wonderfully back-to-basics dubstep. Nick Holder's "Singing Da Blues" morphs from dreamily uptempo roller to a dead ringer for an early Hessle Audio side. Adesse's take on "Sky Walking," a sumptuous early Theo Parrish cut, feels like the collection's biggest departure as well as its greatest pleasure: hard-hitting minimalist percussion flips the original vocal from blissed-out exaltation to weirdly sinister aside. Some familiarity with the originals certainly increases one's enjoyment of Adesse's versions, but gimmick aside, this mysterious producer betrays some serious (and, for those of us playing the mystery-producer guessing game, seriously intriguing) chops.
Tracklist A1 Theo Parrish - Sky Walking (Adesse Version)
A2 Nick Holder - Singing Da Blues (Adesse Version)
B1 Jack Master - Bang The Box (Adesse Version)
B2 Jack Master - Bang The Box Instrumental (Adesse Version)