- John Talabot's fIN absolutely owned the sweet spot between pop and dance music this year: utter melodic ear candy, it also packed enough hefty beats to slot into an otherwise straight-laced dance set. One would imagine the ensuing remix packages would attempt to pull the Barcelona producer fully onto the floor, but Permanent Vacation's a little craftier than that. Enlisting the Pachanga Boys to cover the club angle as thoroughly as one could, this first volume of remixes otherwise moves in the opposite direction.
Superpitcher and Rebolledo, apparently keen to show off the Pachanga Boys' range, offer three flavors of "When the Past Was Present" remixes: from a relatively straightforward club-streamlining ("Purple Remix") to a growling re-imagining ("Red Remix") to what nearly amounts to a full-on original production ("Blue Remix"), no stone is left unturned. With cowbells blazing throughout, the duo make quite an impression here, even if their sound isn't quite as appealingly complex as Talabot's.
Tartelet lifers Kenton Slash Demon don't go nearly as nuts with their commission, but their melodic tweaks and extra effects really play up "Last Land"'s pop angle. But not to the extent Bullion does. The R&S and Young Turks signing basically rewrites "Destiny" into some kind of post-Ableton XTC B-side, making digital mincemeat of the original's melody and throwing an entirely new vocal line on top. One wonders if "sequel" rather than "remix" is a better description for what's at work here.
TracklistA Destiny feat. Pional (Bullion Remix)
B2 When The Past Was Present (Pachanga Boys Remix)
B3 Last Land (Kenton Slash Demon Remix)