- Why a two-year-old single by a prolific artist like Uwe Schmidt—who has since released a number of solo and collaborative records, not to mention built his own elaborate A/V performance—would just now receive a remix package is anyone's guess, but the timing isn't totally belated. "Riding The Void" encapsulated the pool of inspiration Atom TM tapped throughout HD (i.e. electro, hyperreal sound design, post-modern Kraftwerk-isms), and that uncanny blend has certainly maintained its relevance and potency since 2013. Perhaps, then, the only fault to this new Raster-Noton EP are its remixes, a mixed bag of underwhelming and captivating productions.
When Jordan Rothlein reviewed HD, he remarked that Schmidt's single "could be a hit on the dance floor, while also suggesting the intellectual emptiness of such places," so it's ironic that Riding The Void occasionally exemplifies that emptiness. Scuba treats the virtual-pop as mere atmospheric fodder for some far less ambitious techno; even Schmidt's own "Nought Remix" diminishes his track into pillowy machine funk, a better use of the original, though not exactly innovative. The best new material comes from the "Tool" mix and the digital bonus by Hanno Leichtmann's Gesetz Der Oktaven alias. While the former zeroes in on a meaty groove with enough details to keep it on endless loop, the latter essentially recreates "Riding The Void" with a heavier, gnarlier sound palette. How well Leichtmann's aggrandized version works speaks volumes of the source material, both in the quality of its execution and the endurance of its concept.
TracklistA1 Riding The Void (Album Version)
A2 Riding The Void (Scuba's Pulse Mix)
B1 Riding The Void (Nought Remix)
B2 Riding The Void (Tool)
Digital Only: Riding The Void (Gesetz Der Oktaven's Consumed Remix)