- Many artists never get the recognition they deserve. For others, it just comes late, sometimes by a decade or two. Patrick Russell is a case in point. A Detroit-born DJ with skills honed at '90s raves and a bag full of titillatingly odd techno records, Russell is, for many who know him, utterly beyond reproach. But despite some 25 years in the game, it was only last September that he played his first set outside the US, taking the second-to-last slot at the hallowed Labyrinth festival in Japan. In March, he made his European debut with a storming Sunday morning set at Berghain. Since then, The Bunker (where he's long been a member of the family) have made him a resident DJ. This month, they released his first solo record, The Bunker Remixes.
The Bunker Remixes shows Russell reworking previously released tunes from Clay Wilson, Romans and Zemi17. In his hands, they become eerie, understated and rhythmically dynamic—qualities that tend to define his DJ sets. Russell keeps the cosmic drones of Clay Wilson's "E4," but swaps out the 4/4 pulse for something sparse and syncopated. Romans' "Coptos" gets cleaned up a bit, its noisy elements pushed into the distance, its brutal chug made sleek and bouncy. Russell takes a similar approach with Zemi17's "Rangda," toning down the chaos, teasing out the balmy atmosphere and setting it all to a drifting, non-linear groove. With their subtle craftsmanship and singular sense of rhythm, these tracks make clear the depth of Russell's talent.
TracklistA1 Clay Wilson - E4 (Patrick Russell Remix)
B1 Romans - Coptos (Patrick Russell Remix)
B2 Zemi 17 - Rangda (Patrick Russell Remix)