- The Magic Movement considers itself an "outernational" dance label, to use a term Ryuichi Sakamoto once coined to describe his own work. "Being outernational is like Moses in the desert," the Japanese innovator said. "There is no country. There is just trade." That philosophy has been reflected in EPs like Dança Das Crianças and Khronos, which cladded a polyrhythmic swagger with Brazilian and Turkish inflections, and In Between Reality, which came from "the land of the pyramids." Animal Empire / Rise, by German producer Noema and Australian Multi Culti regular Dreems, isn't so rooted. Diced chants and rainforest chirps give the A-side an abstract sense of location, a virtual ambient jungle that producers like Wolf Müller would happily visit. Noema & Dreems furnish their tracks with these samples to create a gently psychedelic atmosphere.
The pick of the bunch is Thomas Von Party's digital-only remix of "Animal Empire," which foregrounds hand drums and subtracts the original's melodic crescendos for a cooler temperature. Noema & Dreems's synths weren't a problem as such, but leanness is a virtue with music this rhythmic. "Rise," however, only has a two-note synth peal anchoring all of its incidental noise, and it risks being shapeless at first. Later, a simple 303 sequence gives the track a firmer spine, which leads to a quivering Innervisions-esque coda. The build up to that point seems coy, as if the producers sought to spring a surprise, and their big reveal is disappointingly familiar.
TracklistA Animal Empire
B Rise
Digital: Animal Empire (Thomas Von Party Remix)