- Stalwart of Garnier’s F Communications label, Alexkid releases a second single from his late 2006 album ‘Caracol’. ‘Love Letters’ was one of the highlights of the album, and Alexkid has been including it in most of his sets recently. Now he’s caning the remixes. Sounds good, right? Well, maybe.
The A-Side is undeniably Marc Romboy. If you’ve heard anything he’s done over the last year, you know what to expect. It has rough, mechanical bass stabs and another one of those creeping, ominous melody lines that grows as the track progresses. It’s a familiar sound and one that has dancefloor appeal. Fans of Romboy will love this, but for me, it’s very formulaic. Twelve months ago, this sound was fresh, now it sounds a little stale.
On the flip, Frenchman Tim Paris gives Love Letters a shake-up. He strips back the energetic melodies of the original and replaces them with tension racked synth stabs and bubbling basslines. The percussion is dampened which only enhances the subtlety. If Harrison Ford was chasing a replicant through a nightclub in 2007, this is what Vangelis would’ve penned for the soundtrack.
Romboy’s mix is aimed for the main floor. Paris shoots for the back room. But in my opinion, stick with the original.
TracklistA Love Letters (Marc Romboy remix)
B1 Love Letters (Tim Paris version)
B2 Love Letters (original mix)