Martin Buttrich - Well Done (Dubstep Mixes)

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  • In the ongoing quest to splice the DNA of dubstep and techno, Bristol’s Four:Twenty Recordings has enlisted Papa Ench and Headhunter of the UK’s H.E.N.C.H. Collective to give Martin Buttrich’s recent ‘Well Done’ single a proper bass reduction. Where the original relied on intricate percussion and hypnotic, arpeggiated patterns to achieve a sound that fell somewhere between minimal techno and Italo disco, these mixes effectively gut the track, laying depth charge beats and throbbing bass under a surface of sputtering synthesized tones. Papa Ench’s remix centers the track around a plodding skank of a rhythm as snippets of Buttrich’s original melody are screwed, chopped and sent across the stereo like shrieking dragons. The arrangement is spare, with plenty of space left in between the beats for Ench to insert creepy echoes and digital burbles – a claustrophobic effect that would surely cave in an average clubber’s head. It’s a solid mix, but it does little to truly split the difference between dubstep and techno. In this respect, Tempa producer Headhunter’s remix is more successful, setting throbbing sub-bass against a backdrop assembled from the same hypnotic loops that make the original so engaging. Filtered into oblivion, the loops click about manically in the background as Headhunter employs a distinctly minimal riddim to push the track forward. The effect has more in common with Basic Channel than with the plodding heaviness of dubstep, but then that’s the brilliance of it: just like Villalobos’ class mix of Shackleton’s ‘Blood On My Hands,” it creates a perfect jumping point for a DJ to integrate the two styles. This twelve is another interesting entry into Buttrich’s catalog that highlights the deteriorating boundaries between dubstep and techno. Let’s hope we see more of this coming from Four:Twenty in the future.
  • Tracklist
      A Papa Ench Remix B Headhunters Remix
RA