- With the forlorn thud of deep house continuing to inform the work of most discerning dance producers, the cheap thrills of Remute's Grand Glam offer a breath of fresh—or rather deliberately pungent—air. For his sophomore LP the part-time Areal, Einmaleins and Trapez artist serves up 14 tracks of no-nonsense bangers, the overall statement of which seems to be a gurning plea to "shut up and dance!"
Denis Karimani's Remute project has always delivered tough techno, but Grand Glam is more concerned than ever with dance music's hedonistically seductive qualities. Perhaps that's what his Remute label is for: Remute03's "Condensated" (an abridged version of which appears here) was his most gargantuan track to date, giddy arpeggios and bulbous rhythms pulling all the obvious stops and delivering the goods. Grand Glam is all about big gestures, draped in sparkles. If these decorations occasionally appear tacky, they're also easy: You know you're getting lucky. Trouble is, getting lucky with a cheap whore 14 times in an hour can be exhausting.
Fortunately Karimani is an experienced producer and these heavy-hitters—from sizzling French house ("Mass Hypnosis"), to throbbing neo-trance ("Tefko") —are expertly produced; think a glitzier version of Eulberg and Ananda. Hissing crowd noise and squawking seagulls introduce opener—deep breath—"Does Time Really Exist If the Past Has Already Happened, The Present Instantly Becomes the Past and the Future Did Not Happen Yet?", a strange title for a straightforward tech-house number, one pitched in the same warm tones and warm-up pace as his excellent Areal single "Expired." "Sling It" and "Oahahaha" take on the luminosity of fellow glitterball peddlers Kompakt, the former the disco-sleaze of Justus Köhncke, the latter Axel Willner's blinding surge, while the title track hits hard and wet like Daft Punk.
This punchy, functional course informs the rest of the album, where even the kookier, less-bombastic fillers ("Shiveroid," "Slime Fast") seem constructed with the floor in mind. Indeed, aside from beatless closer "Needful Dive Course," itself a great slice of dub-ambient worthy of ~scape circa 2000, Grand Glam is an unremitting assault. Hardly the most coherent home-listening album perhaps, but a fine excuse to stay in and take drugs.
Tracklist01. Does Time Really Exist, If the Past Has Already Happened, The Present Instantly Becomes the Past and the Future Did Not Happen Yet?
02. Sling It!
03. Grand Glam
04. Shiveroid
05. Ouahahaha (Edit)
06. Slime Fast
07. Medea Glub
08. Zuendli
09. Condensated (Edit)
10. Tefko
11. Joking About Death
12. Mess Hypnosis (Edit)
13. Lampuca for Everyone
14. Needful Dive Course