- Todd Osborn's Osborne album on Spectral Sound was one of the sleeper hits of '08, pitching together the producer's keen ear for a melody with his structural playfulness. It was so sleepy, seemingly, that it took the Ann Arbor-based label nearly two years to capitalise on it with a remix 12-inch. Appearing via Spectral's parent label Ghostly International, the release sees them plump for a somewhat atypical bunch of remixers, with Lukid and Bullion representing London's downtempo beats scene, and Polish Rephlex mainstay Bogdan Raczynski taking on the anthemic house of "Ruling." Pairing Raczynski with this particular track may seem like a strange choice, but those expecting the madcap antics of his Rephlex output may be disappointed. Bogdan pitches down a single vocal snatch from the original and rebuilds the whole track from scratch, forging a bouncy and colourful minimal house cut that ups the tension about halfway through with a repeated single-note stab.
It's the London boys that come good. Bullion takes the title of "Afrika" literally and crafts a Afrocentric cosmic jam par excellence. Imagine Jah Wobble and Lindstrom doing a Paul Simon and you're halfway there. Lukid takes up the whole of the B-side with his takes on "There" and "Junk Food," proving that he's a force to be reckoned with. The former worms its way into your head with its slow, mechanical groove for smoky back rooms, while the latter shows that he can turn his hand to heavy instrumental hip-hop with equal aplomb.
Tracklist A1 Afrika (Bullion Remix)
A2 Ruling (Bogdan Raczynski Remix)
B1 There (Lukid Remix)
B2 Junk Food (Lukid Remix)