[KMS]

While parsing through a slightly heated discussion over whether Kevin Saunderson’s recent RA podcast — packed with poppy cuts and mixed with CDs/Ableton — had stained his legendary status, one post stood out to me. The author reminded the participants that Saunderson’s long career took place both above ground and underground, so it shouldn’t have been a surprise for him to select from both realms. For me, this thought fits nicely with his choice to reintroduce fans to his musical peaks with three remix 12″s, when he could have easily just re-pressed his best and assumed others would put together the pieces. Saunderson reached out to others to give fans what they really wanted: something fresh, relevant and celebratory of dance music’s watershed moments, grumbling Detroit-centrics be damned. Now Mathew Jonson and John Tejada have followed the footsteps of Joris Voorn, Carl Craig, Samuel L Session and Loco Dice in taking on two classic KMS tunes.

Wagon Repair head honcho, Mathew Jonson, had the un/enviable task of reworking Inner City’s “Good Life,” one of house music’s best known tunes. Rather than deal with all that baggage, Jonson reached for his 303 collection and jumped in an acid bath, leaving only Paris Grey’s sultry vocals bobbing above the surface. The slinky, coiled nature of Jonson’s corrosive progressions lock tightly into Grey’s bouncy and filtered pipes, an odd yet pleasing combination. And because it avoids 2008’s current trends, MJ’s rework might actually avoid sounding dated. By contrast, John Tejada’s grumbling revision of Reese’s “Just Want Another Chance” already sounds like it belongs in 2006-7. Its main gruff, four note groove and plinking synth lead call to mind Stephan Bodzin and Border Community’s signature growls. Perhaps this trait has long since been attributed to Tejada, but to the unfamiliar it feels like old news. Something tells me Saunderson probably doesn’t mind.