[430 West]

The annals of electronic music are heavily populated with remixes that not only enhanced original tracks, but gained them infinitely more acclaim and exposed them to much bigger audiences. Let’s face it – does anyone really know the original version of “Dooms Night” by Azzido Da Bass or did Robert Armani’s “Circus Bells” stand out before Hardfloor turned it into a razor-sharp snare rolling, acid-peaking techno classic? Thought not. Unfortunately, for every defining remix, there are thousands of ill-advised treatments that were quickly consigned to the scrapheap — think any attempt to remix “Strings of Life” — or even the recent edits of Trax releases. The reason why these remixes fail is because their authors set out to achieve the near impossible, namely to improve on the closest electronic music comes to perfection. A similar if not quite as daunting dilemma faces Sandwell District and Aril Brikha on Revisited Series 2.

Octave One, aka Detroit’s Burden brothers, have been releasing hypnotic techno for over 20 years, laying down the blueprint for every would-be tribal producer to emulate. Adding to the scale of Sandwell District’s task is the fact that they are reworking “I Believe,” the Burdens’ first release, a piece of music that along with UR’s “Yolanda” defines a brief, wide-eyed moment in time when deep techno and vocal house sat together comfortably. Lisa Newberry’s breathless vocals capture this sense of innocence — an element Regis and Function’s version thankfully preserves. There’s not much else left from the original, with a shuffling rhythm track replacing the stop-start crisp beats, and murky, industrial textures replacing wonder with a sense of foreboding. It is through this dense atmospheric prism that Newberry’s vocals are audible: muffled though they may be, they still manage to remind the listener, now attuned to a gloomier narrative, of the positive movement that birthed techno. Brikha’s subject material is less onerous or problematic, as he is faced with a textbook Octave One track: “Daystar Rising” was originally released in 1998, when the brothers had reached the height of their creativity and popularity. In its original form, it’s one of their typically seductive techno rhythm tracks augmented by a distinctive bass stab. Brikha adds some grimy acid to the arrangement, along with chords characterized by a more mysterious edge than is his wont. Unusually for the Swedish producer, the end result is a leaner, meaner and moodier interpretation of dance floor techno. However, while both remixes are notable for altering the mood of the Burdens’ original compositions, it is unlikely that they will be feted as game-changing remixes.