[Playhouse]

Simon Baker and Todd Terje aren’t the most easily anticipated combination. Baker’s big room tech-house anthem, “Plastik,” walked a fine line last year: it combined accessibility with a certain square-shouldered aggression that made it better than it should have been. Unsurprisingly, Terje ups the funk quotient on his remix, but in remaking “Plastik” he’s succeeded in making it his own without jettisoning too much of the original. Instead of different parts sutured together with all the elegance of Frankenstein’s monster, something surprisingly svelte has emerged from the lab.

Terje’s version is slowed down, lengthened, and drawn forward by a much more loosey-goosey style of percussion than the original. His “Türkatech” incarnation makes room for a jangling, guitarish sort of instrument to play off the original’s synths, but stops short of turning it into meandering disco-funk. Terje’s remix should retain the proselytizing appeal of the original, and this remix might just go down fine on the same dance floors that received the original so hospitably. Unfortunately, therein lies the problem. “Plastik” was digestible and enjoyable, but ultimately ever so slightly bland. Though he’s hit the nail on the head by preserving the easy charm of the original in this new mix, Terje has fallen into the same trap that Baker did. It’s not just a deft touch that’s needed to make a great track, but the inclusion of some challenging, revealing measure of personality, too. This is the reason why one of the most intriguing production combinations in a short while has failed to produce the fascinating result it might have.