[Scion A/V Remix] (download)

Todd Edwards hasn’t exactly been dormant over the years, but if there was ever a time for one of the leading proponents of what became U.K. garage to reassert their status then it is certainly now. With many dubstep/leftfield producers drawing on their early U.K. garage records for inspiration, Edwards is well positioned to capitalize on these increasingly mutating genres. His latest release is the first of many we will hear from the producer this year, and it arrives courtesy of the automobile company-backed Scion A/V Remix label. Their vision (or particular brand of marketing strategy depending on how cynical you are) is to pair legendary artists with some of today’s hottest producers.

“I Might Be” is filled with Edwards’ characteristically contagious euphoria, which in so many other’s hands would simply be vigorously cheesy. With the help of the much maligned Auto-Tune, Edwards weaves a pop-vocal flecked with positive tones, saving the chorus for one of the cut up pastiches that has helped epitomize his sound. He deftly applies the same treatment to the main melody of the track, a backwards sounding orchestral arrangement, while the bass line is as bouncy and pert as the lyrics themselves. Edwards laces the track with microscopic details, some of which you only pick up after hearing it a dozen times or more, with more seemingly appearing on each listen. His ability to make an overtly sunny, Auto-Tuned vocal track sound so damned good shouldn’t go without mention too.

An obvious choice to head up a remix, Joy Orbison perfectly displays those links between Edwards’ sound and how it has shaped and influenced modern U.K. dance music. Adopting a 4/4 approach to the remix and keeping the vocal mostly unchanged, the differences shine through in the more soothing chord arrangements Joy Orbison employs, the smoked out, subtle bass turns and graceful string touches. An older bastion of UK garage appears as well, MJ Cole reaffirming why his was the name to have gracing your credits as a remixer. Scrapping the majority of the lyrics, Cole works instead with scraps of the original samples, twisting and reshaping in much the same way that Edwards himself might do. He lays this out over an idiosyncratic, syncopated 2-step beat and a bedrock of soft, velveteen bass. The last two remixes show just why you shouldn’t entrust your lovingly crafted songs to a car company. Ed Banger’s FEADZ turn is everything you’d expect from the French electro house producer and consequently I doubt of any interest to LWE readers, while My Dear Disco’s brash, painful take could quite feasibly pop up on commercial radio in Saturday night mega-mixes real soon. Normally I would say that these tracks mar an otherwise excellent release, but as I Might Be is in download-only format, it’s simple enough to just pass them by.