Dunkeltier is part of that cohort looking to bring these three minute gems out of themselves, to give them a bit of extra wiggle room, maybe some extra engine power and let them reach a wider audience.
I’ve never really went in for edits, and to be honest the craze does seem to have died. Few years back ya couldn’t get into a record store for Disco reboots, House had a far few as well. But they all felt very flash in the pan, and most of them were. But there is the place for the edit. No-one wants over-heard, over-played and over-stretched classics; but a reworking of some obscurity can be interesting. This philosophy has been at the backbone of Macadam Mambo. Alongside contemporary Chicago have come a range of re-interpretations by the likes of Traxx and Albion. Now Dunkeltier aka Sneaker aka Thomas Smoerk of Uncanny Valley fame is setting up his musical reshape stall, Dunkeltier Rising.
EBM and Synth are the focus of this four tracker and the artists being honored range from total unknowns to respected pioneers. Kozmonaut’s 1986 track “The Mann” is up first. This gem languished in obscurity following the premature death of its composer shortly after the original release. The Dresden man keeps the heart and soul of the track, the driving percussion, lilting harmonies and stern vocals whilst allowing some good room for the Dj minded. Belgium’s Absolute Body Control are up next, this time one of their shortest tracks is under the Dresden man’s inspection. “Tanzmusik” originally came in at just under 1 minute 30 seconds but has been revived into a ix minute crunching piece of pound and thump. Serrating claps are strewn with bleep as drills bore the floor. Tempos are lowered for the flip. EM are the fount as Smoerk delivers a smooth and sinister take on “Saturday Night.” The last installment, “Dey” is probably the most familiar to ears, bpms are lowered for a smouldering re-make. Figured out who it is yet?
I think the reason edits generally got up my goat (Irish for annoyed me) was that they pandered to the crowd. What I mean is they were usually just poor re-jigs of well known tracks extended for the Dj to get in an out. This new broach into re-tooling Wave, arguably popularized by Mick Wills and Traxx, I do like. For whatever reason over the last ten years there has been a serious resurgence in the importance of the DJ and the number of people listening to mixes has rocketed. But DJ’ing, vinyl DJ’ing, does have some limitations. Some styles are very difficult to mix, Synth Wave being case in point. Short grainy tracks that burst with emotion before skulking into the groove. Not exactly perfect for mixing. Dunkeltier is part of that cohort looking to bring these three minute gems out of themselves, to give them a bit of extra wiggle room, maybe some extra engine power and let them reach a wider audience.
Dunkeltier Rising is available on Macadam Mambo.
