zakè :: Selected Remixes (Zakè Drone)

Selected Remixes reflects Zach Frizzell’s collaborative ethos and transformative ear, reworking tracks from across the ambient and experimental spectrum. With his signature analog warmth, chthonic textures, and spectral drift, zakè reshapes source material into a cohesive suite of deep-listening reinterpretations that reveal his intuitive sonic alchemy.

Transformative sonic alchemy

Analog drone a la zakè is based on open communication and constructive interaction. Long-time advocate of sharing in the act of creation, Zach Frizzell embraces any occasion to work with kindred spirits’ sounds, and Selected Remixes evinces collaborative credentials with a set of rethinks of sources from glitch-pop to post-rock to long-form ambient; his curation leaves traces of his signature style from an extensive catalog: chthonic rumble, haunted orchestrals and swathes of analog hiss’n’crackle.

A reshape of Benoit Pioulard’s “Xaipe” becomes a moving requiem, main loop overlaid in a subtly affecting temporal and melodic distortion, field grain and stringy sighs folded in. James Bernard‘s alien transmissions on “II.VII [omnisphere -> glut]” are funneled into a sweeping kinetic chamber, potential eruption dissipating into fine analog mist. Closest to zakè’s own sensibilities, the sprawl of Pausal‘s “Nicotiana” is re-modeled into a brief luminously harmonic take and a lengthy “Nicotiana Suite,” a conducive affordance structure for deep listening. And the The American Dollar‘s anthemic post-rock guitars are dilated into drone with flitting keyboard motifs, while retaining all the widescreen resonance of “Second Sight.”

At its center long-time Past Inside The Present colluders, Dawn Chorus & the Infallible Sea, Celer and City of Dawn, are successively reimagined through copious haze and drift, offset by chthonic rumble and spectral reverberations. After this Inquiri’s “They Come Around” has its essential melancholy wrung out by zakè’s re-focus on its plucked guitar line and angelic vocals. Then Matsu’s “Desviación” is re-versioned foregoing the original’s pulse‘n’swing for rich interior shifting tonal fields, making for a kind of BoC interlude replicant. Closing with microcosmic re-visions of Karen Vogt & Rodrigo Stradiotto’s “Noctilucent” and the cleansing majesty of Drum & Lace’s “per:me:ate,” zakè clinches a fine exhibit of his respect for his associates’ craft and knack for individuating a work’s key elements for it to be made his own. Selected Remixes makes for a cohesive overview highlighting the artist’s intuitive grasp of transformative sonic alchemy.

Selected Remixes is available on Zakè Drone [Bandcamp]