Ellen Allien drafts in Alan Oldham, Eomac, Amotik, and XDB to rework ‘Nost’

ReviewsReviews

Artist: Ellen Allien
Title: Nost RMXS 3 EP
Label: BPitch Control
Cat No: BCP334
Release Date: 28th February 2018
Genre: Techno

Ok so seeing the 4 top notch cats Ellen Allien has summoned for remix duties I’m pretty excited to hear this. We’ve got Detroit legend, Alan Oldman, one of my personal favorites and one half of Lakker, Ireland’s (Ian) Eomac, somewhat newcomer, but rightly counted amongst some of today’s best, Amotik, and rounding it off nicely is the modern stalwart, XDB.

Related

Oldman’s laid out a proper tech-house banger here for his remix of ‘Jack That Ass’. It drops straight into stabbing fuzzy keys, a fat kick, and eerie scratching percussion. The sample bellows out ’Jack That Ass’, as a sharp hat and a smooth ride slide in and provide the track with a nice touch of swing. I can’t help but think that if Beltram and Pooley had a love child in around 95 it’d sound a little something like this. The formula remains pretty well the same for the duration of the track, working a wide looping tension nicely with a cool, slightly distorted, acid line that replaces the fuzzy stabs for the last minute of the track… at 7 minutes long I feel like it’s made its point in 4, but those extra few minutes can make for some fun mixing.

Eomac is up next with his take on ‘Mind Trip’ and, well…I really really like this remix. It’s deep, haunting and emotionally provocative and is running at maybe 122bpm. Pure sloth-tech. A bouncing broken beat dances elegantly with loose and confused piano notes. A series of ethereal synths break upon you wave after wave, drenching you multiple textures and flavors of another world. The twisted effects on the vocal and generally the way he’s used it is brilliant, sounding like possessed voices trying to draw you into some black, latex abyss. The delicate touch of the percussion. Yep, Eomac gets the meat tray folks.

Kick and spooky sample drop as one, as Amotik works us into his remix of ‘Mind Trip’. Now if your looking for the kind of huge, synth-driven monster that Amotik seems to pump out effortlessly you’re gonna be going home somewhat empty-handed. It’s more akin to his track ‘Bias’ off his recent release on his own label, with a little synth work. A fatter kick but it’s that same naggy, tapping, tension building exercise, while the sample repeatedly informs you what the track isn’t. Feeling a little underwhelmed at this point a thin veil of synth saves the track for me. Adding a much-needed depth and space to the piece. Not his best work but all in all a solid track. And if for nothing else it’s great to hear him start to flex in different directions. Not that I’m not a fan of his well-known formula; it’s just predictable.

Ahh XDB is sounding sweet right from the outset as he brings us home with his remix of ‘Call Me’. A deep, sublime, housey grove keeps growing and growing. So many slight but effective funky elements disappear and are quickly replaced by yet even funkier elements while maintaining a consistently funky groove. Have I mentioned it’s quite funky? Acidic synth lines parachute down draping you in its wonder while the funk continues to work its way through everything in its path, with a contented sense of understated strength and pride. He’s really put some time into this; I’d love to hear this on a proper system.

As hoped, a really solid collection of various weapons.

Tracklist:
01. Ellen Allien – Jack My Ass (Alan Oldham Remix)
02. Ellen Allien – Mind Journey (Eomac Remix)
03. Ellen Allien – Mind Journey (Amotik Remix)
04. Ellen Allien – Call Me (XDB Remix)


Discover more from Decoded Magazine

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

About the Author

Growing up in Melbourne Matt’s introduction to electronic music happened during the legendary rave scene erupting in the warehouses of Melbourne’s industrial West. Matt grew up on all the classics, Carl Cox’s 'F.A.C.T', Laurent Garnier’s ‘Laboratoire’ mix, and of course all the Reactivates and early K7 mixes. During the winter of 1995, Derrick May & Stacey Pullen introduced Matt to Detroit techno, and that was that. Soon after Jeff Mills released ‘Live at The Liquid Room’ and Matt already all consuming interest in deejaying and techno exploded. Fast forward 20 plus years and Matt is still obsessed with electronic music, records and deejaying. Now a resident for the flagship Australian techno label, Nightime Drama, Matt has played alongside some of the biggest names in techno including Jeff Mills, Luke Slater, Derrick May, DJ Bone, Dasha Rush, Kangding Ray, and many more.