- King Deluxe is a label (sorta) based in a remote part of British Columbia releasing music from artists all over the world. A look over their roster isn't likely to garner much recognition, but that's one of their strengths, constantly digging up unexpected nuggets of talent like Fancy Mike and Muta that don't get much exposure otherwise. Only a year into being and the label's embarked upon an ambitious compilation project, mixing exclusive new tracks and label highlights and commissioning remixes and reworks by other King Deluxe associated artists. The result is fragmented and kaleidoscopic, a vision of post-everything electronic music that can be as inspiring as it is overwhelming.
The first sound is King Deluxe's most confrontational, the stylistic industrial-strength blender of Colorado producer Muta. (Really: his perpetually contorting music sounds like it's being put through a blender.) "Carousel" is given a heavily compressed once-over by Australian 8bit wunderkind Option Command, whose own gorgeously quashed "Polybell Strategy" is later roughed-up by Muta. Fancy Mike's "Cartoon Pornography" is rendered by a live jazz group and Milch of Source's spacey "Galaxy Train 2999" is covered in fine '80s style by Mitch Murder, so it's not all straight remix-for-remix either. The staggered sequencing (original/remix/original/remix) makes for a rather rocky listening experience, but by design the compilation seems ripe for personal cherry-picking.
There are too many highlights to mention everyone needed, but a few unknown names deserve special mention. Bristol producer Vaetxh's "Mass" is an easy standout, a crumbling mess of crunchy pixels rendered with an exactitude that makes most glitch-hop look simple, while Aleph's "Sulfozinum" is a gorgeous slice of turbulent Teebsian hip-hop that's subsequently slapped around by underrated Danish producer Zack Christ. Not-so-unknown Bristolian I.D. appears here with his contribution to the label's ambitious 2999 multimedia project "Aether," a light-footed dubstep track full of whooshing chords and dub techno accents, like Sepalcure welded to a more metallic foundation.
Chances are not everything on the two-hour compilation is going to satisfy any one person's tastes, but it's not meant to. At the least, Year One is like a manifesto for a fledgling label that deserves more recognition, and it's bound to rope new listeners and fans in with at least a few of its tracks. I'm a textbook case: even having followed the label for most of its existence, seeing its deceptively expansive efforts compiled into one package has given me a new respect for King Deluxe, and a new hunger to dig into its already considerable back catalog. Give Year One a chance: it just might do the same for you.
TracklistCD 1
01. Muta - Carousel
02. Muta - Carousel (Option Command's Flying Horses Remix)
03. Alphabets Heaven - Woman (Alessi's Ark)
04. Alphabets Heaven - Woman (Ghost Mutt Merix)
05. Fancy Mike - Cartoon Pornography feat. DAM!BEER
06. Kingston Jazz Trio - Cartoon Pornography
07. Milch of Source feat. EeL - Galaxy Train 2999
08. Mitch Murder feat. EeL- Galaxy Train 1989
09. Option Command - Polybell Strategy
10. Option Command - Polybell Strategy (Muta's Midoriyama Best)
11. Longwalkshortdock - You Berg (2999 Version)
12. Longwalkshortdock - You Berg (Alphabets Heaven Shino Mix)
CD 2
01. ID - Aether
02. ID - Aether (Subp Yao Erebus Remix)
03. Aleph - Sulfozinum
04. Sulfozinum (Smashup Overdrive by Zack Christ)
05. El Haijn - Out of the Unknown
06. El Haijn - Came from the Uknown (Cubism Black Remix)
07. Vaetxh - Mass
08. Vaetxh - Mass (Calvin Cardioid's 92% Analog Remix)
09. Acre - Interstellar Blackspot
10. Acre - Interstellar Blackspot (Danaet recode)
11. Titus Twelve - The Great Escape
12. Titus Twelve - The Great Escape (FIRST AID's Dead-End Remix)
13. Fancy Mike - Superman (Sipp's Addition)