- Synkro's "Look At Yourself" was cast in the Phaeleh mould, all silky R&B vocal samples and 2-step rhythms set in wispy sonic fields. For his remix, the first side of a split 12-inch for the Mindset label, Djrum is nothing if not ambitious. He balances pitched-up vocals with fattened low-end. Jazz and trip-hop influence his widened sound palette and the result is intriguing, with a noodly if nevertheless enjoyable sax passage, plaintive strings and new vocals. At 11 minutes, the track could do with some trimming, but it's certainly one of the better-executed post-dubstep remixes of late.
The B-side is less successful. ASC reworks Szare's appropriately titled "Leaning Towers Of Concrete" into a techno track. Where the original's great slabs of bass and eerie spaces recalled Shackleton, ASC favours more overtly creepy, greyscale textures and propulsive rhythm. It's a record of two halves; DJRUM's remix makes the Synkro track a good deal more enigmatic, but on his Szare remix, ASC strips the mystery away.
Tracklist A Synkro - Look At Yourself (Djrum Remix)
AA Szare - Leaning Towers Of Concrete (ASC Remix)