- Unkle has found a new home and a new family with Global Underground. As GU has picked up Never Never Land for an American release, they have taken one step closer to building an impressive library of original material. Picking up James Lavelle and company with their cinematic soundscapes fits the GU way of thinking – Epic dance music that’s never cheesy, but still very classy and for this first set of remixes for Reign, the Box family commissioned remix duties from Way Out West and Evil 9.
With the introductions of aura and space, you’d think that Way Out West recreated the track as an ambient number. Building a crescendo of classic strings along with Ian’s vocals lifts the track even before it really begins. For the first two solid minutes, you hear beat-less ripples that drifts calmly through the waters until the frame spins upside down. Soon enough, the rhythm enters and the added hymns that are placed give this piece a tribal feel. The ambient tones works incredibly well and it would be wise for an ambient mix to be created as it would be a fitting mix for late-nite and contemporary adult radio stations.
Evil 9 takes us into the world of breakbeat. The mix is very similar to the original and it feels more of an edit. Stretching the pacing and slowing the strings just a bit, the mix never really show why it’s ‘evil.’ Though the breakbeat is harder and more adapt for the club environment, it doesn’t necessarily relate to the fact that it will work. The mix never really moves anywhere and your left feeling a bit stiff. Unlike Way Out West’s mix, there was something that catches the listener’s attention; giving you something to focus on. Evil 9’s doesn’t have anything that and it gets stale quite early because of it.
A symphonic aerial view from WoW reminds us that trance elements can still be used to enhance our experiences instead of diluting it, while Evil 9’s breakbeat rolls, letting you wait for the end. A great single that doesn’t shine as well as it could have been.