- "Bones," the leadoff single from their forthcoming full-length, Institute of Joy, sees London's A Mountain of One increasingly leaving behind the guise of an electronic studio project and growing into a full-fledged psych-rock band. Although they're often tagged as "balearic," it'd be a mistake to expect the sort of beachy, sun-dappled psychedelic drift you find in Studio or Prins Thomas. Here the term indicates a broadly trippy, elemental expansiveness. To whit, "Bones" has nothing to do with getting high by the seaside. Rather it sounds like it's playing on AM radio in some pick-up truck driving at dusk towards a brewing storm, a haunting metaphysical lament laced with the sort of rural mystic portent best exemplified by Byrds singer Gene Clark's classic solo album No Other. Equally melodic and spacey, "Bones" displays songwriting talents well-matched by production prowess—note the synthy flourishes and gospel incantations that recall Leonard Cohen, whose own Talmudic "Who By Fire?" gets covered on the full-length.
The remixes here show A Mountain of One's undiminished affinity for bugged-out DJ tunes, reminding that "cosmic" can be used to refer to rock and dance (recall in this context cosmic pioneer Danielle Baldelli's recent indignant mix title, "Cosmic Disco?! Cosmic Rock!!"). First up, half of Rub-N-Tug Thomas Bullock appears as Way of the Ancients, not really remixing the tune but rather stripping the syncopated drum track down to a dancier tribal stomp, and leaving the rest intact. While this remix may disappoint those expecting a more audacious mutation, the tune is atmospheric and catchy enough you can listen to the original and this version back-to-back and it sounds just like an extended megamix.
Then Whatever We Want's House of House turn in the kind of completely rewritten club-banger you'd expect them to. Assembled with what sounds like leftover bits from their own smash "Rushing to Paradise (Walkin' These Streets)," and retaining a similar sense of drawn-out, large-scale dynamics, it aims for a peak-time lose-your-shit steamroll intensity that it nails for the most part, weaving between gospel-vocal exclamations and driving house grooves. From this it's clear that House of House have got a production style down to a formula. Given the promise of this mix and "Rushing to Paradise," there's good reason to expect future achievements. Likewise, the knock-out punch of "Bones," although musically ominous, bodes more than well for A Mountain of One, who seem to have plenty more cosmic territory to explore.
Tracklist A1 Bones (Original)
A2 Bones (Way Of The Ancients Remix)
B1 Bones (House Of House Remix)