Braiden - The Alps

  • Share
  • Apparently it's not enough for Joy Orbison to be an excellent producer and DJ. Now he's got to conquer A&R. Based on "The Alps," the new 12-inch from London photographer and DJ Steve Braiden on Orbison's own Doldrums imprint, he's on his way. Orbison opened his set at this year's Sonar Festival with it, as Mary Anne Hobbs explained when she debuted it on-air over the summer, and time has only sharpened the track's appeal. Braiden puts a lot into this one track, and it keeps unfolding with every listen. Each element—the stammering vocal samples, the gradually arcing keyboard tones ranging from dry-ice-on-sheet-metal to far-off-siren, bass that's enormous without bludgeoning you—occupies the track comfortably. One highlight among many: the first time a playfully menacing tweak of house's hidebound deep distorted spoken vocal style is answered with a young man taunting, "I'm a wolf!" It's a hook—but not the only one. Naturally, a track that practically screams 2010 is backed by a remix that goes back a little bit. Kassem Mosse's version is raw, loose, and dirty—a glorious retake that's far more straight-ahead than the A but makes just as solid an impact. Here, the beat jacks—as in jackhammer. The frantic feel of the percussion and keyboard overlays reach payoff when a handful of vocals, all seemingly unrelated, suddenly converge about two-thirds in, and kick the heat up further.
  • Tracklist
      A The Alps B The Alps (Kassem Mosse Remix)
RA