- Meant Records comes from Paris, and it often sounds like it: their releases are typically rooted in a spongy terrain that's particular to the city upon the Seine, a squishy mixture of darkly pulsing techno, analog electro and darkly voguish dance punk. (Unsurprisingly, label co-founder Siskid is a former collaborator of Black Strobe.) Their sound slots comfortably between Danton Eeprom, Ivan Smagghe, Chloe, Krikor and Tim Paris—which makes sense, as the latter three have all done remixes for the label.
"Ralph" finds Remain, the label's other co-founder, trying his hand at a fusion of restrained techno and goth/EBM atmospheres, with a two-note, minor-key bassline, suspenseful vocal chops and glancing, metallic FM synths. It's not entirely successful; the clangs and squawks give it a slightly awkward, almost logey feel—stumbling where it wants to stomp, stomping where it should barrel forward. The slower "Digression" actually has more energy, stringing itself out along a low-end throb suggestive of plucked electric bass, with a bashy disco rhythm and lavishly filtered synthesizers. With echoes of LCD Soundsystem, Simian Mobile Disco and White Light Circus, it's a satisfyingly monotonic throb.
Ewan Pearson's remix of "Ralph" begins with some spooky reverb squeals and a more limber drum beat; dubby chords and plangent synths give the track more room to breathe, but it's still slightly hamstrung by that toggling, minor-key progression. Pan/Tone's remix of "Digression," bearing scant resemblance to its source, is a driving, uptempo number that tries, in Cobblestone Jazz fashion, to combine peaktime energy with a sense of psychedelic drift, and it succeeds, with a splotchy, casually frenetic way of daubing on chords reminiscent of Thomas Brinkmann.
Finally, Krikor and Chloe team up as Plein Soleil; their remix of "Digression" stays true to the original's tempo and blippy palette, but they draw out an unexpectedly playful thread, emphasizing country-ish twang and a bouncing, gliding lead of their own design—goth at its most good-natured.
Tracklist 01. Ralph
02. Digression
03. Ralph (Ewan Pearson remix)
04. Digression (Pan/Tone Remix)
05. Digression (Plein Soleil remix)