- After Peter Van Hoesen's "Irational X" and Exercise One's aptly titled "Snakepit" last year, I had figured Exone would mostly be staying in that steely vein, especially when I saw the title "Knife Fight." Here we go, I figured, but when it came on it cured that thought for good. Exone is Exercise One's label, after all, and they're highly adaptable. And Justin Nabbs gives them plenty to work with. "Knife Fight" starts out foreboding—shadow-blob bass, far-off synth spookiness—but is slowly overwhelmed by a lovely, bell-like electric piano. With that touch alone, the groove opens up into a different realm entirely; it feels open and playful rather than dark. Quite a turnaround, and quite a tune.
The bosses give "Knife Fight" a jigger of tonic—the beat is slightly faster, the kick drum slightly bouncier, the bass more toned, like it hit the gym. But if the remix smoothes out the textured loveliness of the original into something a little more Plasticene, Exercise One compensate by treating those pretty keyboards to judicious delay that makes them even more blissed out, and then continuing to build new tensions into every succeeding minute.
Tracklist01. Knife Fight
02. Pillow Fight
03. Knife Fight Exercise One remix