- There's something inherently rootless in an EP made up exclusively of remixes, but there's something noble in it too. Is there a word, maybe in Japanese, for the act of deferring so fully as to achieve, without necessarily meaning to, a state of complete self-erasure? Either way, Grovskopa—a Swedish producer named Mika Hallbäck—is present in this extrapolation on his Make Tomorrow EP from 2009, even if his source material has been given a serious rework. The Saga remix of "Skin" (mercifully no longer called "Skinstrumental," as it was on Grovskopa's record) takes what was a pretty light and mysterious track and makes it much heavier, with over-driven gristle on the edges that does much better than the addition of ethereal female vocals.
JR Seaton's take on the same track speeds it up, grafts on some clacky snares, and, apropos very little, adds what sounds like some snaky clarinet. "Atopic" gets similar overhaul treatment twice: by Delta Funktionen, who takes it deep and dials down the original's breakbeat roll, and by Skallander, who enlists guitar and vocals in what sounds like a murky memory of goth pulled through fleeting impressions of bleepy old Warp records and, regrettably, new age.
Tracklist A1 Skin (Saga Remix)
A2 Skin (JR Seaton Remix)
B1 Atopic (Delta Funktionen Remix)
B2 Atopic (Skallander Remix)