- The two remixes here may get the bulk of the attention, but sleep on Special Case's two original tracks at your peril. Pride of Leeds and Hot Creations star, Robert James, turns in a wild-eyed reworking of "Aurum" that's an exercise in tech paranoia, minor keys slinking out of the shadows and launching an attack with stiletto-sharp precision. The original, however, mutates from dubby, whooshing house into dirty, jackhammer techiness with discofied flourishes.
In original form, "Roundabout" has the air of an early hours cruise around deserted St Petersburg streets. (Special Case is a trio of Russian DJs: Roustam, Tripmastaz and Arram Mantana.) An uncomplicated four-beat bassline thuds underneath as chattering female voices vie for your attention and melancholic pads stumble in and out. "Roundabout" gets an understated but epic reimagining from Romanian producer, Petre Inspirescu. How epic? Try 15 minutes of winding, galloping, widescreen techno. Full of fluttering synths and sci-fi intruder alarms, it speeds up and slows down like an Olympic track cycling race.
Tracklist A1 Aurum
A2 Aurum (Robert James Remix)
B Roundabout (Pedro Remix)
Digital: Roundabout