- The best bits of Douglas Greed's KRL album last year—and there were some really good bits—were all about songwriting. You might expect the remix package to hew closer to Freude Am Tanzen's usual tech house sound: lots of character but relatively straight. This is demonstrated by the names here, if nothing else, which are gathered from similar labels. (Kumpel, incidentally, means "buddy"). Nonetheless, it's still disappointing to hear how much these depart from Greed's original style. A number of them lack development, even as functional dance music.
Clara Moto's offering has a silky, modern-sounding keyboard that riffs under an abraded vocal. Despite the tension that should exist between these two things on paper, it starts fairly unexciting, and stays that way. The vocals from "Shiver" are, potentially, a springboard for a smouldering builder. Juno6's remix instead straps them to a rollicking electro grind of a backing track in an entirely inappropriate way. Ruede Hagelstein's and Mollono Bass' remixes, in contrast, remind us that remixes often work best when the emotions of the source material are honored. Hagelstein's is more delicate and airy, but both are serious pieces of work. Marek Hemmann, meanwhile, provides a respectful club interpretation of the lovely "Down Here," perfect for fans of Ellen Allien and Apparat's "Jet" and the like. Again, though, it's one adventurous arrangement away from being fantastic.
Patrick Pulsinger's remix of the same is more like it. It runs with the vocal line, it's accessible but with some quirky programming touches, and it goes somewhere. It doesn't steal the show or anything, but it points to what could have been a wonderful remix package.
Tracklist A1 Douglas Greed & Pascal Bideau - Down Here (Marek Hemmann Remix)
A2 Douglas Greed feat. Delhia De France - Shiver (Juno 6 Remix)
B1 Douglas Greed feat. Delhia De France - Shiver (Ruede Hagelstein Remix)
B2 Douglas Greed feat. Delhia De France - Shiver (Mollono.Bass remix)
Digital: Douglas Greed & Pascal Bideau - Down Here (Patrick Pulsinger Remix)