- Wisconsin's Chants is one of the many excellent producers brought to light by Astral Plane Recordings. He's another young artist who treats dance music genres like ingredients for a larger, more experimental recipe. The free The Zookeeper: Remixed EP highlights the best parts of his label debut, compiling an improved version of an original track, plus remixes from a label stalwart and two new names.
SHALT is Astral Plane's MVP so far, and his remix of "Crushed Lollipop" lives up to everything else he's done. Staggered like classic dubstep, it's loaded with metallic textures and a quivering melody that makes it one of SHALT's most inviting productions. The "VIP" version of "Crushed Lollipop" is more straightforward, with sprinting drums that bring to mind Logos's Cold Mission as it skips from one passage to the next.
No Pain In Pop associate Sim Hutchins twists "Susurrus," the name of two short interludes on the original EP, into a cloud of growling distortion. It's less exciting than the other versions, but it's still an interesting piece of sound design. Liquid City Motors, a promising newcomer also from Wisconsin, comes out on top. He turns "Silencer Magpie" into a killer jungle workout, salvaging the original's fantastic bassline. There's a gleam of futurism in its stunning half-time breakdown, where rhythm smokes and smoulders like molten metal.
Tracklist01. Crushed Lollipop (SHALT Remix)
02. Silencer Magpie (Liquid City Motors Remix)
03. Crushed Lollipop VIP
04. Susurrus (Sim Hutchins Remix)