- After a string of singles for ear-catching labels like Balihu and Rush Hour, Massimiliano Pagliara's debut full-length, Focus for Infinity, wiggled into Live At Robert Johnson's lightheartedly sophisticated party earlier this summer with great confidence, abounding with just the sort of slinky grooves, fat synth noodling and quietly epic story arc that has come to define the label's sound. If the underground discos of the '70s and early '80s were Pagliara's touchstones on the album, then the remixes the label has assembled for this excellent 12-inch refashion their glamour for the decades of dance music that followed.
Tuff City Kids, the veteran remix guise of Running Back's Gerd Janson and Arto Mwambe co-mastermind Philip Lauer, turn in a pretty straightforward bomb, reworking "A Wrong Chance" into a fast-paced roller with subtle acid touches and Lauer's favorite synth patch. Playing catch with the melody, the Kids make the original almost unrecognizable amidst the muscular stomp. Their included "Acid Bonus Riddim" need not downplay itself: dark and driving, it's a totally worthy second look from this duo. B.H.F.V., another Arto Mwambe-related duo who recently slayed with a 12-inch on LARJ, brings "In Order Of More Depth" right up to the present, slowly building up tension with nine-and-a-half minutes of sublimely deconstructed electro. Even for a label whose excellence has become something of a given, this first round of remixes adds up to something exceptional.
Tracklist 01. A Wrong Chance (Tuff City Kids Remix)
02. A Wrong Chance (Tuff City Kids Acid Bonus Riddim)
03. In Order Of More Depth (B H F V Remix)