Time and space are the two essential elements of a Radio Slave remix, and this 3CD compendium, with a mere 22 examples of his craft, shows how he can achieve a depth and breadth rarely found in house music. It takes a daring musical brain indeed to spread minimal elements of sound over 10 minutes or so, as he often does, but somehow there is always an atmosphere laid down, a feeling evoked, or the sense of a wide open area. CD1 includes the famous take on Mlle Caro & Franck Garcia’s ‘Dead Souls’, as well as Slam’s ‘Azure’ and Trentemøller’s ‘Moan’. The second disc is noticeably quicker, with Yam Who?’s ‘Go Bang’ showing a clear debt to disco as it lets itself go. Disc three concentrates on the spacier offerings, and Le Noir’s ‘Eleny’ and Jamie Anderson’s ‘Time is Now’ get a wonderful effect of two speeds, fast and slow, operating in tandem – the short and low violin sound providing the sense of movement for Le Noir, with some minimalist keyboard loops for Anderson. Many of these remixes are exquisitely crafted, paced to perfection, and show just what can be achieved in an aspect of music where the quality control is not always as high as it should be.
5 out of 5
Reviewed By Ben Hogwood
