| Pedro’s debut album, released last year, combined (take a deep breath) warm lavish instruments with ambient beats, two step rhythms, and jazz leanings all with an undercurrent of hip hop sensibility that helped create a unique electronic soundscape. So for his first remix album the London based Pedro, aka James Ruthledge, has managed to gather together an equally diverse host of producers including Prefuse 73, Danger Mouse and Kieran Hebden better known as Four Tet. So with such names aboard the seven versions of "Fear & Resilience" presented here are an, understandably, varied batch. The original version meshed together a steady hip-hop drum beat with snatches of orchestral arrangement whilst ambient noises, loops and beats jostled in the background, and Prefuse 73, who opens things up, sticks close to the original format. Straightening out the track, he more or less keeps the drum beat of the original but now extends the other instruments' roles using them to create loops, rhythm, and beats, adding weight to the tune. Hip-hop producer Cherrystones meanwhile cast a dark shadow over proceedings with a slice of menacing trip-hop. Playing around with samples, he lets guitar chords jostle alongside lighter computer noises whilst backed by a rumbling drumbeat. So that the overall feeling is Bond theme gone underground, creating a dark and winding tune whose backward loops may not reveal messages from the devil but still manages to put anti-freeze in the blood. Still riding high thanks to The Grey Album Danger Mouse manages to produce possibly the best cut on the album, like Prefuse 73 he twists the original just enough to shape the tune into a head nodding experience along the way showing a surprisingly gentle touch to the work. Whilst the other mixers are happy to add to the original, Home Skillet seems to have decided to cut it up, throw it in the air and grab at what ever falls down. Seemingly a collection of random sounds, including what sounds like a cat yawning, actually begin to work together and against one another creating a strangely warped but none the less interesting track. The album rounds off on the mini-epic Fourtet track, that at 21 minutes could probably be released as an album by itself. As you’d expect from a Four Tet track it's an abstract piece of work, that one minute arranges itself into a slight, electronic influenced folk track before breaking down, only to emerge as a swirl of free form jazz that dissolves in a hail of saxophones. The sound of Kieran Hebden given the chance to experiment with sound creates something that at times may be difficult to listen but at others it offers a fascinating insight into the landscape of modern electronic music. So although given the same song, the remixers have all risen to the challenge and presented seven tracks that should cater for anyone’s tastes no matter who, it's now just a question of which one’s your favorite. - To Hell With It |
1XEP/Out Of Print