Advertisement
Railyard Recordings chief Sean Palm has been around for a long time, a mainstay in the New York underground scene always hovering around greatness. Palm's Days On End album last year finally established him as one of North America's emerging techno superstars with a post-minimal sound that wasn't necessarily reliant on what was hot in Europe. Instead he focused on what his label's been doing best for the past five years- focusing on abstract territory such as mood, texture, and color. The kinds of things that Brian Eno once theorized about and gifted sound engineers now achieve through control of tone, duration, intensity, and dynamic. Palm extends that notion on this release by inviting two of his pals over to remix three tracks from the album, two emerging producers - Evan Marc and Kilo Watts - who have also proven to be incredibly skilled sound technicians for labels like Thoughtless Music and Mothership.
Evan Marc tackles "Green Matrix" with a restrained approach that incorporates elements of his chillout work as Bluetech and his dub techno experiments with Gong's Steve Hillage. There is also a strong tribal undercurrent driving the track beneath all of the lush melodies Marc applies and that gives it that connection to Railyard - a label that has stayed true to its house music roots.
James Watts (AKA Kilo Watts) definitely turned some heads as one half of Voodeux and is poised to become America's next breakout star like Palm. He gets the opportunity to remix two tracks on the EP and offers up some intricate, diverse, and interesting interpretations. "Sightings" opens as a muted techno piece with minimal construction but evolves into a breezy breakbeat cut saturated with myriad tones cutting across the frequencies anchored by a hard snare drum for a clubby, electro feel. "10 Years Later", on the other hand, could only be considered clubby on Neptune or some other spot in deep space. Heavy duty late night influence give way to the kinds of dramatic pause and sultry after hours swaying that b-side cuts like this demonstrate to perfection.
| Artist: Sean Palm Title: Days Of End Remixes Label: Railyard Recordings Tracklist www.myspace.com/seanpalm Our Rating: 7/10 |
![]() |