- Crosstown Rebels and Scuba are polarising figures: both have ascended from the underground to the big leagues, and success has brought a backlash. A glut of narcotic house made Damian Lazarus's label RA's favourite in 2011, only to be ubiquitously ripped off with diminishing returns. For Paul Rose it was the move from forward-thinking dubstep towards main-room techno, which alienated those who liked swampy textures and early-hours brooding.
Rose's remix of "Exit," a collaboration between Seattle techno don Pezzner and the Björk-like Amina, is masterful. It's a nine-minute trek through star-bright synths that build and then collapse into crushing drum grooves, and though it won't win back anyone pining for Triangulation, it should thunder out of his laser-drenched live show come festival season.
Side-by-side with the remix, the original falls a touch flat. The versions aren't hugely different, but there's a thickness to Rose's take that's missing from Pezzner's. The remix is a synth orgy, but the original is all about Amina's breathy vocal, a sing-speak that imbues the stabs and toms with an ethereal oddness, elevating something that would otherwise be overly functional. That leaves us with the rippling house groove of "Pipes," an odd track that spends three minutes doing nothing, then brings in an infectious bassline that almost immediately leads into a fade-out.
トラックリストA1 Exit
A2 Pipes
B Exit (Scuba Mix)