- Is the mark of a great remixer an ability to take decidedly underwhelming source material and turn it into an absolute gem? Or can you sometimes only do so much? Like a cheeky chef plying on the pepper to mask the fact that a cut of meat has passed its sell by date, Stefan attempts to lather his special brand of Goldmann dust onto ‘African Cheri’, but try as he might, this track is too far gone to be saved.
Sideshow is the pure dance music alter ego of Fink, who records on turntablist heavy Ninja Tunes. The original starts off really moody and dubby a la Basic Channel, which got me temporarily excited. Alas, everything goes horribly astray as soon as the painfully simple live bassline kicks in (which is quite early in the song). The rest of the track is just a variation on this one theme. Things are supposedly being taken to the next level when a squelchy electronic variation is introduced, but it is only mildly more interesting – think of a really slowed down cheesy speed garage bassline. It tries to be filthy, but I would say mildly dusty would be more apropos.
Stefan Goldmann has really defined his own sound, which has resonated best on his Innervisions hit ‘Sleepy Hollow’ last year. With this remix he really does do all he can to make the best out of a bad situation. First he ditches the awful bassline and focuses things around the guitar, building a nice tripped out melody and adding keys to the mix to pad things out. There are also a few nice techy clicks as well as drum patterns thrown in to give it a bit of a harder edge. Goldmann’s version definitely has potential, falling in the same musical vein as ‘Sleepy Hollow’, although without the same uniqueness and flair that made ‘Sleepy…’ a hit. ‘African Cheri’ never really takes off the same way, but rather simmers along as an above average house track.
Goldmann has proven he has a talent for remixes – ‘Helen Cornell’ is a prime example – but unfortunately his talents are wasted here.
トラックリストA African Cheri
B African Cheri (Stefan Goldmann Macro Version)