- Listeners of a certain age may recall the golden era of TV crossover episodes, whereby a character from one series would make a cameo on another show. Cologne's Kompakt and Berlin's Innervisions attempt something similar here, with Âme and Dixon putting their own stamp on tracks from Gui Boratto and Saschienne. Fortunately, there's nothing that feels as forced as the networks' blatant ratings grabs. Âme's mix of Boratto's "This Is Not the End," the dreamy closer to his 2011 album III does exactly what's needed to tip the song from indie pop to gentle, Balearic house. They replace the rock drums with a swishy, tambourine-led groove with just the right balance of bounce and bite, and they swap out strummed guitars for pinwheeling arpeggios and squelchy oscillations. And while it's structured with an ear towards mixing, it ends with an a cappella vocal soaked in reverb, "This is not the end…"—a wise way to end a song that's likely to serve as the closing track in many a set this summer.
"Unknown," from Sascha Funke and Julienne Dessagne's recent LP, is more downcast than Boratto's song, but it's similarly restrained, and it scans similarly more as "pop" than "dance." Dixon aims his remix definitively at the floor, with pumping mono-chords and a limber drum track that's all simmering cymbals and epic, reverbed claps; Funke and Dessagne's smoky vocals are turned to pure atmosphere, a subliminal suggestion of mood laced through Dixon's hypnotic, almost tech-y deep house. It's not a flashy track, but, played at the right time, it knows exactly where it's going.
TracklistA Unknown (Dixon Remix)
B This Is Not The End (Ame Remix)