- "For remixing, I like to have some musical substance to work from, something you can really mess with and it's still there," Mark Ernestus told Andy Beta earlier this year. "I find many remixes disappointing in that they don't really engage with the material." You can hear his respect for the source material on his remix of Equiknoxx's "Congo Get Slap," one of the two on this 12-inch.
The Jamaican duo's original track, from their breakthrough album last year, is a percussive workout with wild rhythmic maneuvers and flashy textures. The down beat rarely strikes when you expect it, which makes it compelling but confusing to dance to. Ernestus preserves exactly this aspect of the track, while also stretching it out and polishing its hard edges. It's not an easy one to make sense of, but you can tell he grasps its essence. And while it's not the best work in Ernestus's catalogue, it's an interesting transformation.
His treatment of "Flagged Up" is more drastic. There's a dub techno pulse on the original that would sound at home on one of Ernestus's Basic Channel records. But he leaves the original's wacky drums on the cutting room floor, stripping it down to sub-bass and an ethereal blanket of synth tones. He might be engaging with the material in a subtle way, but it's hard to hear the resemblance. Either way, the result is ten minutes of warm ambient techno that will suit warm-up and wind-down sets.
TracklistA Congo Get Slap (Mark Ernestus Remix)
B Flagged Up (Mark Ernestus Remix)