You have to give DFA credit for not resting on their laurels. The label's a figurehead of this decade's indie-dance scene, with an almost unnervingly astute sense for the nuances of 21st-century cool. And yet, aside from certain hallmarks of the DFA style -- ropy bass lines, disaffected vocals, judicious use of cowbell -- they have yet to settle into a pattern. (Black Meteoric Star's psychedelic, home-soldered acid house isn't exactly par for the indie course.)
Their habit of reaching outside their own scene when commissioning remixes is equally commendable. In addition to marquis names like Soulwax and Franz Ferdinand, DFA also tap artists -- like Carl Craig, Baby Ford and Luomo -- who resonate with house and techno die-hards, but have little foothold in American indie circles. It's not just a question of credibility; the stream of new input keeps DFA's mutable sound continually refreshed.
A stellar new collection of remixes of LCD Soundsystem's 45:33, James Murphy's Nike-sponsored album from 2006, is a case in point. Theo Parrish, Prins Thomas, Runaway, Trus'Me, Prince Language, Padded Cell, Pilooski and Riley Reinhold all take the ball and run as far as they can, touching down everywhere from Detroit downbeat to Norwegian disco. Read on for a rundown of the parties involved, with recommendations for further listening from each.
Theo Parrish
He's a Detroit legend, but Theo Parrish's legacy isn't limited to techno. Like Moodymann, he injects house and techno with a heavy dose of funk and disco, and the results smolder until they explode. His 1998 album First Floor finds him worrying away at hypnotic loops of battered synths and sampled soul; his 13-minute rework of Sun Ra's "Saga of Resistance" is a masterpiece of moody groove.
Prins Thomas
A frequent collaborator with his fellow countryman Hans-Peter Lindstrom, Norway's Prins Thomas is a master of unassuming drama. His long, evolving, percussive reworks take "cosmic" disco ever further into the outer limits: see, for instance, his four expansive edits of Lindstrom's Where You Go I Go Too. He shows even more variety on reworks of the Figurines' "Hey Girl," Toby Tobias' "A Close Shave" and Studio's "Life's a Beach!"
Pilooski
This French artist, affiliated with Paris' D-I-R-T-Y Soundsystem, is seriously bananas flambé. His LCD remix is typically mutant electro-pop, with the vocodered phrase "Do you like something French" repeated ad absurdium. For those who answer "yes," don't miss his soulful edit of Nina Simone's "Take Care of Business" or his clattery rework for Von Sudenfed (aka Mouse on Mars and the Fall's Mark E. Smith), which stacks its chunky guitars, vox, keyboards and drums like a game of Jenga.
Runaway
Runaway -- Marcos Cabral and Jacques Renault, with birth names so cool they don't need aliases -- live in Brooklyn and vibe off old New York and Chicago house. Their "Brooklyn Club Jam," released jointly by DFA and Radio Slave's Rekids label (and also remixed to blissful effect by New York's Brennan Green), is a chiming piano-house epic that evokes the spirit of Berlin's thundering warehouse parties.
Prince Language
Like DFA's Still Going, Prince Language draws inspiration from the crossover between disco and early house, but his productions don't sound any less urgent for their debt to an era of kinder, gentler dance music. His dub of the Juan Maclean's "Happy House" is the bees' knees (for bees that stage roller discos on grand pianos).
Trus'Me
Gilles Peterson calls Trus'Me "the most interesting and promising young producer in the country right now." He means England, but you wouldn't necessarily guess that Trus'Me is a Mancunian, given his penchant for low-slung, Midwestern funk. Check his 2008 album Working Nights plus remixes for Amp Fiddler for a taste of his slow-mo stuff.
Padded Cell
Like their DC Recordings labelmates White Light Circus and the Emperor Machine, Padded Cell (Bronx Dogs' Richard Sen and Dirty Beatniks' Neil Beatnik) specialize in dark, slightly menacing funk with a retro-futurist touch and a dubby disco blush. Explore more on their 2009 album Night Must Fall along with multiple EPs, and dig deeper with DC's Death Before Distemper volumes three and four.
Riley Reinhold
Riley Reinhold helms the labels Traum, Trapez and My Best Friend, which -- along with Kompakt -- helped establish Cologne as the world capital for a particular strain of resonant, reductionist electronic music. He's not the most obvious choice of remixer for LCD. Hear his spare, slightly melancholic interpretation of classic minimal techno on singles like Lull, Sunset Sound and Balsamic Times, whose title goes to the heart of Reinhold's bittersweet undertones.
He's a Detroit legend, but Theo Parrish's legacy isn't limited to techno. Like Moodymann, he injects house and techno with a heavy dose of funk and disco, and the results smolder until they explode. His 1998 album First Floor finds him worrying away at hypnotic loops of battered synths and sampled soul; his 13-minute rework of Sun Ra's "Saga of Resistance" is a masterpiece of moody groove.
Prins Thomas
A frequent collaborator with his fellow countryman Hans-Peter Lindstrom, Norway's Prins Thomas is a master of unassuming drama. His long, evolving, percussive reworks take "cosmic" disco ever further into the outer limits: see, for instance, his four expansive edits of Lindstrom's Where You Go I Go Too. He shows even more variety on reworks of the Figurines' "Hey Girl," Toby Tobias' "A Close Shave" and Studio's "Life's a Beach!"
Pilooski
This French artist, affiliated with Paris' D-I-R-T-Y Soundsystem, is seriously bananas flambé. His LCD remix is typically mutant electro-pop, with the vocodered phrase "Do you like something French" repeated ad absurdium. For those who answer "yes," don't miss his soulful edit of Nina Simone's "Take Care of Business" or his clattery rework for Von Sudenfed (aka Mouse on Mars and the Fall's Mark E. Smith), which stacks its chunky guitars, vox, keyboards and drums like a game of Jenga.
Runaway
Runaway -- Marcos Cabral and Jacques Renault, with birth names so cool they don't need aliases -- live in Brooklyn and vibe off old New York and Chicago house. Their "Brooklyn Club Jam," released jointly by DFA and Radio Slave's Rekids label (and also remixed to blissful effect by New York's Brennan Green), is a chiming piano-house epic that evokes the spirit of Berlin's thundering warehouse parties.
Prince Language
Like DFA's Still Going, Prince Language draws inspiration from the crossover between disco and early house, but his productions don't sound any less urgent for their debt to an era of kinder, gentler dance music. His dub of the Juan Maclean's "Happy House" is the bees' knees (for bees that stage roller discos on grand pianos).
Trus'Me
Gilles Peterson calls Trus'Me "the most interesting and promising young producer in the country right now." He means England, but you wouldn't necessarily guess that Trus'Me is a Mancunian, given his penchant for low-slung, Midwestern funk. Check his 2008 album Working Nights plus remixes for Amp Fiddler for a taste of his slow-mo stuff.
Padded Cell
Like their DC Recordings labelmates White Light Circus and the Emperor Machine, Padded Cell (Bronx Dogs' Richard Sen and Dirty Beatniks' Neil Beatnik) specialize in dark, slightly menacing funk with a retro-futurist touch and a dubby disco blush. Explore more on their 2009 album Night Must Fall along with multiple EPs, and dig deeper with DC's Death Before Distemper volumes three and four.
Riley Reinhold
Riley Reinhold helms the labels Traum, Trapez and My Best Friend, which -- along with Kompakt -- helped establish Cologne as the world capital for a particular strain of resonant, reductionist electronic music. He's not the most obvious choice of remixer for LCD. Hear his spare, slightly melancholic interpretation of classic minimal techno on singles like Lull, Sunset Sound and Balsamic Times, whose title goes to the heart of Reinhold's bittersweet undertones.
- Portions of Album Content Provided by All Music Guide © 2008 All Media Guide, LLC.
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