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"Rings Around Saturn (Peshay & Decoder Remix)" from Form & FunctionPhotek
Date: 15 September, 1998 — $14.99 — Music product page read other reviews Rating: |
It was the rising crest of when I discovered MP3s. I downloaded, very strenously at the time—crippled by the sluggish speed of my then-computer, and there were two burned CD-Rs I held near and dear: Orbital's Brown Album (also known as "Orbital 2"), and Photek's Form & Function. The latter had been hyped to no ungodly end—at least in my mind—to be some bastard brainchild of extraterestrial paranoia, spy theatrics, and an audio take on Kurosawa's shining moments.
While not the de facto best track on the CD, I'd have to choose "Rings Around Saturn (Peshay & Decoder Remix)" as an especially notable heartpounder that makes me giddy to write this review, as if it were a school report.
Taking the twitchy, flailing snares-as-swords action of the original (also on the disc) and opening with the gentle sound of rainfall and birdcalls, the sequence soon finds its way into a heady brew of chromatically-descending basslines, jabbing insistently at the sub-frequencies like an astute pinata-poker attacks his target.
Multitudes of selected snippets are flung about, from 70s guitar "Wahhhs!" to crescendoing synth flares with flair. Some of it's quite subtle—now you don't see it, thereitisagain!
Chord stabs punctuate the action while jazzy horns get their honored due in the mix melange. The syncopated action does owe a lot to the big band champions, after all. And then that's when the band plays on, and varied ride cymbals begin to punctuate the insistent, head-nodding rhythms. More frayed bits of funk guitar get wrapped around the foundry of the funk like a babe to her mother's teat, and the layers peel and unpeel all so intricately.
I can only imagine what this would sound like fused with the Hamsterdance.
Five stars (*****) from me: why would I waste my time reviewing junk?