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Blue Hour - Remixed 02

Review

Remixed 02 by Blue Hour

Second installment of Blue Hour remixes sees Mark Broom, Substance, Pangaea and VC 188A work their magic

Here's four superior remixes for Blue Hour (aka Luke Standing) in the second installment of his ongoing mix series where he gets the best in the business to pick a track from his back catalogue and rework it. So what happens when you remix tracks already designed for the dancefloor? In this case, not what you expect!

First up, Mark Broom takes Common Ground, the b-side from Blue Hour #004, previously a functional DJ tool, and turns it into an absolute peak-time monster! Everything's now cranked up to eleven, any light and shade that once existed has been extracted; the result is guaranteed to be the highlight in sets across Europe for the next few months. I can see the raving crowd when the extra cymbals kick in at 3:30. Banging.

Substance (aka DJ Pete) takes one of Standing's ambient tracks, Untitled (a hidden track from Blue Hour #002 - only available on vinyl) and creates a brand new track. Originally a dubby, minute-long synth comedown is now unrecognisable; its new rugged bass refrain merging with ghostly synths (and manipulated vocals?) with very satisfying results.

Pangaea takes Falling Lines, the a-side from Blue Hour #004, and does little more than add subtle samples throughout, leaving traces of his DNA but no actual fingerprints. What he does add though (a driving refrain, like a manipulated male vocal, that comes in around 3:45, harmonising with the original female vocal) is something new and welcome. Difficult to improve on excellence it seems.

The final cut from rising producer VC-118A, takes Introspective II from Blue Hour #005, slows it down considerably, removes the distinctive Blue Hour percussion (that vibrating, tribal drum sound) and replaces it with dark and menacing vibes.

An essential release.

9/10 after 16 listens

Remixed [02] is out on 5th June.

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