Although I'm not too sure why the 90's are back in vogue, at least in terms of the music we love, it's been a great thing. Just in the past years we saw the return of the Miami Bass sound as an extension of the B-more craze and the explosion of a weird hybrid in urban music with elements of Hip-House/electro/acid/rave filtering into mainstream (dress-code) Clubs. DFA records over conceptualized early Chicago House and Techno is going through a massive renaissance with all its variations on the genre. Even just in Boston the Music scene experienced a sort of summer of love with more electronic music nights than I'd ever seen since I moved here in 2000. Point I'm trying to make is that reviving the past has never sounded so good. When it comes to remixes of classic tracks I'm usually the first one to turn my shoulder on them (because who really wants to listen to something being butchered by an untalented Deep House DJ).Sometimes however there are tracks that keep the same energy of the original and turn into something that resembles more of a Disco edit than a remix. Well...this has been at least my experience with the remix of Kevin Saunderson's 1988 Classic "Rock 2 the Beat"...I mean you know Laurent Garnier probably listens to that song like everyday of his life. And although it's hard to make a classic better, I'm actually embarrassed to say I really like this Christian Smith And John Selway Remix. For some reason it might be the faster BPM or the reworking of the drum patterns that makes it relevant again. Perhaps is just nolstalgia, and just perhaps this is the essence of Techno. Considering that Kevin Saunderson is remixing stuff like the Presets or Hercules & Love Affair, it's good to see a legend be given a proper remix. I'm not a fan of Selway's stuff all together but this reworking is so damn good I might just have to send him a Christmas card....or like top friend on myspace or something.
Listen: Kevin Saunderson - Rock 2 the Beat (Christian Smith And John Selway 2008 Remix)
