Charles Webster might not be a household name, but he
has nevertheless released an impressive amount of music
under a variety of monikers over the last few years.
Born in Matlock, UK, Charles started playing in electronic
bands at the age of fifteen, eventually ending up doing
some production work in his early twenties. As he worked
in a studio in Nottingham, he also started recording
his own music, and released a series of EPs under the
name of Sine. After moving to the US, he got the chance
to work with such luminaries as Juan Atkins, Derrick
May and Kevin Saunderson, and founded his own record
label, Love San Francisco, before releasing music again
under his Presence persona. After a series of EPs, he
published the All Systems Gone album in 1999,
in which he collaborated with a variety of vocalists,
including Shara Nelson, better known for being one of
the singers on Massive Attack’s
Blue Lines,
Steve Edwards and Sara Jay.
Unlike many of his contemporaries, Webster claims to
write music in a radically traditional fashion, basing
his songs around chords rather than relying on machines
and sounds to find inspiration. This resulted in his
first album released under his own name, Born
On The 24th Of July, being a beautifully crafted
piece of work, with proper songs influencing its general
mood. Taking the soulful ambiences of All Systems
Gone to a new, more laidback level, Webster worked
once again with an impressive number of vocalists, including
Edwards, Jay, Terra Deva, Del St Joseph and Mark Sheridan.
Over a year and a half later comes this remix album.
Very rare occurrence, and definitely a fruit of Webster’s
clear vision, Remixed On The 24th Of July manages
to sound as brilliant and fresh as the original. A respected
remixer himself, Webster handpicked people he liked
to give them the chance to interpret his work. Featuring
the likes of Detroit Escalator Company, Pépé
Bradock, Ian O’Brien, United Future Organization,
Jimpster and Matthew Herbert, this album is an interesting
extension of the original recordings. Building on the
lush deep house vibe of Born…, this new
album proves to be a fascinating piece of work in its
own right, establishing a clever link between dance
floor and lounge music in its most noble definition.
It is actually difficult to isolate one single track
on here as each artist brings their vision and sound
while respecting the mood of the original album. The
Hispanic and eastern influences of Ian O’Brien’s
remix of I Understand You give the song an
interesting ethnic twist, with lush guitars swirling
around stunning percussions, while Bennan Green and
Daniel Wang emphasise the groove of the beautiful Forget
The Past. Detroit Escalator Company’s Neil
Ollivierra turns Put Your Hurt Aside into a
monster electro-dub, perfectly suited to late night
sessions. Later on, Matthew Herbert revisits Ready
and deconstructs the original, isolating Terra Deva
voice and layering it over a broken background of electric
pianos and drums.
Interestingly, the ten tracks of the original album
have been arranged in the exact reverse order of the
original album. This doesn’t affect in any way
the integrity of this album, and the attention to details
of each of the remixers simply emphasise the excellent
musical quality of Charles Webster original work. This
remix album superbly complements Born On The 24th
Of July.
4.5/5 |
