Hybrid’s first album, Wide Angle, released
in 1999, took the world of progressive trance by storm.
Until then, no one had mixed trance, breaks and strings
in such a way. The band actually had the opportunity
to work with a proper orchestra, hence the quality of
sound and interpretation. But Hybrid had been remixing
other people’s records long before the release of Wide
Angle. Distinct’ive Records have now decided to
give the band’s fans something to chew on while the
trio is preparing their second opus, by releasing some
of the remixes the boys have done over the last couple
of years.
The diversity of tracks selected for Remix &
Additional Production By… displays the great adaptability
of the band to different music styles. Classics (Café
Del Mar, Papua New Guinea) flirt with
pop songs (Glorious) and twisted productions
(Bad Girl, Enter The Monk), with class
and distinction. Hybrid work each individual song as
if it was their own, laying their infectious breaks
carefully, applying layer after layer of luxurious strings,
enhancing more than reconstructing. The result on songs
like Andreas Johnson’s Glorious is quite astounding.
Originally a not so bad pop/rock track, it becomes,
when put in the hands of Hybrid, a powerful anthemic
whirlwind. But, where Hybrid really excel, is at reworking
tracks like Energy 52’s Café Del Mar,
FSOL’s
Papua New Guinea or DJ Rap's Bad Girl.
Without fundamentally altering Café Del Mar,
the boys still manage to provide the track with a completely
fresh remix. The work on Papua New Guinea is
equally as clever, and could be mistaken for a reworking
from Future
Sound Of London themselves. However, once again,
the Hybrid imprint is perfectly perceptible. Meanwhile,
DJ Rap’s Bad Girl is so similar to anything
from Wide Angle that the listener comes to
regret it wasn’t included on the album.
All these remixes, presented in a continuous mix, are
as good as anything released by Hybrid themselves, the
band showing to most of their peers that reconstructing
a song is as important an exercise as writing and producing.
Hybrid are the most talented dance act this side of
the Atlantic, and one of the most exciting in the world.
5/5 |
