B12
Last Days Of Silence: Remixes
B1220CD/B1220
B12 Records 2008
08 Tracks. 40mins13secs

After years of silence, Mike Golding and Steve Rutter returned three years ago, initially to play a handful of live dates. Last year, they delivered their first new material since their 1998 3EP, and, a few months later, the release of Last Days Of Silence cemented their come back. In the early nineties, the pair, operating under a variety of guises, spearheaded the so-called intelligent dance music scene by bringing flavours from Detroit and giving them a British twist. Originally released on their own B12 imprint, their work was consequently incorporated in Warp’s seminal Artificial Intelligence series with their debut album, Electro-Soma, released in 1993.

As they gear up to release the entire B12 Records back catalogue for the first time on CD, B12 present six reworked tracks from Last Days Of Silence and two previously unreleased compositions on this remix album, also released as a limited edition 4-track picture disc twelve inch EP. While Last Days had Golding and Rutter giving their original template something of a facelift by bringing in slightly heavier beats and sharper soundscapes, this collection of remixes occasionally returns to the pair’s classic cut of smooth grooves, razor-sharp beats and melodic formations. This is evident right from the opening moments of Don’t Be Afraid (Reprise), which unlike the version featured on Last Days, focuses primarily on the warm electronic textures that are found at its core, pushing the considerably slowed down beat toward the back of the mix. Golding and Rutter apply a similar process to their Cmetric remix of More Than Once. Once again, the focal point moves from the dance floor to a more atmospheric setting and shows the piece from a very different angle, lifting the dense backdrop of the original and applying slightly less angular rhythmic patterns to it. The Redcell remix of More Than Once is pure classic B12 and wouldn’t have sounded out of place on Electro-Soma. Here, the luxuriance of the pair’s nineties sound is expressed in all its glory, contrasting greatly with the sombre and ominous sequence of Omni Therapy, which, contaminated by a seismic beat and dark undertones, reflects very much the B12 sound of now.

Of the previously unreleased tracks, I See You could almost pass of a vastly updated version of Static Emotion from Electro-Soma, and Within Reason shares with 32 Lineup, of Last Days, a clear common evolutionary process and appears to be based on a similar sound pool, but the mood is more subdued here, while the delicate melodic pulses of closing track Darkest Light show that, if Golding and Rutter have toughened their sound, they still can come up with beautiful and emotional charged mini epic electronic pieces.

With nothing to link the B12 of the mid nineties and that of today, Last Days Of Silence often felt like a jump into the unknown and didn’t always stand the comparison. It is undeniable that Mike Golding and Steve Rutter have evolved in their personal lives and as an act, and the fact that they were bringing back one of the stand out acts of the electronic scene to life was enough to raise expectation to the full. The resulting product perhaps lacked of context, and while this release doesn’t bridge the gap anymore, it at least goes a long way to bring the pair’s past and present in relation with each other and reveal the hidden side of their recent output.

4.3/5

B12 Records
Buy: CD