Kieran J // Time Is Now [99percent Recordings]
Ireland’s Kieran J has a new package out this week on 99 Percent Recordings, which has an original track of his being back up with remixes from some very familiar names.
The original mix is aimed at the early part of the night and features a deep bassline and some luscious pads, with pretty melodies and a chopped up operatic vocal sample grabbing attention at the top. This is a nice smooth journey all the way through, with the breakdown serving its purpose very well indeed – the bassline could perhaps be a bit more substantial and prominent as I feel it gets lost slightly in the mix at times, but overall, this is a perfectly fine track to start things off.
The Soulwerk remix is a much darker take on things, with a pulsating, subby bassline driving the track forward after the early introduction of some interesting percussion and the odd snippet of a chunkier version of the bassline from the original. This version has a real urgency about it, not least in the breakdown, which builds the tension very nicely indeed – it keeps building and giving more throughout the near 9 minute duration, and overall is very nice indeed.
Next up to the plate is Martin Garcia, whose remix rolls along nicely without ever taking off – not that it ever tries to. A chugging bassline keeps things ticking over with some intricate melodies floating around nicely through the track – this has quite a similar vibe to the original but wants to be taken more seriously, and it succeeds by being edgier and more atmospheric.
Ben Shaw’s remix means business right from the start and throws a lovely shaker into the mix, which is always a welcome addition in my book. This is the punchiest of all the remixes on offer here, and has lovely substantial bass notes punctuating the track, some excellent effects, and it makes nice use of the melody from the original – it’s very busy at times but there’s never too much going on, and for me, this is the finest track on the release.
Santiago Garcia and Dark Soul Project add some Argentinian flavour to proceedings, with their mix having menacing, dark deep bass notes at its core, but with some sweeping effects and the pads from the original hanging around in the shadows to give it a very ethereal feel – this is added to further when the vocal from the original is introduced. Things reach a crescendo at the breakdown before the track comes back stripped down and moodier with just the bassline, before going on to build again – this is another very nice piece of work.
Last up, we have the Monster of Density remix, which features the original’s bassline, before additional dark low end growls into action to toughen things up. Another good mix, this also has an other-worldly feel to it until the very nice breakdown grounds things, before some nice synth stabs build momentum from the bottum up – some nice key changes at the end add an extra dimension to the proceedings.
And there we have it – overall this is a very nice package indeed, with a couple of stand outs among some very solid productions, with no one letting the side down at all.
Release Date: Out Now
Words: Stevie Reid
