Son Kite - Colours Remixes EP

[DeathPosture]

Son Kite – Colours Remixes EP

 

High-res: cover

 

Artist: Various

Title: Colours Remixes

Format: CD5"

Label: Digital Structures (Sweden)

Cat. #: DIGCDS 004

Distribution: Cosmophilia

Date: November 2004

 

Track listing:

 

01. 09’45” Son Kite – Colours (Luke Chable Remix)

02. 08’26” Son Kite – Let Us Be (Vibrasphere Remix)

03. 07’41” Son Kite – Focus (NOS Remix)

04. 07’10” Son Kite – The Stars Within Us (Dino Psaras Remix)

05. 06’44” Son Kite – Let Us Be (Aztech Remix)

06. 09’29” Son Kite – Focus (Shiloh Remix)

 

Review:

 

Step four in a four-stage rocket…

 

With this, the Colours Remixes EP, Son Kite’s ambitious Colours quadrilogy comes to an end. Following the critically acclaimed On Air EP, the Colours album and the Live in Tokyo DVD this is the final step in the ambitious project. I’ve been looking forward to this for quite some time, and after an unfortunate delay, it’s finally here…

 

Let me take you thru the tracks…

 

#01: Son Kite – Colours (Luke Chable Remix)

Auzzie producer Luke Chable is a big star in proggy-world and he did a remix on YSE records earlier this year. On this remix he adds a big phat wall of reverb-bass that strikes a notable contrast to the light-as-a-feather melodies that are kept from the original tune… Well-polished – yet deep crude in the deepest way… Very tasty!

 

#02: Son Kite – Let Us Be (Vibrasphere Remix)

Ahh Vibrasphere! Berglöf & Elster are responsible for some of the smoothest, grooviest progressive trance ever to come out of Sweden. And now they are remixing Son Kite – oh happy day! The vocals from the original are still here, and so are the melodies – though they’ve been cleaned up a little… Vibrasphere has rebuilt this track into a rich, groovy progressive gem of Balearic descent… Fits right into the crossover theme of this EP… Very nice track!

 

#03: Son Kite – Focus (NOS Remix)

Well this is interesting… Frederik Holm a.k.a. NOS is a very sought-after deco artist in most of northern Europe, and I never knew he also made music… I knew his backdrops were very impressive, but that his music was this good, I had no idea… Great surprise! I really dig the techy bassline here – it keeps growing on me. Focus was one of my fav’e tracks from Colours, and with this brilliant Son-Kite-electro-meets-tech-meets-melodies-meets-prog-meets-NOS remix this track is immortalized… NOS stays true to the original, but puts his own distinct touch on it – that’s the way to do it! Nice work!

 

#04: Son Kite – The Stars Within Us (Dino Psaras Remix)

Another personal fav’e from Colours mixed by none other than the tortured brain himself: Mr. Psaras… The old school kitschy computer sounds and classic robot voice box from the original is still here – combined with massive progressive rhythm patterns – creating a voluminous groove. Psaras also adds psychedelic FX into the mix for a harder, tougher tune with cross-over psy appeal… And it works… Great track!

 

#05: Son Kite – Let Us Be (Aztech Remix)

Second remix of Let Us Be is the downtempo remix by chill-artist Ron Allen. Distinct elements from the original – like the phat, lazy groovy - are kept, but besides that, Aztech has given this a big old downtempo, dubby, crispy chill-overhaul… Very nice indeed, though the soft nature of this track BPM-wise kinda breaks the flow. This should have been bumped down as the last track of the EP… But stellar track nevertheless!

 

#06: Son Kite – Focus (Shiloh Remix)

Shiloh is a proggy-breakz project by Canadian brothers Colin & Justin Moreh, and they’ve enjoyed widespread commercial throughout the scene both as DJ’s and remixers. So it’s yet another cross-over potential remix we’re dealing with here, and I’m almost certain this will hit it big. As with the NOS remix, Shiloh stays true to vital elements from the original track – it’s just different elements. This is much softer, more uplifting and with thick Balearic appeal like the Vibrasphere rmx – and extremely well-polished as the Luke Chable rmx. Huge cross-over dancefloor fodder here… Brilliant remix.

 

As with the On Air Remixes EP, I would’ve changed the order of the tracks her into: 01, 02, 06, 03, 04 and finally 05 to get an ever smoother flow… But that’s nitpicking – this EP is no less than outstanding and all tracks are very well put together…

 

The cross-over potential is omnipresent in all tracks, and this should appeal to most fans of high quality electronic music… Digital Structures has done a remarkable effort in their quest to distance themselves from the vast majority of trance labels… The Son Kite project is the spearhead for that, and as the Colours project draws to a close, I for one am looking very much forward to future releases from these visionary sound magicians. They’ve passed the exam with distinction. Highly recommended - enjoy!

 

DeathPosture

 

External links:

Son Kite: http://www.sonkite.com

Digital Structures: http://www.mpdqx.com/digitalstructures

Psyshop: http://www.psyshop.com/shop/CDs/dig/dig1cd904.html

Chaos Unlimited: http://www.chaosunlimited.co.uk/cgi-bin/pr...asp?LR=DIGCDS04

Saiko Sounds: http://www.saikosounds.com/english/display...ase.asp?id=4494

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For info on the 2x12” Colours Remixes vinyl single check out the Digital Structures site…

[krelmatrix]

Artist: Son Kite

Album: Colours Remixes CD Single

Label: Digital Structures

Genre: Various

Year: 2004

 

Tracklisting:

01. Son Kite – Colours (Luke Chable Remix)

02. Son Kite – Let Us Be (Vibrasphere Remix)

03. Son Kite – Focus (NOS Remix)

04. Son Kite – The Stars Within Us (Dino Psaras Remix)

05. Son Kite – Let Us Be (Aztec Remix)

06. Son Kite – Focus (Shiloh Remix)

 

With the 2nd remix CD single, Son Kite presents the final chapter (or color?) in the groundbreaking Colours series. The first three parts have seen an excellent succession of remixes for “On Air”, the fantastic full length, and a wonderful live DVD showing Seb & Marcus doing what they do best. For the final part, a truly diverse lineup of remixers has been gathered to give their personal takes on 4 tracks from the album – “Colours”, “Let Us Be”, “The Stars Within Us” and “Focus”.

 

Recent golden-boy in the progressive house scene Luke Chable starts off with an epic remix of the mellowest track from the album, “Colours”. Luke’s trademark style of ethereal synth-work, epic atmospheres and massive overdriven basslines shines through to create a feel much more suited for moving massive dancefloors than the original, without losing its original feel and emotion. This is one of those rare cases where the remixing artist is so perfectly suited to the track they are remixing that it sounds as though it’s a fully original work. The combining of what both Son Kite and Luke Chable bring to the table works so well here that a full studio collaboration would be phenomenal, IMO.

 

Digital Structures mainstay Vibrasphere is up next with his remix of “Let Us Be”. The remix starts off well – a wonderfully drawn-out intro leads into a typical Vibrasphere groove which expertly utilizes the melodic elements & vocal samples of the original version. Disappointingly, the track over-does the main melody starting around 6 minutes in and falls into too much of a cheesy euro-trancey feel for my tastes. Oh well…

 

NOS follows with a grumbling bass-heavy re-working of Focus. A lot of the main elements from the album version are sprinkled amongst the main groove along with a variety of other sounds, effects, and melodies. It isn’t exactly a dancefloor track, it definitely isn’t chill – but it’s still pretty cool for home listening.

 

Dino Psaras gives the full-on crowd a reason to bounce with his version of “The Stars Within Us”. Already the toughest dancefloor track off the album, Dino takes it one step further with a heavy bassline and a nicely-executed breakdown sure to get the crowd screaming. It’s a pretty typical full-on track, but does retain enough sounds from the original to be pretty decent. The original is still more original and effective, IMO.

 

Aztec follows with a super-spacey downtempo remix of “Let Us Be”. The voices, main atmosphere and melody are recognizable, but beyond that, this is a total re-formation of the original to a brooding, tension-filled hypnotic ambient creation. This is definitely one of the better tracks in this style I’ve heard in quite awhile.

 

Closing the CD is the remix I was most anticipating – the Canadian duo Shiloh taking on “Focus”. These guys have exploded in the progressive scene in 2003 & 2004 with their unique, breaks-infused, often deceitfully warped style of progressive grooves. This remix starts off gentle enough, but quickly gets the Shiloh touch with dissonant chords, strange sounds an a general distorted flavor. I must admit that I didn’t initially warm up to this track and found it rather awkward for the first few listens – then I fortunately heard it LOUD this past weekend (thanks Christian ) and finally “got it”. These guys are a pair of sick motherfuckers. The mixture of bizarre, playful, and seemingly atonal dissonance with warm relaxed grooves has the effect of simultaneously drawing the listener in and throwing them off at the same time. I’ve heard them do it before in their recent track “Run to the Light” and (to a lesser extent) in their remix of Abakus’ “Indu” – it ain’t no accident. Shiloh has a rare touch in their music that I’ve heard from few others. I don’t consider it an “easy” sound (with 2 particular songs, it’s taken me being in a large, encompassing sound system to appreciate it), but displays an amazing talent I’ve heard from few others which creates an incredibly unique listening experience.

 

Overall:

This is an excellent finale to Son Kite’s Colours series. The styles here are diverse, but the quality is high. I am sure I will find myself playing at least 3 of the tracks on this CD for awhile in various sets. The Aztec, Shiloh and Chable remixes are all wonderful re-workings of their respective tracks in a style which is nothing like the original – this is what I always want to hear in a remix. This also makes a very nice listening CD due to its wide range in sounds. My only disappointment with the series is that neither of the 2 remix singles included a Minilogue remix, but I think I’ll live anyways.

 

8/10

Favorites: 1, 5, 6

 

Review by Dr. Krelm

[FrederikFlanger]

for those of you who like to read more about Son Kite check this link : CLICK HERE the interview available in German and English.

 

have fun reading the interview

 

 

frederik

[Trance2MoveU]

This wasn't terrible. I really liked the Shiloh mix. Such delicate tones! It really grabbed the ear and forced you to listen to all the notes. The Luke Chable remix was quite delicious too. It reminded me of Vibrasphere's latest album. Alas, I found the Vibrasphere mix to be too vanilla and boring. I agree with DP that the really good Aztech downtempo mix should've been placed at the end.

 

Mdk