Throwback 1989 || Orbital "Chime"

Largely a victim of "what have you done for me lately?" status, Orbital emerged at the turn of the 1990's as an instrumental dance duo to be reckoned with, and "Chime" was not only their entry point into crossover acceptance but also one of the grand compositional epics that cemented acid house/techno's imperative to be taken seriously.

Bearing all the upbeat, X-static hallmarks of underground club music of its day, "Chime" double down by demanding an exacting attention span: the song builds and builds to a near-10 minute climax in a different manner than most extended tracks of its day, which largely just consisted of repeating the main hook over and over, with just enough filler downtime to get dancers anticipating the reintroduction of the main theme. "Chime" took a slower simmering build that compounded rather than repeated itself, in a way that much anticipated trance (the drone-like German kind, not fucking Darude).

The result is an endlessly remixed classic whose staying power is not only attributable to its innate excellence but also its malleability: in spite of the sprawl this track was designed by birth to be torn down and built back up again in other DJ's images, from further acid house excursions to drum & bass, breakbeat and beyond.

Panda Bear: "Come To Your Senses [Danny L. Harle Remix]"

For some, this remix by PC Music's Danny L. Harle will conjure up unpleasant memories of early 90's rave, particularly the first two Prodigy albums. For the rest of us that recall the rave scene as generating some historically significant music and not just being an incessant series of "James Brown Is Dead" clones, this "Come To Your Senses" rework is a welcome panacea to the dominance of the moody, tone poem art scene that dominates modern electronic music. I enjoy a little cerebral techno as much as the next guy, but it sometimes seems like the dancefloor has been altogether ceded to the hip hop/top 40 community.

Lockah: "Please Lockah, Don't Hurt 'Em"

Rave is making a comeback, and if you couldn't tell check out the title track of Lockah's new EP, Please Lockah, Don't Hurt 'Em. The MC Hammer and TMNT references scream 1990, right at that acid house apex before Rave 1.0 peaked and crashed.

Stream all five tracks on Soundcloud.

Korallreven: "Sa Sa Samoa" [Elite Gymnastics Remix]

Perhaps a bit opportunistic with the prominent Whitney Houston sample, but Elite Gymnastics turn Korallreven's dream-tech "Sa Sa Samoa" into an old school rave throwback tune. The video is not much to speak of - another artsy found footage bouillabaisse, just what the planet needs - but the remix itself is worth cracking a glow stick over.


わめく▷ ⎛VISUAL⎠ from ELITE GYMNASTICS on Vimeo.