Tuesday 6 December 2011

armand van helden - alienz

this was one of the tracks on armand's "2 future 4 u" album that i didn't like or understand until a few years later. i think it was because it was too noisy and too dark but once i got it, it was a revelation. to understand the track you'd have to like uk garage but maybe jungle as armand's experiment of taking jungle sounds & production aesthetics became uk garage.

it was in some interview that van helden said that noone cared for his small foray into jungle, so he decided to try to implement what he liked into his brand of house. and "alienz" is for all intents and purposes a techstep track at 130bpm. just punchy drums, dark pads and a massive reese.

that reese gave me the same shivering feeling as the first time i heard trace's mutant jazz remix. it's really rugged and the hard & aggressive nature gives any mix a right kick up to all the right places. i used it as the tail end peak for a mix i did a years ago and it was for all those reasons.

the mix starts off very disco flirting and soft and goes into deep and techy territories but goes back to some bright summery stuff and to contrast that section i unleashed this. lovely.

buy here (junodownload)

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