digital, Bit Riot, 2010
www.torrentvaccine.com
Torrent Vaccine’s mastermind, Brad Perkins delivers an EP full of hard hitting beats, spacious pads and cutting synth lines. The album is a collection of extended versions, mash-ups, collaborationss and remixes and includes guest appearances by Synnack, Deconbrio, Mangadrive, Deadliner, Testube and DJ Moon.
The album opens well with a rolling wall of smooth pads over rapid fire drums and subtle synths on the extended version of “Focus”. “Adroit Deflector” displays a beautiful union of styles with Synnack providing some serious crunchy grooves and glitches amidst soothing pads and chiming electronics. Synnack’s remix of “They Walk” transitions from cold electronic atmospheres to distorted stomping beats and at first seems kind of confused until it returns to the original cold tones of the introduction. Deconbrio’ s mix of “They Walk” pushes you over and walks right into your living room to turn up the volume on your stereo. This mix had me from start to finish nodding my head which sadly is the shortest song at just under four minutes. Deadliner’s remix of “Exude” tries to keep up but begins to lose my attention until , about midway through the song, they stop on a dime to add some beautiful string substance. Mangadrive’s remix of “DMF” serves up some classic ‘oontz’ that fires round after round of razor sharp breaks and high synths. Testube’s remix of “Exude” satisfies my IDM/glitch needs with complex rhythms and warped samples bending in and out of the reversed synth hits. DJ Moon’s mix of “Did You Hear A Sound” will work on a dancefloor but fails to hold my attention with its simple beats and classic house effects. Highlights would include the Synnack collab track “Adroit Deflector”, Deconbrio’s remix of “They Walk” and Testube’s mix of “Exude”.
Overall this is a solid release providing enough diversity in style to avoid the remix album cliche. The only fault is the sheer volume of remixes versus the promised collaborations and extended mixes. To be fair, considering this is a companion to “Tentative Response” and “Remixude”, it serves its purpose in drawing the new listener to the oriinal works from “Tentative Response”. My suggestion: check the “Tentative Response” and then listen to this release and enjoy the variation each remixer offers to the original songs.
[7.5/10]
— James Church