“Ligand Remixes does more in the fury of sounds with a much more noisy vision, and also more accessible, than in the original version”
1 Parallel Thoughts (Erot remix) 6:20 2 Variegation (Floating Machine remix) 6:53 3 Ligand (Roel Funcken remix) 4:17 4 Parabolic View (Scann-Tec remix) 6:41 5 Methodical Random (Miktek on AES Dana remix) 7:57 6 Harmonices Mundi (AES Dana remix) 7:54 7 Ligand (re-edit) 7:20 Ultimae Records | Inre094 (CD/DDL 47:25) (V.F.) (Dub Ambient, IDM, PsyDance)
Released at the end of 2017, Ligand was an album that Martin NonStatic offered to ears a little more curious than usual. A year later, some DJ artists from the Ultimae Records label have decided to reopen half a dozen of its tracks to offer their visions and remixed versions of Ligand. LIGAND REMIXES does more in the fury of sounds with a much more noisy vision, and also more accessible, than in the original version. In fact, there are few changes in the rhythms which are still evanescent and elusive. It's at the level of the ambiences that the fate of Ligand depends. For a bit that we love a lush fauna of these sounds where the futuristic and organic flourish in a cosmic axis, I see us tiny in a Pinball, this LIGAND REMIXES takes us even further into the universe of Dub Ambient and of Psychedelic Techno with heavy, ambient and sometimes danceable rhythms which are always redefining the world of IDM.
With more white noises and even more detailed percussive effects, Erot gives a second breath to Parallel Thoughts. Not that the title needed it! Floating between moods and pulsating passages without consequences, this new version repeals the riffs of the acoustic guitar to focus a little more on the new fauna of percussive elements. We dance as we float, but it was the case with the first version! Let's say that here, the ears are treated with all small details. And it's everywhere so! Martin van Rossum is also reviewing some of the titles of his original Ligand, including Variegation (Floating Machine remix) which puts more emphasis on the Dub with a much sustained rhythm. The sound effects, the water-saturated hoops which get intertwine and get splash, and the percussive effects are also present with a lot of emphasis here. Title fragmented into several ends and which get fix in a mosaic whose power and velocity weaves its ambient rhythmic din, the remixed version of Ligand from Roel Funcken is more intense while Ligand (re-edit) from Martin NonStatic is more danceable here than in its original version. I hardly recognize Parabolic View here, so much Scann-Tec brings it to a higher level. Intense, both in terms of its rhythm and its sound cocoon, the music is also more danceable here than on the original version. Already very good in its Dub Ambient version, Methodical Random is also heavier in this version remixed by AES Dana and performed by Miktek. The synth layers are very enveloping while the sequencer is on the alert of the Berlin School style. The rhythmic explosion here has nothing to do with the original version of Martin NonStatic. I still can not determine what it is the best version of Harmonices Mundi. That of Martin NonStatic in the original Ligand was tasty and closer to Berlin School moods while that of AES Dana is more violent and closer to the Dub Ambient style. In the end, both are very justifiable to my tastes. A story of remixes that ends well!
Sylvain Lupari (December 14th, 2018) *****
Available at Ultimae Records Bandcamp