SPAZZKID DESIRE (願う) REMIXES

It's been a while since I was first going to write about this but so many things get in the way of so many other things, don't they? You know what it's like. But finally here it is.

Spazzkid, whose music I have been enjoying very much recently, released an album not so long ago - in April actually - called Desire (願う). Besides housing the incredible 'Getting To Know You' and the euphoric 'Loving Free', the album is brimming with a loving touch and a sense of wonder: synths pop and wind like setting suns, bass rolls and bounces like cylinders of smooth marble, percussion is toyed with and pulled into place to construct infectious beats, real instruments on loop support faraway vocals. It is a chilled and tasty slice of the talents of Spazzkid, aka Mark Redito, who has created a vibrant playground of luscious noises that resonate wonderfully.

Then at the end of last month he released a 20-track album of remixes by a number of different producers, who seem to treat the originals so well that they might as well be remixing their own songs. Indeed, "affection" is a word used in the description of the album, simply called Desire (願う) Remixes, and that word is wholly applicable in this case. It could perhaps be because a few of the remixers are fellow members of the artist collective New Generation (e.g. DINOSAURUS REX, Meishi Smile, Saint Pepsi) and therefore take care to do their very best in their remixes - but then again that might not have any bearing on it whatsoever.

It is, in any case, a diverse record that provides such a number of different perspectives on Spazzkid's original, all of which suit Spazzkid's sound whilst adding a delicious slant to it.

It's difficult to focus on any one part of the album and to avoid being overly waffly, I'll just give examples of how nicely variegated the sounds of this album are. You have stuff like the Hotwax remix of 'If Not You Then Who', which is a mellow cloud of synth hung with heavy bass cut with a darker vibe that pervades the song, but then again you have SVNDAZE's remix of the same song which puts the spotlight on Spazzkid's vocals over the wholly calm sound of a koto, before leaping into a whirlwind of chillment.

Another favourite of mine at the moment, Wasted Nights, gives a characteristically 80s spin to the ultimately catchy 'Loving Free', loading it with modulated synths and epic drum machine snares - yet TELEPHOBIA gives 'Loving Free' a bleepy house remix, turning it into a dancefloor-friendly number, chopping and looping Spazzkid's original sounds. Meishi Smile's 'First Digital Love RMX' is a euphoric house treatment of the same song, whilst Saint Pepsi veils it in his lush retro vibes.

DINOSAURUS REX retains the same twisted chill of 'Kokeshi Doll' but Diego Mapa turns it into a clatter of percussive beats and ray-gun synth. There are so many more things to say but I'd just end up going on and on and on... in short, however, this is a wonderful listen from start to finish. It is by turns chilled and energetic, slow and fast, filled with a dynamic that you cannot help but get sucked into - it's a genuine joyride, or a free-fall through sound-representations of pleasure; Spazzkid has a lot of talented friends, that much is evident!

TRACKLIST
1. Getting To Know You (su na Remix) 02:58
2. Loving Free (TELEPHOBIA rework) 02:15
3. If Not You Then Who (SVNDAZE remix) 02:36
4. Candy Flavored Lips (bo en イパネマREMIX) 04:24
5. Marquez (KEV//BOT Remix) 05:07
6. If Not You Then Who (Touurs Remix) 04:27
7. 40 Winks (Tyord Remix) 03:33
8. Kokeshi Doll (mus.hiba remix feat Sekka Yufu) 04:11
9. Forgiveness (Thompost Remix) 05:49
10. 40 Winks (Justin De Guzman Remix) 04:56
11. Loving Free (Meishi Smile's First Digital Love RMX) 03:50
12. Kokeshi Doll (Diego Mapa Remix) 04:40
13. Getting To Know You (James Deen Remix) 02:57
14. Candy Flavored Lips (SimilarObjects Alpha State Edit) 03:26
15. Loving Free (WASTED NIGHTS Remix) 03:24
16. Kokeshi Doll (DINOSAURUS REX Remix) 03:04
17. Candy Flavored Lips (SAYURI Remix) 04:24
18. Getting To Know You (PARKGOLF Remix) 04:33
19. If Not You Then Who (Hotwax Remix) 04:13
20. Loving Free (Saint Pepsi Remix) 04:20

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