heiko laux: re-televised/re-vision

Laux’s hard-edged industrial anthem Re-Televised is a sound very much of its time, but it is also one whose relevance to the present stands without question. Thus, in finding talent to take on this Re:Vision, we looked to the most futuristic contemporary producers to bring fresh angles that connect with the source material as well as today’s most current sounds. Lucy, Donor, and Truss occupy a broad geographical slice of today’s techno, but in the last few years they have distinguished themselves as the least compromising and most forward-thinking of their generation. Our Re:Vision of Heiko Laux’s Re-Televised reaffirms the original’s forward-looking intent while emboldening the next step in techno’s history. While countless peers reach for similar ends, Lucy and his Stroboscopic Artefact label have made records that consistently stand apart for vision and experimentation. Lucy himself is without doubt the wildest of the bunch, and by halfway through his remix of Re-Televised, when it makes a left turn into damaged pyschedelia featuring flown-in vocal snippets over a pounding techno beat, it’s easy to see what sets him aside from more conventional operators. Likewise, Brooklyn’s Donor and the UK’s Truss have both been making waves for a heavy, dirty style of techno that refuses to recognize restraints, and when the many layers of their rerub coalesce into a dystopian, swung lurch in the second half, listeners can revel in the dirt and disorientation their ideas bring to bear. From this, it’s obvious that Heiko Laux’s 1998 original is a 15-year step into the past, but we can’t help but be intoxicated as distorted drums and echoed zaps roll forward to smash everything in their path. Digital DJs get a second, more floor-oriented mix from Donor and Truss... if they can bear the extra pressure on an EP that’s already as subtle as a punch to the gut. As an overview of today’s best talent, a re-evaluation of past accomplishments, and a look into things to come, THEMA’s Re:Vision looks back to the past while still moving unstoppably into the future.

[THEMA034] Heiko Laux - Re Televised Re:Vision w. Lucy and Donor/Truss Remixes