planetary assault systems: the light years reworks

Having already unleashed a considerable amount of collaborative magic with the Planetary Funk: 22 Light Years series of remix EPs, Luke Slater upped the ante with six full sides worth of material, all of them injecting the spirit of classic Planetary Assault Systems into new sonic organisms. Using motifs from past P.A.S. successes, Luke Slater and his cohorts join here to make something radical and revitalizing: too cohesive for a "compilation album" and with too much autonomy granted to the guest remixers to be a simple "tribute". Three of the tracks in the program are intense and captivating live re-workings from Slater himself, hurtling from the speakers with an apparent minimum of post-production polish and an optimal level of buzzing energy. While this on its own would make for a compelling listen, the album is also laden with contributions from an international assembly of electronic soul controllers (to wit: Marcel Fengler, Psyk, Lucy, Slam, Octave One, Function, and Kamikaze Space Programme). Fengler kicks off the proceedings with an ecstatic and lustrous rework of "Twelve", a melodic sunrise joining a synth pad massage to a locked-in and systematic rhythm. Psyk's own interpretation of the same track preserves the same insistence but applies it to a completely different time and place, driving the listener through a wilderness of coded signals and an ambiguous repetition of the title that sounds like it could be as much a warning as an indicator of progress. KSP's version of "Function 6" gradually builds a cyborg leitmotif from an overdriven martial beat and epileptic machine breakdowns. Sequencing this with Octave One's "Booster" rework is an ideal choice, as the squared-away EBM/electro-funk sequences and flanged hi-hats seem to refer to a different phase in the life cycle of the same machine. Function's "Diesel Drudge," on the other hand, moves from the machine world into a totally oneiric world typified by backwards-masked/time-traveling voices and a thick strobe-lit haze. Lucy's re-envisioning of "Surface Noise" is a no-nonsense tantric exercise in shedding preconceptions and inhibitions. Rounding out the collection is Steve Bicknell's "Raid" version - a breathing mosaic of rhythmic pulses and clattering objects - and Slam's characteristically intense modification of "Temporary Suspension," whose low-end sequences continually bubble and seethe yet never completely boil over. Comes on 180 gram clear vinyl; includes a download card.