Balans head honcho Darko Esser is on duty for his very first EP on Balans Records. To celibrate this joyous occasion he unleashes what might be his strangest track up till date. And who is more qualified for a reinterpretation of some weirdness then underground techno-punk duo Sandwell District and Belgian’s finest techno producer Peter van Hoesen to remix? Exactly. It’s an honor to see such fine artists on the Balans board and boy, did they deliver!

The title of the original pretty much is spot on. Allthough we can imagine some might wonder if ‘totally & utterly disturbed’ would have been a better one. It’s without a doubt Darko’s most twisted and unpredictable techno tune up till date. The sequences and basslines seem out of sync, breaks appear out of nowhere and we guess every sound altering source on the synths have been utilized to make them dizzy untill they throw up. It’s like being in modulation hell.

The Dutchman asked a couple of friends for a good old fashioned total re-work. These friends happen to be some of the underground techno’s finest: Peter van Hoesen and Regis & Function a.k.a. Sandwell District. Peter’s Stretched and Pitched reinterpration does exactly as the title promises: total sound re-design. The orginal sounds are being twist and turned into psychedelic mayhem at an unsettling low tempo. Combined with his trademark bass heavy rhythmics, it’s pure and unadultared psychofunk.

The Sandwell duo are also generous when it comes to bass antics. The slow tempo gives the low frequencies all the breathing space they need, whilst gradually and subtely unleashing dark and haunting soundscapes as the track progresses. Just when you think your are passed the abstract point of no return, there’s a nice little twist at the end. How we love these left turns & surprises. The new year couldn’t have started better. Or is it worse? You decide!