Influential techno and electro icon Dave Clarke has put the finishing touches to a bold new remix project. Entitled Charcoal Eyes: A selection of remixes from Amsterdam, the collection will come out on vinyl, CD & digitally and includes comprehensive sleeve notes explaining back stories to each track, as well as a special two verse poem penned by Clarke himself.
Now based in Amsterdam, long time English dance servant Clarke has been synonymous with an abrasive, full throttle brand of electronic music that he has showcased across hundreds of EPs, compilations and albums since the early nineties. Also a celebrated radio pioneer who helms his own long running White Noise show (which also spawned a label of the same name) he has recently finished building a new studio in Amsterdam where much of this work was completed.
Charcoal Eyes finds Clarke taking on a diverse range of artists and adding his own fingerprint to a smorgasbord of sounds. From punk to new beat, fast rising modern day artists to sadly disbanded bands, a lot of ground is covered, but it is all tied together by the studio nous and singular style of this notoriously outspoken pioneer.
Opening up with a crisp rework of Placebo, the collection touches every shade of techno and electro from slick and futuristic to dark and heavy. importantly, a semblance of the original artists intentions always remains and much like his previous remixes of everyone from Fisherspooner to Depeche Mode, many of these are sure to become cult classics. [info from nw]