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Techno heads tackle Cybotron

Techno heads tackle Cybotron

Electro classic remixed by two of dance music's hippest names...

Colm O'Loughlin
Tuesday, July 3, 2007 - 23:00
Cybotron's seminal 1983 electro cut 'Clear' has had the re-spray treatment from Matthew Jonson's Cobblestone Jazz and M_nus Record's Troy Pierce. The third release in Juno Records re-issue series, out now, contains radical reworks that completely reconfigure the electro feel of the original track and send it careering into a technoid future. Considered to be one of the catalysts of Motor City techno, 'Clear' was the calling card of one of the most influential electronic outfits of all time. Cybotron - Juan Atkins and Richard Davis - were obsessed with the futuristic music of Kraftwerk and other European electronica exponents. With 'Clear' they produced an electro hybrid that fed on the body-poppin' rhythms of other interplanetary groovers like Afrika Bambaataa but took them on a ride into the outer limits. Its influence is still felt today with Missy Elliott jacking the beat for her recent hit 'Lose Control'. Juan Atkins went on to form Model 500 and became a techno legend in his own right.

Troy Pierce's remix warps the original into Berlin 2007, transforming it into a subtle 4/4 minimal masher, weaving in elements of the ascending keyboard lick. "The curious thing about this remix, the track being from 1983, is that there were no individual parts like you find on tracks today -no melody or separates," recalled Troy. "So I had to pull things from the original. In doing that, it made me reduce it to the basic elements and I created a filtered building repetitive ride around that."

Cobblestone Jazz's version remains truer, taking the lino-cuttin' electro blueprint and giving it a glimmering robotic makeover. The whole package is a fascinating document of dance music history - and its future.

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