Kenny Larkin - Catatonic mp3 album

Thinking about the output of all three artists involved in this release, of the remixes its Carl's mix that stands out in particular as the time honoured, still sounding fresh today bonus. Reminiscent in spirit of his remix for 'La Funk Mob- Ravers Suck Our Sound' and drawing comparison to a degree with Dan Bell's 'Subterranean', only true to the techno blueprint of Kenny's original. Its a sparse, wobbly atmospheric piece with his trademark jazz influences, while pushing a filtered drum loop in & out the mix that many would have used as the main focus, where as Carl confidently chooses to hold it back, bringing in different percussion elements & retaining some space to move. Thoughtful, intelligent & up there with his best remixes. Stacey Pullen's mix brashly repeats 'The Only Choice' throughout, and is a well crafted sparse melodic take, with a memorable tinkering key jam at its heart. Of the first 2 mixes from Kenny, Its the 303/808 acid sound of the Second State that, with a wood like synth & barely audible xylophone 'ghost in the machine', make it a deep & truly class adventure.

A2 - Catatonic (Second State) is a beautiful track with real intricacy put into the programming (true of much of Larkin's productions). I find it endlessly listenable and quite a timeless reminder that great techno requires time thought and effort. Knocking out tracks in an afternoon and flooding the market with uninspiring crap (a charge that many of us are guilty of at one time or another) seems to me, the very mentality that is proving to be techno's undoing.