Admittedly, it was an interview with The Village Orchestra regarding this particular release that made me aware of LJ Kruzer.  I’ve been a huge TVO fan ever since 2562’s remix of “Afanc” introduced me to his work, so anything he’s involved with is going to get a fair amount of rotation at tSoS Midwest.

I tracked down the original Manhood and Electronics full length, which came out on Uncharted Audio in 2009 and was immediately impressed by Kruzer’s deft and subtle touch at crafting delicate ambient pieces backed up here and there with crisp, clean rhythms.  I really appreciated the delicateness of  this post-modern lullabye.

After hearing the TVO Dead Weight Dub of “Tam” provided in the FACT article above, I knew it was going to be a different affair on this remix ep.  The four-track release starts off with the Dead Weight Mix, opening with quietly buzzing synths on a slowly descending pitch slide until another set of synths drift in like a sunrise on the horizon.  The kick drum pulse and melody enter amid a softly floating pad sequence.  The piece is not necessarily intended for the main rooms of course, but would not be out of place in the sort of sparsely-filled backroom that tends to cater to the intelligent dancer, and this is the beauty of so much of The Village Orchestra’s work.

Ukonnen’s mix of “Poil” follows TVO’s lead, maintaining much of the headspace of the original.  A relatively simple beat structure underlies an airy pad sequence, while bleeps and bloops dance around, waiting on the simplified breakbeat that makes up the backbone of the short track.

“Tam” is visited again, this time by Trademark, who builds an almost easy-listening deeper tech house variation of the original that wouldn’t sound out of place with Tracey Thorn or some similar coo-ing chanteuse over the top.  Right at half-way through, the main melody sequence switches things up a bit, building towards the climax of the track.  While this would probably draw blank stares from the glowstick crowd, it might be just the thing to get the more mature denizens ready for a techier selection to come while maintaining an organic feel in the present.

Cyan341 contributes a another dancefloor-friendly mix that continues the mindfullness of spatial awareness found elsewhere on the ep.  While the tempo is appropriate and the synths chug and the groove grooves, there’s still a sense of ambience to the mix.  The later half of the track could find its way into a discerning dj’s set as a decent segue towards a more cerebral slinky tech house selection.