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Kurt Baggaley – Winterland (Chapter 24)

Another tale from the ever-reliable Chapter 24 stable, and it comes from Kurt Baggaley, with remixes from Patlac and Petar Dundov.

Kurt Baggaley’s original is a really retro cut, with Eighties sounding synths and percussion seguing into a hypnotic electro groove, before the melodies are gradually added back in. The musical ideas here are strong, but it’s not really my kind of sound to be honest – fortunately, Chapter 24 have picked two remixers who have really done the track justice.

I’ve really enjoyed following Patlac’s output since he came to my attention when I was reviewing a remix he did on Crossfrontier Audio a couple of years ago. His sound is really understated, but can still pack a lot of emotional and dancefloor-directed punch, which is a combination that really appeals to me, and he gets this balance just right once again on his interpretation of Kurt Baggaley’s track. The listener is greeted by chugging bassline and building percussion, before the airy melodics start to creep in, and Kurt Baggaley’s synths dual it out with some cowbell action that Bruce Dickinson would approve of, while the track intensifies nicely as it heads towards the atmospheric and hypnotic breakdown. Quality work from Patlac as always.

‘Winterland’ is already very much working with a sonic palette that we hear in Petar Dundov’s work, and he uses that to his advantage, creating a gorgeously layered piece of music with gently twisting hooks and twin basslines – one pulsing while the other finds its groove – and lovely sweeps, all of which set the scene for a clever use of sounds from Kurt Baggaley’s original together with Dundov’s own intricate melody lines. The breakdown is stunning, offering a drifting, dreamy moment before the second half of the remix turns up the heat with acidic squelches.

Both remixes here do a fantastic job of taking the best ideas from Kurt Baggaley’s original and repackaging them for contemporary dancefloors, with Petar Dundov’s 10 minute slice of ear candy slightly winning the day for me personally.

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