Emotional welcomes Kris Baha with ‘Barely Alive’, his first 12″ for Especial. Remixes start with Timothy J Fairplay who laces his trademark echoplexxed wash for a cold wave mover. Next, prodigy Job Sifre builds on his acclaimed debuts with a remodel that goes straight to ‘that’ basement, mixing his love of electro, new wave and industrial. To close, the legend of Das Ding creates a re-alternate remix, fusing his unique fuzz with Baha’s ode for a brittle finale.
It’s been a hot minute since Timothy J. Fairplay slipped on his Junior Fairplay guise, but he’s done just that for this bleep-tastic new 12″ on (Emotional) Especial. “End Of Love” is unabashed in its embrace of early Yorkshire techno tones, making a fine job of resurrecting the bleep spectre and letting it shake up the dance once more. Roy Of The Ravers is a smart choice of remixer, and he brings an off-kilter acid rub to the table in his idiosyncratic, braindance-inflected style. The B-side is equal laden with purposefully dusty dance grooves transplanted from the late 80s / early 90s, with “Faxes From The Future” hitting a particularly sharp point in its lazy breakbeat roll and the clanging harmonies of the stabs.
After a couple of releases for the label, including many notable remixes, Jamie Paton returns to the warm glow of Especial for a collective vinyl only EP of 4 ‘unreleased’ remixes for the likes of Sexy Merlin, Guy Schalom, Gatos Negros and Blancmange.
Hot on the heels of the co-release between Especial and Cocktails d’Amore Music of the Sfire Remixes EP (EES023/CDA013) comes an accompanying release with a pair of deeper, stripped back remixes from the inimitable Timothy J Fairplay and Willie Burns.
Especial returns to its concept of taking music it loves – in this case Sfire’s debut EP – and remixing them for a stand-alone release. Teaming up with Berlin’s Cocktail d’Amore Music, mixing desk duties are taken by newcomer Kris Baha, as well as label mainstays Jamie Paton and INHALT and the esteemed Lauer.
Joining the dots after last years reissue of Plus Instruments early 80s post-punk music on the Bodies EP on Emotional Rescue, Especial now looks at their return to recent music production, taking the song “Love Is Enough” from the recent Trancesonics album and giving it the all encompassing label remix treatment. We get four reinterpretations by Richard Sen, Khidja, Luke Solomon and Jamie Paton.
Electro and disco inspired modern club tracks with bubbling arpeggios, sizzling hi-hats and playful acid lines and tight percussion.
Especial celebrates the upcoming release of it’s 2nd compilation mix CD to highlight the recent music of the label , with another Sampler 12” of unreleased tracks, remixes and versions for the heads, collectors and discerning.
Coming hot on the heels of Khidja’s return to the label with their Never Seen The Dunes EP, is a set of remixes by friends and family of the label and band, featuring no less than Discodromo, Inflagranti, Red Axes and Selvy on mixing desk duties. A proper Remix EP with all 4 tracks from the original EP getting a proper European flavored rework.
Food Pyramid align with Especial for a remix EP based around “Oh Mercy”, a track from their 2012 album Mango Sunrise. The warped breakbeat jam-fusion of the original is ripe for reinvention and gets the remix treatment from Especial in-house team Apophenia (aka Piers Harrison, Stuart Leath, Tim Fairplay), Inhalt and Jamie Paton.
The Romanian duo Khidja are again on (Emotional) Especial with some beautiful electronix with a bit of early disco, krautrock and balearic feel to it with some added Middle Eastern vibes.
A love of new wave, new beat, UK Bleep and Detroit techno all feature in B-Ultras and the aptly titled, Neu Beat. Both cuts are heavily soaked in the pitch black, smoke machine funk and strob-laden fug of Andy’s (and co-hort Joe Hart) infamous World Unknown dancefloor. Running at around 10 minutes the tracks are essentially an examination of acid house’s ideals. Clattering hats, throbbing basslines, stabbing keys and doses of 303. Keeping it pretty simple but all about a pure groove on and on. Backing these up is a remix of B-Ultras from Jamie Paton that accentuates the groove and drags the acid deeper down to some B-boy Dub throwdown – with more to follow from all protagonists in 2014.
The second release from [Emotional] Especial sees the welcome return of Baris K. Known for his edit series of obscure Turkish Psychedelic, Rock and Disco, here he takes the producer’s chair to present “200”. Working with musicians and singers to create a completely original production. The song’s message for equality (of the sexes) highlights the bigotry and backward political and religious boundaries his country faces and acts as a siren to the current troubles. Handed to Emotional Recordings over 5 years ago but with no label to release it at that time, now we are delighted to be able to release 200’s message. The original is backed with remixed from new Romanian production duo Khidja, as well as East London’s finest, The Asphodells. Teaming up with guitarist Balabas, Romania’s Khidja turn in a deep and introspective interpretation mixing their own heavy eastern influences, while the B-side sees Weatherall and Fairplay don their Asphodells mantle for two renditions that firmly lay it before the ALFOS alter. With artwork (by Jamie Paton) highlighting the struggle for fairness and freedom in his homeland, we hope the release can be seen as a support for their tribulations and highlight the talent that lays East.
The Hipodrome Of Music 