Simian Mobile Disco - Hustler Remxes

Simian Mobile Disco, "Hustler (Kevin Saunderson remix)" (YSI link)

Simian Mobile Disco, "Hustler (Jesse Rose remix)" (YSI link)

Simian Mobile Disco, "Hustler (Shackleton remix)" (YSI link)

I'm still working on the end of the year stuff, but in the meantime I'm gonna put up some things that I had wanted to get to at the end of last year. It was a big year for Simian Mobile Disco, as they dropped their first album, Attack Sustain Delay Release, to critical acclaim and toured the world. Ironically, one of their first singles, "Hustler," which dropped all the way back in the year 2006, continues to thrill and get the remix treatment.

The most recent batch of remixes fit in perfectly with some of our recent foci here at Pound for Pound - techno, dubstep and fidget house. With the focus this week on Detroit, we've got a lead off with that Kevin Saunderson remix. I mean, Kevin Saunderson, people! Belleville 3! Dude does not disappoint here, dropping a sick, filtered techno remix that turns the original a little darker and more menacing. Those insistent kick drums start things off, taking center stage while a acid-y bassline works its way around the beat. The pace picks up, the drums get a little more jackin' until some vocal snippets and video-game synths come in around the halfway mark. My favorite part, though, comes around the four minute mark when the kick drums drop out for a bit, leaving only these filtered, wobbling synths and hi-hats. Wait for it, here comes the kick drums again and away we go on a similar, but off-kilter vibe to the first-half.

Shackleton brings the delays out to full effect, creating a molasses version. It almost seems like you are hearing it underwater, especially when those massives horn like sounds come in every so often, I almost expect to see a tugboat coming down Kent Avenue. The Jesse Rose remix might be the pick of the lot, keeping more of the sound of the original, but turning up the dirty and nasty with a fuzzed bassline and jackin' house beats. This one should destroy dancefloors.

If you haven't already copped the SMD LP, you really should do so now. It's been making the top lists for all of the major dance magazines, definitely an album you need to own.