- It's rare that a rerelease sounds so aligned with current trends, but Dat Oven's "Icy Lake," originally released in 1998, could appear in a mix of new music without anyone batting an eyelid. One of only three tracks the tribal house duo Dat Oven ever produced, "Icy Lake" was "discovered" on YouTube by Fade To Mind producer Total Freedom, who recognised the affinity between the original's dance floor logic and his label's own output.
A sample ripped from a voicemail message is at the heart of "Icy Lake." The line "I just thought I'd call before I throw myself into the icy lake" is threaded throughout the track until it takes on a cyborg-like quality. A glassy synth and barrage of clicking percussion, which are are oddly prescient of eski grime, ratchet up the tension until the track feels like a coil ready to spring. And spring it does, into a deadly groove dotted with ominous phone rings, dazzling synths and drum hits that feel like a kick to the chest.
L-Vis 1990 takes on "Icy Lake" twice. His first remix makes scant use of the melody and phone rings, so that when they do appear from beneath the sub-bass and serrated percussion they're eerier than ever. His "Fire Alarm Remix" is even more uncompromising, all piercing alarm tones and rapid-fire percussion. The smooth vocal line and synth motif Total Freedom adds do little to temper the prevailing brutality of his techno version. NA of Nguzunguzu and Rashad recast "Icy Lake" as a roiling footwork stomper. Crucially, these remixes do nothing so trite as bring "Icy Lake" "up to date," instead reinforcing just how contemporary it still sounds.
TracklistA1 Icy Lake (Original Arena Mix)
A2 Icy Lake (L-Vis 1990 Remix)
B1 Icy Lake (Total Freedom Remix)
B2 Icy Lake (Rashad & Na Remix)