- EX, released in June last year, was the patchy live album based on a performance at New York's Guggenheim Museum that became Richie Hawtin's first new Plastikman material in over ten years. It's not a great surprise, given Hawtin's exalted status, that on this largely successful remix package the contributors only lightly alter the source material. Their reverence largely pays dividends, though, with three of the four reworks improving on the original tracks.
The exception is the Tale Of Us remix of "EXpand." The listless piano lines and atmospheric touches are at best uninspired and at worst phoned-in. Dixon is much more successful with his "Just A Different Mixdown Version" of "EXhale," which simply adds heftier kicks to the original's huge orchestral sweeps and shaves a couple of minutes off the runtime. Elsewhere, Recondite applies a similarly light touch to "EXplore," taking a little off the original's length and adding subtle drama to the keys and drums. Dubfire—the least zeitgeisty of the remixers—finishes the package on a high with a 13-minute take on "EXposed." He removes the original's intro-track feel by beginning with a high-intensity bassline, which is retained even as he settles into a pattern of wonderfully hypnotic keys.
Tracklist01. EXhale (Dixon's Just A Different Mixdown Version)
02. EXplore (Recondite Remix)
03. EXpand (Tale Of Us Remix)
04. EXposed (Dubfire Remix)