- Would it be telling to let slip that D.H.S.'s "House of God" was the track that plunged me headlong into dance music? In the suburban Midwest of America, signs of electronic music life were few and far between, aside from the occasional mention of this "electronica" thing that was apparently going to happen to us in the mid '90s. That and MTV's Amp, a television show that I suspect was seminal for a number of culturally deprived kids who were still dialing into the internet on a 56k.
I had bought the requisite Chemical Brothers, Aphex Twin and Prodigy CDs from the mall, but upon seeing the video for "House of God," I knew that I had found something altogether different from any music I had known before. Which is a long way of saying: "Yay. Remixes!" And yay, indeed, as Phonique—the producer responsible for this project that graces Poker Flat's 100th release—turns in a satisfying rework of the original that takes a two-note sonar blip of a melody and spins it out from there. Bleeps and blips are the name of the game here, along with a 1-2-3-4 rolling bassline that is about as basic as can be.
Martin Landsky does him one better, however, by going subtle and using the preacher's voice as raw material. Landsky focuses his attention on sound design and tension-building, a minimal techno DJ's dream tool—full of vocals for the taking, but not overpowering enough to be annoying about it. There's nothing understated about D.H.S.'s take on his classic tune, though: It's a banging rework more suitable for dank rave-ready warehouses than anything else. Sure, that ecstatic move into the breakbeat is missing from his version, but you wouldn't expect Poker Flat to allow for such shenanigans. Although I hear for $50, they might be able to convinced to change their mind...
Lista de sequência de músicas A House Of God (Phonique Remix)
B1 House Of God (Martin Landsky Remix)
B2 House Of God (20 Years DHS Remix)