Renegade Hardware are proud to present the Reanimation EP, featuring four remixes of previous Hardware standards by some of the hottest names in the game right now. Original tracks by Usual Suspects, Optiv & BTK, Maztek and Future Cut are re-imagined by InsideInfo, Maztek, Optiv & BTK and Verb respectively.
The InsideInfo remix of Usual Suspects’ Killa Bees leads things off, with its recognisable apocalyptic opening and signature vocal sample. As the beat drops in, the world as you know it will stop, replaced by a pulsing, addictive soundscape. InsideInfo adds his usual rolling, headnodding beats, and squelching, claustrophobic basslines. You’ll be surrounded by Killer Bees, and won’t be able to get away.
Three of the best get together on the next two cuts, with Maztek remixing Inception by Optiv and BTK and the British/Brazilian combo returning the favour on the Italian’s Limber. On the former, things get dark and deadly early on, with a sci-fi feel mixed with classic RH vibes. The sound is of a dystopian future, controlled by the machine overlords, as booming bass teams up with sliding live-effect drums. On the Optiv and BTK remix of Limber, the duo have opened up the track, letting the inner workings breathe more, by which method the soul and the funk of the original is emphasised. After a towering opening, the raw guts of the track spill onto the sidewalk, as visceral and unforgiving as anything you’ll hear all year. Get caught in the web that is Limber.
Closing things off we have Verb going in on the classic Whiplash by Future Cut. The samples are all still there, but this time surrounded by some tunnel-like synths before the drop. When things do close in, we are treated to a hail of amens, lifted by the sheer rush of the drums, and some steadily-handled bass runs.