Madteo
-Recast
reviews
Fantastic remix package by an all-star cast as a zero” exclusive: Marcellus Pittman heads off on a grooving deep house tangent, Kassem Mosse drops a killer reverberating electro/chi-house hybrid, and Shake shifts into slo-mo mode. Indispensable!
Author : [The Editor]
At the moment, we’d be interested in most anything remixed by any one of the three heavy hitters featured on this EP — I mean, Kassem Mosse, Anthony “Shake” Shakir, AND Marcellus Pittman???!!! And even though I’d probably slap cash down for a piece of plain cardboard with these three names emblazoned on it, it doesn’t hurt that the original track is by NYC’s Madteo, with vocal duties by the one and only Sensational. The original is a deep and dirty affair from a very heady producer in his own right, who has been making waves in his own unique way, with records on the amazing Workshop label and on Morphosis’ Morphine label. But with these three mixes, each taking the original and running in completely different directions altogether, I’d consider this a triple A-side 12″ in the “must-have” category.
The track-by-track breakdown: First up for me is the Kassem Mosse remix (track B-1). As we’ve been saying for a while now, Mosse has been consistently killing it, and he manages to defy expectations yet again. Why this guy didn’t save this beat for his own album I don’t really know, but I’m just glad to hear it. The way the track is both lumbering and sleek, and so earthy yet so effortlessly psychedelic is truly eye-opening and impressive. It’s massive and “funky” in a way that makes the word funky seem, well, a bit silly if you know what I mean. Kind of the way recent Andy Stott could be considered funky, but not really — if you have heard his recent output, you know this is something Kassem Mosse just excels at. And the restrained use and placement of a massive clap sound just kills me; I’d buy the EP for this track alone.
Then there’s the gorgeous sidelong A-side by Marcellus Pittman. While even some of the best tracks from Pittman could be described as a bit “dry,” this remix stands out with an almost uncharacteristically languid, classic ’80s metropolitan floatiness over a naturally grooving, gently locomotive beat, with no vocals included. It bubbles along with just the right amount of detail, as great as you’d expect from this 3Chairs chair holder, but there are a few more layers to this one without at all distracting from its classic Detroit house efficiency — really great track! Finally we have Shake Shakir’s remix that sets the vocal snippets in a swinging, cosmic quasi hip-hop tom-tom beat structure. It weirdly erects a bridge connecting old-school ’80s future-minded hip-hop with weird Arabian harem/Laswell bass line soundtrack vibes. He stretches and percolates the vocals to almost resemble Eric B. and Rakim’s “Make ‘Em Clap to This,” and it works, beautifully. If you didn’t get it already, I’m recommending this one!
Author : [SM]
All promises fulfilling all-star remix package – TIP!
Marcellus Pittman, Kassem Mosse and Anthony Shakir weigh in killer remixes of Madteo’s Meakusma releases. A-side is a deeply smoked-out Detroit beatdown revision of ‘Mad See Scrolls’ courtesy of Marcellus Pittman. B-side man-of-the-moment Kassem Mosse rethumps ‘Very Sweaty Palms’, cutting Sensational into stuttered phonemes and choice verses on a rogue House roll while Shake replaces a robotic Sensational over one of his downbeat and spooked out specials. Big big twelve.
Marcellus Pittman, Kassem Mosse and Shake Shakir all contribute their own take on Madteo for this essential Meakusma 12″! If being anointed with the honour of the debut release on Hinge Finger wasn’t notice of Madteo’s potential, this release should convince you of his obvious standing amongst the techno cognoscenti. Pittman greedily uses all but an inch of the A-Side to draw out a thick and futuristic revision of “Mad See Scrolls” which simultaneously seems filled with textured, melodic light and shifting, uneasy analogue dread. Slip down the rpm on the flip and Kassem Mosse shows why he’s bosse (sic), totally fucking with “Very Sweaty Palms” dissecting the vocal delivery of Sensational over a messed up 808 electro flex doused in a thousand lost sounds. If your brain hasn’t been rewired completely by that, it’s likely Shake’s take on “Bangin On The Ceiling” will, paying equal disregard for vocal flow on a revision that sits somewhere between hip-hop and utopian beatdown. Just wow.
Marcellus Pittman, Kassem Mosse und Anthony “Shake” Shakir remixen Madteo. Was auf dem Papier schon verlockend klingt, erweist sich in echt als Killercombo: Alle drei kleckern mit Madteos sprunghafter Frickelattitüde und klotzen mit ihrer jeweils eigenen Charakterstärke. Marcellus Pittman organisiert Madteos Sample-Chaos neu und lässt Bass und Synthesizer gelassen über eine jackende Kickdrum reisen.
Kassem Mosse geht weit weniger geradlinig vor, für seinen eiernden Beat wäre eine elliptische Platte das perfekte Medium. Shakir schliesslich bringt sein durch Hip-Hop und Breaks beeinflusstes Verständnis von Techno mit ein, und fertig ist die perfekte Remix-Platte.
Author : JR
Though I’ve followed his work with interest for some time, Madteo remains an artist I keep tabs on more for his promise and potential than for past triumphs. Assembling blunted audio sketches (“by-products,” he once suggested) footed in hip-hop and dub, but probably most usefully lumped with house, the oblique and obstinate character of Madteo’s sound certainly has my attention. The tracks themselves, however, frustrate or elude me as often as not. One will strike me as too off the cuff, too insubstantial; another as not “out there” enough. The tracks that fit somewhere between, though, do hit on something. Roughly hewn but mesmerizing, their sleep-disorder spell puts me in mind of my first run-ins with the music of STL. And as with that producer, you’re bound to bump into the odd Theo Parrish comparisons. There’s no question he keeps excellent company, with releases on Workshop, Morphine, Meakusma, and Joy Orbison and Will Bankhead’s new Hinge Finger imprint, with future appearances planned for Acido, Sex Tags Mania, and Nuearth Kitchen. And then there’s the trio of luminaries he was able to rally for this excellent remix package: Anthony “Shake” Shakir, Kassem Mosse, and Marcellus Pittman.
Naysayers could reasonably complain that this package offers no great surprises, each of the three producers cleaving close to his respective wheelhouse. But it’s hard to begrudge their doing so. Marcellus Pittman’s remix of “Mad See Scrolls” is particularly satisfying. Another of the underrated Detroit veteran’s turbulent night drives, its galloping chords and expectant hi-hats spirit the track forward, while nimble keyboard flourishes and a hailstorm of digital streaks offer a feast of ever-changing detail to take in along the way. As for Kassem Mosse, his retooling of “Very Sweaty Palms” will do little to alter the party line that his remix work has yet to attain the heights of his original productions. Here the vocal outbursts (courtesy of Sensational) are obscured behind an impressive workout of dextrous drum programming. Drifting through the rhythm are dusty, wistful piano chords of the sort I’d sooner expect from a Christopher Rau record. It’s a likable track that ably builds a mood, but only hints at the depth of personality that distinguishes KM’s finest hours.
Don’t count on the same from Anthony Shakir. Taking on what I’d class as one of Madteo’s most durable tracks, last year’s “Bangin on the Ceiling,” Shake flips it completely inside out. Where the loose original was a crepuscular haze of drums, rattles, and whirs, Shake presents a prowling panther of spacey electro-funk that, like so many of his tracks, sounds both retro and otherworldly. I like to think this is what it would sound like if I ran Cameo backwards. In addition to being a winning set of tracks, the choice of contributors provides a handy set of compass points for approaching Madteo’s intended claim on the dance music landscape, and — I have to believe — an encouraging sign of things to come.
Author : Chris Burkhalter