Underworld - Dark & Long (Christian Smith Remixes)
Written by Youri Jozee
House - Christian Smith is apparently going for the world record of dropping the most a-class remixes in a single year. After having turned Carl Craig’s ‘At Les’, Laurent Garnier’s ‘Flashback’ and Funk D Void’s ‘Diabla’ into mesmerizing beats of big room mayhem, he now touches underworld's Dark Train, one of the biggest house tracks ever produced...
There's this one unwritten rule that applies to tracks of this calibre: it is regarded blasphemy to even think about remixing them. Why? Because we, and several thousands of clubbers with us, can't count the times we facepalmed when hearing the gazillionth godawful rework by some punk remixer. Then again, these dimwits didn't go by the name of Christian Smith...The Tronic honcho delivers two reworks on this EP: the usual Tronic Treatment remix and a Hypnotica Dub. The first remix is a slower, typically Tronic-styled fuse of house and techno with Chris' signature bass wobbles, echoing fx and slo-swung synths, with several of the original elements mixed in. Especially the vocals and strings from the original form a tasty combination to Chris' sound, resulting in a highly exciting remix that you can expect to hear a lot over the coming months. The Hypnotica Dub doesn't differ that much from its predecessor, except for the fact that it's er... dubbier. A hypnotizing gem indeed.
Our verdict:
Christian Smith has managed to drop two fantatsic tributes to one of the most legendary electronic tracks ever conceived by mankind. It's huge, and you're going to need it. Badly.
Rating: 8.2/10
Label: Tronic
Release date: August 22nd, 2011
Tracklist:
1. Tronic Treatment Remix
2. Hypnotica Dub
