Sector One "Remixes" Album Reviewed

Sector One recently released one of the best albums of the year in the shape of "Telecommunication", it is Machine-Pop perfection.

They follow that up we a new album called "Remixes", which features 7 Sector One remixes of tracks by Kretz, Deutsche Bank, Maschine Brennt, Nattefrost, Unisonlab, Dark Vektor, Auto-Auto and a remix of their own track "The Firewall".

Before we get to the music, I must say the sleeve artwork is brilliant :)

Opening the album is a remix of "Mechanical Men" by Kretz, which has been given a warm analogue makeover, a fantastic mix with a nod in the direction of the Dusseldorf masters of electronic music. This is my favourite version of the song. The Deutsche Bank track "Cuber Mensch" has been given a major overhaul and is superb, very uplifting with plenty of energy.

Now i'm a massive fan of Maschine Brennt and "Man Or Machine" is one of my favourite tracks of theirs. Sector One have taken this track to an even higher level, soothing choir chords, lots of Kraftwerk inspired melody sounds, it's almost a Chillout Mix, a wonderful remix.

I've only ever come across Nattefrost through a remix they did of Metroland's track "Zeppelin". I'm not familiar with the original version of "Where The Gods Are Watching", however, Sector One's remix is once again excellent, almost has a filmic feel to it, atmospheric pads over quite a "busy" rhythm section and sequencers, this track ticks all the right boxes for me. Next we have a remix of Unisonlab's "Electro Life", do check out their album "Electrometric", it is very impressive, the mix on offer here has hints of a Vince Clarke sound pallet. A little too busy in parts but overall another good mix.

Dark Vektor are another band I'm not familiar with but if the track "Superando" is anything to go by they warrent further investigation. The remix has a fantastic sequencer sections that are the core of the track. Some nice percussive parts, all against a dance beat, this is quite minimal at first then develops, which works very well, I really do like this track. I can only imagine this was a very difficult remix to do on analogue equiptment, especially the sequencer parts.

The Auto-Auto track "Transdimensional" is an unusual track for Sector One to remix as it is more of a typical song but they has pulled off a great remix, beautiful pad sounds and well structured rhythm sections, a very interesting remix to listen to.

The album closes with Sector One's remix of their own track "The Firewall", an upbeat remix, which again features great use of pad sounds, sequencers and rhythm.

An excellent album which showcases Sector One's talents at remixing, a perfect companion to the recent "Telecommunication" album.

8.5/10

The album is available from Bandcamp here: https://sector-one.bandcamp.com/album/remixes

The album "Telecommunication" is also available from Bandcamp here: https://sector-one.bandcamp.com/album/telecommunication