Fauna Flash

Christian Pommer and Roland Appel are known for their exceptional recorded and live performance of drum & bass, not to mention a series of highly applauded twelve-inches and numerous remixes that tread in the terrain of Afrobeat, Latin and jazz. While a few of the cuts on Worx the Remixes are unreleased, many of the tracks on this deep house mix reach back to the past decade of remixes done by Fauna Flash. Although the track arrangement seems to take the listener on a journey back and forth from the couch to the dance floor, Worx the Remix is characterised by flawless mixing, buttery bass lines, soulful vocals and Afro-Latin rhythms. The first half of the album includes Fauna Flash’s first remix from ’95, "Montininja,” (which on its own is not particularly outstanding) as well as a tech-y remix of South African Abdullah Ibrahim’s "Sweet Samba,” where the album begins to take shape and a more promising direction. The album, however, doesn’t fully pick up and keep a steady groove until the eight track, a remix of "Shouts and Kisses” originally by ’80s avant-garde disco act Minimal Compact. Beginning with sparse cow bells and synths and ending on chilly acid flavour, the 303 gurgles complement the unremitting warmth of the Latin percussions, and leave a cold and quirky tenor that can be traced in the next few tracks. In the final analysis, this album is an appropriate play for a lounge club, if your Latin house DJ can’t make the gig.