Icarus

Sam Britton and Ollie Bown have long lurked at the periphery of electronic music, seemingly disinterested in allying themselves with any particular movement. As a result, they've managed to create excitingly idiosyncratic work that's full of murky beats, asymmetric jazz samples and the kind of near-danceability IDM fans smirk along to. It's perhaps this lack of easily definable properties that results in these new remixes pulling interpreters into odd new shapes. Take Frank Bretschneider's uncharacteristically up-tempo and detail-rich drum & bass rendition of "Keet." That same track is polished into smoothly sonorous ambience by Isan. Breaking from the maximalist menace of his usual work, Xela applies a spongy hip-hop treatment to "First Inf(E)raence." Britton sneaks onboard under his Isambard Khroustaliov alias to turn "Jyske Rugkiks" into an eerie, lowercase jazz excursion with help from woodwind player Lothar Ohlmeier. Only Ital Tek's straight-ahead dubstep reworking of "Selfautoparent" anchors the compilation to any definite time or place. Britton and Bown obviously are skilled freak magnets.