Music review: Electronica producers rework the classics

Re:works combines 21st century beats with the classics as selected DJs and producers were given access to Decca Records' vast archive of classical music releases and asked to come up with their own interpretations.

DJ and producer Mr Scruff. Courtesy Shaun Bloodworth.
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It's one of the most recognisable pieces of 19th century piano music, the ethereal scales of Erik Satie's Gnossienne No. 1. The Frenchman's timeless classic is the perfect soundtrack for a lonely walk through the backstreets of Paris, but there's something different about the latest version.

Its early, echoing phases amplify the haunting atmosphere. And then, 1 minute, 40 seconds in, a very 21st century drum loop shatters the calm. It would probably have classical purists up in arms. Or would it?

Gnossienne No. 1, remixed by US producer Starkey, is one of the highlights of an album that unites the worlds of classical and electronic music. Carefully selected DJs and producers were given access to Decca Records' vast archive of classical music releases and asked to come up with their own interpretations.

The result is Re:works, with the likes of Faultline (London producer David Kosten) taking on Faure's Requiem, German electronica artist Ulrich Schnauss giving Bach's Prelude and Fugue in C Major the synth treatment, and Kate Simko from the London Electronic Orchestra fashioning a glitchy 21st century makeover of Schubert's Schwanengesang.

Starkey's take on Satie is one of the more faithful interpretations. Re:works is just as effective when the remix doffs a cap to the spirit of the original but takes the music in a new direction – most obviously in Mr Scruff's take on Steve Reich's Six Pianos.

"Six Pianos is actually a track I play quite a lot anyway when I'm DJing," says the English DJ and producer – real name Andy Carthy – of Reich's repetitively enveloping minimalist piece composed in 1973. "So when I found it in the Decca archives I thought, 'Right, I'm on home territory here!'"

Choosing Reich – as Amsterdam DJ Patrice Bäumel also does on Re:works – makes sense for an electronica producer: the American is widely regarded as key to the entire direction of dance music. "His influence is kind of mind-blowing really," says Carthy. "Anyone who is obsessive about music craves the state of mind his compositions create, where you don't quite know where you are in a song, where new riffs or motifs come in and out and continually show the piece in a new light. With Reich it's the playfulness I love. There's something quite magical about him."

Carthy though, was keen not to overanalyse Six Pianos. Instead, he just used a loop from the original, jammed over the top and played with the results. "Mostly it was just fun to get lost in a piece of music and try to create something that was just as immersive – but used a different method," he says. "With Six Pianos there are so many little angles to this crystal Reich provides to use as a launch pad … so many little ideas that can spring from a simple one bar loop."

Reich - who has held remix contests of his own work in the past - would probably approve. And if a Mr Scruff version means that one person is directed towards a Reich composition, then Re:works will have achieved what it set out to do. One wonders, though, whether a thumping techno version of an 1828 Schubert composition can really act as a ‘gateway’ for 21st century electronica fans to explore, say, the Austrian’s masterwork Winterreise.

“Well, there’s probably several generations of music lovers now who have discovered old music through it being recontextualised, either by DJs or by people using samples or doing remixes, “ argues Carthy. “People are always interested to see where music comes from, and popularising something that some might see as stuffy and austere can work.”

Interestingly, Carthy is speaking on the same weekend as Manchester - the English city in which he does the majority of his DJing - welcomes Hacienda Classical: an evening at which DJs synonymous with the “Madchester” acid house scene of the late 1980s play alongside the Manchester Camerata orchestra. Whether it’s just a bit of fun or another way in which classical music can be ‘discovered’ by pop fans is something of a moot point, but it’s an interesting exercise nonetheless.

“Well, it’s a novelty really,” says Carthy. “I’d be interested to see whether it would make someone go to a ‘real’ classical concert - or indeed whether ravers and the classical crowd could both get something from it.

“Still, if Manchester Camarata were to record a track and there was a killer version of, say, Rhythim is Rhythim by Strings of Life, then I’d play it as a DJ. It’s all about the execution - concepts that don’t always look great on paper occasionally produce a gem. Sometimes the incongruity works.”

Thankfully, Re:works has its fair share of gems, testament to the commitment of remixers who, on the whole, have taken the project as seriously as the source music demands.

“For me, Steve Reich is very easy to get obsessive about,” warns Carthy. “Because if you enjoy the feeling you get when you listen to a piece of his music - slightly discolated, confused and yet comfortable - you immediately seek out more. That’s why anyone who likes him, likes him a lot.”

Re:works is out on Friday on Decca.

artslife@thenational.ae