Polish producer Kobana is no stranger to the Proton family, and so it’s fitting that he’s chosen the label to be the home of his upcoming album ‘The Riddle’. There have been a couple of promisingly snippets of the album posted already, including one of ‘Barsoom’, the first single to be taken from it. On remix duties, we have Chicago’s Nick Stoynoff.
‘Barsoom’ is an absolute dream of a record, with shimmering, hazy melodies, sutble piano work, and a really strong bass progression coming together to give the track a slightly eastern flavour, and as a result, to offer the listener something truly gorgeous. Sitting nicely between progressive and melodic techno, this is really powerful and addictive, and possibly the best thing I’ve heard from Kobana yet.
Nick Stoynoff’s remix kicks off with some bold bleeps, before dropping into a techier sound, boasting some analogue-sounding bass parts and shuffling percussion. It’s slower to reach the melody than Kobana’s original, but the sequences that feature Stoynoff’s stringy take on the main themes are really great. For my tastes, the lower-end of the track was a little on the busy side, and as a result it lacked the crisp, punchiness of the original. But as I say, there are some really nice moments, and Stoynoff does succeed in retaining some of the original’s best ideas while putting his own stamp on things.
All I’m going to say in conclusion is that ‘Barsoom’ bodes very well indeed for Kobana’s new album – recommended. 8/10
‘Barsoom’ is released 27/5/2014
