Artist: Afterlife and Pete Gooding Present No Logo
Title: Dark Star
Label: Urbantorque Recordings
By: Ryan Simoneau | 24 April 2008
Tracklist:

• A1. Dark Star (Original Mix)
• A2. Dark Star (Christian Sol Mix)
• B1. Dark Star (Francois DuBois Mix)
• 1. Dark Star (Neil Quigley Remix)
• 2. Dark Star (John Moss Remix)

Afterlife and Pete Gooding Present No Logo "Dark Star"

For years Afterlife (AKA Steve Miller) and Pete Gooding have dominated the summer sounds of Ibiza. Compiling and appearing on endless Ibiza-inspired compilations, it’s easy to classify these guys as “chillout dons.” But anyone that’s familiar with their many mixes will know that these two are much, much more than that ridiculous label. They’ve teamed up to compile the last two “Café Mambo” compilations, where Pete has long been a resident. And in my opinion, they’re the best chillout compilations since the “Real Ibiza” series was discontinued. They are never clichéd and always feature a diverse lineup of artists that reflect both the day and night vibes of the white island. No Logo is the group that these two formed a few years back and here they unleash a massive slice of summer soul to prepare us for the coming season.

The original mix of “Dark Star” starts off with some downtempo breakbeats to set the scene before the trademark Afterlife atmospherics begin to emerge. The underpinning melody is gorgeous and when combined with the smooth breaks, it gives the track a very lucid and tranquil vibe that never becomes boring. It plays out very much like Bedrock’s “Forge,” from a few years back, which in my opinion is one of the best downtempo breaks tracks around. This particular offering from No Logo is much different from their previous work but no less brilliant. These guys know their stuff and that translates from their compilations to their original material. Now how about an album fellas?

Christian Sol takes his turn on the first mix and reworks the track into a peaktime house number. Wisely he keeps much of the melody and atmospherics and adds a few of his own tweaks to the track. I especially liked the inclusion of some string samples towards the end. Definitely geared towards the dancefloor, Christian’s interpretation is really nicely done and should keep many bodies in motion.

Francois DuBois (AKA Funk D’Void) gives his traditional “deep” take on the tune by beefing up the bassline. He has kept minimal elements from the track and this one sounds the most far removed from the original. However, the end result is no less fantastic and this one will also be doing heavy damage on the dancefloors this summer.

Neil Quigley is next up and he also has opted to turn the track into a 4/4 anthem. Like Christain Sol’s mix, Neil wisely keeps all of the atmospheric soundscapes in place and turned the breakbeats into a progressive house monster. I can absolutely see this one hammering Ibiza dancefloors in the early morning. Of all the remixes presented here this one keeps all the emotional content of the original but also delivers a completely different feeling by picking up the pace. My personal favorite of the package and a truly top-notch remix by Mr Quigley that’s destined to be a summertime anthem in 2008.

John Moss’s mix opts for an odd mixture of breaks and house and he has kept only small portions of the original’s melody. He’s also added in loads of “bleeps & bloops” to give a slightly electro vibe to the tune. Unfortunately by taking out the main melody, it doesn’t really work all that well and certainly lacks in comparison to the other mixes.

Overall the original is a future downtempo classic and certainly will be featured on a number of Ibiza compilations this summer or at least the good ones anyway. The remixes do what good remixes should do – translate the track to different settings. Neil Quigley’s mix does the best job of this and as a result should see massive play from all the top jocks not only on the island but around the world.