Artist: Partial Arts
Title: Trauermusik
Label: Kompakt
By: Simon Jones | 28 January 2007
Tracklist:

• A: Original Mix
• B: Alter Ego Mix

Partial Arts "Trauermusik"

Every once in a while, a record or track comes along out of the blue that tends to blind side you and make you stop what you're doing having just put it on in the background and continued upon the daily hustle and bustle, be it in the office, at home or wherever you may be. In the years I've been listening to music, and in more recent years writing about it, those special records for whatever reason have become the exception rather than the norm. 'Trauermusik' by Partial Arts is one of those such records, the first release of 2007 on Cologne's Kompakt imprint.

The collaborative unison of Ewan Pearson and Al Usher have truly excelled themselves with this latest Partial Arts outing. Whilst previous track 'Cruising' found reasonable critical acclaim upon its release back in early 2006 on French label Battle, 12 months on and 'Trauermusik' stands worlds apart from it's predecessor, With a subtle see-saw groove as the canvas, Pearson and Usher utilise some brilliant percussive crashes, rising chords and melodic lines, blending them all together to form an eight minute masterpiece that is quite simply one of the best tracks to emerge on the Kompakt label in some time, and one that will no doubt find it's way into many people's end of year charts almost 12 months from now.

Alter Ego's remix, whilst sure to find favour with those who loved 'Rocker' or Roman Flugel's 'Geht's Noch', comes nowhere near matching the splendour of the original, and whilst it's a fair offering, personally I feel it lets the single down slightly, and overall is somewhat of a missed opportunity.

Put aside the shortcomings of the remix, and 'Trauermusik' is an essential record that I recommend without haste. Ewan Pearson is a man very much on form as of late, and this single is testament to that fact. One must wonder whether a remix package will follow at a later date, but for now, be sure you don't miss one of 2007's first big singles.