Artist: Paul Ritch
Title: Evil Laff
Label: Wagon Repair Records
By: Jason Calvert | 26 February 2009
Tracklist:

• A: Original Mix
• B: Konrad Black Mix

Paul Ritch "Evil Laff"

Canadian imprint Wagon Repair was launched in 2004 by Mathew Jonson, Konrad Black and Loose Change. The label has seen some absolutely stellar releases from the likes of Jonson himself, Cobblestone Jazz, Lazy Fat People and Minilogue just to name a few. Their quality control is astounding and I am always eagerly awaiting their next one. This latest one comes from Frenchman Paul Ritch who has only begun to appear on the scene in the past couple of years.

The original mix is built on minimal foundations but it manages at the same time to be complex enough to be appreciated by non-minimal fans. It manages to keep working in more and more elements before building up to quite epic proportions around mid way. A small voice snippet floats hauntingly around the composition and the track crosses over into less minimal and more "techy" territory by the end. A stellar effort from Ritch on this track.

Konrad Black steps in to deliver a powerful and harrowing (in a positive way) take on the original. The main elements are tastefully extracted from the original and thrown into a composition of fat dirty synth lines and throbbing percussive elements. Whilst the original is turned upside down, it is still recognizable throughout. This explosive remix will have you exhausted by the end but it is most certainly one of the most memorable tracks I have had the pleasure of hearing all year.

Once again Wagon Repair deliver the goods without fail. Two tracks which are worlds apart in terms of style but both extremely high on the production value scale. As with most Wagon Repair releases, this is unique in that each track manages to have large crossover appeal and manages to push the genre boundaries even further. It is releases like these which give me faith that the scene is anything but dead at the moment.