Canadian live act supremo Akufen takes to remixing Berlin-based Milanese producer Pressure Point here in what for us is one of the year’s stand-out tracks so far. As bossman of Telharmonic Texture, Pressure Point recently played host to the brilliantly quirky I Love To Wiggle EP from Akufen himself, and this sees the favour returned in fine style (to quote a certain Horsepower Productions) for emerging vinyl only imprint All Off Tape. It’s another peach of a release for them, following up Bakked‘s exploratory EP from last year.

There are just so many levels to this remix. There’s a fundamentally eerie feel to it right from the offset, a vibe that’s so characteristic from a man who also produces under the moniker Horror Inc. From the ghostly pads and the skittering hi hats, to the breaksy bass explosions and chopped vocals, the build is quite phenomenal.

It’s really difficult not to hear echoes of Groove Chronicles‘ ‘Stone Cold’ in this, not least because the vocals sound like they could have been lifted straight from that paragon of UKG. But Akufen pays homage in such heartfelt style that when the sunshine pads and flirting Rhodes appear, almost inevitably and a full five minutes in, you can almost feel the clock turning back to 2001. Champagne bubbly, indeed.

While he’s no stranger to 2-step, it’s an unexpected delight that he’d choose this particular time and this place to transport us right back to those heady days. A sign of things to come, perhaps? We can hope.

Pressure Point – You Can’t Sleep At Night EP is out on All Off Tape soon. Vinyl only.

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