Gui Boratto: Joker Remixe (Kompakt)
Brazilian techno producer Gui Boratto returns to Kompakt to throw down a straightforward dancefloor burner with “Joker,” built around an insistent Moroder-esque synth pattern and nice clean low-end until it blossoms into more of a proper dancefloor anthem.
It splits the difference between his more minimal workouts for Kompakt’s K2 imprint and his more pop-tinged excursions that helped him cross over into the mainstream. What I think I like best about “Joker” in its original incarnation is that it’s no-nonsense, infectious, and quantized in time perfectly — there’s no shuffle or swing to be found here, just straight up synths and drums used to good effect. It’s a tasty teaser for his new album Abaporu (which I haven’t yet heard at the time of writing).
On the heels of his great 12” Palmaille, Dave DK turns up to remix the track into a much gloomier, sleeker workout, dropping most of the arpeggio and sequenced synths and instead opting for swooning pads and atmosphere. It’s a handsome complement, cashing in on the emotive underpinnings of the original without the Moroder-esque immediacy. And rounding out the release is Michael Mayer, turning Boratto’s original into something much more decidedly Kompakt in tone, with a stabby, fat bassline and syncopated stabs of sound, remaining faithful to the endless arp of Boratto’s original but pushing it into deeper and more epic territory. He’s thrown in some really prolonged dropouts and snare rushes to get the floor moving and amped up and I’d be hard pressed to think it wouldn’t get the job done.
All three variations are well worth it, representing so much about what continues to make Kompakt relevant and worthwhile after all this time.
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