[This review is of track four of the Slide EP—a remix of Slide by Bruce Gilbert—Ed.]

If you've heard Wire and yet are still unconvinced that Bruce Gilbert is an artist with a unique ear sometimes possessed by genius, then hear this! The original Scala tune is a pumping dance pop number, slightly skewed perhaps, but not twisted. Bruce gives it a cavernous cathedral of an overhaul and takes it to places where its inherent beauty can shine, whilst also accenting its toughness and hard beat resilience.

Sarah Peacock's formerly upfront vocals are rendered textural, mixed into overlapping heavily echoed loops where her words become lost in pure sonic incandescence. A throbbing—almost-acid bassline—winds around as the percussion is smashed apart and rebuilt, with the huge drums only resounding climactically towards the end, in a Gilbert rhythm that could be no-one else.

After about four minutes, Sarah vanishes behind a hopeful rising-tide-good-trip squished keyboard line heralding the sudden chun-dur-thunk-thunk of the joyous thunder drums which resound from five-and-half-minutes to track's end.

This is a stunningly imaginative seven-minute deconstruction, which I would probably choose if asked to nominate my favourite remix by anyone ever. Bruce seems to cut right into the experimental heart of Scala, and finds exactly what makes it tick. Blinding!

Graeme Rowland (June, 2002)

• Too Pure Records
• CD, 1997

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