Rene LaVice – Insidious Remixes PT.1

Label: Ram RecordsScore: 7/10

Nothing like a remix to freshen things up is there? After a solid showing on his long player Insidious earlier this year, Rene LaVice has handed over the stems to two of his label mates to spruce up the beats for the first in a series of remixes. 

Tap Dat, one of my picks from the album at the time of its release, is left in the more than capable hands of recent Ram Records recruit Chords. The gritty rolling nature of the original is switched up here, the drums are given a touch of swing and the bass line melody arrangement is spread out and a lot more funky. The original was certainly an ‘album track’ but Chord’s remix gives it an extra shove towards the dance floor that its predecessor was slightly lacking. 

On the flip it’s left to June Miller to handle business on remix duties of Dark Passenger. Crunching drum programming and their trademark bass samples are all present and correct, layered with the sinister lead synth preceding a hip hop tempo switch at the breakdown. On the one hand it’ll certainly do damage to your speakers but I’ll admit it’s not my favourite of the two tracks on offer and feels a little lacklustre for a duo as talented as June Miller. 

Having been under the radar since the release of Insidious (though there is a rather tidy Usher bootleg that apparently has his name attached to it) these remixes are a perfect way to push his name back to the front of the queue of the record buying public and should hopefully signify some new music from the Canadian soon enough too. Chord’s Tap Dat remix defiinitely wins the round on this one breathing some extra added groove that was super necessary. I wonder if there will be a remix to what was, for me, the best track on the LP, Perfect World? We shall have to wait and see.