Special Request x Tim Reaper - Hooversound Presents: Special Request x Tim Reaper

January 22, 2021 - Hooversound Recordings

London label Hooversound Recordings heads Naina Sethi and Sherelle Thomas have seen fit to use their collective force to bring two other forces together and “see what happens.” The experiment was deceptively simple: bring a handful of the tracks from dance legend Paul Woolford aka Special Request’s 2019 Zero Fucks album to jungle phenom Tim Reaper and leave him to it. The results are not as simple. Reaper has carved out a new and exciting body of work from the original pieces of Woolford’s music, but the new tracks don’t pull away from the gravitational forces of their forebears, rather forming new binary systems that feed and grow off of each other. It’s not an outcome that happens often with remixed work, but it’s welcome when it does.

Reaper gets straight to work on ‘Elysian Fields.’ The dreamy, ethereal chimes of the original are given room to breath, expanding the space the music occupies in all directions and adding a deeper sense of mood. The other elements take their cue from this treatment. Percussive breaks are sharpened and cleaned, vocal snips flow in and out but don’t linger, the bass frequencies are left for the kick mostly with a muted bassline appearing sparingly. It’s a darker approach, the claustrophobic feeling of the original being replaced with a sense of thalassophobia as Reaper guides us deeper into unknown waters.

‘Pull Up’ gets a similar treatment. Case Woodard’s vocals are spread across field-recorded ambiance, placed in another dimension than the bassline and breaks that follow. This push and pull of tension permeates the rest of the track as melodic lines and jungle samples chart a path through the depths, bioluminescent organisms lighting up the dark like stars in the night sky. The track ends in a slow fade, a true pet peeve of mine, and my only complaint on this project.

Next is ‘Quiet Storm,’ where we see a brighter take on the more moody piano-focused original. Reaper cuts some of the frequency off the back end of the piano riff, giving just a little lift to complement airy chimes and sweeping cymbals. The percussion is spun around this core like shimmering, schooling fish, further driving the atmosphere back up towards the surface. 

The surface is an illusion, however, as Reaper smashes through our vision of reality with the hammer that is ‘Straight Off The Block.’ Stereo effects reminiscent of the original are doubled-down upon, as Shawn Corey Carter’s voice is stretched like taffy and sent careening off the edges of perception. The grandfather clock-esque sample remains as an anchor point for the track to return to after bouts of intensity, though the track never fully lets off the gas. Reaper sheds the rest of Carter’s lyrics, opting to keep only the words found in the title, a move that distances the piece from ‘Dirt Off Your Shoulder’ on the scale of “‘Dirt Off Your Shoulder’ Remix” or “Not ‘Dirt Off Your Shoulder’ Remix;” a good move. The track is exhausting in the best of ways, the kind of thing you want to end your night so you can quickly get home and dream about it. 

Tim Reaper has crafted a fine selection of an EP, using the source material in an efficient and effective manner, wasting nothing. The remixed tracks work in tandem with their originals, like taking a deep breath and plunging to new depths right after surfacing. We appreciate the music and the forces that brought it into being. 🍍