Review: Khruangbin - ‘Mordechai Remixes’
Khruangbin
Mordechai Remixes
Khruangbin’s Mordechai has been given a luxury club treatment that transforms the record into a smooth retro funk wonder only possible due to the underlying brilliance at its core.
★★★★
Khruangbin’s music has an innate groove and funk to it that makes it perfect for a transformation into something much more club-infused and progressive. The group aren’t strangers to transforming existing work into more dancefloor orientated renditions (see Hasta El Cielo). With the remixes album of last years ‘Mordechai’ there seems to have been added attention paid to the structure and pacing of the newly reworked versions. Rather than sticking to the original tracklisting, the group have ensured there’s a flow that builds throughout, gaining in intensity.
Take, for example, the opening pair of tracks. ‘Father Bird, Mother Bird (Sunbirds)’ and ‘Connaissais de Face (Tiger)’. Father Bird, Mother Bird gently unfurls with Kadhja Bonet’s vocals providing a dreamy haze over a psychedelic bass. It transitions beautifully into the retro, hip-hop percussion that has completely transitioned the original spoken word of ‘Connaissais de Face’, whilst still managing to retain the pure funk from the core of the original track.
If you’ve been transfixed by the latest House works of Jungle or Disclosure you’ll feel more than at home with ‘First Class (Soul in the Horn Remix)’ featuring a more upbeat jive style tempo and its vocals faded out like a distant echo (not too dissimilar to the tropical style remixes that have dominated the scene in recent years). Ultimately, at its core, there’s a psychedelic sway to the grooves of the remixes that shines ‘If There is No Question (Soul Clap’s Wild but not Crazy mix) being the perfect example. ‘Pelota (Cut a Rug Mix)’ also has a noticeable Caribbean feel to its shake and rhythm. There’s a real synergy between the different remixes that remains cohesive throughout the majority of the experience.
Towards the second half, there’s a focus on a more progressive and transformative sound to the tracks, ‘Time (You and I)(Put a Smile on DJ’s Face Mix)’ moves throughout decades of dance, starting out in Motown and flowing into the freaky face-melting sounds of the sixties, before shaking and synth-firing its way back again. There’s a looseness and freedom to the interpretations which can sometimes miss out on finding the sweet spot, whether that be struggling to differ far enough from the albeit brilliant source material, for example, ‘So We Won’t Forget (Mang Dynasty Version) which feels too similar to the original. Or there is an inability to reign it in such as on ‘Shida (Bella Suite)’ which is deeply expanded on beyond recognition, and perhaps stretches on for slightly too long.
’Mordechai Remixes’ more than stands firm on its own two feet as an excellent record tailor-made for a return to the dancefloor. There’s a surprising emphasis on House music, however, It's more than worth noting that this sort of natural groove cannot be manufactured. Collaborators have simply extracted it from Khruangbin’s brilliantly laid blueprint, dipped that sound in a smooth honey glaze, and stretched out into something much funkier.
Khruangbin will play a headline show at London’s Alexandra Palace on April 14th 2022. Tickets and international tour dates can be found here.