In Retrospect: Rank 1 Remixes (2005-2011)

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There are various ways in which a Dance Music artist can stand out: they can be Master Storytellers with their absorbing DJ sets, seamlessly putting together different tracks and moods to make you dance into the late hours of the night as you lose all sense of time and reach a higher State. Then we have those creative geniuses that hear melodies in their heads, heck perhaps they even have Visions Of Sound (right Rok?) throughout the day before they decide to sit down and turn those thoughts into Airwaves that enchant us all. They craft soundscapes that take you Out Of This World and beyond. To create an own masterpiece can take quite the effort, it can be a truly frustrating proces at times. I feel however, that especially when a producer manages to make a brilliant remix out of an original, that we Witness Pure Genius shining through. 

For me personally, Rank 1 have proven to be Master Remixers over the course of time. As such, for this year's retrospective Rank 1 review, we will thus turn our attention to Piet & Benno's remix masterpieces from the 2005 - 2011 era under their Rank 1 guise. I originally intended to complete this massive retrospective back in summer 2016 but you know... Life... :P Anyhoo, why this particular era you ask? Well for starters, Rank 1's Year Zero for me was Beats At Rank-1 Dotcom and since the first remix to follow after that single was the one they did for Mr. Sam - Lyteo, that is the most logical starting point for me. The absence of their 2013 remixes is attributed to the fact that those remixes were reviewed on the blog before and given how they were the last remixes Rank 1 made since and the previous remixes were released prior to me having this blog (May 2012), I left them out. The final reason for this specific era of Rank 1 Remixes is because I feel that it showed them at their most diverse. The styles of their singles have morphed time and time again but it was with these remixes that Rank 1 breathed versatility, twisted originals over a wide spectrum and it is one of the characteristics that has made me hold them in such high regard since 2005.

It is not just the diversity of these remixes though: each of these pieces was bent to fit the Rank 1 sound. Sometimes they kept elements of the original intact, sometimes they took just one recognizable element and went haywire with it. The amount of remixes I've made myself so far (for friends) can be counted on one hand alone but for all these remixes I've often turned to Rank 1 as an example. How much of an original do they even use for their remixes? What is the basis for a good remix? I recall an interesting article by Decoded Magazine which was published a while back ago: http://www.decodedmagazine.com/when-is-a-remix-a-remix/

It discusses what makes a proper remix and what doesn't. For me personally, Rank 1 have always been stand-out remixers. For the record: it's not as if EVERY remix they've made was gold to me (in fact, I have more remixes of them I rate pretty low than singles) BUT I do feel that in the case of these 2005 - 2011 remixes, they put a lot of Heart, Soul and Rank 1 Goodness in their tracks. Some of these remixes are among my favourite Rank 1 productions of all time and now that I've known them for so long, it's finally time to give them the verbal appreciation they deserve. And this is how I am gonna do it.

I have programmed Blogger to reveal a new review every day in the next 14 days. This blogpost will serve as an Index page so you can see which ones have been revealed and which ones can be read. So I'd say, kick back and join me on this journey crossing 7 years and no less than 15 diverse productions! Let us enjoy the Beauty Of The Modern Rank 1 Sounds. Note that I've not placed the reviews to appear in their chronological order of release but rather by the order in which I discovered them. This Way, it will serve as a true trip down memory lane for me. I hope you'll enjoy the reviews! The one for Lyteo is already up. Check back every day in the next two weeks to get the links to the other reviews:

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