Search - Swayzak :: Route De La Slack: Remixes & Rarities (Rmxs)

Snowboarding through my mind

Russell E. Scott | Austin, TX | 04/01/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Back in the mid 1990's when the rave and dance club scene were putting down some serious roots I was stuck in this historic civil war town near the Catoctin mountains of northern Maryland. I was learning how to speak hayseed and goober so I could talk to the locals. The only major event that had ever occurred in Uniontown was on the evening the Union Army camped hillside the night before their historic date to do battle with 200,000 dubious confederate soldiers in a place called Gettysburg. Since then the only events of note - the town had paved its only road, run electric lines, and had a clan meeting. For me remote took on new definition here, and exaggeration couldn't come close.



Unbeknownst was just how near and central I was to this breaking scene. Jazz - house DJ Kevin Yost was just across the Mason - Dixon line in Waynesboro, Pennsylvania. Just south of me in Washington DC, Deep Dish were throwing raves, spinning vinyl, and stretching the night out to dawn. Thievery Corporation ruled the roost as kingpins of the opulent Eighteenth St. Lounge. Experimenting with lounge and down-tempo, they signed a herd of new, substantial artist to their ESL record label. None of these pieces fell into place for me until I returned to Austin late that fall. I jumped in feet first, starved for music left of center that brought on the dark and the underground.



Nothing like the DJ mixed CD compilations could possibly acquaint you with so many new artists as quick and get you up to speed. Take note in particular of the classic Pagan Offerings mixed by Derrick Carter, opened with the eerie Lo9ve by Swayzak or later that year on Architecture 2 mixed by Terry Francis, their elusive BluFarm single helped close out the session. These disc introduced a flood of defining artist that would drown you in itchy, corkscrewing, tech - house beats and open the door to a major groove machine that has no OFF button. Later that same summer, after all the open-air tent, countryside raves, how could a song like Low-Rez Skyline not get stuck in your head and stay on an infinite loop?



As far as timing goes, the new Route de la Slack double disc CD of Remixes and Rarities by Swayzak is spot on. They deserve this historical footnote and reprieve from space and time for their excellent work as DJs and artists. These two albums help define that journey to date. Keeping true to their mad, quirky natures we are treated to a vast amount of material to sift through. Defying any type description, we get pre and post club listening in excess had we not been front and center on the dance floor or snapping up 12" singles.



On the Remixes disc, opening cut Acoustiques Paralleles by Quark sets new cool as high bar. Swayzak vs. Theorem - Devil of Rotations, George Sarah - Sonata For Petra, and Tahiti 80 - Changes all substantiate and confirm. From the second companion Rarities disc we get the super Slave To The Hard Drive, alternative version of Grace's State, I Love A Lassie, plus a plethora of additional mysteries to discover. I will go on record, as a native Texan and long time resident of the infamous 78704 south Austin neighborhood, when it counted, I know a thing or two about Slacker. Being a former urban cowboy I also know dirty dancing. In summation, the odd and unpredictable set precedent. Swayzak can remain immersed in their proclivities through their idiosyncrasies and definitive signature beats. A rare feat indeed. Need proof? Then nab this CD and move past the fringes of hip, trend, and fashion and onto the more solid ground of anything is possible if you keep your dream. Swayzak's antics and music sound like the friends you haven't met yet. Listening to Route de la Slack you know they get it. It all goes understood and spoken with a silent nod, or shuffling of the feet. It's all cool in Lokal kind of moments."