Review:
Technicolour writer and producer Dan Deacon is possibly one of the most unique sounding musicians in the world. A credible and unpretentious exponent of avant-garde pop, he dazzles both on record and at live shows, where Deacon typically performs amongst the crowd armed with a table full of gadgets and pedals, as well as a mic. Anyone yet to be exposed to his sound would get the vibe from hearing "Woof Woof", which features layers of manipulated and pitch-shifted vocals, a slowly rising Farfisa organ and drums that build and stack on top of each other to create a joyous orgy of sounds by the end. Remixes from Hudson Mohawke, Allez Allez and Luke Abbott make this an unmissable EP.
Reigning in the wildness somewhat is a mix by golden boy Hudson Mohawk, who turns in a mix that's strangely conventional for him. Not that that's a bad thing at all, his take on Woof Woof is a gem - full of twisted loops of acoustic guitar, wildly pitched-up vocals and live drums. London duo Allez Allez are also let loose on the opening track of Deacon's Bromst album, Build Voice, and create a powerful and epic nu-italo backing for it - with some impressively heavy synth work making it instantly loveable. A stalwart on James Holden's Border Community label, Luke Abbott takes on Surprise Stefani to round off the EP, and stays true to Deacon's fondness for elegantly building a song continuously to a huge climax. Fans of Deacon's will love this remix package, and hopefully it'll widen his appeal among dance music fans even more.