I adored the promo DJ mix Bodzin put out in, oh, April last year. Great mix of sounds, including some more housey stuff than he does now - "SL Mirage" and "Atlas" done in collab-o with Marc Romboy are like gothic takes on the Get Physical handclap electro-disco template, still wooshy like other Bodzin but there's a bouncy lightness of touch there as well, plus he kicks off with "Who's Afraid of Detroit?". "SL Mirage" is probably still my favourite Bodzin-related effort.
Of course the mix also includes lots of his more moody deep electro-trance post-"The Sky Was Pink" tracks, back when these tracks were still quite rare.
But then, over the course of the last year the resemblance to Holden's "The Sky Was Pink" remix has just seemed to get stronger with every release, until it starts to look like some elaborate homage exercise. It doesn't help that all the tunes he coproduces with Romboy, Oliver Huntemann, Thomas Schumacher and as part of Electrochemie usually sound similar.
Nonetheless it is all still awesome sounding.
Some recommendations:
- Marc Romboy & Stephan Bodzin - "Miranda" - one of the early super-dark whoosh tracks, again in collaboration with Marc Romboy. This one has a fantastically cruel electro-house bassline that just gets more and more distorted.
- Stephan Bodzin - "Tron" - the original? and one of the best. Insanely detailed, and it has this kind of "computer descending into suicidal/homicidal depression/rage" vibe to its detuning synths. He pretty much revived this track in its entirety on the also very good "Sillhouette".
- Depeche Mode - Everything Counts (Oliver Huntemann & Stephan Bodzin Remix) - probably the raviest Bodzin-associated track, great use of samples from the original and the breakdowns are insane. Perhaps too cheesy for some listeners round these parts?
- Sono - Blame (Bodzin & Huntemann Instrumental) - heavy! Total black-out sheets of noise. I have no idea what this would do on a dancefloor but would love to see. Generally the Huntemann collaborations have a great melodramatic goth feel about them; conversely some of them are bad post-electroclash.
- Booka Shade - In White Rooms (Electrochemie Mix) - This one cuts out the big climax from the original and so feels a bit wimpy but viewed the other way it's teasing is awesome, Bodzin's slow filter-sweeps and stuck-needle loops giving this sense that the track is always about to burst into something astonishing. It never does but that's part of the fun.
- The Knife - Like A Pen (Thomas Schumacher Mix) - Classic Bodzin sound. Everything about this one is perfectly produced, love how each sound is stereopanned until the track literally swirls around your ears.
Bodzin's "Daytona Beach" is supposed to be very good as well but I haven't heard it.