[Aus Music]

Since the beginning of my techno/house tenure I’ve been a huge Lee Jones fan. As the driving force behind My My’s Songs for the Gentle album he fused tiny fragments of sound into a cohesive aural statement which displayed how unexpectedly vibrant micro house could be. His arranging style carried over well to his solo work on liebe*detail and especially “There Comes a Time,” his achingly beautiful Aus Music debut. While my fandom is just as strong, I’ve tended to favor the attendant remixes to his 2008 originals. Tiger Stripes pushed “Aria” to the heights it needed to capitalize on its perfect core progression. Marco Resmann was the one to turn the key on “Man,” Jones’ collaboration with Daniel Drier, to let the tune’s ghosts out of the box. “As You Like It,” his latest single for Aus Music, offers a similar scenario: two decent tracks and a great remix (this time from Recloose) which fleshes out Jones’ latent ideas.

One of the things I love about Mr. Jones is his penchant for wrapping straightforward ideas in unexpected timbres or phrasings. On “As You Like It” he takes a deliberate, if standard issue Jones progression and messes with the song’s internal gravity, flattening rounded pitches which sop up reverb. Matthew Chicoine (aka Recloose), on the other hand, likes a bit more swing and looser shoulders on his rhythms. The remix’s stubby funk bass line, spacious stabs and gleefully played keyb melody conjure a spacey deep house atmosphere. Jones recovers a bit for “The Ice Train Cometh,” a quirky and sample-laden track built on deep wells of floating, aqueous tones and a battery of urgent percussion, as if little creatures prodding clouds to keep up with the wind. For now it seems like it takes a second set of ears and hands to get the best out of Lee Jones. But because I can count on a hugely satisfying accompanying remix working from his blueprints at the very least, my rabid admiration continues unabated.