[Cheap And Deep]

Jay Ahern’s name has crept up a lot recently, often in the same sentence as his Hauntologists project with Stefan Schneider or his Cheap and Deep moniker/label born in 2009. Seasoned techno watchers, however, will recognize Ahern as the scene stalwart behind Aquarhythms (who recorded for Astralwerks), Add Noise, and a handful of other monikers dating as far back as 1992. With a new crop of listeners awaiting his next transmission, Ahern offered a personal history lesson that was remarkably germane for 2009’s sonic climate. The “Deep In the Feeling/Warm Seqs” 12,” which features mid-90’s era remixes from Morgan Geist and Carl Craig, feels more than 10 years ahead of its time.

Who could have predicted deep techno and house would see such a strong resurgence, peppered with the same lexicon (“deep” as vocal sample punctuation, as in Geist’s “Reversion” of “Deep In The Feeling”) or approach to vocals (lots of them, like Carl Craig’s generous usage of Ahern’s yearning vocals when remixing “Warm Seqs”)? Yet the remixes’ prescience does not preclude them from sounding like they were made a decade and a half ago. Geist’s assertive percussion clatters smartly around muscular, old school bass progressions, working up a lather that’s moderated by breezy pads. Yet its corners are still quite sharp; the static-charged claps and jittery claves/cowbell stand out almost as much as the vocals, prodding dancers to keep moving in spite of its tranquil chords. Craig’s take, which first arrived between his classic Landcruising and More Songs About Food And Revolutionary Art albums, is produced with equal dexterity. His three beat snare/snap pattern is akin to a straightened out stepping rhythm that finds its four on the floor groove in deliberate bass melodies and clap/tambourine interplay. Despite the amorphous shape of its sparkling pads, the vocals’ natural flow and the occasional synth lead, Craig’s remix is so tightly assembled it’s almost rigid, reveling in its internal contrasts. Both of these tracks earn their space in a DJ’s bag as easily now as they likely did in the 90’s. If more contemporary tracks in their mold were as thoroughly composed we may still remember them fondly years later, as well.