[Cache Records]

Berlin-based Pacou seems to be making a series out of remixing his older material. Last year saw DeepChord and Mike Huckaby both taking at crack at his back catalog with stunning results, and now relative newcomer MLZ (aka Miles Whittaker) has remixed Pacou’s “Minus” (from a 1998 EP on LL Records, recorded under the name Agent Cooper). Pacou returns the favor by taking on MLZ’s “New Analog Century from his similarly-named Modern Love single from last July.

MLZ’s mix of “Minus” is built on a shimmering bed of phased and echoed riffage and a steady 4/4 thump, over which a clanging cymbal, clicking snare, and a handful of other percussive elements eventually deploy. It’s a simple approach, really, rolling out slowly so as to maximize the thrills when each new sound comes into focus. By the halfway point it’s grown into quite the banger while still firmly on the dub side of the ledger, as the gently tweaked and rolled riff provides the only melody to speak of. Pacou takes his side through an extended intro that pops and buzzes with a metallic tone for its first half, making it quite useful for mixing and building atmosphere. When the rhythm track finally appears two minutes in, it remains submerged beneath the static-driven riff, almost as if the two sides were being played on opposite ends of a giant steel tank, eventually uniting in the middle and sputtering around together for a bit before returning to their corners. Both producers are in top form here, one going smooth, one going rough; dub techno enthusiasts shouldn’t have to look hard to find something to love here.