[Time to Express] (download)

Free. In whatever digital format you like. Possibilities like these make me question the very purpose of reviewing such a release. “Is this record good enough for me to shell out the money to buy it?” LWE generally hope to provide such answers. But here you’re being treated by Peter Van Hoesen to three reworks of his tunes, as well as a new one, for no cost at all. So whether I’m telling you if this release is worth your time, giving Van Hoesen a thumbs up or simply sharing my thoughts on a new record, you, dear reader, should be picking this one up and making your own judgments even if I determined it were terrible. But being the work of Van Hoesen, it most certainly is not.

While some techno record’s names tend to be rather arbitrary, Variable Parts is a more than apt name for this remix heavy release. A teaser (of sorts) for Van Hoesen’s upcoming album, Entropic City, Variable Parts contains lots of good techno but no real “Attribute One”-sized anthems. Which is just fine; those may well arrive with the original forms of these tracks. First up is the “Casual Reconstruction” of hit “Face Of Smoke,” wherein the Brussels-based producer tones back the ferocity of the original for a more atmospheric trip through his hazy soundscapes. Hints of the original’s hard-hitting riff materialize and disintegrate while the “Entropic Dub” of upcoming “Strip It Boost It” ups the energy with swinging hi-hats and square-pulse jabs. Up next is the “Markov Layout” of “Terminal,” named after the famous Markov Chains used nearly everywhere but of particular importance to PVH in statistics and thermodynamics. Drones play out below the thick mélange of bass and percussion, leading into the beatless experimentation of “Second Law.” Referencing the second law of thermodynamics (the one concerning, of course, entropy), “Second Law”‘s rumbling thunderstorm background and odd white noise flickers are foreboding to say the least; one hopes it signals the sort of darkness and immaculate production we can expect on Entropic City.