If you happened to catch Santiago Salazar’s Soul Communications mix over two years ago, you would have heard him open it with Raiders of the Lost Arp’s “Night Theme.” At the time it was a test pressing, slated for release on Salazar and Esteban Adame’s Ican Productions imprint, but the record didn’t materialize. Today, the track has managed to find a new home on Dublin label Lunar Disko Records. And while we will never quite know how the original release would have been packaged, it’s clear it was worth the wait. Italian producer Mario Pierro has primarily focused on science fiction themes throughout his use of the Raiders of the Lost Arp moniker, creating an impressive amalgam between Italo, funk and Detroit techno that recently took a left turn into quotidian deep house release on Snuff Trax. On the Battlestar EP, Pierro returns to form, most notably with the aforementioned “Night Theme.”

It begins with a stripped-down kick propelling an initial sequence of wide, warbling synth chords that allude to a romanticized vision of the future. It’s the type of direct, expressive and panoramic melody that can cause fits of air synth to occur. It breaks down into a series of interstellar sonic effects before a drum fill takes us back to the main melody with a newfound ride cymbal and snare that give it a jazzy rhythm. “Lunar Lander” begins with dry snare and jingling cowbells before layering lilting female vocals over an arpeggio bass line. The airy pads provide a spacey atmosphere, but they are overshadowed by the vocal’s conspicuous and occasionally clashing key signatures. Rude 66 utterly transforms both tracks in his remixes, slowing both way down and dragging them into a darker, New Beat tract. His “Forever Darkness Remix” of “Night Theme” is particularly effective, starting off with humming synth bass tones that are paired with the original’s melody transmuted to a choral phrasing, creating an evocative backdrop for a booming bass rhythm, staccato acid notes and sporadic vocoder usage. It rounds off this release very well, offering a completely different interpretation of what a “night” can represent.