Craig Bratley – Buy the Ticket, Take the Ride Remixes

Tsuba revisit Craig Bratley’s excellent debut album ‘Buy The Ticket, Take The Ride’ (which picked up plaudits from RA to FACT, Future Music to Mixmag) by offering up two remixes from the legendary Ewan Pearson and one each from Midnight Special and Velvet Season & The Hearts Of Gold. The mixes from Ewan Pearson will be released as a Record Store Day special limited Royal Blue 10” in a heavyweight 300gsm hand stamped sleeve, whilst a few weeks later the Midnight Special and Velvet Season & The Hearts Of Gold remixes appear on a separate 12”, with both coming digitally in June.

Ewan Pearson is the electronic veteran who has produced bands like Fuck Buttons, released seminal mix CDs for Fabric, remixed and dropped killer originals on Kompakt and is a rightfully regarded as a pillar of the scene as a result. His appearance on Tsuba is cause for celebration, especially given the magic qualities of his chugging 100BPM remix of ‘Mannequin’ with its spooky, dark disco chords and mischievous late night energy. There is an instrumental version also included on this special EP. 

Velvet Season & The Hearts Of Gold remix ‘Computer Controlled’, one of the stand out tracks from the album. The Velvet Season duo of Joel Martin and Gerry Mooney have some serious musical pedigree between them, with Joel also recording as Quiet Village alongside Radioslave and Gerry previously working with DJ Harvey on his infamous Black Cock releases.  Their three 12” releases on their own Lucky Hole label all sold out instantly and lead to an inevitable Discogs frenzy. Their remix of ‘Computer Controlled’ is a timeless piece of melancholic house with a Chi Town bassline topped off with trumpet, keys and a mesmerising melody from the original.  This one is an undoubted future classic.

On the flip is the Midnight Special rework of ‘Beat On The Drum’. Midnight Special have released two vinyl only 12”s to date and are made up of ex-Peace Division man Justin Drake and Tsuba boss Kevin Griffiths.  The resulting mix is groove heavy underground house made with the panache and depth you would expect from the veterans of the UK house scene.