APPARAT - CARONTE (RADIO SLAVE REMIX)

Apparat's "Caronte," from LP5, gets a subtle trance makeover from Radio Slave.

Some of you may be too young to remember, but in the '90s, releasing high-profile remixes was part of the album promo cycle. There'd be maybe two advance singles, each one released on CD (who remembers CD singles, those wastes of plastic?) before the album dropped. Then, maybe a month or so after the album released, another single or two might come out with electronic remixes. If you were really lucky, you might get an entire remix album. (NIN Fixed, anybody?)

Unfortunately, these remixes weren't always very good. Too often, they'd just be the single with some club beats lazily pasted on, like some garbage GarageBand out-take. Even though technology (and promotion, thank God) has gotten more tasteful and tactful in the 21st Century, remixes are still sometimes stuck in this '90s mode. Producers try and make everything sound bigger, brighter, bolder, making every single track suitable for primetime Big Room Rave Drops. That approach just doesn't suit every electronic single or artist.

APPARAT - CARONTE (RADIO SLAVE REMIX)

Luckily, London producer Radio Slave trusted his instincts on "Caronte," a single off of Apparat's artful, experimental LP5 released earlier this year. First of all, LP5 was a far cry from the glitched-out indie electronica that first brought Apparat to public attention. It's more of an arthouse electronic symphony than a club banger. Simply tacking a house beat on top of material from LP5 would be tacky in the extreme. Radio Slave takes "Caronte" in the exact opposite, making it even airier, more elegant and elongated.

There are still beats, however, make no bones about it. The beats are even earth-shaking, given their restraint, coming crashing down during the … choruses? Bridges? "Caronte" is not pop music, so it's hard to layout like you would your typical single.

Caronte is the Greek name for Charon, the boatman who ferries the dead across the River Styx. Let radio slave's remix of "Caronte" do the same for you, transporting you to a realm of perpetual night, where stars and neon reflect on inky black waters, while you dance unto dawn with shades and specters. We Are: The Guard will catch you on the other side.

J. Simpson occupies the intersection between criticism, creativity, and academia. Based out of Portland, Or., he is the author of Forestpunk, an online journal/brand studying the traces of horror, supernatural, and the occult through music, fashion and culture. He plays in the dreamfolk band Meta-Pinnacle with his partner Lily H. Valentine, with whom he also co-founded Bitstar Productions, a visual arts collective focused on elevating Pop Culture to High Art.