Forget whatever you think you may know about Night Slugs and neon; these remixes of tracks from Jam City’s Classical Curves LP are all brushed stainless steel and graphite. Gun-cock sounds punctuate the stuttering kicks and snares of “Her (Extended Dub)” with additional menace, while weird, flanged sounds whip off into the upper atmosphere; it sounds like a strange combination of grime, Nitzer Ebb and 69’s “Jam the Box.” “The Courts” is similarly assaultive, all heavy claps and staggered snares; staccato, synth-funk chords lighten the atmosphere, but they can’t stave off the apocalyptic undercurrent. “…Now We Relate” is just as energetic but lighter in feel, with a lone pair of chords toggling up and down against a backdrop of muted drum machines; it moves in fits and starts, imparting the spontaneous feel of a live set.
“How We Relate to the Body” is essentially a DJ tool: The drums are stripped back to random volleys of kicks and hi-hats, punctuated every now and then by climactic handclaps, and the focus lies squarely on strobing chord stabs; there’s something almost Shed-like about its purposeful reduction, though you’d never mistake the results for the latter’s work. “The Night Life (Instrumental)” and “Club Thanz (No Hat Dub)” also feel like building blocks, having been pared back to a handful of elements each. “Club Thanz (No Hat Dub)” makes for a particularly enticing plaything, subtracting the timekeeping hi-hats to yield a functionally beatless swirl of chords that should serve as an excellent intro, outro or bridge.