Remixing a classic is risky. When done poorly, the feedback is doubly negative. And even when it’s done well, comments like, “Yeah, but it’s not as good as the original…” are inevitable. But many producers still try. Solomun is the latest artist to give a classic tune a high-profile touch-up. He’s been a gifted remixer—his rework of Noir & Haze’s “Around” will go down as one of this decade’s defining tracks—in the past, but his latest strips away the ethereal charm of the 1990 trance bomb “The Age Of Love.”
The original’s shifting mood was a big part of its success. Famously remixed by Jam & Spoon in 1992, its opening minutes are deep and heady, after which the intensity increases with the introduction of a whistling melody, atonal bleeps and a series of mini-breakdowns. These shifts, if you’re unfamiliar with the track, feel unexpected and steadily boost the energy until the famous vocal climax two-thirds through.
