Hologram Teen - Day-Glo Heatwave EP (Ransom Note Records)

 

Title: Day-Glo Heatwave EP

Artist: Hologram Teen

Label: Ransom Note Records

Cat Number: R$N32R

Genre: Retro Electronica Reshapings

1: Mid-Tempo Neophyte (Luke Temple Remix)

2: Radio Staccato (Mother Of Mars Remix)

3: Midnite Rogue (James McNew Remix)

4: VHS Nemesis (ILHA Saturday Nights Remix)

5: Teen Beats Highway (Rich Good Remix)

6: Midnite Rogue (Flug 8 Remix)

7: Abstract Daddy Vol. 1 (Yoann Pisterman Remix)

This is a remix package of tracks that first appeared on the 2022 cassette only album, ‘Day-Glo Chaos’, an album inspired by driving around Los Angeles at night. For this package, the remixers have been tasked with imagining the same tracks but in daylight. And it’s an interesting ride. On the whole, the collection is one of optimistic synth pop that reeks of nostalgia but is clever enough to feel it’s been able to reconstitute itself on a whole new level. Without picking out individual tracks, there are whiffs of all the standard bearers woven into this composite, cinematic listening experience. Perhaps the most all-encompassing of all, is the bittersweet, foggy tonal extravaganza that is Flug 8’s remix of ‘Midnite Rogue’. You can imagine a slow-motion drive-by with this playing sombrely in the background. Compared to that, ‘Mid-Tempo Neophyte (Luke Temple Remix)’ is almost gabber. Thankfully it’s more a sped-up take on ‘Autobahn’, evoking driving into a brave new future very well, considering that future has long since passed. The other remix of ‘ Midnite Rogue’, that of James McNew, has beats where Flug 8 doesn’t, and is less sinister. Maybe less of a soundtrack to an act of wanton violence than one to accompany an escape from its reality. If you’re after funkier stuff with a large dollop of mood, look no further than ‘Teen Beats Highway (Rich Good Remix)’ and ‘Radio Staccato (Mother Of Mars Remix)’. Both reliant on some eloquent synth work, with the former leaning on its remixer’s past with the Psychedelic Furs to produce a piece of work redolent of a riff born to dominate the senses. ‘VHS Nemesis (ILHA Saturday Nights Remix)’ and ‘Abstract Daddy Vol. 1 (Yoann Pisterman Remix)’ both use breakbeats of varying intensity atop of mattresses of electronic symphonia; the former a bass-driven electro – falvoured beast, the latter taking us back to the nascent days of 80s synth-pop, and sounding like the lost  theme music to ‘Tomorrow’s World’.