On his most recent remix,“Dub for Mehdi,” a transformed version of the Rapture’s “How Deep is Your Love, A-Trak has reworked the romping house/disco sound into what might be summed up as dance-floor perfection. In the original’s place, the DJ has designed a song that morphs from music-to-move-to into a full on electro whirl. The whole track simply soars.

It’s a fitting homage for A-Trak’s long-time friend, late producer DJ Mehdi, whose recent death came as a tremendous loss for the dance music community as a whole. The New York City-via-Montreal DJ recounts how the single was even musically informed by Mehdi before his untimely passing:

“When I was close to finishing [this remix], I played it to my friend, the irreplaceable DJ Mehdi. I was working on the main version of the remix, the vocal version. I knew I would make a few alternate edits during the mixdown. The funny thing was, Mehdi’s favorite part was the ending! He…suggested that I have that part come in earlier. My reaction was: that would work well for the dub version. And sure enough, when I finished mixing it down I made a dub with [his] suggestion. When I sent it to Mehdi shortly after, he responded (as a joke) that I should call it “Dub For Mehdi.” This one’s for you Memed.”

The Populette remix, on the B-side, while not quite as frenetic in its energy, achieves near visual beauty, the images it conjures are so lovely. Imagine the original now filled with blinking, silvery-synth bells, all flashing like lights. If you could turn music’s notes and tones into images, Populette’s remix would be nothing short of illuminated. - Kali Holloway
 

Stream and download tracks below.

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