Volume 7 is the final instalment of The Dark Album remixes. Handpicked remix artists who Harper holds dear. The Dark Album was released on Halloween 2022 and exactly a year later the final volume of remixes is now also being released. The Dark Album remixes constitutes a total of 35 tracks from 27 different remix artists. A vast and diverse breadth of sound from ambient chill to deep house to very hard, dark prime time techno. Tracks in this collection are well placed for the dance, but also intelligent and rich, to be enjoyed in the headphones.
Samuel L Session is a household name in the techno scene. Sweden’s finest he made his mark in the 90s where his remixing talent was consistently called upon by the leading lights, any techno DJ who has been around for the last 25 years will have a SLS remix in their collection somewhere. With permission from Harper to take the remix wherever SLS felt fit, a kind of deep house groove rose up, thus making the Soul remix. And then for those who want it a bit more driving, came the Body remix, a hypnotic locked groove vibe with DJ and dancer firmly the focus.
Dan McKie will need no introduction for many. Barcelona resident and Ibiza regular, McKie’s productions have littered the deep house scene on labels such as Stealth, Southern Fried, Static, Airbourne, Freakin 909, Frequenza, Pacha and Good For You, not to mention uncountable releases on his own labels like 1980 Recordings. McKie delivers a very, very intense take on Deep Life, really taking the energy right to the edge by manipulating what was already an in your face breakdown into something that demands everything and more from whoever is listening.
Harper first met Uven (aka synth and drum machine enthusiast Fredd Jakobsen) while at a Wednesday all-nighter at Berlin’s Watergate. A friendship quickly formed and Jakobsen welcomed Harper into his world of underground deep house productions which are overflowing with subtle and powerful emotion. So the plan was hatched to share some of these creations on Harper’s City Wall label. With a background of being a drummer and a songwriter in numerous bands, Jakobsen’s productions have a clear focus on melody and rhythm, a talent he effortlessly weaves into the sparseness of the original Something New.
Withheld is also a Berlin producer, with his roots in 90s London where he was exposed to the early hardcore and drum & bass sounds, followed by a move to Liverpool, where he soaked up the house & techno vibes. These influences all flood out in his DJ sets and personal productions. Harper was immediately drawn to a very natural 90s energy in Withheld’s productions, a place where power and simplicity merge with spacious feeling. Withheld shares two remixes, the beautiful deep techno 808 vibes remix of Narcissist, and a more chill rework of My Gift.
Ethical Governor gets the honour of being the final remix in the collection. Offering something that is psychotomimetic and consciousness expanding, psychological states that Harper has lived through. Ethical Governor’s sound is edgy and banging, and his Humanistic Correction remix is no different. Heralding from Belfast, Northern Ireland, he formerly released tracks under his Hoth System, moniker. This is beautifully dark, trippy and very, very powerful.
Spotify embed: