Southwest Passage, Patchen’s debut album, submerged its listeners in the energized, dulcet melodies of SF Bay Area producer Patchen Preston. The album is a collection of love letters to his cross-country life journey, all accented by meticulous sound design. Now, on the Southwest Passage Remixes, the album gets a deserved revisit with fantastic flips from KiloWatts, Polygon Rainbow, ONEX, quadratschulz, and Station Point. Wide ranges of ambient lullabies, intelligent electronic constructions, liquid atmospheres, and dubbed-out downbeats characterize this project with differing shades for all.
The first selection up is "Chime Garden," with a remix from the masterful KiloWatts, who leverages the tension of the original but layers on funky melodic instrumentation and syncopated synth work. Polygon Rainbow grabs the gazed-out "Office Life" for a signature vaporwave collision, complete with BOSS drums and arpeggiated bass. The cut builds on nostalgia with growing melodic elements. The album's tribute track "Techno Tony" gets a properly bent revision from Germany’s quadratschulz who delivers rapid-fire moods with systematic precision. The track moves through multiple scenes all with baked complexity. In contrast with the high energy of the quadratschulz remix comes a revision of "The End of the Beginning" with an absolutely tranquilizing drum-and-bass remix from ONEX. Melodically complex but comfortably simple, this remix evokes deep emotion while remaining technically sharp. Patchen returns to the project with a tangential approach to his "Chime Garden" tune, navigating it into more direct downtempo arenas. Wide stereo bass and slowly building garage drum constructions provide for a dancefloor iteration of the original. Closing out the project is the blissfully dubbed-out styling of longtime label member Station Point (Chakaharta, JDN). Unorthodox rhythm variations and infinitely evolving pad collisions usher the dub into the deeper water. This complexly beautiful tribute to one of the label’s premiere albums of 2022 is the fitting gift for this fall.
Nick Warren (The Soundgarden) – “A lovely set of mixes.”
Richard Hardcastle (Solid State) – “Quality package of atmospheric electronics. All high end.”
Psycho-Jones (Kater Blau) – “Love it!”
Andreas Kinzl (Aromabar) – “Serious works.”
Mason Rothert (Jet Set Radio) – “These are all awesome and unique.”
Harry Avers (NOICE! Radio show) – “A fine set of remixes. Harmoniously Delish.”
Available Now From: Bandcamp, Beatport, Apple Music, And Spotify.