PILOTS ON DOPE – Udopeia: The Remixes

Description

The acoustic debut album Udopeia created by the band Pilots On Dope was issued by the Verve label in June 2014. The sound has its roots in Brazil’s broad-ranging musical traditions, including bossa, samba and Afro Brazil, and evoking the golden age of the sixties. Consequently, the album went on to serve as the starting point for well-known mixers from the Pilots On Dope milieu. Taking this development to a second stage, Udopeia – The Remixes is aimed at an audience accustomed to electronic beats but also with an interest in musical reflexes and retro influences. The new remix album cleverly covers this musical spectrum, from exotic Latin sounds through to contemporary electronic remix culture. The Vienna Electronic movement, popular in the nineties, was a counterpart to the Nu Jazz movement which was emerging in Germany at the same time, and itself strongly influenced by offshoots of Acid Jazz. During the epoch-making close of the long-lasting Acid Jazz trend, a series of producers became established in Germany and England, drawing on elements of Latin, Brazil, easy listening, jazz and soul, and creating a veritable boom which went on to influence and inspire producers in Italy and France. Their Austrian equivalent was certainly the Vienna Electronic movement which triggered a literal downbeat cult, creating a distinctive genre with its striking funk riffs. Sampling, a by-product of Hip Hop, was certainly a key element in the resounding success of Kruder & Dorfmeister, the pioneers of Vienna Electronic. Despite the reduced tempo, this trend would conquer the dancefloor, generating its own identity and a musical code – light and raunchy, underpinned with an atmospheric soundscape, and overlaid with a pulsing rhythm in the heartbeat of flickering sound densities. The remix project brings together a wide range of producers who made history with Vienna Electronic, in particular past master Richard Dorfmeister and artists from his G-Stone label including Stereotyp, Makossa & Megablast and Gümix. They are joined by fellow remixers such as Shanti Roots and the Pilots Gerald Tomez (Vienna Scientists) and Gerhard Gigler (DJ Bunani). The newcomers Shantisan, Ksawa and Corrado Bucci from Brescia bring with them promising credentials and refreshing contributions. Enriched with further remixes by well-known producers including Rainer Trüby (Freiburg), Farrapo (Bologna) and Trotter (São Paolo), the result is a magnificent cross-section of remixes which have found their ideal home on the ultimate Verve label.