Drum & Bass, Electro-House, House | Madeon – The City EP

Posted by on October 9, 2012

Madeon’s The City EP dropped yesterday, bringing us original and extended mixes of the titular track, a live version of “Icarus,” and some very fresh DnB remixes to boot. If you never once thought that Madeon’s distinctive brand of nu-disco would lend itself well to drum n’ bass — well, you’re not alone. I approached these remixes (specifically, Netsky’s remix of “Finale” and Fred V & Grafix’s remix of “Icarus”) with a fair degree of skepticism and found myself utterly blown away. Netsky achieves the impossible (in my humble opinion) and actually improves upon “Finale,” finding a way to milk even more drama out a track that’s already chock full of adrenaline. I always found the original unsatisfyingly brief, so I really appreciate the way Netsky draws out each build and adds new color by way of some wonderfully different chord progressions. Exeter duo Fred V & Grafix likewise breathe new life into an old favorite; they dexterously manipulate the tempo of the now-familiar “Icarus” and layer in fast, choppy breakbeats, which (perhaps surprisingly) have the effect of magnifying the punchy, bright synths we all know and love. In all, this is a tight and very savvy release from our favorite little Frenchman who continues to prove that he’s got this game on lock.

Beatport: Madeon – The City EP

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