Silent Poets – Firm Roots Remix

Easily one of the best albums from Japanese duo Silent Poets, Firm Roots featured a minimalistic trip-hop sound blending jazz, dub, bossa, and dancefloor elements with the typical blunted production and some guest vocal contributions. The remix album that followed included some of the heaviest hitters from the UK + global trip-hop, illbient, and chillout scenes including DJ Cam, Fila Brazillia, Smith & Mighty, More Rockers, Skylab, along with Japan’s psychedelic trip-hop blues duo Natural Calamity. A snapshot of this particular scene during the mid-90s, the mood of these remixes ranges heavily from more subdued and dark trip-hop to euphoric drum & bass to more dancefloor-oriented downtempo. In particular, the Fila Brazillia mix is an almost balearic drum&bass track that interestingly juxtaposes heavy breakbeats with acoustic guitar, piano, and violin. Natural Calamity’s downtempo pop remix is also stunning and takes an entirely different direction, focusing instead on the vocals, and delivering a simplistic, but also deeply psychedelic and immersive pop track.

Recommended – Full Listen