It's already been a year since the seventh installation of the Cmx series, so it should come as no surprise that there have been quite a few Coppice Halifax remix commissions in that time. For the eighth volume, I've assembled seven tracks that feel very at home with each other. Starting with the opening (previously unreleased) mix of "Phern", taken from the "morning after" Nepenthesol session, an immediate focus is drawn to melodic basslines, swirling flanger-soaked chords and propulsive drum machine rhythms. Following the vaguely house-like groove is the starry-eyed dub shuffle of aspect.'s "bp4", simmered down to a funk not unlike some of the Analog Botany series. The subtle house strain continues on my 11-minute rework of DeepWarmth's "Crafting A Stream", with delayed piano chords gently covering a bouncy and breezy deep techno mood, before the bottom drops out in Arbee's "Vérosène", during which a skeletal form made of sine-wave sinew and crisp amplifier hiss circles the drain and eventually dissolves. This emptiness gives way to the grand and glistening 17-minute mix of Zander One's "Isolation", filled with cascading paddy chords and buoyant hollowed out drums, floating serenely into a magic fog. By the time Melotone's "In The Distance" arrives, it's clear that the album is winding down again, with tape-processed vocal sounds and polite rhythms ebbing forward. Closing with the 20+ minute epic VSOP Dub of Brother Blue's "Royal Secret", the album has one last excursion for you to immerse yourself in. Warm, pooling drones and gradually rising chords build up to a dancefloor-ready techno funk that offers you one last push on the swing before the lights go out.
Considering the (to my ears) accessible nature of this volume, it's safe to assume that Cmx IX will be a much deeper, psychedelic affair. Once again, my remixes seem to have a life and mind of their own, and assemble into an album that is a greater whole than the sum of its parts. Hopefully you enjoy this collection as much as I do, as all the leaves fall off the trees and the cool evenings keep you tucked in.
credits
released October 7, 2015
Written by the credited artists, produced and remixed by Coppice Halifax. Recorded at Botany Bay, various dates 2014-2015. Mastered by The Analog Botanist. This is Milieu Music number MML105.
A spacious 2.5 hour soundtrack for Eufloria, an ambient strategy game currently available on Steam, Nintendo Switch and the Playstation Network. Coppice Halifax
A triple-album "beginner's guide" with 50 tracks selected from the first 10 years of Milieu releases. As apt a starting point as you're likely to find. Coppice Halifax