TAKE CARE MY FRIEND REMIXES

TRACKLIST A1 Strangers [Atjazz Remix] A2 City Lights [Mike Salta & Mortale Remix] A3 Brooklyn Love Boat [Moods Remix] B1 City Lights [B.J. Smith Remix] B2 Alright [Marshall Watson Remix] B3 Take Care My Friend [Tambores En Benirras Remix] INFO On its™ release in November 2022, Daniel Stenger™s debut mini-album as Flashbaxx, Take Care My Friend, won plenty of plaudits for its™ enticing blend of jazz-funk instrumentation, audible warmth, effortless musicality, and memorable, sun-soaked songs. Now the set returns in remixed and reworked form, with a sextet of artists taking it in turns to put a new spin on the German producer™s carefully crafted and immaculately executed tracks. The six-cut vinyl version boasts two revisions that have already made waves on digital download: a genuinely life-affirming hip-hop-soul take on ˜Strangers™ courtesy of East Midlands™ maestro Atjazz, where Katherine Kempf™s smouldering lead vocals rise above head-nodding beats, woozy electric piano chords, yearning horn arrangements and smooth bass guitar, and a sublime Moods mix of ˜Love Boat™ that re-frames the track as a languid, groove-fired shuffle through Balearic jazz-funk territory. The other four reworks, which are exclusive to this EP, are similarly inspired. Chris Pookah collaboration ˜City Lights™ is given the remix treatment not once, but twice. First NuNorthern Soul regulars Mike Salta and Mortale re-imagine the track as a gently breezy, dusk-ready blend of bouncy, samba-influenced grooves and colourful Balearic nu-disco, before BJ Smith  the first artist to release music on Phil Cooper™s imprint way back in 2012  takes the track into semi-acoustic, blue-eyed-soul-meets-Balearic jazz-funk territory. Gentle, tactile, and vibrant, it™s a stunning, soul-stirring revision. To round off the EP, two producers renowned for creating atmospheric, sunrise-ready soundscapes deliver their versions of Stenger™s kaleidoscopic, musically rich aural visions. Marshall Watson handles ˜Alright™, smothering a languid, slow-motion drum machine beat in jazzy double bass, delay-laden electric piano motifs, lazy jazz guitars, rising synth strings and the dreamiest of pads. Then, to round things off in considerable style, Tambores En Benirras reworks title track ˜Take Care My Friend™, teasing out the track™s inherent musical colour and warmth whilst adding his own distinctive spin. Pleasingly hard to pigeonhole, his remix makes extensive use of deep, dubby bass, Latin-style percussion, leisurely beats, blossoming synth sounds and all manner of effects-laden instrumental flourishes  including guitar solos that recall some of Dave Gilmour™s most laidback, eyes-closed moments. It provides a genuinely brilliant conclusion to an effortlessly impressive set of remixes.