Soy Mustafa - Return Of The Annunaki

Soy Mustafa
Return of the Annunaki
Cinematic Recordings

Ten releases deep, and Soy Mustafa's Cinematic Recordings have firmly established themselves as one of the go-to labels for quality house and techno. Soy does the honours for their tenth release, with Chymera and John Tejada jumping on for remix duties.

Return of the Annunaki is the perfect example of a slow-burner. There are no unnecessary breakdowns and build ups drenched in white-noise, just a crunchy, driving groove that gets built upon subtly as the track progresses. The punchy, slightly syncopated drums and dark, grinding bassline are joined first by a James Holden inspired digital melody which slowly changes pitch as the track progresses. This is before sharp, descending chords and a raw, growling bass pad filter in and out of the mix at exactly the right moments. Watch the crowd explode without even realising why when you drop this one.

John Tejada turns the dark, gritty original into a warm, dreamy house cut. Retaining the digital melody from the original, Tejada builds an entirely new track around this key element, re-recording the bassline into a bouncier, more uplifting pattern, as well as adding some of his trademark floaty chords and synth patterns, which are occasionally joined by a filtered version of the original’s descending pads.

This is should come as no surprise: Chymera’s remix is excellent. The Irish don of melodic techno takes an even larger step away from the original than Tejada, turning in what may as well be an entirely new track, save for the very brief moment that the digital melody from the original makes an appearance during the intro. The drums are heavier, more shuffly and a more important element of the track’s energy than in the original, and the bassline is changed into a wobbly analogue hit at the start of each bar. The thumping low end is complemented by synths, pads and chords that are recorded to follow the same basic note sequences as in the original, but using completely different sounds, resulting in a remix, that, like Tejada’s version, is more uplifting and warm than the original, but just as banging.

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