In this age of information technology and fast-paced international conveyances the electronic music scene can seem like a small world. When you discover a major node in the circuit like Schneider TM (aka Dirk Dresselhaus), they are invariably unfeasibly well connected.

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The German muso has already inimitably remixed the likes of Lambchop, High Llamas, Quarks and Ruby among others. A record with Pan Sonic’s Ilpo Vaisanen is in the can and Dresselhaus also collaborated with Norwegian folkster Erlend Oye from Kings of Convenience on Oye’s 2003 solo project, Unrest. With the tables turning as they are wont to do, this 6 Peace EP contains remixes of tracks from Schneider’s 2002 album Zoomer plus songs from his Binokular EP.

The Reality Check, which opens, really does attempt to live up to its title; with an affirming development into 7/4 bullet train-like progress. The sampled guitar strums are phased just on the right side of comforting, with vocoder vocals warning, “beware of the matrix and keep a warm heart inside.” Bathroom resonances and an assortment of plug-in effects do quite the opposite of limiting the momentum.

The Wilco-like Frogstears is a remake from an earlier single, Frogtoise, indulging in a down-home strumming pattern and even a harmonica solo. Some swirling synth interjections and reso bass keep this from becoming too staid. It is tame by comparison to the rest of the tracks, however.

Fruktos messes with your CD player in the most expressive use of skipping effects that I’ve heard. A beat is created from little more than disassociated spirits of a choir track and a Sigur Rós contemplative bass pedal. Kpt.Michigan, the remixers responsible, deserve credit for crafting an ingenuously unsettling and almost arrhythmic track out of the Frogtoise single.

Pasted from Binokular EP, Chotto Matte involves an engaging if repetitious dissemination of drum effects, although a breakdown and reassembly from 3 minutes’ in is a worthwhile exercise. Kpt.Michigan turn up again for the collaboration of The Light 3000, a cover of The Smiths’ There Is A Light That Never Goes Out, which may well incite fury in Morrissey and Marr devotees, but for my money is a passable take on the original. A computerised vocal manages enough of a plaintive tone as a cheap ‘n’ cheerful keyboard beat metered by bass tones keeps things moving. By the second chorus the joke is wearing a bit thin but the final refrain bucks things up again with a saw wave synth countermelody.

Last, but certainly not least, is a Mogwai and David Jack remix of Reality Check, which dispenses rather sensibly with the guitar strums and adds unrestrained Squarepusher-style breaks over the top. Some sampling of Morrissey moaning in the background is a nice touch. D.Rose

• Filed in music under schneider tm,6 peace ep,dirk dresselhaus
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