Part Timer – The Runner Remixes

The most recent release from Fluid favorite and Moteer representative Part Timer is a seven tracker featuring multiple remixes of the song “The Runner”, from the forthcoming album “Real to Reel”. If the quality of the material that appears here is any indication, the album will certainly be something to look out for…

The tracks revolve around a central vocal stanza provided by frequent Part Timer collaborator, the fascinating Heidi Elva, who possesses a haunting tone in the same league of a Lou Rhodes or a Beth Gibbons.

The central theme appears to be one of homesickness -

“It’s been a long time since I’ve been home/And I’ve been wishing for the sky to turn grey/So I can hide quietly away/ I run from you/I run from me.”

Seven treatments of the same track could in lesser hands become tedious, so it’s a good demonstration of the skill of all involved that the whole release flows smoothly, consistently and never at any stage fails to engage and draw you in. In fact, the overall effect is one of a Chinese Whisper – the story emerging at the end is still linked to the one told at the beginning, but taken on a life of its own with distinct characteristics still able to be traced from the original.

One of the major strengths of the whole proceedings is the audible DEPTH in the tracks – they all seems to stretch for a mile from foreground to background, and span a long way from left to right. Either a happy accident that everyone involved is a great mixer, or the masterer really has a real knack for soundscapes. There are multiple layers in play at most points, and trying to identify and contextualize them is both rewarding and challenging. There’s a lot of presence from the bottom end, and the top is pretty crisp.

“It’s a long time since I’ve been home”

The central piece, “The Runner”, starts proceedings – there are a number of well placed components – percussive scratches that sweep from the right to left, strings in the distance, and a simple reassuring guitar picking pattern. All laid on a bed of fine hiss, which builds to a crescendo of what sounds like cyclonic microphone wind noise.

“And I’ve been wishing for the sky to turn grey”

The following remix by Orla Wren takes a number of the component parts and amplifies them further, bringing the strings across foreground and tying them to the hiss that rises up midway through a pattern of chimes. The tone matches the first track, and brings in a great drone that draws across the speakers. The guitar pattern returns to fade, with some great foreground flicker and click.

“So I can hide quietly away”

The Green Kingdom follows with a more treated guitar tone, continuing with the strings in the foreground. It’s here that things take a turn, with a delicate but bright divergence into an almost Eastern realm. There’s an interesting effect where the vocals (which had been previously portrayed in a more somber fashion) take on a new life with a different and more uplifting context, adding a new dimension to the words.

“I run from you”

Scissors and Sellotape contribute a haunted AM radio take, with an uplifting choral drone spilling across the speakers. Tinges of crackle creep in from the peripheries, fading away to reveal hidden delayed textures that had crept around behind the focal points. There’s a lift here, from the positivity of the last track to an even more triumphant tone.

“I run from me”

Children of the Wave provide an interlude with a considered minimal guitar line underpinning the strings, before a faint hazy beat comes to the surface alongside a hypnotic guitar loop. Something of a calm before the storm, pausing for thought for a moment before heading into the home stretch. One of the most distinctive tracks, with the listener almost forgetting the previous material until the vocals surface again.

“I run from you”

Humble Bee mixes a windswept hiss into a heavily reverbed and delayed vocal. Intriguing micro noises draw you in to an evenly placed environment before some endearing electronic tones skitter across the landscape, drawing to an engaging distant warped vinyl close. Quite affecting.

“I run from me”

Jazzy Jones Is Nano provide a stylized departure, with some smooth guitar and emphatic snappy beats which take a downright sinister twist towards the middle. A comparatively frenetic and lively finale which then drops down into some cinematic strings and crashing beats, before tailing off in the most appropriate way possible – a recap of the vocal and guitar line.

Overall – an enlivened, intelligent and diverse journey that maintains a purposeful and thoughtful thematic trajectory. I found that the vocal line really stayed with me throughout the day after a solid listen from beginning to end, and it would return at quiet moments in the days following. If this is any indication of the quality of the album to follow, I’m eagerly anticipating it.

The CD is being released directly from Part Timer at his Myspace page on July 19th, with a planned release from Boomkat to follow. With any luck, “Real to Reel” will not be far behind.

Review by Alex Gibson for Fluid Radio

Also well worth contacting John here if you would like to purchase an early copy!

www.myspace.com/pommyjohn