Context: Remixed is a tranquil slice of ambient music, featuring soft and sweet remixes from a number of well-established artists, including Arafúra, Warmth, Coastlands, Tobias Hellkvist, The Sight Below, The Green Kingdom, Slow Meadow, Lowercase Noises and Benoît Pioulard. All proceeds will be donated to Direct Relief in support of disaster assistance in Mexico, Texas, Puerto Rico and the Caribbean after recent natural disasters. Donations can be made through www.directrelief.org.
The American ambient trio Hotel Neon have handed over the reins to an impressive list of artists. While the term ‘reimagining’ has a bad reputation of late, the remix album has always been around. These tracks expand on Hotel Neon’s original ideas, sweeping dreamscapes and bleary atmospheres, taking the listener from 12.41 am to 8.30 am, sleepily weaving together a series of quietly ruffled and incredibly peaceful tones.
The music appears to be dressed in similar clothing to that of the original material, but it is never a clone, and the attire is different enough to distinguish each and every one; each artist touches the music with their own smudge-of-a-fingerprint. Clipped beats and ambient atmospheres permeate one track (bringing to mind the essence of Wolfgang Voigt, especially the music he released under his Gas moniker), but other than that, these dreamy tracks float in the air, seemingly moving in slow motion. The ambient music is always kind: it loves and is loved. Sleep well.