Despite its title, the French producer Rone’s “Bye Bye Macadam” never actually leaves the pavement; instead, it just rolls steadily, ceaselessly towards the horizon, with Koyannisqaatsi-inspired arpeggios doing a slow/fast tumble like hubcaps that seem to drift in suspended motion.
Leave it to original night driver Juan Atkins to rebuild the engine from scratch and send the whole thing sailing into the stratosphere. The Detroit techno pioneer swaps out the original’s gentle undulations for rolled-steel drum hits and careening pings and squeals. It’s clenched and mean, far tougher than Atkins’ work with Moritz von Oswald on their upcoming Borderland EP, and easily as psychedelic. There’s even a touch of “Flat Eric” in the palpitating bass line, which lends an extra touch of intertextual bewilderment to an already dizzying ride.
Rone’s Bye Bye Madadam Remixes EP, also including reworks from Aquarian and PLANkT, is out now; listen to Atkins’ version below.
