My Digital Enemy – Shamen (Bentley Dean Remix) [Vudu Records]

Bentley Dean’s remix of My Digital Enemy’s Shamen came out of a remix contest held by Beatport. While I’ve never actually paid much attention to these competitions, I decided to give them a chance and landed on Bentley’s track as it fit into a specific style of tech house I really enjoy. Let’s start with the good: the track is upbeat, and carries a good bit of energy with it. It definitely is danceable and manages to stay relatively varied and interesting to listen to. There are some elements where Bentley’s ideas and production shine, such as a few of the bass-lines and the samples. Let’s talk about the bad: it tries too hard. Bentley takes an interesting idea, and flushes it through three different styles of synths as if he’s trying to show off his production chops. It sounds like he wasn’t very confident in his ideas. It just ends up not being very interesting when it sounds like the producer didn’t know where to go with his main drop. I understand why he may have used multiple different sounds though, and I understand that these guys have a lot to prove. Overall the track has some really good elements to it. Bentley’s production of the lower-registered instruments is really well done, and I think that with a bit more tweaking and mastering, this track could be superb. Give this guy a listen, and let us know what you think.

Beatport