Artist: Jay Lumen Feat Panoptic
Title: Surface Reborn
Label: Baroque Records
By: Andrew Rowland | 22 October 2008
Tracklist:

• A: Jay Lumen Mix
• B: Quivver Mix

Jay Lumen Feat Panoptic "Surface Reborn"

Back in 2003, Michael Burns came out of nowhere to become quite the prolific name of that time, releasing material on labels such as Confi Dance before moving onto bigger imprints such as Deep, Minimal Records and Little Mountain, under guises that included Gazor, Blue Haze, and Panoptic. It was under the latter guise that ‘Surface’ first made an impact.

Well received at the time and popular with the usual who’s who of DJs at the time, the track achieved relative popularity but only in the years that have passed has its following grown. The infectious lead and haunting piano of the original still sounds impressive even today having easily stood the passage of time.

Jay Lumen’s “tribute” to the original brings a tougher tech-edged feel to the main elements of the track. Whilst his reworking is seemingly fairly respectable, it does suck some of the emotion out of the original and without the main elements could easily have been a totally original production. To call it a remix, collaboration or tribute is perhaps stretching the truth somewhat.

Quivver’s reinterpretation borrows from the main elements once again, fracturing them up and teasing them back into mix to create a twisted tech house journey that highlights all the usual production nuances we’ve come to expect from John Graham. All in all, it's a respectable genre shifting take on the track and while not surpassing the original, opens it up to a wider spectrum of listener.

Overall, ‘Surface’ is a track who's potential, whilst never reaching the dizzy heights of other tracks, has remained constant throughout the years and its resurrection and reinterpretation here only moderately achieves where there was so much more scope and potential to expand upon.