Remixed

ZerO One is the stage name of electronica artist Kevin Dooley, who released three full-length albums of funky electro-ambient music on the Waveform label before compiling this thoroughly enjoyable collection of remixes. While it features contributions by producers Bluetech, Phutureprimitive, and Magic Sound Fabric, the album consists primarily of new mixes by Dooley himself (credited as "01"). Dooley has a real gift for texture: whether working in a jump-up techno mode, delivering a staggered, grumbling dubstep beat, or laying squidgy synths on top of a swinging funk groove, his sound is always both rhythmically complex and texturally detailed, with plenty of microscopic elements darting around inside the big, funky beats. He takes the Middle Eastern vocal samples on "Hell" and shreds them into weird and eerie wisps of melody, gives both "Robots" and "Mind" a sort of sci-fi spaciousness, and takes "Bu_ist" in a glitchy, chopped-up direction that is lots of fun. Bluetech's excellent take on "Trust" is the most dubsteppy moment on the album, while Phutureprimitive's version of "Bu_ist" combines choppy beats with dubbed-out vocal samples and even an acoustic guitar interlude, and Magic Sound Fabric makes "Space" into a slow, dark electro-funk jam. Everything flows along very nicely, never challenging the ear too much but always providing plenty of sonic interest.