Premiere: Steve Queralt / Michael Smith – Chaldean Oracle (GLOK remix)

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On Versions, Queralt and Smith’s four tracks have been reimagined by Nandele, Flug 8, GLOK (Steve’s RIDE bandmate Andy Bell) and Nina Walsh, kindred spirits and treasured members of the extended Bytes/Ransom Note family.

And so I walk along the beach, turning my back on a world that’s stopped making sense, and the feeling that maybe sense is the first thing to go; before our civilisation falls, it will stumble through a long delirium, like an old man with Alzheimer’s, before it finally grinds to a halt … I’m trying to turn my back on all that, before me the great unknown, the poetry of the magnificent blue distance … to gaze out at the blue and open myself up to that which is beyond us, to let the blue beyond wash all that away like pebbles in its foam …

Bytes is proud to announce Sun Moon Town Versions, a companion piece to last year’s EP, on which Steve Queralt, bass player of pioneering shoegazers RIDE, joined forces with the writer and film-maker MIchael Smith for a stunning four-track EP featuring Steve’s music and Michael’s spoken-word musings.

On Versions, the four tracks have been reimagined by Nandele, Flug 8, GLOK (Steve’s RIDE bandmate Andy Bell) and Nina Walsh, kindred spirits and treasured members of the extended Bytes/Ransom Note family.

Premiering here is the GLOK remix, continuing Andy’s hot streak under his electronic alter-ego, which has seen him deliver stunning remixes for Dot Allison, Maps and A Place to Bury Strangers. For his rework of ‘Chaldean Oracle’, Andy eschews Michael’s vocal almost entirely, transforming the track into a Detroit dub-techno monster that has echoes of Bandulu and Carl Craig in its shimmering melodies, eerie distortion and pounding drums.

As well as these four new remixes, due to popular demand the release also features instrumental versions of the original tracks, with fans keen to hear Steve’s exceptional electronic soundscapes in isolation. It’s out on July 21, available digitally and a limited edition cassette, only available from Bytes Bandcamp.

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