Traversable Wormhole – Single #4 review

It’s testament to the regard with which Adam X’s side project is held that it can attract the calibre of artists that have remixed Traversable Wormhole material to date. However, perhaps the most positive outcome from the hook-up with Chris Liebing’s label is that it gives a wider public the chance to hear the original tracks. Certainly, the Traversable Wormhole music on this release is essential listening. “Exotic Measures” manages to effortlessly combine the abstract and the real. Like the space motif the artist name references, the track features a black hole of abstract noise, given dancefloor appeal thanks to staccato percussion and drums. The end effect is like tapping on the window of a space station as a meteor shower approaches.

“Spacetime Symmetries” is more immediate and upfront, with Adam’s avalanche of dark sounds met head on by swathes of rippling sub-bass. Despite the fact that they are compelling piece in their own right, maybe they needed a more defined dancefloor sound, and on this front both Terence Fixmer and Tommy Four Seven’s respective takes on “Exotic Matter” and “Spacetime Symmetries” deliver. Fixmer’s remix owes a debt to Plastikman’s classic remix of System 7, its droning rhythm panning to infinity to beyond, while Tommy brings the package back to earth with splurging granite beats  – but also makes a nod to TW’s ethereal leanings by finishing the remix with a few minutes’ worth of eerie, dead-paced ambience.

Richard Brophy