Icon: Remixed & Reconstructed vinyl

Vince Watson is arguably one of a handful of European producers whose approach to techno matches the original ethos of the sound's Detroit pioneers. It's probably for this reason that Derrick May asked him to "remix and remodel" two timeless Rhythim Is Rhythim classics. Pleasingly, Watson's versions of 1991's "Icon" and "Kao-Tic Harmony" (the latter an early collaboration between May and Carl Craig) are both superb, getting just the right balance between respecting the original versions whilst bringing something new to the party. While the evocative, string-drenched version of "Icon" is superb, it is the fizzing, sci-fi fuelled melodiousness of Watson's "Kao-Tic Harmony" revision that really hits home hard. Naturally, both versions sound like breezy Motor City classics.