Sessions

Performer: Carl Craig
Engineer: Simon Francis
Producer: Carl Craig
Distributor: Caroline Distribution

Notes: DJ: Carl Craig. Audio Remixer: Carl Craig. One of the most innovative musical voices of the second generation of Detroit techno producers, Carl Craig is also a noted DJ and remixer. SESSIONS, a double-disc mix set, is a useful career recap, focusing on his own productions as well as remixes for a diverse cast of underground dance artists. From Craig's own minimal, funked-up alias' 69, Paperclip People, and Innerzone Orchestra, to his imaginative reworkings of classics by Chez Damier and Rhythm & Sound, the set provides insight into the creative mind of one of electronic music's master technicians. Compiling each Carl Craig remix would be a several-disc box set undertaking. The pool from which to draw is wide and deep, from Nexus 21's 1989 track "(Still) Life Keeps Moving" through Junior Boys' Grammy nominated "Like a Child." Hopefully just the first way of addressing this large stockpile of varied tracks, Sessions is a two-disc set mixed by Craig that focuses primarily on his remixes (of tracks by others as well as himself) while interspersing a few original mixes of his productions. Though the set reaches back to 1992 for Chez Damier's synthetic-handclap-happy "Help Myself," there's a clear emphasis on Craig's more recent activities, with well over half of the tracks dating from 2004 or later. While he hadn't quite pulled a disappearing act during the late '90s and very early 2000s -- 2002's The Workout being one of the most improperly slept-on house/techno mixes of the last several years -- he underwent something of a rebirth around 2003, releasing a string of unpredictable and high-quality productions while developing into one of the hottest remixers on the planet. Most of the big re-workings are here in original or "exclusive," meaning slightly different, form: the low-key hiss-and-ping of Junior Boys' "Like a Child," Faze Action's searing/surging "In the Trees," Delia Gonzalez & Gavin Russom's spiraling "Relevee." In most cases -- Theo Parrish's "Falling Up" being the one major exception -- Craig's versions outstrip the originals not just by making them more palatable to moving bodies but also by teasing out elements and supplementing them with new wrinkles to make headphone listening as stimulating as dancefloor play. Remaining vital in any field for 20 years is an achievement, but doing so while forecasting and riding the rapid developments in dance music is something else entirely. This release goes some distance -- about as far as possible in two and a half hours -- to acknowledge that notion. ~ Andy Kellman

Spin (p.94) - 4.5 stars out of 5 -- "[H]is techno work -- which draws from disco, electro, drum'n'bass, ambient, garage, and more -- is too expansive to fit under one roof." The Wire (p.45) - "[T]he newer work is studded with classics central not just to Craig's discography but the development of the second and third generations of Detroit Techno and, in turn, the scenes they've influenced." Record Collector (magazine) (p.88) - 5 stars out of 5 -- "Craig is one of the few artists constantly taking this music somewhere new, while never losing sight of the soul. Magnificent."

The prolific Carl Craig is one of the key figures of the second wave of Detroit techno artists, and has contributed to the world of underground dance music under a dizzying array of monikers, including BFC, 69, Paperclip People, Psyche, and Innerzone Orchestra. His recordings, DJ sets, and remixes draw from an eclectic variety of sources, finding the common thread that runs through soul, jazz, "world," and other sounds. Craig has also helped the careers of other DJs and house/techno artists as the head of the Planet E label and as the director of various music festivals, including the influential Detroit Electronic Music Festival.

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