Courtesy: Fort Knox Five Recordings
Hip-hop/dance outfit Fort Knox Five released its latest new album last month. The album, Pressurize The Cabin Remixed is a welcome return for the Washington, D.C.-based outfit. That is especially with everything that the group has gone through since the release of Pressurize The Cabin last summer. The album went on to become a hit, but then the group suffered a huge loss not long after its release when Jon Horvath, one of the group’s own died unexpectedly. This new effort would make Horvath proud as it will FK5’s fans. That is due in no small part to the songs that make up the body of the record. The arrangements that are presented in this record are just as important to note as the songs themselves. That will be discussed later. The album’s sequencing rounds out its most important elements. Each element plays its own important part in the album’s overall presentation. All things considered, they make this record a solid companion to Pressurize The Cabin as well as its own impressive remix record.
Fort Knox Five’s recently released follow-up to its 2015 record Pressurize The Cabin is a solid companion piece to that record. It is also its own impressive remix record. That is due in no small part to the songs that make up the body of the record. The 20-song record features new arrangements of all 10 songs featured in PTC (as it will henceforth be known). It isn’t just a sampling of the songs featured in the original record, which is what most remix albums out there are. So audiences will be happy to know that this record isn’t just another run of the mill remix album to that extent. What’s more the album’s first 10 tracks are presented in exactly the same order as they were in PTC. The second half of the record is no less impressive. It also features the same 10 songs, just in mixed sequence (the sequencing will be discussed at more length later) and each with its own arrangement separate from that presented in the songs’ first time around on the record. On the surface, having all ten songs featured in PTC listed twice over, each with its own arrangement might not seem all that much to some. But the reality of this is that having the same 10 songs twice over, each with its own original arrangement is like having PTC Part 2 and 3 in one single presentation. In other words, it’s not just one album with two versions of each of the original album’s songs, but two separate remix albums in one. To that end, it should be clear why the songs featured in Pressurize The Cabin Remixed are so important to the record’s overall presentation. Even as important as the record’s songs are to its overall presentation, they are collectively not the record’s only key component. The arrangements that are presented within each song are just as important as the songs themselves to the record’s presentation.
The songs that make up the body of Pressurize The Cabin Remixed are collectively a key component to this record’s presentation. That is because they combine to basically make two remix albums in one. While that is clearly an important piece of the record’s whole, it is not the record’s only key element. The arrangements that are featured within each of the songs are just as important to note here as the songs. The arrangements are so important to note because of the time and thought that was obviously put into each arrangement. Audiences will note in each song that the compositions’ original hip-hop/dance hybrid approach was maintained, but each was accompanied by a new sound that gave it a whole new identity. In other words, the arrangements presented here stayed true to the original compositions by and large. At the same time though, each arrangement gave each song its own new identity, too. On another level, the songs that did reach into the EDM realm, while present, are few and far between. So those that are not fans of the standard 2/4, keyboard driven dance music will be happy to know that this record is not one of those records. FK5’s members obviously reached out to those audiences by including such arrangements. But they also made sure to not alienate their original fan base in the process, either. Keeping that in mind, the arrangements that are presented in this record show why they are just as important to the record’s overall presentation as the songs themselves. They still are not the only important elements to note in examining the record’s overall presentation. The records’ overall sequencing is just as important to note as the record’s featured songs and their arrangements.
The songs that are featured in FK5’s new record and their arrangements are both important in their own right to the record’s overall presentation, as ahs already been noted. While both elements are important to the record’s overall presentation in their own right, they are not the record’s only important elements. The record’s sequencing is just as important to note as the previously noted elements in examining the record’s overall presentation. As already noted, the first half of this record presents all 10 songs featured in PTC and in the exact same order while the second half of the record presents 10 more new arrangements of those same songs. The importance of the songs’ general sequencing has already been discussed. So rather than repeat that discussion, the discussion will move more towards the impact of the arrangements in the album’s sequencing. Listeners will note in listening to each song that the album’s energy never lets up or picks up too much at any point in the record’s run. Even in the likes of Swinging on a Rhyme (Warp9 Remix)’ when the energy does start to pull back, that reduction of energy is minimal at most. On another level, listeners will note that throughout the course of the album’s sequencing, the group mixes up the arrangements. This means that from one remix to the next, listeners never get the same type of remix more than once. Yes, certain types of arrangements show up more than once, but they don’t aren’t lined up one after another. This shows that just as much time and thought was put into the record’s sequencing as which songs to feature and the arrangements of each song. All things considered, the time and thought that was put into this record shows through in all three elements. They join to make this record one that is not just another remix record. They make it a solid companion piece to PTC and an equally solid offering in this year’s field of remix records.
Pressurize The Cabin Remixed is not a run of the mill remix record. It is a piece that pays tribute to the record that led to its creation while giving new life to that record at the same time. That is evidenced through the time and thought given to the songs featured in the record, their arrangements and their sequencing. All things considered, this new effort from Fort Knox Five is a solid companion piece to its originator and an equally solid offering in this year’s field of remix records. Simply put, it is a well-thought out new offering from Fort Knox Five that hip-hop and dance fans alike will appreciate. It is available now in stores and online. More information on Pressurize The Cabin Remixed is available online now along with all of FK5’s news and more at:
Website: http://www.fortknoxfive.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/FortKnoxFive
Twitter: http://twitter.com/fortknoxfive
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