With no four-on-the-floor, no loops, no EQ sweeps, and little in the way of added effects, C Spencer Yeh’s re-organization of Sam Mickens‘ “At The Mountains Of Madness/Ebb Tide” really has it all. Having obliterated any sort of song structure, Yeh presents us instead with naked configurations of truncated stems. He is auditioning his ideas, and the packed house so respectfully enraptured with the most tender moments of Mickens’ Billy-Mackenzie-goes-Flamingos original has been invited back to witness the workshopping.

At first, they applaud any recognizable shred of the song they fell in love with; quickly, they learn to keep their silence as Yeh expertly reduces the piece to a series of melodic vignettes. The result feels impulsive yet patient, and it’s the kind of beautiful re-imagining that deserves repeated listens on its own while also drawing attention to the thoughtful nuance of its source. What I heard as an audience may sound to you like the “ebb tide” of the title, or Yeh crumpling up his ideas and tossing them over his shoulder, or something else, and that’s a testament to the open-ended versatility of this track and Yeh’s masterful compositional chops.

Sam Mickens: “At the Mountains of Madness/Ebb Tide” (C Spencer Yeh remix)

Words: Sam Franklin

Sam Mickens’ Slay & Slake LP is out now on Shatter Your Leaves