iO – Claire / Libre

does this share that same string/pad sound featured on House Of Calypso paradise mix? sounds like it ?

This was quite a weird release for Mo'Wax but it was more out of character in its original release on Cheap. 'Claire' & 'Libre' was lifted from the album ADSR which contained mostly straightforward techno but what we have here are two sample-based groovers.

'Claire' is a techy house excursion that rides its sample for most of its worth and adds some acidy twitterings and a chunky bassline. Big ups to KDJ/Moodymann for the introduction via his infamous 1995 Novamix. Mark Broom strips of the main sample and slow the track down to 110 and keep it grooving with a lighter house beat. The track works but is nowhere interesting as the original.

'Libre' is an atmospheric jazzy techer which like 'Claire' rides the sample most of the track, here it stops three-quarters in to give the acid line some shine but most of the meat is the smoky jazz ambiance. Stasis slows the sample down and adds a substantial beat and does a version leaning to the Mo'Wax sound. It does this really well and its ideas are well executed and the track delivers well. Andrea Parker goes for a longer grungy downtempo retake which tries to pull the track into a multitude of ideas but ultimately none are actually interesting to give any attention to and the track is longer than its own good.