Cassius - 99 EP (Cassius Records)

Elliott Lewis-George | Wednesday, 07 July 2010

With so many different sub categories and sound clashes occurring within one genre, house music is the sonic equivalent of a drunk stepping into a tattoo parlour – it just can't make its mind up on how it wants to be branded.

Considering this, it is somewhat commendable that Cassius, an old time electro duo, have attempted to party with the new breed of indecisive club kids. Their latest EP, 99, is a three track offering that aims to rejuvenate the Parisian duo's filter house classic 'Cassius 1999' with two floor filling remixes, as well as the original, for nostalgia's sake.

The quality of the original, which is oddly the final track to appear on the record, cannot be disputed. Drenched in nothing more than pure joy and euphoria, the track showcases the instantly recognisable phase'n'philter sound that helped propel Philippe Zdar and Hubert Blanc-Francart (aka Boombass) into the UK charts at the end of 1998.

Despite honing their production talents way back in 1988, it is obvious that the pair have managed to stay in tune with all the current trends in house music, as they call upon on the production talents of Tim Green and Reset! to attempt to remix a track that they would probably cite as being a major sonic influence to their own work.

First up is Tim Green's remix that serves up the funk with fluidity, grace and possibly a tiny sprinkling of cheese – running the risk of sounding like another run-of-the-mill, Hed Kandi compilation filler.

However, it is with the remix from the Italo-Disco production outfit Reset! that you can truly differentiate between 'Cassius 1999' and the re-branded, contemporary '99' release. These keep-an-eye-on dudes from the Mediterranean breathe new life into the old with half a dozen minutes of up-tempo, neck nudging niceness.

With a little help from this EP and an exciting DJ collaboration (under the guise of Club 75), with those hip Ed Banger boys, Justice, Mehdi and Busy P, Cassius show all the signs of planting themselves back in the frazzled out memories of clubland's old guard whilst, hopefully, capturing the imagination of a new generation.

Rating: 3/5