Sasha & Artche – Hold On Single Review
On his first outing for his own Last Night On Earth imprint, progressive techno icon Sasha extends workmanlike 90s electronica into beautiful abstraction.
In a certain regard, “Hold On,” the newest collaboration between legendary DJ and producer Sasha and Newcastle’s Artche isn’t re-inventing the wheel. Heavenly divas sampled over thoughtful pianos, and mechanical beats have been de rigeur for 50 years, since first sending disco clubs into rapture. If anything, Sasha’s newest single might be classified as retro if it didn’t sound so bloody futuristic. Instead of merely mining one era, Sasha and Artche cherrypick from different decades to create something artful, unique, and personal.
The Hold On single begins with the original version, a sleek 5-minute house banger made deep and progressive with intricate beats, ethereal bass, a certain clinical clean room aesthetic, and immaculate sound design. It’s construction is impeccable, revealing Sasha’s deep understanding of dancefloor mechanics due to decades of experience. It’s also the most retro of the bunch, sounding like something that might have come out when he first started putting out the Northern Exposure mixes with Digweed. It’s not unlike Robert Miles’ inescapable “Children” if it were genuinely beautiful and moving.
“Hold On” gets its first update with an extended mix, giving it a futuristic sheen with crisp 2-step beats and chopping and looping certain sections, extending the original with two-and-a-half additional minutes of heads-down, trance-inducing locked grooves. That’s not the only difference, either. The drums are roughed-up a bit, more Tattoine than T2, giving Sasha’s extended workout a vaguely industrial, cyberpunk feel. Last Night On Earth describe “Hold On (Extended Mx)” as “dramatic ride lit up with sweeping, spine-tingling synths. It has a grand architecture and widescreen atmosphere with profound melodies and moody bass rolling down below. Angelic vocal sounds shimmer amongst the epic chords and the whole sophisticated track makes an inescapably emotional impact.”
Artche’s mix is like some spectral double of Sasha’s extended mix, working with many of the same elements but arranging them in subtly different ways. Artche’s beat is way more polished, first and foremost, as pristine and perfectly manufactured as newton’s cradle, all viewed through a soft-focus prism. “Hold On (Artche Mix)” is like if Burial’s ghosts were to softly spin themselves into existence using fog, mist, smoke, cobwebs, and Christmas lights.
Hold On is already sold out on vinyl at source, but Juno’s still got copies of the hand-numbered 12″. Please note that the vinyl edition and Bandcamp downloads only have the two extended mixes. The original single version seems to be restricted to the Spotify stream.
