Gabriel Prokofiev + Peter Gregson: Jerk Driver

Composer, DJ, label owner and grandson of Sergei, Gabriel Prokofiev can now add “maxi-single revivalist” to his list of distinctions. Prokofiev has released “Jerk Driver”, one movement of his extended work, Cello Multitracks, and farmed it out to several remixers. Nine different overdubs of cellist Peter Gregson play the original with a fine feel for Prokofiev’s rhythmic effects, brutalizing the toothy continuo rhythm while jerking out the disjointed melody, and scraping out swoops and slides in the instrument’s high register.

There’s even an implied dubstep breakdown! The remixes take the piece apart and reassemble it in interesting ways, sussing out different beat possibilities and transforming throwaway ornaments into memorable hooks. The takes by DJ Spooky (disappointingly straightforward) and Marcas Lancaster (spacey and echoey like an old house) appear on Cello Multitracks; the other three are unique to this release.