Simply City - Glass Elevator (Quatri Remix) by Proton

Hitting the Proton Music release catalogue in July 2017, the "Glass Elevator" EP was a highlight in the summer schedule. As we now return to the title work, a pair of new remixes from a hugely talented quartet take the track to new heights.

Renowned and hugely respected within the underground dance arena, Michael and Levan and Stiven Rivic have been at the forefront of the scene for well over a decade. Finding success with a debut on Tilth Music in 2007, Georgia based, Michael and Levan teamed up with Croatian producer and close friend, Stiven Rivic, to create one of the most successful collaborative partnerships. Multi-talented and a professional athlete in the case of Rivic, the trio founded the hugely influential Mistique Music and Kunai Records imprints to impressive effect with the "State of Liberty" debut coming on the former in April 2009. Never looking back, Michael and Levan and Stiven Rivic have found themselves allied to a host of blue chip labels that include Perspectives Digital, JOOF and Hernan Cattaneo's Sudbeat.

Making a statement of intent with a debut remix of Andre Sobota's "Concluded" for Proton Music in May 2017, September's "Gamma Rays" represented a first original release alongside a pair of outstanding remixes. Now returning to the label, the Michael and Levan and Stiven Rivic remix takes the core rhythmic groove of "Glass Elevator" and takes it firmly into dance floor friendly territory with a pounding beat and wonderfully evolving melodic components. Erupting at the mid-point a huge eight-note stab hypnotically pulses across the track's third movement with a chorus of outstanding additional production material.

Making significant waves in a very short timeframe, French producer, Ahmad Qatramiz, has risen to prominence with his Quatri moniker and a unique blend of deep house and electronica to create "electronic, organic emotional, music". Aiming to bring emotional content through analogue sounds and club friendly tracks, Quatri's work for German imprint, Nie Wieder Schlafen, has been exceptional. Centred around the "Into the Oblivion" EP in late 2017, the triptych provided a window into the French producer's musical soul with accompanying remixes from Kincaid and Rudy. Now debuting on Proton Music with a stunning reworking of "Glass Elevator", Quatri has created a wonderful dark and brooding interpretation that imbues the original with a deliciously laid-back rhythmic cadence and subterranean kick. Developing subtly over a near ten-minute voyage, an organic lead provides elegant vibrato detail that is then accompanied by a counterpoint melody that has its origins in wooden pan-pipes that flutter across the mid-range with coruscating delays that pan the stereo spectrum. Resonating the melodic themes of "Glass Elevator", Quatri's skill is to take them and extend them into innovative directions to create a work of genuine skill and craft.

A pair of remixes from Michael and Levan, Stiven Rivic and Quatri find the "Glass Elevator" shimmering and sparkling in a new aural glow.

Directed by Jay Epoch
A&R by James Warren
Mastered by Michael and Levan and Stiven Rivic, Cid Inc.
Design by Ben Mautner
Text by James Warren