Reimer is a pretty much brand-new producer from Denmark who just started releasing singles on Gugli Records in the last month. Despite his being a very new producer, his releases thus far have a sound and style which is rooted in ’90s rave. He himself has dubbed his first two-track single Exodus and his newest “Wild Thing” featuring Alisa Fedele as progressive house, so there is definitely a connection in his music to genres almost lost.
Progressive house and progressive trance have been seeing a bit of a resurgence in EDM recently, in no small part due to younger producers such as Reimer getting a little blown out by the mania of big room sounds. Prog house and trance are, in fact, the precursors to their big room counterparts and they were indeed played in the “big rooms” at raves in the ’90s, so it’s not much of a leap but it’s worth noting the differences. Reimer has made an excellent example out of “Exodus,” “Woodsman,” and “Wild Thing.”
These tracks really typify early-to-mid-’90s house and trance with their soaring breaks and emotive drops, choosing melodies and starburst sound effects to introduce new segments of the song rather than more bass-driven sounds as one would hear during big room house and trance tracks at festivals now. There’s still plenty of energy here, however, and Reimer has taken care to modernize these releases and make them relevant to today’s audiences. The vocals on “Wild Thing,” for example, are of a modern pop persuasion and the song composition is also done in a pop/EDM fusion style. Vocals in ’90s prog house and trance tracks were generally relegated to hooks and the vocalists sounded much more emo or almost folk style rather than pop.
The way Remier composes his tracks to fuse early progressive house and trance with modern techniques and appealing to modern sensibilities is fresh and smart. Tracks like “Exodus,” “Woodsman,” and “Wild Thing” will serve as a refreshing break in big rooms as well as bring back a little nostalgia for the older ravers.
The Exodus single and “Wild Thing” are out now and can be streamed on Reimer’s Soundcloud page. They can also be purchased on Beatport.