Misstress Barbara is an Italian artist living in Canada who is revisiting a classic techno track from her back catalogue, and along with her 2023 Rework, there are also new remixes by Coyu, Christian Smith, Paul Nazca and Stef Mendesidis.
“Effet Karma” was originally released in 2001 via Misstress Barbara’s defunct record label Relentless, which is an imprint that evolved into her current record label Iturnem.
Those with a knowledge of techno’s history will need little introduction to Misstress Barbara, who in the early ’00s was one of the world’s first female superstar DJs, consistently voted inside of DJ Mag’s Top 100 poll. Two decades later, Misstress Barbara remains one of electronic music’s most respected artists, and she boasts releases on labels ranging from Carl Cox’s Intec to Christian Smith’s Tronic.
On remix duty, Coyu is a Spanish artist who heads up the Suara record label that’s a driving force in today’s techno scene, and he has featured regularly on his prestigious imprint.
Christian Smith is another iconic veteran of the global techno scene, and he features a slamming remix in the style the Swedish artist has released via other imprints ranging from Adam Beyer’s Drumcode to Alan Fitzpatrick’s We Are The Brave.
Paul Nazca is a French artist who has previously collaborated on music with Misstress Barbara, and he provides a remix in the style he has featured on imprints such as Marco Bailey’s MB Elektronics and Markantonio’s AnalyticTrail.
Stef Mendesidis completes the package in the hypnotic style the Greek producer has released via labels such as Ben Klock’s Klockwork and Cleric’s Clergy.
Misstress Barbara’s 2023 version of Effet Karma adds a beefed-up kick drum and thrashing ride cymbals to create a modernised version with vigorous energy. Coyu’s remix of Effet Karma is a hardgroove version with flowing percussion. Christian Smith strips out the original’s percussion to make room for Detroit-style stabs that complement the vocal sample. Paul Nazca works in a hypnotic lead synth, and Stef Mendesidis delivers a dystopian version with immersive atmosphere and weighty percussion. The original mix fuses looped tribal percussion with a French vocal sample that has seductive tones.