About

Versus is the adaptation of Carl Craig’s techno masterpieces into powerful symphonic versions.

Versus originally premiered in 2008 with a unique live debut at La Cité de La Musique, Paris, where Carl Craig was joined by ‘Les Siècles’ orchestra of Paris, the techno mastermind Moritz von Oswald and the piano prodigy Francesco Tristano. The performance, one of the first of its kind to combine electronic and classical composition, received five standing ovations and had over 1 million views online of the original filmed recording.

Now, legendary Detroit imprint, Planet E, joins forces with InFiné to bring Versus for an official album release in March 2017. Produced by Carl Craig, the Versus album mixes both orchestral and electronically enhanced versions of Carl Craig’s music in a ground-breaking techno collection of eight-tracks adapted for orchestra. – Press release

“…it's also clear that Versus is a far more nuanced beast. Not only because almost half of its tracks are electronic miniatures, offering sharp synthesizer relief to the symphonic grandeur at its heart; but because some of this music — Tristano's arrangements of Craig's tracks, and, importantly, of tracks originally made as remixes — hints at just what a great marriage of contemporary orchestra, techno compositions and musical brains fluent in both could produce.” – Pitchfork

“Piano stammers installed as techno metronomes, impish darts of woodwind, brass acting as both royal announcer and firebrands flying out the traps (the grime-horned ‘Sandstorms’ sounding like Run the Road’s Dynasty Crew, souping up the original’s cyclical minimalism), and poignant string sections, are all brought together by the project’s cornerstone – anticipation (see ‘Darkness’, whose dystopian chunkiness remains instant, and the riffs of ‘Technology’). Both coy and cacophonous, it’s an expectancy deserving of an introductory Star Wars scroll to determine whose allegiances lie where, making drum kicks wait an almost interminable amount of time to get thickening the action.” – Clash Magazine

Item description: