No one combines Trad and Electronic music quite so well as the Scottish. One of the greatest pioneers of that scene was Martyn Bennett and although he passed away in 2005, there still remains a strong desire to take it to the floor as he did live back in 1997 with his second album, Bothy Culture to fans at King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut in Glasgow (as recalled here by Neil McFadyen). Where before Martyn had relied on a backing disc that he played solo to, this time he had a band called Cuillin Music with whom he went on to blaze “a trail around Europe with a heady mix of Scottish trad, club grooves and world beats.”
Over the years, others have taken up the torch, although the approach by Valtos – Skye Natives Daniel Docherty and Martyn MacDonald, is different. They start with the electronic and then add traditional elements. However they do it, they have certainly been getting the love including support from BBC Introducing. Having released remixes from the likes of Project Smok, Niteworks, Mec Lir and Lapwyng, they built a dedicated fanbase that resulted in an incredible and much talked about sold-out headline show at SWG3 in Glasgow back in December (clips from which feature in their new video below).
Today, we have the pleasure of sharing the video for their remix of ‘Marx Terrace’ by the legendary Peatbog Faeries. After hearing this you’ll understand why they have such a fast-growing fanbase.
Marx Terrace is a popular Peatbog number and it featured on their anniversary album Live @ 25 (2017) on which it morphs into a dance number in the best club tradition, and “degrees of separation between ceilidh and rave are reduced to nil”…none of that energy is lost in the remix…if anything, it’s heightened and glowing.
On talking about the remix, Daniel and Martyn say, “Having grown up on Skye; naturally, we are huge Peatbog Faeries fans! They’ve always been on our radar as a band trying to push the boundaries and a band we’ve always highly respected. Thus from the beginning of our project, we knew we wanted to add our own twist to some of their work and the Marx Terrace remix was born.”
Inspired by legendary Skye bands Niteworks and the Peatbog Faeries, Valtos set out to combine modern Electronic music with the traditional sounds of their home into a truly genre-melding sound. Others have tried to blend the genres before, but very few have started with electronic and added traditional elements in the way that Valtos have, and the sound is truly unique.
Martyn says, “We usually seek tracks that have strong individual elements or a hook that can be utilised as the focal point of a remix and Marx Terrace has exactly that in its lead fiddle/whistle line. Further, this particular track is also 4/4, which makes it much easier for us to craft a remix as 99% of modern dance music is also 4/4. It’s also just one of our favourite Peatbog tunes and one we always wanted to try and add the ‘Valtos flair’ to”.
The video features clips from their sold-out show at SWG3 and features appearances from Hamish Hepburn from Eabhal (pipes/whistle), Euan McLaughlin (Fiddle), Lana Pheutan (vocals) and Eilidh from Sian (vocals).
The remixes are building up to a debut album, due in the first half of 2022. It will incorporate an array of exciting features on tracks that sound like nothing you have heard before. Valtos have managed to achieve a distinctive, memorable, energetic, and beautiful sound, inspired by various acts, genres, and Skye, the place they call home – all detectable in the remixes and the original music that is still to come.
Valtos’ remix of Marx Terrace is out on Friday 7th January 2022 and will be followed by their debut album a few months later.
Pre-Save the new single here: https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/peatbogfaeries/marx-terrace-valtos-remix