Bleep

Depeche Mode's guitarist, keyboardist and primary songwriter Martin Gore's first solo effort in six years, The Third Chimpanzee EP resumed the heavy, instrumental synthesis of Gore’s past extracurriculars with a bilious set of industrially-tainted synth sound designs. True to form, and true to his esteemed status among the legions of his latter-day followers, The Third Chimpanzee gets its remix due from a cohort of Gore admirers.

The breadth of work Gore’s originals has inspired is diverse — ranging from eerie ambient and cybernetic electro to foreboding industrial rave and pin-sharp footwork — even as each rendition continues mulling over the deep, dark stuff. The distance between Wehbba and Jlin’s versions of ‘Capuchin’ is far-flung, the former darkened by big room sonics, the latter driven by a masterfully contained rhythmic chaos. Meanwhile, Barker and MoReVoX spin ‘Mandrill’ into furious, slippery beasts worthy of the track’s primate namesake, as Rrose finds an unexpectedly slow-burning pace through the dirge of glitched electronics.

Despite the spectacular sonic acrobatics, The Third Chimpanzee Remixed has the air of a single visionary artist. That’s testament to what Martin Gore has achieved throughout his career and beyond.