Beyond The Wizard’s Sleeve is the work of Erol Alkan and Richard Norris. This compilation contains some of their best re-workings to date and is one of the most exciting and fresh sounding compilations of the year. At present, there is no one else remaking songs the way they do, making this a unique proposition in the musical world.

Rather than being remixes these are re-animations, placing the originals in a different light by bringing folk, dance and Balearic beats to the table and showing the selected songs interpreted in another way.

Erol and Richard have been making music together since 2005, and have released a series of EP’s over the years that have pieced together obscure psych and garage tunes, before they took that philosophy to re-arranging tracks by other artists.

From the electro-pop of Ulysses by Franz Ferdinand, to the haziness of Happiness by Goldfrapp, Beyond The Wizard’s Sleeve have not been afraid to try their hand at anything. Twisting the likes of The Bears Are Coming by Late Of The Pier into a bonkers trip into the woods at night, and turning their version of cult favourite Young Folks by Peter Bjorn and John into what could be the song’s definitive version. Badly Drawn Boy’s Promises intro sees a blissful build up of percussion, and Midlake’s Roscoe takes a strung out, Fleetwood Mac-esque turn.

In all this compilation stitches tunes back together and takes the listener on a sonic ride through the senses. This compilation, Volume 1, brings to a close the first chapter on this musical journey. They’ll be back soon… plus legendary journalist Jon Savage has done the sleevenotes.