From one of my favorite acts in electronic music comes this 2-part 12" set
of remixes for EYA from the _Present_ full-length. Although I'm not
overwhelmed by the quality of this collection, all the mixes sound great
REALLY loud -- in other words, were I playing these in a club rather than
at my house, my review would be much more glowing (the Alex Patterson way
of reviewing -- I know it's a cop-out): but here goes...
Disc One opens with the Pro Plus Mix: it has a slight electro flavor, but
is a bit of a snoozer. I tried pitching it up and down, but couldn't
breathe any life into it.
Track Two is a Hardware Mix with that dark jungle feel. It fits right
in with the Neotropic "15 Levels..." remixes. Crunchy bass, the sound of
speeding cars, metallic percussion. It's all sounding so generic.
Side Two features the Cityscape version, clocking in at 9:16. My first
listen I didn't change the speed from 33 rpm to 45 rpm -- and thank the
diety I didn't. This is my favorite mix (very much in the Future Sound of
Jazz vein). Gimme the cool and breezy extra-extended jam at 33 over the
light-jungle sound at 45 anyday.
Disc Two Side One starts off with an "authentic" mix. Usually I get pissed
off when folks waste space by including the original version on a remix
project, but this one is making me wonder if it is verbatim the original
because I hear new extra-tasty and improved sounds thrown in at random
places.
Track Two is The Flow Mix #2. Basically a four on the floor mix, with
some keyboards dotting the landscape. I can hear this working into a mix,
but it really doesn't stand on its own or improve on the original.
Side Two is Green Velvet's Funk Mix. Cow bells a-bangin', hand claps
a-clappin', bass beat a-thumpin' -- Trippy acid sounds sneaking in and out
of the mix and some really distorted horns. This is a guaranteed
floor-filler that oughtta be called the Ooh-yeah mix.
In a nutshell: Cityscape mix b/w Green Velvet mix and you got one helluva 12".
Oh yeah, and I gotta mention that the design is in the current Designers
Republic style, a la Autechre's "Envane" and "Chiastic Slide". I think it's
great that the DR folks are developing a recognizable style -- really
minimal modernist derivative design in one and two color: metallic inks on
uncoated stock for the outer, glossy coated for the inner. (Compare to
stereophile classical recordings from the 1960's and 70's.) But I think the
design is way off the mark -- this is an Apollo release, not Warp: it's Sun
Electric, not Autechre. In other words, compared to the cover art of
previous Sun Electric releases, this pales in comparison in its lack of
originality.
Peace,
Pete Szymczak
szymczak@teleport.com
http://www.teleport.com/~szymczak