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It’s either brave or stupid or just simply a mixture of both to release a single / extended EP that features eleven versions of the one track, ten of them remixes, but seemly after the level of interest in their ‘Living In Neon’ album and that one track ‘I Am Gothic’ someone obviously thought it would be a good idea to do this ‘project’ and release this CD. There is the addition of four new tracks with all those versions of ‘I Am Gothic’ while the pounding rhythms, crashing drums and flowing, catchy synth riffs remain combined with the quirky titles and lyrics.
REVIEW
The first of the many remixes of ‘I Am Gothic’ begins the CD as a ‘2003 Single’ that I assume the band itself has remixed. It’s a lengthy six minutes plus remix that recalls those wonderful 12” style remixes that we where spoiled with in the 1980s. This excellent remix is really an extended version of the original that I’m sure will be on the set list for many a Electronic club for years to come. The best of the four new tracks featured is clearly ‘He Came With The Frame’, a perfect piece of Synth Pop with its catchy synth riff, a big chorus and those witty lyrics, it’s a track that could have easily been released as a single while the equally up-tempo ‘Its All In The Drums’ seems to lament the demise of Disco through its blend of limited vocals and assorted samples, for me it’s a track where their seems to be too much happening at once while ‘Wizz For Atoms’ is a good, but average track that really fails to stand out while ‘The Story Of My Life Is An FX Showreel’ is at times a more rock-orientated track (there is always one) with its crunchy guitar, its really another average track …7
REMIXES
06 – A simple, basic and somewhat quirky remix that indicates a touch of early-Soft Cell, it remains within the framework of the original track with a distorted touch on the vocals, but it adds nothing to the original and could have easily been better and simply becomes a remix that never gets out of first gear…4
07 – Simple, shuffling House style rhythms that descend into a predictably repetitive Dance track with pointlessly repeats part of the vocal from the original track. Annoying, irritating and a completely wasted opportunity to remix a track …0
08 – I had at least expected to hear something good from Synthetik FM with this remix, but unfortunately it’s an average and disappointing remix. It is one of the few that remains close to the original, but at the best of times it sounds hollow and almost unfinished…5
09 – Another simple and quirky remix that sounds almost out of time with the original vocals, as a result of this it just doesn’t work for me. It sounds like its being played by a ‘live’ band with an electronic edge, but this is simply all wrong …1
10 – A predictably harder (but not harsh) sounding remix by Xero-G’s Seth Questor with both vocoder and treated vocals, but at the best of times its too basic and almost half-finished with thin and weak synths. Another disappointing remix …3
11 – This is just a standard mid-paced Dance version with Trance riffs, without the vocals its sounds like another track. It’s an over long and mainly boring and pointless remix that in turn equally sums up the present Dance scene …0
12 – Without doubt this is easily and clearly the best remix here. This version fully retains all aspects of the original and remixes it into a bright and mid-paced Synth Pop remix, perfectly getting the balance right between the original and this excellent remix …10
13 – This remix is easily the second best remix here that once again fully retains the original into this straight Industrial / E.B.M / Synth Pop remix with a harding sounding Industrial bass and rhythms and Synth Pop riffs, its another remix that gets the balance right for another excellent remix …9
14 – Another mainly boring and pointless remix that mirrors that of Raindancer, Dance / Trance with limited and distant vocals that become the only indication of the original track itself …0
15 – Once again this runs along the same musical lines of the Raindancer & Absord remixes, largely Dance / Trance orientated with the vocals providing the only real connection with the original track …2
An interesting if somewhat over done project that clearly took the ‘lets remix that track’ idea a step too far. Yes, there is a varied selection of remixes and at times depending on your musical taste some of them are very good and from that they work very well, but hopefully this idea of multi remixing the same track will be a one-off, not just for Spray but all acts with the present Synth Pop scene. The largely Dance orientated remixes may not appeal to your average Synthpopper, but there is the excellent 80s 12” style remix of ‘I Am Gothic’ and those four new tracks with ‘He Came With The Fame’ clearly the highlight of the four.
RATING: 6
Artist Link: http://www.spraynet.freeserve.co.uk/
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