A WRENCHED VIRILE LORE

Most of the songs from "Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will" are given the remix treatment on this album. I say most because, even though it has the same amount of tracks as the original album, "Rano Pano" appears twice with different remixes. "You're Lionel Richie" is the track that is not remixed on this album. "Hardcore..." is an excellent album and one of my favorites by Mogwai, so obviously I was interested in this remix album. The problem is, the remixes just don't hold up to the originals.

This collection tries to keep the more upbeat feeling of the original album by making the remixes stay bright and upbeat. But I feel it makes them weak. The emotion and beauty from the originals are mostly all washed out. The collection starts out well enough with a very good and spacey remix of "George Square Thatcher Death Party" and it gives hope to the rest of the album. The first "Rano Pano" remix is next, but has been "electronified" (yes I probably made that word up). It's okay, but not near as good as the original. "White Noise" becomes very weak, "How to Be a Werewolf" is turned into a disco rave song with no emotion whatsoever, and "Letters to the Metro" sounds like a cheap imitation of Vangelis. The strange thing is this remix is done by a band named "Zombi" who has toured with "Don Callabero", "These Arms Are Snakes", "Red Sparrowes" and "Isis". I don't know, but I would think with being an opening act for these excellent bands, that they must sound a lot different than they do on this remix, and they definitely didn't manipulate the source material in an original manner in this case.

By now, we are up to track 6, and there isn't much hope now that we're half way though the tracks. It's going to take a miracle to turn this remix album around. Things do get a little better because for the most part, we lost the annoying beats from previously as it tends to get quieter on the 2nd half. "Mexican Grand Prix" is remixed next and is mostly acoustic with soft vocals. There are some treated electronics thrown in more for sound effects that don't take away from the feeling. This is a relief from the long tracks previously that had mostly continuous beats, but it's nothing real special, just kind of nice. The second remix of "Rano Pano" follows, and while it's atmospheric and the tension builds as it moves along, it's pretty boring. "San Pedro" is a decent remix, but it's short (under 4 minutes) and also done by a post punk band called "The Soft Moon", so you expect some respect to the material and they pull it off well. "Too Raging to Cheers" is a personal favorite from the band, and it is given a more ambient rave feel which doesn't do the source material justice. "La Morte Blanche" is the longest track at over 13 minutes and is a remix that uses both "Death Rays" and "White Noise" as source material. This track, like the first track is also a great remix, with a very excellent study in dynamics. Interestingly enough, these tracks are mixed by two different members from "Godflesh". These are the best remixes on the collection. But unfortunately, they don't save the album enough. And in the end, the album doesn't measure up to the original album and in some cases, bring it down.

You don't really need to bother with the entire collection and if you can, just download the Godflesh remixes and The Soft Moon Remix. The others aren't worth the trouble. 2 stars.