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Each song here is different, but not wildly different from the next, which aids the flow of the album.
This is one of those rare occasions when a remix album is easily
forgotten to be a remix album. While most of the tracks are variations
of songs found on Soulwax's own 2005 release, Any Minute Now,
you can actually enjoy this album without having to be familiar with
the originals. Here, the brothers Dewaele, aka Soulwax, remix
themselves into ten individual eargasms that actually feel like one
long, intense song. Each track blends so well into the other that, when
you start to wonder when the next track will begin, you realize you're
halfway into track six. In the spirit of remixes, Soulwax intends for
this album to not be direct translations of each song into a more
danceable beat, but instead inspirations of the originals into a
dance-rock infusion. Mission accomplished.
Each track varies from the original in some capacity, either by
sampling a specific back beat, reusing a guitar line, stealing a synth
riff, or merely keeping the lyrics and discarding the music; the
remixes are strong and awfully good. Even if you're not much of the
clubbing, dancy type—which, admittedly, the album is geared
toward—you'll find yourself enjoying it just the same. I'm one of those
who can't stand long songs that don't shift at some point, which tends
to bode badly for styles like this (and jam bands), but each song fails
to repeat itself over and over. Each song here is different, but not
wildly different from the next, which aids the flow of the album.
Constant shifting and the adding or subtracting of instruments mid-song
keep the sounds fresh and likeable. Standout tracks include "Compute,"
"Miserable Girl," and "KracK," all of which sport backbeats that sound
as if they came from Trent Reznor himself. For being a dancy,
club-infused album, Nite Versions hasn't lost its rock elements.
RIYL: Trent Reznor! at the Disco, Soulwax remixed by Soulwax.
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