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Six of these tracks make up what could be a new EP, and the rest
of thealbum are remixes making the CD accurately priced at about 10
bucks. The new material, as a collection of "stuff" is pretty
decent music from what I guess I could call the "vintage"
Single Frame sound... but since vintage refers to one album
and an EP, that may not be the most appropriate term. "Silver
Crime Lining" is the crown jewel contained within that EP's worth
of… stuff. "Icon" is yet another reminder that SF's
overall importance will be summarized not by what they did, but how
they did it. It's not a very good song overall, but I gotta level
with you: I can't get the damn thing out of my head. "Nobody"
and "Float Over Oregon" are haunting reminders of the loneliness
captured by the second half of Wetheads Come Running.
The remixes, on the other hand, are a decidedly mixed bag, due in
part to the fact that they weren't remixed by the band. The most glaring
opportunity missed is "Exact Copy" (A remix of "Exact
Copy of This in the Basement"). This one can be singled out because
the original track was flawed, but with a lot of promise. (The live
version is superior to the recorded one, so I know there's something
to be done with it.) Unfortunately, J-Mprint appears to have
tried to go a similar route that Single Frame did with their own remix
of "New Car Smell" on Burn Radio Airtest. Essentially,
SF reduced the original song (one of their greatest from Wetheads
Come Running) to its basest elements and remixed it into an impenetrable
and frightening masterwork bordering on artistic genius. "Exact
Copy" has marginally followed that formula within a dance-mix
paradigm, but with little return on the results. The reductionism
has boiled all of the nutrient out of the carrot, leaving a swollen,
mushy core lacking in substance or taste. The Machine remix of "Clippership"
is a smoother, tighter and subsequently less harsh version, but is
otherwise indistinguishable from the original. The first day demo
of "Post Daydream" could alternately be called the MTV Unplugged
version. The song is a great one in any context, and here has a stripped
down simplicity that evokes a more subdued response, but lacks the
impact of the original. That is until we get to its coda, the spinetingling
typewriter finale that I'd only ever seen live prior to this CD's
issuance. The ablest hands are unsurprisingly those of Creepykid
whose previous work on "Comm Jet" makes me wonder why they
don't just hire this guy as their album producer. He has a flair for
injecting a certain brand of melancholy solitude into the tracks he
re-works that were sorely lacking on Body/End/Basement.
This is primarily a CD for fans of the band who can't get enough,
and as a fan, it gets my recommendation - if for no other reason than
the new material. Remixes seem to be a part of the zeitgeist these
days, so my general disaffection for them may not be shared by a great
many others. Herein, there are some good and some bland. I would have
liked to see their "Taxidermy Heads" remix in here, which
live, exhibits the band's talent for reinvention I've lauded them
for in the past, but that is perhaps reserved for another day, another
album.
-JD
Track Listing:
01 Icon
02 Guess What Angel
03 Taken For A Walk (Unreleased Dimeslot)
04 Silver Crime Lining (Abandoned Demo)
05 Clippership (Machine Remix)
06 Exact Copy (Witch Dr. Remix by J-Mprint)
07 Nobody
08 Flying Circus (Apartment Mix)
09 Damaged (Fragments)
10 Post Daydream (First Day Demo)
11 Floral Design (Straight Line Remix by J-Mprint)
12 Sores For Change
13 Underground At Noon (Sunlight Hits Remix By Creepy Kid)
14 Dry Lips (Car Stereo Wars Remix by Chris Rose)
15 People Are Germs (Monaster Mash-up remix By Nick Zinner)
16 Digital Witness (Protection remix by Creepykid)
17 Float Over Oregon
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