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Before the release of their latest album, Hissing Fauna are
you the Destroyer?, Of Montreal decided to re-release
select songs from Sunlandic Twins and Satanic Panic
in the Attic. This, however, isn't merely a reissue, but rather
a collection of remixes taken on by various artists. It almost
seems like a novel idea. It is practically a natural progression
for Of Montreal because they are known for their hyper infectious
indie-pop. Their sound alone is practically the epitome of music
that makes you want to get up and dance. Unfortunately, the remixes
deter from that idea and it becomes painfully apparent someone
obviously took a wrong turn.
Satanic Twins as a whole is a bit of a minor disappointment
in comparison to some of their other work. While some of the remixes
remain strong, others fall flat. Instead of staying fresh, upbeat
and playful, the approach just deters too far away from the things
that made these good songs to begin with. For instance in "I
Was Never Young" the beginning starts off playful with the
plucking of strings, but later segues into head man Kevin Barnes
sounding dazed as he sings the verses, making it sound too spacey.
By two minutes and thirty-five seconds into it, all the listener
hears is the phrase "I was never young" repeated for
the duration of the song. Not exactly one of the finer moments
on the album.
There are a few plus moments to the album such as "The Party's
Crashing Us Now." The song proves to be a winner when it
starts off with a hypnotic electronic 80's sound. Still staying
with the fun attitude of the original, and while I'm not a fan
of the rave dance club sound, the remixes on this song give it
an extra little boost of fun. Looking at the album as a whole,
this pattern seems to follow throughout. The songs that are quality
remain true to their originals, adding a bit of extra spice.
The album as a whole isn't a complete flop, but I really wouldn't
swear by it. Perhaps Of Montreal is just so good at their craft
of creating this type of music that any other tweaking just isn't
good enough for head man Kevin Barnes' genius. Or, maybe, the
ratios of artists doing the remixing aren't as good as they think.
-Teresa Moreno
Track listing:
1. Disconnect The Dots (Mixel Pixel remix)
2. How Lester Lost His Wife (Pocket remix)
3. My British Tour Diary (Restiform Bodies (anticon.) remix)
4. Climb The Ladder (Rory Phillips Trash UK remix)
5. Chrissy Kiss The Corpse (Nils Lannon remix)
6. Rapture Rapes The Muses (DJ Dave P. and Adam Sparkles Making
Time remix)
7. Forecast Fascist Future (IQU remix)
8. The Party's Crashing Us (I Am The World Trade Center remix)
9. Wraith Pinned to the Mist and Other Games (Broken Spindles
remix)
10. I Was A Landscape In Your Dream (Grizzly Bear remix)
11. Requiem for O.M.M.2 (United State of Electronica remix)
12.I Was Never Young (Supersystem remix)
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