Album Review

Collide – Bent And Broken

• 30th Oct 2012

A decent remix album is like a reminder of long lost loves of the past. That love of course being the original album. They remind you of your first encounter you had; where you where; what you were doing in life; and how the day to day was enriched by the experience.

Collide have released a remix album now for each of their original recorded studio albums. And this is the second time that it has come in the form of a double album. Various artists (known and unknown from around the globe have submitted their versions and interpretations of songs from both the Two Headed Monster and Counting To Zero albums and the end result is this 26 track double album). Collide themselves have also recorded a couple of cover songs as well to add to the mix (which is another favourite pastime of the band), and a bonus title track as well.

So are we reminded of love here. Certainly love from the perspective of others. For my own perspective, the reminder is of one untouchable beauty and one naughty ex-girlfriend. Two Headed Monster was a thing beauty; Counting To Zero was much more devious. Here both albums are stripped of their innards leaving the outer shell of each song which has been reconfigured, stuffed, packaged and made to work via the ear of another artist known as the remixer. And it’s quite the bundle.

The thrilling news is that the artist known as the remixer has evolved over the past couple of decades to realise that not every remix means giving a song the type of beat that keep rave fans happy (although they are still around). The first half of this double album adheres to the experimental instead. Close analysis of the songs, the background noise and even backing vocals have be utilised as tools to alternate the viewpoint of the song and reinterpret them – as opposed to just doing the dance version.

In the Frequency gets a mammoth four passes taken at it (not surprising as it is a genuine highlight from Counting To Zero). Tom Gipson’s Great Apes Mix is a startlingly stripped and redressed version. Alyssa Finnivan’s Shades of Red mix of Clearer is a strong stand out – pulling kaRIN’s high pitched backing vocals to the fore along with the main lead vocal work; creating a whole entire new sound for the song. The energetic chorus music makes an event of the song, and if anything should have lingered for a few more rounds before the song quietly disappears. You know you have really liked a song when you are feeling overwhelmed to capacity, but also slightly annoyed that it didn’t last longer for an almighty crescendo.

If you want just plain bizarre you need look no further than kaRIN, You’re Not Yourself Today which is a complete manipulation of the singer’s voice. You’ll come away wanting to check up on her to make sure she is still ok after being drenched and rolled through the sound edit wringer!

We would be remiss to not also mention the Black Sheep mix of Pure Bliss which sees a complete reinvention at work. Antigen’s remix of Counting To Zero is another easy standout for both ingenious reinvention and masterful sound production. The sound is expansive and full of beauty and resonates long after.

Looking for something new – well there is the delightful title track standing out as the sole newly written track by the band.

All this is just some of what comprises the first half of the double album. The second sitting has already much to live up to from what you will have heard from the precursor. But it’s taken away in style with a mix of Tears Like Rain by Psych-Nein. The volume is amped up for this electronic treat as we start to head into club territory. Chris Vrenna then takes a stab at In The Frequency. And you can expect the amped up nature to stay for the rest of the duration. It’s pure revelling in the material making it as loud and bombastic as it can get. Clearer again gets a great interpretation by Synkraft.

Clearer one of a few songs that get more than one cover. As a result not every song from each album gets a remix. In fact Two Headed Monster only in half attendance, which perhaps points to fans focusing in on certain songs (Pure Bliss and Chaotic getting multiple versions).

At the end though the tone is dialled back down again to end off on one of Collide’s greatest songs, Utopia (taken from the end of Two Headed Monster). Already a masterpiece, Whitney Kew’s take on the material loses none of the song’s original beauty of grace, giving it an almost Vangelis like quality to the reaching synths.

Statik does a bit of aiding and abetting on some of the mixes for the final versions. Across the board it’s pretty much top notch production value. Bent and Broken will make Collide fans go back and excavate and re-evaluate previous works in their original incarnation to discover what seeds are there that caught the remixers’ ear in the first place. Very much recommended. But we still want more please.