humix after all: part two

this is a part two. scroll down to the previous post or click here to update your brain matter, cuz one day it may matter.

so i've given remix after all the old college try about cinco o seis times, and combined with the fact that i'm like pavlov's dog when it comes to the punk of daft i think i can fill everybody with my two sense. of course my opinion is liable to change in the future, so i guess these are really first impressions. i've divided the tracks up into categories, like so:

the mehhhh........

Human After All (The Disco Villains Remix)

too much distortion layered on compression layered on top of distortion layered on.... etc. it sounded like they took the original track, chained it to the back of their pick up truck and went off-roading through a briar patch. not in a good way. i would start the whole 'i'm so sick of every remix sounding like justice' schtick, but it was used later in mixes i liked. cute little 'disco villains' drop at the 4:00 mark though.

On/Off (The Noizy Kidz Daft Zapping Remix)

of course this is the obvious hard track to do because all you have to work with is 19 seconds of someone flipping through channels; you've pretty much have to create something from scratch. i wish the noizy kidz would have thought about what on/off means to the original album, because this mix doesn't fit in with the idea of the project, and it just ends up sounding like rehashes of other daft punk remixes (diplo's work it and soulwax's oh yeah come to mind). incorporating various dp samples is a good idea (even if i wish robot rock weren't one of them), but maybe they could have broken them up as if the listeners were scrolling through radio stations or something relevant to the album.

the okay:

Robot Rock (Immuzikation Remix)

pretty straightforward remix. sounds like 90% of the other ones that have been done. cutting up the vocal sample underneath the main power chords was a good idea, as was whatever that 80s sample was before the 2:00 mark. i wish someone would do a mix that wasn't an offering to the gods of distorted guitars.

Make Love (Chew Fu & Substantial Small Room Sax Fix)

everytime i listen to this it just reminds me of a mixtape track some rapper would put out. i warmed up to substantial's voice a little bit after listening to it a couple times, but i feel like his vocals are way too far up in the mix; it's very disconnecting. and while somebody might say oh he's got a nice flow, have you listened to how generic his lyrics are?? i do really love the saxophone addition, but what's with that weird blowing sound it sounds like whoever was playing the instrument was using a reed that had just been put through a coffee grinder haha.

Television Rules The Nation (Dirty Disco Youth Remix)

i'm digging this one. the jangling drums work really well here, and i think it was a good choice to seque the motorcyle revving synths into that ubiquitious monster riff. fairly basic mix, but effective.

the better:

Technologic (Kids At The Bar Remix)

the first thing i said when i heard the opening was 'crank that!' haha but this got pretty good. i felt like the synth sounds they were using were fairly run of the mill, but they did a good job with them.

Emotion (Werewolf by Night Remix)

okay, ya think dude was obsessing over ryan leslie when he made this???? please listen to valentine and then listen to the beginning of emotion. then everyone that hates on ryan leslie but digs this song can read my blog post about what a great producer ryan leslie is and they can thank me for putting them on to him haha. the vocals were really low in this mix, anybody else think? i liked this one alot though, almost made the last category.

the cream of the crop:

The Prime Time Of Your Life (Tits & Clits Remix)

what a great name. it must be something about prime time, because that para one remix off the japan bonus disc was straight fire, and so is this one. i think having this right next to the disco villains mix shows that you can bite major elements of justice's remix style (slappa da bass mon), but one sounds like crap and one sounds really dope. the two faux fadeouts were killer duuuuude.

Steam Machine (The Company Kang Remix)

this one is fantastic, mostly because that keyboard line, but also because i think the song utilizes and expands upon the original's fortes, a point i made in my previous posts, turning the song into a slow burning dancefloor anthem. that chord progression is siiick.

The Brainwasher (Melee Beats Remix)

it's funny, because steam machine and brainwasher were probably my least favorite tracks off human after all. i've never heard of company kang and melee beats before, but i've got to tip my hat off to them, because they've constructed great dancefloor material. the great thing about brainwasher is how the producer flips the guitar riff in the original into a funky little piano lick.

those are my thoughts. as far as nitpicking goes, there are a couple of times where the transition between songs is abrubtly jarring; adding another beat of silence here and there would have worked together towards making a more cohesive listening of the album.

i have to say though, this is such a cool idea. i hope no one reading this takes my critique as a diss towards the project. rather, it's a compliment (not to mention i'm a little envious that i know i'm not yet good enough to be a part of the remixing) that i'm enamored enough with the idea to really give it my full attention, something i hope the rest of the internet does. it'd be cool if this got substantial attention, i haven't seen it (yet) on any of the major sites. i read something about somebody suggesting tackling discovery next, but i'm not sure i'd be so keen about that. you do too much of a cool thing and it just becomes generic and expected. plus the quality of the remixes is going to decrease as the demand for more albums increases. human after all is such a perfect album for a project like this; discovery most definitely is not. take your time and really think about another album that would be worthy/benefit from this kind of treatment.

click here to download Remix After All

click here to visit The Lemur Blog, where you can get more info on the project and links to the other blog sites

also, for anyone noticing, the remix cd is almost exactly a minute longer than the original. eerie coincidence?