Various Artists "8,8.5,9 remixes" Fat Cat Records fat cd 007 1999 (67:51)
no. 8 (18:31)
no. 8.5 (1:39)
no. 9 (12:49)
no. 8 (amx by arovane) (7:10)
no. 9 (:funkstörung. mix) (4:42)
no. 8 (ae2 mix by autechre) (5:02)
no. 9 (pole mix) (8:33)
module 8.5 by monolake (9:23)
Various Artists is not a various artists compilation but rather the clever project moniker of an anonymous group of Berlin based producers. This limited edition cd collects the previously vinyl only EP and remix 12" on Fat Cat to give us 3 original VA tracks and 5 remixes. Various Artists' formula is pretty simple: set up a fuzzy synth loop rhythm, slowly and subtlety shift it via dub style sounds and echo effects then let it go for a ridiculously long time. It's not quite as boring as it might sound, though this is definitely electronic music for the more patient listener willing to kick back and soak it in. No. 8 and no. 9 are unnecessarily lengthy really ... the remixers do a good job of editing these down to a more easily digestible size. Berlin's Arovane does a fine, slowly evolving mix that's much spacier and bass heavy and ultimately more interesting than the original. Funkstörung do what they do best: imitate Autechre while Autechre do what they do best: turn everyone else into Autechre. The former is just annoying while the latter is typical Autechre ... good but nothing particularly exciting or new. The Pole mix simply takes the original no. 9, feeds it through the pop and click Pole filter and adds a more robust dub bass line. Monolake essentially create a new track from the less than minute and a half no. 8.5 ... and it happens to be the most spacey and beautiful of the lot. All together an ok set of tracks but none are particularly surprising or ingenious. It comes in a budget slipcase but was still far too expensive at $15.50 ...
Where did I get this cd? - mail order via Riouxs Records.