Adapt Or Die: 10 Years of Remixes (Dig) [Original recording remastered]

Everything But the Girl | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 15, 2005)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Label: Atlantic / Wea
• ASIN: B0007MYK6Q
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #38,394 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Mirrorball -- DJ Jazzy Jeff Sole Full Remix

2. Before Today -- Adam F Remix

3. Missing -- CL McSpadden Unreleased Powerhouse Mix

4. Corcovado -- Knee Deep Remix/Ben Watt Vocal Re-edit

5. Rollercoaster -- King Britt Scuba Mix

6. Downhill Racer -- Kenny Dope Remix

7. Single -- Brad Wood Memphis Remix

8. Walking Wounded -- Dave Wallace Remix

9. Five Fathoms -- Kevin Yost Unreleased Groove Mix/Ben Watt edit

10. Lullaby of Clubland -- Jay 'Sinister' Sealee Remix

11. Temperamental -- Pull Timewarp Remix

12. Blame -- Fabio Remix

13. Wrong -- Todd Terry Unreleased Freeze Mix

14. Driving -- Acoustic Mix

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

64 of 73 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Decent, at times good, but not, as is typical, great., March 29, 2005

By 

Christian Hunter "Christian Hunter" (Austin, Texas Santa Barbara, California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Adapt Or Die: 10 Years of Remixes (Dig) (Audio CD)

Adapt Or Die is a compilation of recordings made over the last 10 years (although there are some tracks older than that on here?). For longtime followers of EBTG, this is a welcome gift from the understandably reclusive group (made up principally of vocalist Tracy Thorn and husband/producer Ben Watt); they are new parents, and have made the rare decision to tether themselves to family first, and let their musical momentum subordinate. Refreshing indeed.

I've been anticipating this album since they mentioned it on their fan site some number of months ago (yes, I'm that big of an EBTG psycho, keep that in mind when I get a bit course here soon), I have great respect for Ben Watt's musical talent. I was certain he'd shepard a world-class mix. Well, after a few listens, this certainly isn't that. It's an "ok" mix. There are, in my opinion, only a couple of songs that are better than their original productions (Corcovado, and Mirrorball). Then there are a handful of songs that'll freshen-up interest in the EBTG playlist, but regrettably, not for long.

However, there are some unbelievable stinkers on this CD. I couldn't believe how bad the Tempermental remix is. It's...well, listen to it yourself before you get all worked up. It sounds like they forced Tracy by gunpoint to do a cover for that weird costume scene in Eyes Wide Shut. Disturbing. Also, the remix for Single is like...well, it's like the same song, only with some kind of Casio-watch-style beeping in the background. Maybe some people, like fans of Casio watches will be like "wow, some beeping at intervals, just what this track needed". I however am offended by what I consider needless tampering.

Which should be the title of this CD: Needless Tampering With Perfection. But that wouldn't move many units would it?

I'm obviously dissapointed. If you care to look up my reviews, you'll see that I'm a consistent 5 star reviewer of EBTG, I'm always the one strongly advising you to go buy the album. This time however, I can't in good conscience advise you to do anything but steer clear.

Sadly,

Christian Hunter
Santa Barbara, California

34 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Everything Above Par... As Usual, March 17, 2005

By 

Shanghaied (Carrollton, TX United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Adapt Or Die: 10 Years of Remixes (Dig) (Audio CD)

It's very disappointing that EBTG has taken a hiatus from the studio, even if they do have the best reasons for it. Their work has a charm and an honest beauty that's all too rare in our contemporary visual pop world. Despite Ben and Tracy's committment to raise children who don't resemble the messed up offspring of so many other music celebrities in the world, it seems they've taken sympathy and delivered a fresh interpretation of their career to starving EBTG fans everywhere.

Adapt or Die is an absolutely astounding record. I always, always open a fresh EBTG record with the highest expectations, whether it's fresh studio work, live material, or remixes. This album is so good I would argue that several of the tracks presented are even better than their original mixings. "Lullaby of Clubland" was easily the weakest track on the most recent "Tempramental,": the remix here however is amazing; almost orchestral. The song is still recognizable, but the heavier beat along with the light guitar synths and piano dubs add a fleshed out, emotional and smooth sound that simply wasn't there before. It's easily one of my 3 favorite tracks on the CD simply because it's so improved from its original mix.

The tracks on "Adapt" are so consistently good its rediculous. My absolute favorite track is the DJ Jazzy "Sole Full" remix of "Mirrorball." Again, the backing melody is drastically changed from the original, now featuring piano arpeggiation and a slightly quickened sound. The overall sound is both remarkable and familiar. Even the club-abused "Missing" sounds unique enough to be interesting, with different synth sounds and different bridge placement throughout the track. There are only 2 tracks that I have the exact mix to, and those are the "Driving" acoustic mix (see "EBTG Acoustic," great album) and the Adam F. Remix of "Before Today" which was featured on the "Urbal Beats Vol. 1" compilation (one of my favorite EBTG remixes). Every other mix is new to me, and 3 of the songs were remixed in 2004 making it unlikely you've heard them before.

"Adapt or Die" stands to be the best remix album for the 05' summer and beyond. It's the only CD I've been listening to for the past couple days and I've already played it through at least a dozen times with no end in sight. Adapt is a reminder of how important and unique EBTG is, and how much they will be missed...

(Until the kids grow up!!)

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Everything AND the Girl, March 15, 2005

By 

John W. Warren (Santa Monica, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Adapt Or Die: 10 Years of Remixes (Dig) (Audio CD)

I've long been a fan of EBTG's remixes... Tracy Thorn's vocals float seductive and ethereal over Ben Watt's-- and other remixers'-- electro-beats. With this new collection, it's nice, for one, to have the remixes in one place. Most often this also means the collector gets shortchanged since s/he already has everything but one or two tracks on the new collection. "Adapt or Die" bucks this trend like a buzzing fly, with a collection of largely unreleased or extremely hard-to-find remixes. 4 tracks are brand new--including a great rework of "Mirrorball"--others are rare or previously unreleased on CD. (Most fans, like me, will have two to four tracks in their collection.) More than anything, "Adapt or Die" shows that, despite some time off, EBTG is still very much in the game, straddling that divide between pop and electronica, between accessibility and credibility, and doing a bang up job of it.