Customer Reviews

Rarewerks

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I got this disc as I like most of the records released on the Astralwerks label and wanted to check out the rare stuff from my favorite artists: Air, Cassius, Chemical Brothers. The opening track from Fatboy Slim is typically goofy but fun nonetheless. Massive Attack's remix of Primal Scream is pretty fierce, much darker than the original and the Groove Armada mix of Q-Burns is really sublime. Then the Air track, a trip-hop reworking of "Casanova 70" one of my faves from their early works. It's harder and more abrasive than the original, but I think it adds some punch and groove that doesn't mess too much with the integrity of the original. The Cassius remix of their own track "Foxxy" is a dramatic update of an already great tune, superior programming and great vocal sample that really carries the track. Scanty Sandwich sounds like Fatboy Slim, goofy and frenetic big beats, sampling the Knack's "My Sharona" and adding layer upon layer of fat drum loops. The remaining tracks from Photek and Beta Band are pretty good, but the Future Sound Of London track is a let-down, purely indulgent and sounds as though it's been thrown in for name recognition value only, rather than because it's worthwhile. The Morales Latin mix of Basement Jaxx's "Bingo Bango" is a great song in the original form and nicely remixed here, even if the spanish guitar gets a little too noodly. The Sasha remix of the Chemical Bros "Out Of Control" is immense and very long (13 minutes) and will please Chems completists no end. I'd like to have given this comp 5 stars but there's a few moments where the selections falter in favor of big names rather than great tracks, but still mostly a great record from a great label. I guess there'll be a Volume 2 in which case I'd ask the label to go deeper into their catalog and find some Spacetime Continuum, u-ziq, Wagon Christ, Craig Armstrong and others who are not necessarily big sellers, but part of the label's history just the same. I hope you're werkin' on it.

Let me just start off by saying that Astralwerks is my favorite record label for electronic music, so naturally, I love all the artists on this CD. And I also think it was a great idea to put out a compilation with rare material from the label's best musicians. Among the likes of my favorite DJ, Norman Cook (AKA Fatboy Slim), There are awesome tracks here from Photek (Rupert Parks), Basement Jaxx, Cassius, The Chemical Brothers (Tom & Ed), and a amazing live track to finish off the CD, which come from Future Sound Of London. If you enjoy techno music, and/or are a fan of Astralwerks records such as myself, this is definitely going to hold out as one of the strongest releases of the year.

The compilation "Rarewerks", as I understand it, gives the artists therein recorded the opportunity to let out their particular madness/genius and raise it to something like the tenth power. Its exponential Indie/Groove weirdness brings out a fresh and forward-thinking quality that redeems the disc, though it sometimes leaves the listener feeling thoroughly violated by its iconoclasm (e.g., a "My Sharona" update)...somthing like a 50's evangelist experiencing the titilation of Rock & Roll's girating pelvis for the first time, feeling that inexplicable surge of excitement/guilt that seems to originate at the base of the spine. This is especially true if, as in the case of the prior critic, a listener has become comfortable with the dominant paradigm. Think of "Rarewerks" as the enima for which every critic and evangelist during the last half-century has been secretly pining, and let it round out your collection of what the SPD has so aptly dubbed "that electronic, repetetive-beat, after-hours, warehouse, [...]".
I could rephrase everything Matt from New Jersey says about the actual songs, but since I basically agree with him, I'll just let you scroll down and check it out.

Ouch...did I just spend money on this? What a sad state of affairs...this album is what happens when record labels try just a little too hard to milk their star artists for one more quick buck. I personally own albums from about half of the artists on this CD (Fatboy, Air, Chemical Brothers, Massive Attack, Sasha) and really like all of them but this compilation is just awful because the songs are just 1)amazingly mediocre 2)boring and 3)too long (reference the 13 minute track from Sasha).

There is a reason why the "rare works" in this Rareworks CD are so "rare"...it is because they are so Bad ...if the tracks in this CD were any good they wouldn't be rare because fans and the public would have passed them along and spread the word. Think about it...