Customer Reviews

Refreaked

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Instead of "new" material, this is the remixes from Freaks&Icons with the likes of UFO, Hefner, AtJazz, Mum, etc. Very limited vocals, mostly taking splinters of Freaks&Icons and making jazzy instrumentals out of them. Everything is remixed enough that it sounds new, which works for me, but nothing really outshines its original. It avoids being monotonous yet sounds better as background music. Essential only to people like me who can't get enough from Vienna. Definitely not an intro album (get Freaks&Icons first), but still enjoyable.

Freaks and Icons was a complex, deep album: at the same time funky, dubby, playful, and atmospheric. Here the tracks have been robbed of much of their flavor, reduced to somewhat sterile beats and jazzy cliches. Too many of the Middle Eastern samples have been deleted from the mixes by remixers who might understand dance music but obviously don't understand the subtle middle-eastern touches which graced Freaks and Icons. The result is that as you listen to each song you notice how much more you prefer the original and wonder why on God's earth somebody was allowed to mess it up so badly? Its a shame because with appropriate remixers who understand world dance music - say Talvin Singh, Loop Guru, Transglobal Underground, or downtempo specialists like K&D or Kid Loco a remix LP could have worked. One absolutely great track, however, the previously unreleased and blessedly unremixed 2 Minutes reveals the vast difference between Dzihan and Kamien's own work and the hack remixes on the compilation....

Dzihan & Kamien's album Freaks and Icons gets Refreaked by an impressive array of electronic talent who equal if not surpass the originals. Herbert's retake on "Before," for instance, adds the light vocals of Dani Siciliano, and turns it into a light house track; Atjazz does the same for "After." Hefner speeds up "Slowhand Hussein" and cranks the funk level up to 10; Menu B throws down a free-jazz jam on "Spacewater." Two mixes of the fragile "Smile" appear here: Eddy and Dus give the track some mid-tempo breaks, while Fox 42 sprinkles the track with some acid. A worthy accompaniment to the original album.

not great. not much better than the first one, but good listening.