Review Summary: Of mixed blood, some types prove more valuable than others.
Remixes are funny, unpredictable little things. They can turn your most beloved masterpiece into a hollowed out, emotionless wreck of what it used to be, or can transform it into something different, and exquisite. Something beyond what you might have expected. The same can be said for covers; your idea of something worthwhile can also be someone else's worst nightmare, and it's very easy to slip between either. Regardless of the outcome, however, it always makes for an interesting listen. And
Mixed Blood is interesting.
Gotye's collection of
Mixed Blood boasts an intriguing amount of variety, for a remix album, and its strengths are definitely drawn from the more creative of contributors found on the record. Sure, you have your regular pounding drum and bass and pulsing trance-esque remixes, but here they at least attempt to display a little bit more personality than most, in a style of music that is so hugely over saturated that having your own style or identity hardly comes into it anymore. For the most part, however, the results of this style are happy ones. DLake's 'Hearts A Mess' remix breezes by in glittering synthesizers and distorted vocals to great effect, and Infusion's 'The Only Thing I Know' boasts a heart that pounds with bass beats, topped with various sound effects that all come together in an awesome electronic cluster. Düosseüdo's 'Hearts A Mess' is the most straightforward of trance remixes here, but utilizes the original acoustic guitar and vocals to effectively drive the remix forward, and resulting in a far more organic, and enjoyable track.
Moving on from the regular remix material usually found on these kind of records, the album also has a small, potent share of ambiance, and it is these ambient, dreamlike tracks that prove to be some of the most immersive and wonderful. Joe Hardy's 'Hearts a Mess' remix utilizes Wally DeBacker's somber vocals to stunning effect over a continuous acoustic drum pattern and flowing organ sounding synthesizer. King Charlie's 'Out of My Mind' remix also utilizes plenty of samples from the original track, including vocals, but instead turns the track into a contorted, shape shifting version of what it used to be. The delayed, stretched out vocals and echoing percussion pierces through the mix and soothes the listener in a fashion almost akin to a lullaby. It is both beautiful, and yet strangely disturbing.
Aside from remixes,
Mixed Blood also happens to feature a select few covers, and it is these tracks that stand out as fantastic, surprising highlights. Australian prog rockers Karnivool rip through their cover of 'The Only Way' with pounding distorted guitars and an energy that would not be completely out of place at a mosh pit. Inga Liljestrom's haunting acoustic cover of 'Coming Back' puts an entirely new skin upon the track, adding a layer of despairing emotion to a song that was already both memorable and gorgeous. Album closer, Fourth Floor Collapse's cover of 'Worn Out' is where things are brought to a spectacular conclusion: beginning as a gentle piano and acoustic guitar track, the song builds into a soaring guitar solo climax that serves as the albums defining and most attention grasping moment; it both embraces the emotive style of the original short track, and yet Fourth Floor Collapse effortlessly make it entirely their own, finishing the album on a massive high point.
Of course, as with most remix albums, there is a certain amount of material here that is relatively forgettable, but it does little to slow
Mixed Blood's momentum, and the record remains one of the most memorable and original of its kind. Gotye's favor of approaching things just that little bit differently has given other artists the chance to experiment with something interesting here, and the results were, for the most part, just as interesting and memorable themselves. It's a shame that this level of personality isn't usually found on other remix albums, as there can be some truly brilliant incarnations of already established great material. And yet, that being said, the album stands by exactly what it says it is; "mixed blood."
