Review Summary: Just a little remix.
Taking into consideration how HEALTH managed to cut themselves through the white-noise of the ever buzzing and bloated music world -- and catch enough listening ears to care about the band's 2007 debut -- with a remixed version of "Crimewave" by Crystal Castles (neatly placed in the tracklist for this album if you missed it the first time), it shouldn't come as a surprise to see the eventual release of a remix LP. The thought of a remix album is one that will leave many to cautiously press the play button, given that most remix albums I've ever experienced tend to range from average to god-awful -- not naming any names... Linkin Park -
Recharged.
So, it actually comes as a surprise that HEALTH manage to pull this thing off. Even more surprising is that the LP isn't a copy-and-paste of the tracklist from the original album, but a handful of selected tracks from said album. What they've actually done is pick eight of the album's tracks and remixed a couple of them several times by various artists to make it up to 11 songs. While on paper this might make
//DISCO look like a lazy, hashed out cash-cow, with "Triceratops" remixed three times, "Lost Time" twice and "Heaven" twice, the different mindsets for the same song is what makes for such an interesting experience; for instance, "Triceratops (Acid Girls RMX A)"'s dance-focused electronic mash-up is quite different to the ominously moody, John Carpenter - Halloween-esque, synth offering of "Triceratops (Cfcf RMX)", and yet both have equally enjoyable and immersive qualities to them.
Which, in an eggshell, sums up this album -- and the band in general, in retrospect. Depending on your musical tastes you'll find some remixes to be more your cup of tea than others, but you will still appreciate what every song is trying to do. It's interesting to see a band, just one album into their career, make such a ballsy move;
//DISCO changes the ball game quite a bit from the debut. The dominated noise-rock influence of
HEALTH is barely distinguishable here, with a foundation that's turned electronic-heavy. But this remix album will still appeal to even the most elite of purists, simply because the compositions are looked at from all angles. The electronics and synths used on here create a range of feelings and influence, like the house beats forming the backbone of "Lost Time (C.L.A.W.S RMX)" and "Heaven (Pink Skull RMX)", but the 80s vibe is most prevalent here: from the video game synth samples of "Heaven (Narctrax RMX)" and "Problem Is (Thrust Lab RMX)" doing a stellar job of transporting the listener to the good ol' SNES days, while the likes of LP closer "Perfect Skin (Curses! RMX)" bringing the much loved energetic, action movie epicness to the table.
It's hard to believe that this comes from HEALTH, because it's almost unrecognisable when compared to the band's day job, but, then, it isn't really the guys doing the graft here.
HEALTH's tracks are merely vessels for expanded ideas the guest artists can conjure up, which is probably the reason why it stands out from 80% of most remix albums out there. If you're a fan of electronic music or you want to hear the band's first album take a different turn, this is well worth a spin.
Excellent.
Editions: CD, M̶P̶3̶, V̶I̶N̶Y̶L̶
Packaging: Standard Jewel Case.
Special Edition: The CD contains 5 data-only tracks that expand on the standard tracklist.
