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Low, owL remix Low (Caroline/Vernon Yard)


A remix record? But Low's Alan Sparhawk seems to be sneaking into electronica anyway. Recent singles under the Low moniker and Sparhawk's side-project Hospital People are rife with old mellotron sounds and moog tones. This release is another leap entirely, consisting of remixes of Low's gorgeous pop slowcore by Neotropic, DJ Vadim, Porter Ricks, Tranquility Bass, Skull Valley Dub and Jimmy Somerville with Sally Herbert.

Some fail. Neotropic, so often delicious, mistakenly adds menace to "Anon." But she checks in with another version of "Anon" a few tracks later, and this version, chugging along on wood blocks and Art Of Noise jauntiness, sets things right. Tranquility Bass scores by allowing the breathtaking vocal of "Over the Ocean" to soar above a bouncy dance track complete with jubilant horns. I can see the club freaks reaching for the ceiling. But a remix of Tranquility Bass's remix is useless, and the Somerville/Herbert piece simply speeds up "Words." Why bother? All in all, a Low fan's maybe-have.

Andy Fenwick
February 1999