Remix albums so rarely feel worth it, to the point it feels better to go all out with letting new artists change your work rather than simply give us lackluster minor changes. Though not wholly free of some duller tracks, the stacked lineup and some banging features give some real legs to what could have been a cash-in to one of the year’s biggest records. Tweaking the feeling to something more direct and in-your-face, “Sympathy is a Knife” overblows the mix in a different way, and leaves Charli directly exposing even more fake niceties that ending up hurting more in the end. While certainly avoiding just adding a feature or just altering the levels a bit, “Von Dutch” dulls a powerful flame on a nearly perfect track, but once again, at least it crafts something new of it. Though Julian Casablancas is the most unexpected addition to the record, his version of “Mean Girls” roots itself in the track’s sublime piano run (truly the highlight of the original song) and looses a Strokes-lite type of indie track out of its bones. “Guess” is inherently a feature update for the album, but in rare form Billie Eilish has such a growl and grime to her delivery that it essentially erases the original from the public memory by the first listen.
As a soundtrack to relax and stretch to, the latest compilation from Putumayo Music balances soothing vibes without losing a sense of movement in the music. “Water Blessing” starts on a serene note, with the tones of Jim Kimo West and Joss Jaffe maintaining a driving, percussive quality to assure you’re feeling motivated throughout. The beats of “Mon’ Ami” keep things slinking back and forth, as Tiganá Santana’s voice brings a tender warmth to the mix. As the mix swings in on “Om Kali Ma,” Addis Buchanan takes a calming track and injects wave after wave of uplifting sun into the sound, really hitting an expressive explosion on every chorus. The tonal exploration on Stevin McNamara’s “Forest Bathing” makes for one of the record’s most acoustically dense tracks, and sends your mind on a journey that is filled with visually evocative soundscapes and deep bass.
With a refined sound to match their powerhouse new single, Junior Varsity have something truly unique bubbling under the hood. Though “Cross the Street” is so intensely fun it may dim the reaction to the rest of the record, the album still brings plenty of dreamy, bedroom pop charm. There’s no escaping the beautiful “Deceptacon” meets Bloc Party tones of “Cross the Street, as the track melds a palpable sadness with a half-dozen hooks that you’ll want to scream along to, and have on an endless loop for weeks. The back-and-forth dream-like haze of “New York” keeps this energy going, with a lush feeling of friendship overpowering your heart, particularly between its lo-fi drive and infectious ooo’s into the ether. The dire delivery really elevates the simplicity of “Give My Heart” to something true and potent, with its crunchy guitars adding to the feeling that it’s a recording made out of a pained need to just communicate. The album fully disintegrates into its fuzz-laden anti-melodies on “Little Luck,” as the feeling of a hurt and longing core drives its small-but-mighty sound.
Through a short but painfully blunt story, Christophe Elie laments the emotional torture that military service puts someone through. While certainly honouring the struggle of soldiers, the track’s melancholic approach does as much to question the job and military complex as a whole on many levels, essentially tearing it down as destructive to those in it and around it, particularly when so many people involved are just perpetrating efforts for glory rather than self-defence. The tight and heartbreaking guitars keep you in this devastated state of mind, reflecting on the state of things and how veteran’s are treated in and out of war, and perhaps why remembering is just as important as doing something about war in the first place.
Using her own mini-imprint somethingscosmic, Angel Olsen is highlighting new artists she loves, and covering them as a companion album. Focusing on Olsen’s side of the record shows her magical adeptness at performance, while perhaps leaning a little too hard on the stripped-down writing Angel has been doing on her smaller releases as of late. There is a haunting magic to “The Takeover,” as we’re pulled into a desperate sort of longing, through waves of echo and cold emptiness that make for an emotional wail of a listen. The more spacy tones of her sound fly on “Swimming,” as the dual vocals start to become an intentionally discordant argue in this surreal dance, while testing the limits of Olsen’s voice and guitar-only arrangements. “Sinkhole” rebalances this approach a little with the circular piano playing, and finds a way to keep a little tension in that progression as Olsen lets her vocals build slowly and powerfully. “Farfisa Song” brings more ambiance to the mix, to flesh out a sonic space and craft a song with a kind of mystical high to every vocal cry as Olsen booms out into the dark.
