So this is an old story: ‘Journal For Plague Lovers’ gets remixed. Yes, the album. Yes, we know all the comments, all the bitching, all the ‘oh, this has nothing to do with the original’. And still, it’s hard to say it’s a bad remix album. Sure, there are two actually bad versions. First, Jonathan Krisp’s remix of ‘Bag Lady’: utterly pointless, some beats and a voice that don’t fit together plus the main riff to remember us of the original. And then the last five minutes of Andrew Weatherall’s ‘Peeled Apples’: while the intro is quite interesting, after a while it gets far too repetitive and all you can think of is ‘Ok, I get it!’.
And then you have the three actually lush/fabulous/even-better-than-the-original-at-times remixes:
1. William’s Last Words (Underworld Remix)
What makes this one so great? The tambourine, the echo-like vocal effects, the choir. The crescendo and the way it goes from a very basic and lo-fi instrumental to big lush arrangements. And the fact that Underworld’s rework keeps all the pain and nostalgia of the original.
2. All Is Vanity (Errors Remix)
Errors really did what anyone would do when remixing a song: added a beat. No reinterpretation, no follow up to the original like The Horrors or Fuck Button did. But they did it right. They took the vocals, slowed them down (really, Bradfield could put any rapper to shame) and added a slightly bouncy rnb beat. The end result: wow! Just wow!
3. Facing Page: Top Left (Adem Remix)
‘Facing Page’ is a very simple song: a harp, a voice, a guitar. Why ruin it, right? Just keep the intro and first stanza the same and gradually add chimes, another set of vocals in the background to make it grand and you have the perfect song to play over and over again.
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