Uninspired remixes and no big bootlegs
Richard Diaz | 11/28/2002
(2 out of 5 stars)
"The problem's simple, really. XFM radio, known for playing crazy mash-ups, cheeky bootlegs and alternate covers of tunes (until those pesky cease and desist orders arrive) had no chance of getting legal clearance for the remixes you really want. The best they can come up with are nondescript revisions of mostly old, old tunes. DJ Hype's drum and bass Prodigy rework? Zero 7 dusting up Radiohead again? Roughly divided into dance and rock discs, the first ekes out a nod thanks to Jacques Lu Cont's fresh painting of "Silver Screen Shower Scene," now with added synth tension and drum twists (nice work, really), Gomez's tasty electocash "Shot Shot," and Arthur Agent's catchy robo-poem "Hold Your Head Up" riding atop grinding machinery. But whatever The Simians were on as they fed "Destiny" through Q-bert (the game, and quite possibly the DJ) should've been given to the remaining artists here: Cornershop, Chemical Brothers, Felix Da Housecat and crew all do their thing, and not one drop of it's inspiring. And that's not how music should be."