Search - tweaker :: Linoleum

Excellent For A Rainy Day

A Music Nerd | Toronto, Ontario | 11/16/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The songs and remixes here are great to listen to while sitting alone, with a cup of coffee, staring outside over a bleak, overcast, and depressing landscape....it's easy to drift away in the haunting vocals and all-over-the-place instrumentation and melodies, until a sudden drum beat or harsh sample jerks you back to reality. Fantastic!On first listen you'll find nice electronic samples and great vocals on all tracks, but it's by the second and third listen that the album really grabs you and doesn't let you go. This record seems like it could have been a full release in it's own right since the remixes sound quite varied and interesting with nary a weak track to be found. A very eclectic and worthwhile companion to Tweaker's impressive debut "An Attraction To All Things Uncertain". *I would have gladly paid much more for this than what Amazon is charging...great value!*"

Mixed.

Michael Stack | North Chelmsford, MA USA | 08/03/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Remix CDs are something of an enigma for me-- I generally find them extraneous as remixes typically go in one of two directions-- either the changes are subtle and not really additive, such as adding an extra drum loop or a few samples to a piece, or they totally reconstruct the piece, treating the original as a sample. Only rarely does something in between come forth, where the balance between too much and too little can be struck, but even in those cases, it's often that the remix is still inferior to the orignal.



Tweaker's "Linoleum" single contains six mixes of a title track, taken from "The Attraction to All Things Uncertain", including a radio edit, a vocal take on "Years from Now" from the album retitled "Imperfections", and one previously unreleased track ("Tiny Life").



"Linoleum" itself is a fine song, full of mystery developed by sparse electronica accompaniment before exploding after the chorus with a wash of industrial guitars. David Sylvian's superlative vocal helps further elevate the piece. The radio edit, chopping about forty seconds of exposition off the piece, adds nothing.



The remixes divide nicely into two camps with one sitting in between. The first two remixes, "The Josh Wink Interpretation" and the "Wamdue 2-Step Vocal Experience" fall into that treating the original as samples camp. Both meander on endlessly and probably are of more interest to people into ambient or dub music. The last two remixes are a bit more interesting to me. The "Tearglass & Plateglass remix" deconstructs the song, maintaining its structure, but replacing all the sounds-- a bass takes the place of the industrial guitars for example. Its fascinating, albeit not as gripping as the original. The "Paul Leary remix" falls in a similar mood, moving the vocal into a minimalist setting before exploding after the chorus. It's probably the best (and also is the briefest) remix on the record.



The other tracks are a pretty mixed bag-- "Imperfections", quite frankly, I can live wihtout, I much prefer the original without the irritating speak-singing vocal by Jennifer Folker. And quite frankly, remixing it isn't really going to do it for me as the source material wasn't to my liking at all and the remix does little but double the length. The live "Tiny Life" is fantastic however, explosive and exciting, full of energy, funky drums, great guitars and aggressive turntable scratches. A fine track and probably worht the cost of the single.



All in all, it's a decent EP, a bit too inconsistent, but for anyone who enjoyed the album, probably worth digging up."

Worth owning for one track...

J. Cavacini | Coplay, PA Corporate States of America | 10/28/2002

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This single has only one track that made it worth owning, but since I like the track a great deal, and it's unavailable elsewhere (unless you find it on MP3), getting this single was not too bad of a deal.What track is that? "Imperfections," the alternate version of the album track "Years from now." "Imperfections" has lyrics by a female vocalist named Jennifer Folker. Done in an almost spoken word form (but not quite), the vocals fit the musical structure so well that they seem meant for each other. It's interesting how this track has a tendency to bury the original because of this. When listening to the full album's instrumental version ("Years from now"), I really miss the vocals.So if you want this track on CD ... then grab this disc. With the exception of the live track at the end (which is an okay instrumental, but not as memorable as anything on the full album), the rest of the tracks are bland remixes that, while not being downright horrible, were just not very artistic or creative, in my opinion. Then again, I'm a fan of the "reinterpretation" of a song, more than simple re-mixings or techno-ification. So, hey, if you are more easy-going than I, maybe you will like the remixes too."Imperfections" is a worthy track to own and enjoy daily."