I heard about this somewhere — I either read about it in The Wire or heard something on Mixing It, but I can't remember which — and I asked for it for Christmas. At the time I don't think I knew anything about who Main were, and I didn't realise it was an album of remixes… Yes, there was a little clue in the title, but somehow it eluded me.
I still don't know much about Main, except that Robert Hampson seems to be a central figure, and I also liked his previous band, Loop. Unlike many remix albums, there is a good consistency about this one; it doesn't feel like a patchwork quilt. That's probably down to the fact that five of the eight tracks are remixed by Main themselves, and the other three are all done by fellow travellers in the dark ambient soundscape scene (man!): Paul Schutze, the ubiquitous Jim O'Rourke, and our old friend Paul Kendall a.k.a. PK a.k.a. Piquet a.k.a. Nelson (no, that last one is a bad joke).
I've never tried it, but I think this album would sound terrible on an iPod. For one thing, a lot of the sounds are at very low frequencies, rumbles and grinds rather than bass drums, which don't translate very well onto earphones (especially if you're on a noisy tube train). And for another, it uses very wide dynamics, with extensive quiet patches interrupted by sudden and very loud eruptions of activity.
I like it a lot actually, especially the very analogue, almost unmusical, sound sources that are featured in most tracks. I shall try and listen to it more often.
 MusicBrainz entry for this album
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