How often I was seduced, in the early years of this decade, by that £5 sticker in Fopp. Especially when affixed to a double CD, as in this case. Just a blink of an eye and the reflex movement of my right hand scooping the case from the shelf and into the ever-thickening stack in my left.
But I don't like this one. No big surprise, really: I can't think of a single dance remix album that I do like. Why do they all go on for twice as long as a 'normal' song, when the remixers have ripped the guts out of the piece and only left enough ideas for half a song? Rhetorical question. I know it's meant for a different context than my usual listening habits.
I remember taking this along to D's 40th birthday party, along with Backbeat. Though I recall Tim showing an interest — it's much more his type of think than mine — I can't remember whether I actually played any of it.
I quite like the Aphex Twin remix. It sounds like Aphex Twin, nothing like Saint Etienne, but I quite like the Twin (as no one calls him). Andrew Weatherall, meanwhile, is just a name to me, and his bastardisation of Saint Etienne's adoption of Neil Young in Only Love Can Break Your Heart (listen here) embodies everything I dislike.
The collection may sound nothing like Saint Etienne, but it's still a very Saint Etienne thing to do.
 MusicBrainz entry for disc 1, disc 2Wikipedia entry for this album Rate Your Music entry for this album Listen to two tracks from this album in full at Last.fm |
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