Album Review: Soulwax--Most Of The Remixes (2007)

I don’t understand why this record was so anticipated. It is exactly what the title claims—Most of the Remixes We’ve heard it all before, and all of it is pretty hard to swallow in one gulp—it gave me a stomach-ache. I think that if my hard drive hadn’t crashed I probably wouldn’t have listened to it 6 times in a row, like Audioscrobbler forces me to admit. But the mash-up is king, and Soulwax tends to reign supreme in that region so I must give credit where credit is due.

1. If you’ve ever wondered whether or not it would be possible to turn Kylie Minogue’s, Can’t Get You Outta My Head into a really freaking cool track (and I have no idea why one would ever wonder such a thing, but) the answer is yes. Yes it is possible to turn that over-played-what should’ve been 90’s-house hit into an uber-hip track that fits comfortably between a remix of Justice’s Phantom Pt. II and Gorillaz’ DARE. Thank you Soulwax.

2. I must also admit that the remix of Six Days is seriously out of control. I mean, so out of control that it almost promotes me to use the phrase 'off-the-hook.' Almost. But I fail to understand the connection between the original DJ Shadow track and the B-52’s song that Soulwax threw into the mix, but suffice it to say that a track once conventionally added to playlists called 'chill-out' now unduly deserves to be included in something (equally conventional, but) closer to ‘dance-groove’ or [insert generically titled dance playlist here].

So yea—while sometimes, the compilation does get a little bit too ravey, and at other times has me wondering if Soulwax could actually be serious about releasing something so cheesey—I assure you that when taken in small doses it will not allow your fingers to turn into glow sticks, and will not have you rolling on the floor. But if rolling on the floor's your bag, and you live in Europe, then check out Soulwax/2 Many DJ's at Night Versions, where they'll be performing these remixes live. Those of us in the US will have to be content with playing the CD over and over again.