I’ve always felt that remix albums were a bit of a scam, expecting fans who already bought the album proper to shell out again for a collection of reheats. However, when the album in question is the latest slice of funk, rock and whatever you’re having yourself from musical chameleon Beck and your remixers include the likes of Air, Ad-Rock and Dizzee Rascal, perhaps it’s time to sit up and take notice.
Homelife take the already dancefloor-friendly ‘E Pro’ and add some Eastern effects, making for an extremely palatable remix, but Islands’ chillout take on ‘Que Onda Guero’ is something of a mixed bag: The Nortec Collective’s attempt at the same song is far more interesting, adding even more oompah into the mix. Octet’s thumping Recluse Street remix of ‘Girl’ sounds like a completely new song, while Air’s typically esoteric take on ‘Heaven Hammer’ is an obvious highlight, as is the already brilliant ‘Ghettochip Malfunction’, revisited by 8Bit. Adrock’s Smallstars remix of ‘Shake Shake Tambourine’ is a little too sparse for my liking, but Mario C’s slowed-down-to-a-grind ‘Terremoto Weather (Earthquake Weather)’ sounds surprisingly breezy.
Elsewhere, Boards Of Canada’s ‘Broken Drum’ sees the boy Hansen entering Massive Attack trip-hop territory to tremendous effect, while El-P’s ‘Scarecrow’ is almost unrecognisable from Beck’s original, as is Dizzee Rascal’s abrasive and edgy take on ‘Ghettochip Malfunction’.
Billed as a companion piece to last year’s Guero, Guerolito is far more than your average remix album. While not every reworking is successful, John King’s electro version of ‘Rental Car’ is almost worth the admission price alone as is the human-beatbox routine of ‘Clap Hands’, which sees the boy Beck reuniting with his old muckers, The Dust Brothers. Weighing in at over an hour, these 16 tracks offer far more than mere curiosity value.