Continuing on from last fortnight, I'm reviewing the Grammy nominees for Remixer of the Year. We've been through Depp Dish, Hex Hector, and Maurice Joshua. Now let's check out Peter Rauhofer and Richard "Humpty" Vission.
Peter Rauhofer's remix of the Eurythmics'
Seventeen Again sparkles coldly, Annie Lennox sounding on the edge of anguish the whole twelve minutes of the track, but his Club 69 Trance Mix of
Take My Picture, the Filter song, is stripped of the delicate quality that made the original stand out from other rock tracks. Still, it's bold to remix a song like this, and Rauhofer almost manages to convince me it's always been a dance number. Where Rauhofer really shines is on his aptly-named Club 69 Classic Club Mix of Whitney Houston's
Greatest Love of All. I remember this song being strangely devoid of rhythm the first time around. Add to that its regular inclusion on Love Albums for middle-aged square folk, and I'd all but forgotten about it, till I heard Rauhofer turn it into a disco anthem. This is one you can wave your hands in the air to, all night long. Rauhofer performs another good magic trick when he transforms Jessica Simpson from pop princess into house diva in his Club Anthem mix of I Think I'm In Love. His Trance Mix of
He Wasn't Man Enough by Toni Braxton, however, slows the lyrics to an uncomfortable pace, and adds mainstream-house synth noises over the top of them. Not good. His Roxy Anthem mix of
I Don't Know What You Want, by the Pet Shop Boys, is good, but it's the voice and lyrics that make it so, not Rauhofer's contribution.
Unlike the other remixers, Richard "Humpty" Vission boldly assumes authorship of his remix of Everybody's Free, attributing it to the artist "RHV featuring Rozalla." To be fair, he does change the track completely, adding spastic beats, strange tinkly little noises weaving in and out of each other, and happy-sounding bleeps, but keeps the best part of the original: the soaring vocals. I have to say I absolutely hate the Anthem Mix of Adrenaline's Shut the F*** Up and Dance. It sounds like a bad version of LA Style's James Brown Is Dead, which was bad itself and, besides, is ten years old this year. There's no remixing innovations anywhere near this piece. His Phunkytron Mix of Music slows the track down to an undanceable pace and then speeds it up again, adding some disco noises. If that's remixing, I'm Fatboy Slim. After that, Devone's Alright is a pleasant, mellow, garage-y surprise. I could definitely boogie to this one, probably without sweating too much, but I'd still have a good time. And the surprises keep coming; the Radio Mix of Madonna's American Pie is fantastic. Almost vocal-less, with a fuzzy, trancey little riff that warps and twists throughout the song, it sounds nearly nothing like the original, but is just as good.
