“Most of the remixes we’ve made for other people over the years except for the one for Einstürzende Neubauten because we lost it and a few we didn’t think sounded good enough or didn’t fit in length-wise, but including some that are hard to find because either people forgot about them or simply because they haven’t been released yet, a few we really love, one we think is just ok, some we did for free, some we did for money, some for ourselves without permission and some for friends as swaps but never on time and always at our studio in Ghent.”
I have always felt that remixes were only ever included as the extra tracks on singles so that the band could avoid having to write another song. However, listening to this album has meant that I have had to review that theory as hearing a selection of tracks remixed by the same people gives a far better understanding of what they were trying to achieve. The first disc is a collection of remixes (the reasons why they have been undertaken is explained in the album title far more eloquently than I ever could) Although rarely does the remix improve upon the original, it is interesting to hear how they interpret work by artists such as Kylie, Sugababes, the Klaxons and Gossip. One track which does improve considerably upon the original is their take on Muse’s Muscle Museum; this takes an already impressive song and gives it a boot up the backside, then drags it kicking and screaming onto the dance floor.
For the second disc, Soulwax take the guise of their alter egos, 2ManyDJ’s, and provide us with a mix album comprising of many of the tracks of the first disc, and a few surprises. Even more that the first disc, this gives a clearer understanding of what they were trying to do with the songs – and hearing Sugababes ‘Round Round’ seamlessly mixed between Justice’s Phantom Part II and Tiga’s ‘Move My Body’ is something to savour. However, although the two discs on this album will deserve further listens, they are just as likely to send you hunting for the original tracks.