ReKonstruKtion (Baustelle Remixes)

Album Review

Even in its original form, Baustelle was an unusual (OK, weird) album: consisting of homemade beats and sound samples recorded at construction sites, it presented a variety of strange but ultimately quite wonderful rhythms and textures, some of them dark and even creepy but none of them unapproachable. You might expect the remix album to be even weirder, and you'd be right; you also might reasonably expect it to be more fun, but there you'd be wrong unless your definition of "fun" is exceptionally broad. ReKonstruKtion Remixe draws on the talents of such alt-electronica stars as Barbara Morgenstern, Wolfgang Voigt, and Soulphiction, and the results range from eerily ambient (Mika Vainio's mix of "Drilling an Ocean") to glitchily funky (Alva Noto's excellent take on "Wir Bauen Eine Neue Stadt"). In between there are examples of a sort of subdued industrial dub (Gudrun Gut's "Make It Work [Get It Down Mix]"), minimalist techno (Chra's "White Oak [Sombrero Albo Remix]"), and something that borders alarmingly on pop (Morgenstern's "Cutting Trees Mix"). Donna Neda provides one of the album's strongest tracks, a remix of "Baustein" that is filled with rhythmic subtleties and irresistibly danceable despite its dark and murky atmosphere. The album ends on a nice, restful note with Vinilette's ambient remix of "China Memories." This collection makes a very fine companion to the original album, but probably not a very good replacement for it.