The Bird of Music

iTunes Review

Reverse Migration is an uneven but enjoyable remix of the debut by Brooklyn’s Au Revoir Simone, The Bird of Music. The project boasts both impressive interpretations and tepid makeovers, and 11 tracks become 14, as three songs get double treatment. The airy, dreamy quality of the electro-pop trio is retained in these faithful remixes; you won’t hear the Knife imbuing “Stars” with their dark sinisterism, although the Teenagers’ take on “Fallen Snow” is not exactly rainbows and unicorns. Tracks featuring acoustic guitars (Slow Club’s “The Lucky One” and Keith Murray’s “Don’t See the Sorrow”), harder, fractured synth sounds (Mark-Anthony Tieku’s “The Way to There”) and subdued electric guitar (Matt Harding’s “Night Majestic”) are adventurous translations, while others cling too closely to the original to be of real note. The fun here is in realizing the remix artist’s vision, and seeing if it syncs with your own. But who would claim that Hot Chip’s Alexis Taylor missed the boat on his mini-epic re-wiring of “Sad Song?” We can’t imagine.